Kotaku: Sony is working on a ‘PS4.5; briefing devs on plans for a more powerful PS4

Netherscourge said:
Sounds like AMD is about to announce its first APU using a Polaris/Arctic Circle Hybrid with HBM 2.0 architecture.

...and it'll debut in the PS4.5...maybe?

THIS is how you top-off PC gaming in 2016 - you announce something PCs don't even have commercially available yet and BLOW AWAY the competition with insane graphic-processing capability.

Pascal be damned.

Hopefully, this is their approach.

/fingers crossed.
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The amount of money that it would take to convince a company to go exclusive on hardware of that caliber would be, uh. Well, absurd. Even "timed" exclusive.
 
If it's true what's to stop Sony or developers from putting out games that only run on the better hardware (New 3DS/Xenoblade Chronicles style)? That would be terrible.
 
Is the biggest concern that developers would move away from providing PS4 and PS4.5 compatible games sooner rather than later? If yes, what would be an acceptable transition point for you?
 
Asd202 said:
If it's true I don't think we'll hear about it this year. Sony has VR to release this year they won't start talking about another PS hardware this year.
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Yup. Scoops has his ear to the ground so I assume the briefing is recent. I doubt there's even a devkit yet, so I'd even guess that it won't be next year to get some games out ready for when if does come out.
 
Brinbe said:
Considering the industry? Who has confidence that Devs will pay ANY attention to adequately supporting those left behind? It's a power race to the top and that's how it'll be with these iterations.
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Sony mandating it like they do the 60fps for their VR system?

Want to use our install base? Well you better support the og PS4 too!
 
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Whales said:
Except you can keep your old phone even when upgraded versions are out. Phones from 2013 still support the same apps as the new 2016 phones.

If this ps4.5 happens, do you think developpers would make a "ps4.5" version of a game and then a "ps4" version too?
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problem is we are cross gen'd permanently and cross gen fucking sucks.....it also means that the old version may be even gimped to sell newer hardware or run even worse than some of the crap we get now.


I'm not a fan of this approach
 
Again, if one is doing it, it's always a safe bet that another one will as well. That is how it goes in the console market, with the exception of Nintendo. This does not surprise me one bit.
 
Gotta see how this is priced and delivered but i think I'm for this. We don't want have another 8 year gen but we don't want things getting dated.

Do we'll see. Let's wait for an official announcement
 
Lol, if we really start getting iterative power level consoles from everyone, I'm out completely and just putting that money in to my PC, which already handles that situation better.

ironcreed said:
Again, if one is doing it, it's always a safe bet that another one will as well. That is how it goes in the console market, with the exception of Nintendo. This does not surprise me one bit.
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What do you consider the n3ds and dsi? Does it not apply to handhelds?
 
Chances are whatever it is, I'm not getting it anytime soon so whatever. Good for the people who want a graphical upgrade I guess.
 
nillapuddin said:
They can convince people that cellphones costs 600 god damn dollars and make you pay it off over 2 years, again, again, and again.

But we cant even theorize a fucking video game machine costing 400 bucks and it needs to last 7 years!?

The lack of perspective is STAGGERING


I bet if it costs 20 bucks a month for consoles and mp sub, people would eat it the fuck up.
I know I would


WERE x86 NOW, get real. Its just a computer in a box. Hell, the Xbox is closer than ever
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I use my phone about 5000times more than my ps4. Every day. It's in my pocket pretty much from dwy to night.

Of course it's more important to upgrade your phone more often. Also good phones last more than 2 years too...

But the ps4.5 isnt a good idea, at all. It would basically split the userbase and the games. No fucking way games are gonna come out for both of them
 
Brinbe said:
Considering the industry? Who has confidence that Devs will pay ANY attention to supporting those left behind? It's a power race to the top and that's how it'll be with these iterations.
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It's all about money. AAA games cost a ton in production and no one will want to pass on the current install base of 30m+ only to appeal to a smaller user base. That wouldn't make any sense.

If the New 3DS is an indication, you rather have to worry about devs supporting the additional horse power of the PS4.5 at all.
 
Tookay said:
Of course they aren't entitled to it. Sony and co. can do whatever they want. But just because they can do it doesn't mean they should.

In this case, "getting with the times" basically means fundamentally violating one of the core tenets/purposes for the console market in the first place.
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For the third time? What is that tenant that is being broken by a better performing system that plays the exact same games, on the exact same ui, with the exact same controller?

Does someone else having 60fps while you have 30 mean you system is worthless?
 
Mass_Pincup said:
Games is subjective but system power is a bit weird when no one believed that the PS4 would release with 8GB of ram. Astor services I don't really know what you're referring to. Playstation Vue seems pretty cool for US folks, Playstation Now and functional remote play are good additions to the ecosystem in my opinion.
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The 360 was a high end gaming PC when it was released. The PS4/XB1 were low to mid tier PC's. 8GB of GDDR is nice, but not a big deal when the graphics card is weak. XB1 is just crap in terms of hardware capability.

Services I mean stability of the networks and value of the services. PSN was free last generation. It's not free this generation, but it's no better. XBL is somehow worse on XB1. PS+ was amazing last generation. Getting retail game after retail game. Now we just get indie garbage. GWG is worse because we don't really own the games. Selection could be better.

Backwards compatibility was an afterthought, if even that much. I have no interest in streaming a small selection of games. XB1 isn't much better. There's no streaming, but the selection sucks.

I will give you playstation vue. That is a solid service.
 
Anyone with an old phone knows new apps designed for the new shiny version run like crap on it...


I really dont like the idea of this entering the console space. Devs already push out sub 30 FPS games regularly.
 
