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Sony Says PlayStation 4 Successor is Coming, But Doesn't Call it PS5 Yet (cnet.com)

Sony's president has confirmed that the company is working on the next PlayStation, but stopped short of calling it "PlayStation 5." From a report: "At this point, what I can say is it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware," Kenichiro Yoshida told the Financial Times on Monday. He didn't give a sense of the form the next PlayStation might take, but FT sources suggested that it wouldn't be a major departure from the PS4 and that its fundamental architecture would be pretty similar. The report suggests Sony isn't quite ready to jump from consoles to cloud-based gaming, even as direct competitors such as Microsoft and potential ones like Google reveal game streaming services.

68 comments

  1. Two PS4s duct-taped together! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL if they don't change architecture then it's not a real new console!

    1. Re:Two PS4s duct-taped together! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      creimer's penis looks like two gnarled toothpicks taped together.

  2. Why would they jump? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    >> Sony isn't quite ready to jump from consoles to cloud-based gaming

    Why would they jump? If they can capture the market of people who want "games that work even if the Internet is down" and "games that don't glitch out if it's raining" and "games that work even if gamecompany takes the online version down" then that's a pretty big market.

    1. Re:Why would they jump? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      plus, they already have a cloud game streaming service

    2. Re: Why would they jump? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah I HATE online games.

      Fucking loot boxes and pay to win.

      Games these days suck so bad.

      Look at all the games on the App Store and playstore..... you see something interesting and download it and you realise they just rehash the same format and rely on loot boxes and pay to win .... or grind to you die model.

      Even good games end up having sequels with that turn to the dark side. It kills all the joy to have it so in your face.

    3. Re:Why would they jump? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because it's easier and more profitable to rent shitty products than it is to sell a good one.

    4. Re:Why would they jump? by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      Which they just added downloading games to because for many it regularly lags out.

    5. Re: Why would they jump? by stealth_finger · · Score: 3

      Look at all the games on the App Store and playstore..... you see something interesting and download it and you realise they just rehash the same format and rely on loot boxes and pay to win .... or grind to you die model.

      There's your problem, stay away from mobile games and free2play games. Maybe best to keep away from the latest generation in general.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    6. Re:Why would they jump? by darkain · · Score: 1

      This is already not a thing, and it fucking pisses me off. I tried bringing my XBox360 to PAX, only to find out that all locally downloaded games purchased from their store now REQUIRES an active internet connection to play them, even 100% offline games. The DRM is totally fucked up now, even on consoles that are not current gen. This console never used to have this requirement, and its just shit.

    7. Re:Why would they jump? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      You forgot the "games that work even though my internet connection is not fast enough for video streaming" and "games that won't bust through my monthly data cap by playing" market.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    8. Re:Why would they jump? by Parker+Lewis · · Score: 1
      1. "games that work even if the Internet is down": most modern games requires huge updates, some mandatory, and multiplayer always requires an online server
      2. "games that don't glitch out if it's raining": well, if doesn't require a mandatory updates, and you're about to play offline singlerplayer, then fine
      3. "games that work even if gamecompany takes the online version down": like all modern games with multiplayer and achievements related to the no more available multiplayer?
    9. Re:Why would they jump? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they can capture the market of people who want "games that work even if the Internet is down" and "games that don't glitch out if it's raining" and "games that work even if gamecompany takes the online version down" then that's a pretty big market.

      IF the game works without downloading a Day 1 patch.

    10. Re:Why would they jump? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      >> Sony isn't quite ready to jump from consoles to cloud-based gaming

      Why would they jump? If they can capture the market of people who want "games that work even if the Internet is down" and "games that don't glitch out if it's raining" and "games that work even if gamecompany takes the online version down" then that's a pretty big market.

      Except Sony ALREADY does cloud based gaming. It's called Playstation Now. It's how Sony does "backwards compatibility" with the PS4.

      In fact, until the weekend, Microsoft was pretty much the only one not offering a cloud-based gaming option. (Nintendo does it for some games on Switch in Japan).

    11. Re:Why would they jump? by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      Which specific games? Xbox One or Xbox 360?

      Didn't happen to be some of those "Games with Gold" free games as part of that service were they?

      They planned to do this for Xbox One but didn't. It seems hard to believe they'd patch it backwards on the older console. So I'm curious for more info.

    12. Re:Why would they jump? by Yaztromo · · Score: 1

      Why would they jump? If they can capture the market of people who want "games that work even if the Internet is down" and "games that don't glitch out if it's raining" and "games that work even if gamecompany takes the online version down" then that's a pretty big market.

      It's a bad statement in the first place, as Sony has already hedged their bets and has a cloud-based gaming service, PS Now, which is already part of the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita (and available for Windows as well).

