Microsoft has dropped several wildly unpopular features from its next generation Xbox One gaming console, including region locks, restrictions on trading used games, and the need to connect to the internet once every 24 hours to keep the device playable.

The features were announced during the Xbox One reveal event at Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington on May 21 and generated an immediate and overwhelmingly negative response from gamers and the media.

Sony, which had suffered through the underwhelming announcement of its own next generation PlayStation 4 in March, took advantage of Microsoft's blunder last week at E3 when it presented the upcoming PS4 as the anti-Xbox One: a console that would manage games the old-fashioned way.

Sony said that unlike Microsoft it would not prevent users from trading or selling used PS4 game discs, and that the PS4 would not need an internet connection to work. The new PlayStation would also be $100 cheaper than the new Xbox, at $399 compared to $499.

Sony's announcement at E3 was a punch in the teeth for Microsoft. An online poll conducted last week by Amazon showed that nearly 95 percent of respondents favored the PS4 over the Xbox One.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it had listened to its consumers and was dropping the Xbox One's DRM and used game restrictions. The console will require only a one-time internet connection to be set up, games will not be region-locked, and players will be able to lend and resell used games.