Slashdot Mirror
Sony PlayStation 5 Unlikely To Arrive Until 2020: Gizmodo (kotaku.com)
A recent online rumor got people buzzing about a possible 2018 release of PlayStation 5, but that's probably not going to happen, Gizmodo reports. Citing a source, the outlet says it believes the next PlayStation may not arrive until 2020. From the report: It's been nearly five years since the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched, which has triggered bouts of nervousness and excitement among video game fans who want to know when they'll have to start hoarding pennies for a new generation of consoles. The PS4 launched seven years after the PS3, the Xbox One eight years after the Xbox 360. It's not unreasonable to be thinking about the next generation. We don't have a concrete answer just yet, but we have been asking around, and what we've heard is a whole lot of uncertainty.
The last console I worked with was PS3, but I think a bit of market delay here is a good idea.
An upgrade over this generation of hardware wouldn't get you much over a PS4. Sure, some percent increase - but it would feel more like being forced into an upgrade cycle, rather than really buying to get some new important capability with the new system.
Don't get me wrong - a top-of-the-line video card and SSD would make for a transformation of the 4k experience and all... but it would make for a $1400 console at the moment.
Better for Sony to let the manufacturers know what they want, get the plants tooled, techniques tested, then make that same console for $500 in a couple of years. In the meantime, everyone can develop with expensive PC testbed dev kits, then the manufacturers can test that everything can function and pass those same tests.
That, and we still haven't seen the likes of Kingdom Hearts 3 on the PS4 - the development cycle on games is still catching up with PS4-level development. Give your local devs some breathing room.
Ryan Fenton
The VR edition of the PS4 should hold off things until the VR market begins to mature and software development workflows standardize, at which point, yeah the PS5 should be ready and be VR compatible out of the box; VR display technology will have matured, graphics hardware technology will drop in price etc... 2020 sounds about right.
The iPad had a couple of years of very fast revisions and major upgrades, and at this point the technology is stable and as good as anyone would ever reasonably need. VR has been moving at a similar pace, although perhaps twice as slow. We're just a few years away from retina quality displays and the hardware to drive them. Modern VR has only been a thing for two years to the week and Sony is going to need six months to eighteen months to put together a final spec, ramp up manufacturing and get developers trained for the new system.
moox. for a new generation.