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

Surely this will confuse the consumer - sony is doing well and its only now that the great games are being released. Why undo the work that they have done?
 
BC isn't limited strictly to a short-cycle iterative model. People are concerned about more frequent console releases ~3 years, they're not in favor of creating a different architecture for each new system. Iterative in itself is not the problem.

This.
Can't see much benefit of frequent release. Bad for dev, bad for customer, bad for console maker.
 
With the current ps4, can you just swap out the hdd with the new ps4k model, as in take ps4 hdd out, remove new hdd in ps4k, then put in old ps4 hdd in it?

Or do you have to back up and restore ( which takes hours)
Don't think there is an answer for this yet, as the machine hasn't officially been announced.
 
Let's just hope that the new iteration includes SATA3. Load times has been shit this generation between the consoles.

SATA 3 won't do that much of a difference, though. Ssds are especially faster because of better access times, not necessarily due to higher bandwidth.
 
With the current ps4, can you just swap out the hdd with the new ps4k model, as in take ps4 hdd out, remove new hdd in ps4k, then put in old ps4 hdd in it?

Or do you have to back up and restore ( which takes hours)

Don't think there is an answer for this yet, as the machine hasn't officially been announced.

I'm pretty certain on both PS3 and PS4 when the drive is formatted in the machine it is locked to that machine (unique ID in firmware, or something like that). So you can't take an hard drive out of one PS4 and put it directly in another and expect it to just work, it'd need reformatting and either restore from backup or fresh installs.

I think it's an anti-piracy thing so you can't share games by loading one drive up with everything you want and using PC software to clone it for multiple machines.

Unless this has changed with a recent firmware update, then I'd say it's highly unlikely that you'd be able to take a hard drive out of a PS4 and put in a PS4K/PS4.5 without having to reformat and restore from backup.
 
Do you guys think this is to counter the NX launch
This move seems to me that it's directed to counter something, but I don't know if it's NX, XBO.5, other VR options, or a combination of all of them.

If you look at Sony itself, imho, it doesn't make sense to release a PS4.5 when the PS4 is performing greatly and they have PSVR right around the corner. It only confuses customers and distracts them from PSVR. So there must be something external that motivates this move.

E3 this year is going to be something else.
 
So this will be more powerful too? I guess i wouldn't mind if devs implemented settings for the more powerful console - imagine the witcher 3 in 60fps!
 
Do you guys think this is to counter the NX launch

Nope. A hardware revision was going to happen mid generation regardless of what Nintendo was doing. I don't think Sony would have anything to worry about as they sit on an install base of close to 40 million xD

I think they do to an extent. Letting Nintendo catch lightning in a bottle again can only harm marketshare

I think it speaks to Nintendo's position in the marketplace that 'catching lightning in a bottle' is the only way they can even compete. Likelihood of that happening is low. It's Nintendo who needs to worry about Microsoft and Sony. Not the other way around.
 
Do you guys think this is to counter the NX launch

This move seems to me that it's directed to counter something, but I don't know if it's NX, XBO.5, other VR options, or a combination of all of them.

This:

Nope. A hardware revision was going to happen mid generation regardless of what Nintendo was doing.

Exactly, the time and money in R&D needed to make this happen...no, this is something that is part of a long term plan. They decided this when they choose to partner with AMD on the PS4. This is the reason why both Microsoft and Sony partnered with AMD this gen.

Their APU design, performance per watt and, importantly, scale-ability beats the competition outside of lower powered ARM. Who else offers low powered x86 CPU's with integrated high performance GPU's?
 
So we have two big sources so far:

Kotaku [Scoops, Totilo & Press Sneak Fuck] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, will offer 4K support for games&multimedia, better GPU, better perfromance for PSVR
Digital Forundy [Leadbetter] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, confirms more GPU power being given to devs, offers speculation on 3 versions of PS4K


And two smaller ones:

Zhuge - claims that PS4K is a smaller replacement for current PS4 [essentially PS4 Slim], will offer mostly more processing power for PSVR and some TV games
The Know - claims that PS4K will be premium console, sold alongside cheaper traditional PS4. Gives more processing power to devs, enabling faster/better looking PSVR content, one big TV game scheduled to be released in mid 2017 will get a lot of optimizations for PS4K.
 