      It also ignores the reality that Sony's PlayStation is massive globally, but many parts of the globe don't have good high-speed (and/or high data cap) internet service. For many parts of the world, you still need to go out and buy discs to get your games. Sony isn't about to ignore this segment of the market, because as you say -- it's a pretty damned big market.

      Yaz

    13. Re:Why would they jump? by mentil · · Score: 1

      Xbox Live Indie Games always required an active internet connection to use them, maybe it was one of those.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    14. Re:Why would they jump? by darkain · · Score: 1

      Literally the entire XBox 360 Arcade and Indie library. Every game. All of them. Things like Geometry Wars. None of them are functional anymore on the 360 without an active internet connection. I had to find a way to tether the console to my phone using a bunch of janky cable attachments just to get the DRM to authorize my games (ones I had just played days prior at home, so timeout wasn't an issue). Even minutes after the games ended with the janky cable unplugged, I couldn't get back into them.

    15. Re:Why would they jump? by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      A far superior market would be gaming with FOSS built in. So add monitor and keyboard and you have a computer and game console. Computer running Linux as a virtual machine with gaming on the other virtual desktop. So two for one, take the xbox head on by offering far more, a pc thrown in and take on the windows pc gaming device, it will do work as well as game. Can they make the jump or will they fail like they did with the PS4.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  3. It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just like all consoles.

    They are just PCs from five years ago (or worse), with DRM and a different input device.

    They should just have a PC certification program. "Any PC with a least X general-purpose shaders, Y memory bandwith, etc ... oryl, even simpler: ... that is accepted by our OS ... gets to call itself a certified PlayStation 2019!"

    Just make sure you do not have more than one generation every five years, and you got the exact same offering as a console.

    1. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly

      I have recently discovered GOG and will from now on, buy most of my DRM free pc games from there

      these days pc games are perhaps Even easier to use than console games

      And modding pc games today is easier than configuring Them to work in the olden days

    2. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by mrfaithful · · Score: 1, Insightful

      PC games stop working. You can place the blame anywhere you want, but the upshot is every console game ever released still works on its respective hardware. With PCs it's a total crapshoot what will fail when and whether the "community" cares enough to fix the problem. Just yesterday I found out that "Typing of the Dead" doesn't display the zombies or parts of zombies. The "fix" is to install a version of your graphics card drivers from back when the game released. Great, providing you have a card that was out back then, if you don't you can't install older drivers now can you?

      I could go on forever with the huge number of games I own but can't run; but I won't bore you. The OP's suggestion could actually fix the problem. "This game requires a PC meeting X certification". It wouldn't necessarily fix the backwards compatibility issue, but if I know I just need to build a PC with THIS hardware then that's something. Right now it's more a case of triple booting 3 different OS revisions with different drivers in each on multiple machines with some overlap which makes you think something works but it has spotty compatibility.

      I find the people who think "PC gaming is great!" are the type who only actively play a handful of games, and maybe a bit of nostalgia off gog. They don't have a full Ikea bookshelf of CD jewel cases and the crushing disappointment that they'll have to ebay a voodoo2 because those Glide wrappers just don't cut it.

    3. Re:It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Just like all consoles.

      They are just PCs from five years ago (or worse), with DRM and a different input device.

      They should just have a PC certification program. "Any PC with a least X general-purpose shaders, Y memory bandwith, etc ... oryl, even simpler: ... that is accepted by our OS ... gets to call itself a certified PlayStation 2019!"

      Just make sure you do not have more than one generation every five years, and you got the exact same offering as a console.

      So instead of the closed box with set hardware developers can maximise for you want to just set a base level pc that at best is at least....? Soooo, what's the fucking point? Just get a pc.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    4. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      PC games stop working.

      No; no, they don't.

    5. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      The "fix" is to install a version of your graphics card drivers from back when the game released.

      In other words: PC games also still work on their respective hardware. The difference is that we tend to keep our consoles, but we chuck out, rebuild or repurpose our obsolete PCs.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    6. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Phusion · · Score: 1

      Yeah... Typing Of The Dead is 15 years old? Or.. more? So many games, new and old are available through digital distribution. I'm sorry that PC's frustrate you, but they're really perfectly fine as a gaming platform and have been for decades. So, I will make sure to get off of your lawn, good sir, but you're really wrong about this almost entirely.

      --
      640k ought to be enough for anyone.
    7. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      every console game ever released still works on its respective hardware.

      Every PC will continue to work on period correct hardware as well. Commander Keen didn't stop working on 386 computers all of a sudden. You can go find a 386 and a copy of MS-DOS and it runs just fine. Not only that but new games continue to come out for old PCs People are still making Commodore 64 and MS-DOS Games (don't ask my why, but it does happen). Now, will these old games run on the latest Intel i7 with Windows 10? No, but you won't get a game from a PS1 to play on a PS4 either. Obviously nobody can guarantee that a game will work on a machine that doesn't even exist yet, running an operating system that doesn't try to support decades old software.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    8. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I can still run every PC game I've ever owned. The ones which are old enough to not be compatible with modern hardware and/or operating systems are also old enough to run just fine on a virtual machine or an emulator.