The sad thing is these consoles still haven't hit their stride yet and we're already getting new boxes.

This generation sucks. Thank the lord for PC.

Hope both companies experience severe losses due to this so that they learn their lesson trying to pull this crap.
 
I love incremental upgrades every 3-4 years. Prevents consoles from getting too long in the tooth.

I'll have to evaluate the specs and see if building a PC makes more sense at that point.
 
Neuromancer said:
If it's true what's to stop Sony or developers from putting out games that only run on the better hardware (New 3DS/Xenoblade Chronicles style)? That would be terrible.
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That's the concern I voiced in the "Microsoft open to the idea of iterative console hardware" thread.

Iterative hardware keeps people on a leash. It would not be good for consumers.
 
Mihos said:
If they are adding stuff like 4k Blueray, better WiFi, HDMI passthrough, and built in VR support (instead of the breakout box) and not really messing with the game engine stuff, I don't see much of a problem.


Add a Vita slot and make a premium version that plays PS3 disks, and I will give you a wheelbarrow full of money.
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Ooh, I like this idea. Vita slot and I will raise you PS2/PS3 compatibility!
 
joms5 said:
The sad thing is these consoles still haven't hit their stride yet and we're already getting new boxes.

This generation sucks. Thank the lord for PC.

Hope both companies experience severe losses due to this so that they learn their lesson trying to pull this crap.
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There's no stride to hit.
 
nillapuddin said:
They can convince people that cellphones costs 600 god damn dollars and make you pay it off over 2 years, again, again, and again.

But we cant even theorize a fucking video game machine costing 400 bucks and it needs to last 7 years!?

The lack of perspective is STAGGERING


I bet if it costs 20 bucks a month for consoles and mp sub, people would eat it the fuck up.
I know I would


WERE x86 NOW, get real. Its just a computer in a box. Hell, the Xbox is closer than ever
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Consoles doesn't have neither the usefulness or even the appeal for the "casual" crowd of smartphones. Comparing them is absurd.

And btw I don't upgrade phones every two years, Im still rocking my Nexus 5 and will do. But still, they're 2 completely different markets.
 
A few requirements to sell me on this:

- Full backwards compatibility, including DS4. I do not want a new controller. Unless its DS4 with better battery life.

- Hardware that can EASILY 60FPS full settings the most challenging current software, like Witcher 3.

- Along with that upgrade, software emulation for (at the very minimum) PSX and PS2. PS3 is a pipe dream but hey.

- Make the upgrade linear enough to allow developers to...maybe patch performance enhancements to old PS4 titles? (Witcher 3, RoTR, FFXV, ect)


Other than that, im cool with my PS4 and i have a PC. I'm probably gonna buy this anyway if it's true, but i wont be excited for it unless it's more convenient than my PS4.
 
Was expecting a PS4K announcement at this year's E3. Would be nice to see a bundle with PSVR as well for $699 or $799, which would be on par with HTC's Vive.
 
Neuromancer said:
If it's true what's to stop Sony or developers from putting out games that only run on the better hardware (New 3DS/Xenoblade Chronicles style)? That would be terrible.
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That's the sticky part. At some point you have to do that. Until then, games will be limited to what the ps4 can do in terms of design. That's what a ps5 is for. And that's just a few years away.

So if this is real, it means that there is a real demand for 4k gaming either now or pretty soon.

Or maybe the ps5 will play new games with new technology but not at 4k? And the 4k versions of consoles will be like S-cylce iphones for awhile while 4k takes over?

It all depends on how popular 4k is. I guess the tvs are pretty affordable and they look awesome at the store. Maybe it's true?
 
Pretty sure I'd bite here, but ONLY - and ONLY IF - there is a significant discount for OG PS4 owners and possibly even smaller sweetners here, so to speak, but the former is the major one for me.

If I get somewhere in the region of a 50/60/maybe even 70 percent discount or whatever, I'd be in. If no discount, no sale.

Plus, I saw one post mention the New 3DS changeover in regards to this. And that'd be fine, except between 3DS and New 3DS, there are one or two games that are unplayable on OG 3DS and New 3DS (Xenoblade 3D being one of them).

I don't want that kind of fragmentation on PS4. What if there's a game coming to PS4 I want to play, but is only playable through PS4K? Lets use a hypothetical Last of Us 2 here. What if that's PS4K only similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is on New 3DS only? I don't know if I'd want that. Actually, I straight up don't.
 
Brinbe said:
Why the fuck are people comparing this to phones and tablets? That model works because there is a broad worldwide mass market to support that yearly upgrade plan.

Consoles do not have that luxury at all. It's not nearly the same in any instance. There is only niche audience that could reasonably afford to keep up and it will be a disaster. They won't make any of their money back.
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This wouldn't be yearly, and that frequency isn't why consoles haven't done this already. Consoles haven't had multi-supported platform releases because each revision had wildly different architecture making it cost prohibitive for developers to support both. Consoles are now x86 with OSes built on either open source software or in Microsoft's case a toggled release set of Windows 10.

I can play Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Fallout 3, Street Fighter 5, Starcraft II, and dozens of other games on my 2004 PC, or my 2009 PC, or my 2014 PC. All on Windows 10.

I cannot however play Xbox 360 or PS3 games on newer consoles without significant software development investment, making it cost prohibitive.

Granted PC games are buggier, but that's because there are hundreds of configurations without any centralized tooling to ensure higher quality. Sony and Microsoft can easily provide APIs that are tailored for a mere 3 configurations. It lets their fanbase decide when to upgrade without walling them off on software, and it lets them maintain their marketshare.
 
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