So we have two big sources so far:

Kotaku [Scoops, Totilo & Press Sneak Fuck] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, will offer 4K support for games&multimedia, better GPU, better perfromance for PSVR
Digital Forundy [Leadbetter] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, confirms more GPU power being given to devs, offers speculation on 3 versions of PS4K


And two smaller ones:

Zhuge - claims that PS4K is a smaller replacement for current PS4 [essentially PS4 Slim], will offer mostly more processing power for PSVR and some TV games
The Know - claims that PS4K will be premium console, sold alongside cheaper traditional PS4. Gives more processing power to devs, enabling faster/better looking PSVR content, one big TV game scheduled to be released in mid 2017 will get a lot of optimizations for PS4K.

Does Zhuge have a good track record for this sort of thing?
I'd put Zoetis in before mentioning Zhuge.

Also missing VentureBeat
 
4K means nothing nowadays. There are even TVs with 43" diagonal and 4K resolution on the market, for less than €400. The marketing department demands this bullet point even though it doesn't make sense at all at this size.

I am glad I bought a 1080p device last december, with around 30ms input lag (and passive 3D). At 55" and 2 to 3 meter distance I don't need 4K and certainly don't crave the added input lag for the upscaler. Those devices measure around 60ms input lag, which is 2 frames at 30 FPS or 4 at 60 FPS.

If the PS4 Slim & Tasty (or whatever it will be called, if it comes) can upscale it without penalty, it would be a win.
 
4K means nothing nowadays. There are even TVs with 43" diagonal and 4K resolution on the market, for less than €400. The marketing department demands this bullet point even though it doesn't make sense at all at this size.

I am glad I bought a 1080p device last december, with around 30ms input lag (and passive 3D). At 55" and 2 to 3 meter distance I don't need 4K and certainly don't crave the added input lag for the upscaler. Those devices measure around 60ms input lag, which is 2 frames at 30 FPS or 4 at 60 FPS.

If the PS4 Slim & Tasty (or whatever it will be called, if it comes) can upscale it without penalty, it would be a win.

You're absolutely right. I've bought a cheap (300€) Samsung 32" last year, because the it has low input. It's an interim solution until 4K TVs with acceptable Input lag hit the 500$/€ price range.

But I have to say, now that I've built a new PC, I remeber those 1080p vs. 900p vs. 720p discussions here on GAF...holy molly, the difference can be night and day. 720p is an anbsolute no-go at this point.
 
Does Zhuge have a good track record for this sort of thing?
I'd put Zoetis in before mentioning Zhuge.

Also missing VentureBeat
Venturebeat isn't confirming anything, as far as I can tell:

"Of course, we don’t know how Sony and Microsoft will market these systems or even if they’re really going to ever come out."

Just another site using Kotaku as a source and using it as a jumping off point for speculation.
 
4K means nothing nowadays. There are even TVs with 43" diagonal and 4K resolution on the market, for less than €400. The marketing department demands this bullet point even though it doesn't make sense at all at this size.

I am glad I bought a 1080p device last december, with around 30ms input lag (and passive 3D). At 55" and 2 to 3 meter distance I don't need 4K and certainly don't crave the added input lag for the upscaler. Those devices measure around 60ms input lag, which is 2 frames at 30 FPS or 4 at 60 FPS.

If the PS4 Slim & Tasty (or whatever it will be called, if it comes) can upscale it without penalty, it would be a win.

This is a silly thing to say because what 4K does is allow you to get closer to your TV & see more details. you can enjoy a 43" in the same space that you used to enjoy a 1080P 23" or whatever.

People used to have 25" floor model TVs & they would sit all the way across their living room & now we have 27" monitors that we can sit about 1 foot away from
4068b6bd119f9e9a43f9bd33b107fcf2.jpg
 
Stop being so confrontational, and sense the obvious lightheartedness of that particular comment. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you and your short fuse?