    9. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Console games stop working. You can place the blame anywhere you want, but eventually all console hardware will die. It's a total crapshoot when the CD rots, or the disc drive laser dies, or the connectors corrode.

      Just the other day I found out no Atari Jaguar CD games work at all. The "Fix" is to invent a flux capacitor and go back 20 years in time. Great.

      I find people who think "Console gaming is great!" are woefully ignorant. They only play whatever AAA stuff is marketed heavily to them. They don't have a hard drive full of 20-30 year old games, indie freeware titles, and they have no experience with entire genres that simple have never and will never exist on consoles. And don't get me started on modding.

    10. Re:It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Both Xbox and PS4 need more IO performance for loading games faster. A QLC PCIe SSD as a large, inexpensive game buffer would be nice addition for any next generation console. Meanwhile our PCs can stay Free from the ridiculous DRM demands of the media industry.

    11. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      Which has more to do with the fact that it was a shitty PC port* in the first place than because of PCs themselves.

      *This is especially amusing as it was a typing game, but yes, it came out in arcades and on the Dreamcast prior to PC. Course, you could always play the PS2 version on an emulator.

    12. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by iampiti · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this.
      You can through varios methods run 99% of games ever released for a PC on a modern PC. Whereas on a console you can run at best games of the previous generation.
      Anyway, I'm not trying to prove PCs are better or anything just that they're a great option for gaming.

    13. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other words: PC games also still work on their respective hardware.

      Steam dropped Vista and XP you know.

    14. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > but the upshot is every console game ever released still works on its respective hardware.

      Bullshit.

      How's that multiplayer working out for older games?

      I.e.

      * Halo 1
      * Halo 2
      * Phantasy Star Online
      * OutRun Online Arcade
      * Metroid Prime Hunters Online

      ANY platform where the devs hold the servers "hostage" (you can't run your own) is in danger of not being available at some future date.

      I.e. EA will eventually shut down BF3 multiplayer.

      Stop misrepresenting the facts.

    15. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      but the upshot is every console game ever released still works on its respective hardware.

      So do PC games, plus many of them also work on hardware released years later as well. 100% of my old PS1 game discs won't load in my PS4.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    16. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Unless Windows 10 arrives and sends your laptop into an infinite boot loop.

    17. Re: It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't need steam to play steam games. They have an offline mode.

    18. Re:It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not really.

      You see, console games are, generally speaking, vastly better optimized because they all run on known platform - which btw the developers know for certain is all they will ever get. With consoles there is no option to simply pass the buck like "oh of course it runs like crap on that shitty system, upgrade already!".

      It's your gaming pc which is usually vastly overpowered; things just run like crap on it anyway because developers can't be arsed to optimize properly. It's simply cheaper for them to make you pay for new hardware.

    19. Re:It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Yaztromo · · Score: 1

      They are just PCs from five years ago (or worse), with DRM and a different input device.

      You missed "and with vastly better games".

      Yaz

    20. Re:It's gonna be vastly underpowered ... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      As someone who enjoys both PC and console gaming, it feels as if you're deliberately disregarding the advantages that consoles have. Off the top of my head:

      * A (mostly) fixed hardware target. Because the hardware rarely/never changes, developers are able to focus their efforts better, resulting in a generally more solid product. While bugs do occur regularly these days, they tend to be fixed more quickly and are rarer than on PC. In contrast, I've purchased numerous games on GoG and Steam that required INI tweaking, applying patches, or reciting incantations before they would even launch, let alone run well, despite them being (or because they were) years after their release.

      * Less complexity. Because they are gaming appliances instead of general purpose computers, consoles are able to hide most of their complexity. I don't have to worry about system updates breaking obscure apps that I've installed. I don't have to worry about whether my peripherals have drivers. Things that work with it, work. Things that don't work with it, don't. Easy.

      * Simpler maintenance. Because they hide their complexity, they require less effort to maintain. Even the updates apply themselves. Other than moving files around when I fill a drive, there's really not much I can do, let alone need to do, meaning that I get to focus on actually playing games.

      * Longer lifespan. Setting aside hardware failure (which happens to PCs as well), it's rare that anyone is outright unable to use their console. People are only ever forced to retire their consoles when their new TVs lack the right inputs (and even then, there are adapters). In contrast, OS updates leave PCs more sluggish each year, cruft accumulates, driver and OS updates break compatibility, and next thing you know your PC can't play games that used to work fine.

