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Sony Confirms It's Making a 'High-End PlayStation 4' With 4K and Richer Graphics (ft.com)
Sony has confirmed it is working on an upgraded version of its PlayStation 4 gaming console (could be paywalled; alternate source). The company says that the upcoming console dubbed Neo is intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4. Touted as the "high-end PS4", the gaming console will support ultra-high definition 4K resolution and richer graphics, and will certainly cost more than PlayStation 4's $350 retail price.
The move might upset many PlayStation 4 owners, especially the ones who have purchased the console in the recent months. One of the perks of purchasing a gaming console from Sony and Microsoft is knowing that neither company will launch an upgraded version of their respective console for around six to seven years. Sony realizes that it is playing with fire here, so it assured that all forthcoming games -- including the VR ones -- must support the older version of the console as well. The company says that the new PS4 console won't be unveiled at E3 tradeshow next week, however.
The move might upset many PlayStation 4 owners, especially the ones who have purchased the console in the recent months. One of the perks of purchasing a gaming console from Sony and Microsoft is knowing that neither company will launch an upgraded version of their respective console for around six to seven years. Sony realizes that it is playing with fire here, so it assured that all forthcoming games -- including the VR ones -- must support the older version of the console as well. The company says that the new PS4 console won't be unveiled at E3 tradeshow next week, however.
If all games released from this point on will support both the Neo and Original PS4, then what is the point of buying the Neo if you already have an Original?
...and if they're better in 4K, I'll buy it. Otherwise, it's still lipstick on a pig.
I had may as well go back to PC gaming. I went to consoles expecting the simplicity and ease of the traditional 5-year life cycle and standard hardware.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
The company says that the upcoming console dubbed Neo is intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4.
Is that supposed to a metaphor, or a literal truth? Is it designed to be put next to/connected to a PS4? And then say nice things about it?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
PC gaming is cheaper. Online multiplayer is without monthly fees. There are truly free games with no subscription fees on Steam, GOG and Origin, maybe others. Build your own PC for the same price as a console with more power and greater functionality. Replace your own parts... yada yada yada . . .
In the past we had long console life cycles because Sony et al. had to recoup their investment in developing that hardware in the first place. Nowadays it is AMD doing all the development, so a quick platform upgrade is as simple as calling AMD and asking for the latest chips. And why wouldn't they? Especially since the competition is going to be doing the exact same thing... So in order to avoid falling behind, there is only one choice: upgrade.
Long life cycles were never an intended goal of consoles to begin with. They were an _accident_, and since everyone has now standardized on PC hardware they are no longer necessary or even desirable.
Sure as hell not going to be for 4K gaming at any price point the average console player is going to spend. I'll be shocked if they can get decent 4K running for less than $800.
OtherOS was NOT mentioned on the box. I don't know why people think it was. If you have a CECHA/CECHB/CECHE model, it will list PS2 games, but the box itself doesn't mention OtherOS.
Go on, check, and take pictures. I'll wait.
I'd compare it to a Game Boy Color (GBC), whose games fell into two categories:
Dual-mode games These run on pre-GBC systems (the original Game Boy, Super Game Boy, and Game Boy Pocket) but have additional features on GBC. The cartridge has the original mold shape with an "innie" grip, and most are black (as opposed to gray for original Game Boy games). All dual-mode games have severe motion blur on the original Game Boy (but not on SGB, Pocket, or GBC). Some dual-mode games had slowdown on pre-GBC systems for any of three reasons: a slower processor (4.2 MHz vs. 8.4 MHz for GBC), lack of VRAM DMA, and intentionally reduced frame rate to accommodate the original Game Boy's severe motion blur. Early on, most GBC games were dual mode because of the massive installed base of pre-GBC systems. Exclusive games These run only on GBC. They display an error message if used with pre-GBC systems. The cartridge has a new mold with an "outie" grip, and most are transparent. Starting a couple years after the GBC's release, most games were exclusive.Likewise, dual-mode games for Neo may slow down or have reduced graphical complexity when run on an original PlayStation 4. And starting a couple years after the Neo's release, SCE may end up reversing its stance and allowing Neo-only games.
Is it really that bad is a new version comes out every three years, but each model still supports all of the older games and gets new games going forward for 6-8 years?
You must have forgotten what site you were one. Sony or Microsoft could give away bars of gold and someone on /. would complain that they were too heavy and strained their back.
Giving Sony better chips that can be over clocked. It makes perfect sense for Sony to sell these at a premium. I'd be mad, but given that most modern games couldn't give a toss about frame rates above 24fps I don't see the problem. Plus if you're one of those folks who don't care you're about to see an abundance of cheap used PS4s.
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Simplicity and easy with consoles? That's a thing of the past.
Yeah, I'm old, I remember the times when you stuffed a cartridge into that console, turned it on, picked up the controller, played 'til your brain turned to mush, then turned it off and went to bed.
Today it's more like... turning on the console, trying to find the menu for "I wanna play a game" between the thousands of blinking icons that want you to "socialize", navigating there with the motion-sensitive (read: wave like an idiot) input system du jour, slipping the disc in, waiting half an hour for the copy protection to recognize it, having to download an update for the console, waiting for it to download, waiting for it to install, reading the damn disc again, the game realizing that there is an update for it, waiting again for the game update to download, waiting for the install (oh, I forgot: Turning the damn thing off and on between every single fucking update and going through the 8 ballet positions to navigate back to "lemme finally play the fucking game") and then finally, FINALLY, you can ... go to bed 'cause it's midnight.
In all seriousness, "ease to use" when it comes to gaming is today PC gaming. Turn on the computer, 2 seconds later, thanks to SSD, it's there, click Steam, click favorite game, play 'til brain rots.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
They'll still produce games for the original PS4 because that's what their user-base owns. No one wants to trash their sales by narrowing compatibility to a console that most Sony gamers won't own. The only people who will buy this will be PSVR users and people with 4K TVs. This will be a fraction of the PS4 user-base.