Console generations are going to change. Gone are the days when a console would be an affordable way to get high-end gaming hardware that holds up well for years on end. These things are going to be dated in far shorter periods of time, and with the oh-so evident demand for better graphics, there's little choice but to release on a shorter cycle. Incremental upgrades prevent older revisions becoming immediately irrelevant and unable to play new games, so it's a better solution than short generations for those that don't want to upgrade very often.
This makes no sense if you're trying to get mass market appeal.
 
No, That's turning consoles into premium products. Around 180m consoles (MS/Sony) were sold last gen. Only 45m have been sold so far this gen. Accepting a number of multiple purchases, there are still a lot of gamers on last gen waiting for a price reduction model.

Replacing PS4 entirely with PS4.5 and releasing a new console every 3 years, fixing a price point of $400, is bad for consumers. I don't think the market will hold that kind of model.

That's assuming those people are still part of the console market. We've had threads before questioning whether those people would buy a console at any price point now that they have smartphones and tablets.

Maybe you're right and there are 100 million consumers waiting for a $200 PS4 though.
 
This is a silly thing to say because what 4K does is allow you to get closer to your TV & see more details. you can enjoy a 43" in the same space that you used to enjoy a 1080P 23" or whatever.

People used to have 25" floor model TVs & they would sit all the way across their living room & now we have 27" monitors that we can sit about 1 foot away from
4068b6bd119f9e9a43f9bd33b107fcf2.jpg

I remember playing our NES on a 32" floor model. Thought we were pretty cool back then.
Couldn't imagine anything bigger.
 
I am interested to see what kind of effect on the market a half generation upgrade will do. They have never really worked before and it might have a detrimental effect on the PS4's potential userbase. I can kinda see why they are doing it, mainly for PSVR reasons but it still feels a little weird.

Will keep an eye on it for sure but me holding out for a good PS4 price is basically bombed by them hinting at an upgraded version.
 
It's funny how people seem to think iterative consoles would be no different than a new phone every couple years. I spend around $60-$100 every time I get a new phone, not $300-$500.
 
So we have two big sources so far:

Kotaku [Scoops, Totilo & Press Sneak Fuck] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, will offer 4K support for games&multimedia, better GPU, better perfromance for PSVR
Digital Forundy [Leadbetter] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, confirms more GPU power being given to devs, offers speculation on 3 versions of PS4K


And two smaller ones:

Zhuge - claims that PS4K is a smaller replacement for current PS4 [essentially PS4 Slim], will offer mostly more processing power for PSVR and some TV games
The Know - claims that PS4K will be premium console, sold alongside cheaper traditional PS4. Gives more processing power to devs, enabling faster/better looking PSVR content, one big TV game scheduled to be released in mid 2017 will get a lot of optimizations for PS4K.
I guess its confirmed, want to buy it but what if its replaced again in three years?
 
So we have two big sources so far:

Kotaku [Scoops, Totilo & Press Sneak Fuck] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, will offer 4K support for games&multimedia, better GPU, better perfromance for PSVR
Digital Forundy [Leadbetter] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, confirms more GPU power being given to devs, offers speculation on 3 versions of PS4K


And two smaller ones:

Zhuge - claims that PS4K is a smaller replacement for current PS4 [essentially PS4 Slim], will offer mostly more processing power for PSVR and some TV games
The Know - claims that PS4K will be premium console, sold alongside cheaper traditional PS4. Gives more processing power to devs, enabling faster/better looking PSVR content, one big TV game scheduled to be released in mid 2017 will get a lot of optimizations for PS4K.

Thanks for the synopsis. Looking forward to what it will be. The Know one has me intrigued about the "Big TV Game"... possibly the new Overkill's, The Walking Dead?

I guess its confirmed, want to buy it but what if its replaced again in three years?

Probably be the PS5 then in 3-4 years, with more than likely the same ecosystem.

It's funny how people seem to think iterative consoles would be no different than a new phone every couple years. I spend around $60-$100 every time I get a new phone, not $300-$500.

Only because it is subsidized in your contract or interest free payment plans (no contract). After a couple of years, you pay $3-$600 if you get a quality phone. $80-$100 flat phone is basically an overpriced burner in todays tech world.