      * Exclusives. Depending on your taste in games, picking up a console may be your only option. I just built a gaming PC this month that puts any of my consoles to shame, and I'm eager to put it through its paces, and yet two of my purchases in the last month were for games that my PC can't play, simply because they're console exclusives.

      * Used copy pricing. With the rise of Steam and GoG, it's difficult to find legitimate, used copies of PC games for cheap, let alone ones that are guaranteed to have not had necessary codes redeemed. In contrast, eBay is just a click away with cheap prices for used discs or cartridges.

      * Better prices for non-exclusives. This is actually an advantage for both consoles AND PCs. Because both exist and because most games are NOT exclusives, buyers with both platforms are able to shop around. I paid $5 last week for a game that has never been cheaper than $20 on PC, thanks to the fact that I could pick it up for a console. Conversely, I've picked up games during Steam and GoG sales for even cheaper than that. Owning both gives me options.

      Which isn't to say that I favor consoles to PCs. Far from it, in fact! I actually prefer PCs (particularly when they're DRM-free), despite the advantages I just listed for consoles. After all, that added complexity with PCs brings with it a number of significant benefits that I actually do enjoy. Even so, suggesting that consoles should be relegated to the dustbin of history seems a bit shortsighted to me, given that they're not without their own advantages.

  4. stopped short of calling it "PlayStation 5." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    PS X! The X is for eXtreme!!!!1

    1. Re:stopped short of calling it "PlayStation 5." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PS V the V is for fuck you.

    2. Re:stopped short of calling it "PlayStation 5." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      will sell well in Eindhoven.

  5. "Cloud-based gaming" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone of those coke-headed money-stealing criminal Content Mafia pigs who is peddling this, deserves a long, hard prison sentence anf visit by Bubba BigDick.

    Ruining the entire artist industry in order to steal their money and work, and our money, ..m and not work for it, (aka the "intellectual property" crime scheme), ... is the only thing, those leeches ever amounted to.

  6. First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck yeah!

    1. Re:First by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Funny

      I can't wait to play you online. #Lag

  7. they jump because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because clouds are very high.

  8. Is Moore's law ready yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    True next generation means ray traced 8K graphics and Gigabit streaming/terabyte downloads. With Moore's law stuck on 14 nanometers on Intel's side and pseudo 7nanometer on AMD/ARM there's going to be a long wait until the hardware is ready.

    1. Re:Is Moore's law ready yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how the fuck can a law be stuck? Because its not a law? Seriously that sentence nearly gives me an aneurysm.

  9. Snoke is Grand Admiral Tarkin!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Think about it... He's disfigured because he didn't get away soon enough!

    1. Re:Snoke is Grand Admiral Tarkin!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My penis is an anaconda.

  10. It's got to be a better name than Xbone. by Grog6 · · Score: 2

    "What's you do today?"

    "I spent the day at my Xbone's house." :D

    --
    Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
    1. Re:It's got to be a better name than Xbone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they might be trying come up with something new to avoid the inevitable PlS5 nickname.

    2. Re:It's got to be a better name than Xbone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      XBone was an awful name, but at least it allowed them to follow up with the somewhat clever XBox One X

    3. Re:It's got to be a better name than Xbone. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is PIS5 worse than PIS4?

    4. Re:It's got to be a better name than Xbone. by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      Why is PIS5 worse than PIS4?

      Whoosh! Or rather, Splash!

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  11. Re: paying more money nothing you can see by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    If you're watching while blind, then you wouldn't.

  12. As Microsoft says, console generations are over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I imagine the next system will be another iteration on the PS4, Microsoft is already going the same route: https://www.engadget.com/2016/...

  13. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "At this point, what I can say is it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware"

    Really? Because it looks like the Switch is doing pretty well.

  14. Re:paying more money nothing you can see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Pretty sure the PS3 won't support the PSVR headset.

  15. Follow the MS route by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Call it "PS One" just to fuck with everybody.

    1. Re: Follow the MS route by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They already did that

  16. Playstation 360 We One by CRB9000 · · Score: 1

    EOM

  17. Dyslexia! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was that PS5 or P5S? Either way it hurts the eyes. No wonder Sony is looking for a rebrand.

  18. Best path to cloud gaming by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1

    The best path to cloud gaming is to have it alongside local gaming. Buy a game and you can play it locally or in the cloud, whatever suits you at a particular moment. Then people will use cloud when it is actually better (and if latency and bandwidth is under control it will be a better experience for a lot of games, eg vastly reduced load times). I guess PS Now is sorta doing this now, though it arrived at that situation from the opposite direction and doesnâ(TM)t sound like switching back and forth between cloud/local is as streamlined as youâ(TM)d want.

    --
    Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
  19. I know by dohzer · · Score: 1

    Playstation One. That would be a good name!

  20. Re: As Microsoft says, console generations are ove by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lol. you'd have to be nuts to follow the person coming last.