I can see them subsidizing these consoles into some contract plan if they get some places like Best Buy, etc., on board if Vue takes off even more. Set-top box phase 3 will be initiated, lol.
 
Does Zhuge have a good track record for this sort of thing?
I'd put Zoetis in before mentioning Zhuge.

Also missing VentureBeat

Thanks. Updated

Big sources so far:

Kotaku [Scoops, Totilo & Press Sneak Fuck] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, will offer 4K support for games&multimedia, better GPU, better perfromance for PSVR
Digital Forundy [Leadbetter] - confirmed PS4K existence from their sources, confirms more GPU power being given to devs, offers speculation on 3 versions of PS4K
Venture Beat - they have insiders "who are not suprised by this" and few who were unable to comment due to NDAs


And few smaller ones:

Zoetis - GAF insider that insists PS4K is real, all games will still be targeted for PS4 but new console will run PS4 games at higher fidelity
Zhuge - claims that PS4K is possibly a smaller replacement for current PS4 [essentially PS4 Slim], will offer mostly more processing power for PSVR and some TV games
The Know - claims that PS4K will be premium console, sold alongside cheaper traditional PS4. Gives more processing power to devs, enabling faster/better looking PSVR content, one big TV game scheduled to be released in mid 2017 will get a lot of optimizations for PS4K.
 
I guess its confirmed, want to buy it but what if its replaced again in three years?
Well, right now that seems your best case scenario. Worse case scenario, nobody buys PS4.5, very few games use the extra power and it's replaced in 2 years.

With the old 4-7 year generation model, the risk was on the maker. If they made a console that didn't succeed, they had to support that for at least 4 years. With the new iterative model, if they release a dud, they can release a newer version whenever they want, and stop supporting the dud whenever they want. The risk is all yours.
 
That's the hilarious part.

Which is why I recommend Sony turn the PS4 into something pc like, with upgradable parts instead of having gamers left with what is essentially a doorstop. At least former consoles TRIED to be sensible and release an upgrade module like with 32x or sega cd, and even those saw limited success. Creating a completely new console for the exact same generation makes no sense to me.
 
Better yet, people saying they'll commit to PC where they'll always feel behind the curve and be spending much more money on upgrades more frequently.

Though what I can't get is why the PC gets so much blame for being expensive when you can upgrade gradually and you don't replace the entire PC when you upgrade. If I wanted better graphics right now I'd upgrade my GPU. If I wanted the same thing on PS4 it looks like I'll need to buy a brand new console.
 
I am interested to see what kind of effect on the market a half generation upgrade will do. They have never really worked before and it might have a detrimental effect on the PS4's potential userbase. I can kinda see why they are doing it, mainly for PSVR reasons but it still feels a little weird.

Will keep an eye on it for sure but me holding out for a good PS4 price is basically bombed by them hinting at an upgraded version.

The way I see it it's just the PS4 but with more compute units , better offloading chips & display engines for up rendering to 4K.


Devs should see it as a PS4 but Sony have more compute & offloading power to use for up-rendering , frame rate re-projecting & so on.


If the code that they are using for up-rendering is good enough we might even see 4K games on the standard PS4.
 
Guys how do you think this could affect the next generation?
I was talking with some friends and all of us bought the PS4 near to the release.
Now with this PS4K stuff we are kind split some say they would buy others dont.
But when it comes to next gen we already have the same thought: not buying day one, will wait for the "0.5" edition.
How do you feel about it?
Would you buy a PS5 on day one or would rather wait for the enhaced edition?
 
Guys how do you think this could affect the next generation?
I was talking with some friends and all of us bought the PS4 near to the release.
Now with this PS4K stuff we are kind split some say they would buy others dont.
But when it comes to next gen we already have the same thought: not buying day one, will wait for the "0.5" edition.
How do you feel about it?
Would you buy a PS5 on day one or would rather wait for the enhaced edition?

For damn sure I'm not going to be an early adopter for PS5. The best games releases mid way into the generation. I'll wait 3-4 years into the next generation to buy if I do.
 
For damn sure I'm not going to be an early adopter for PS5. The best games releases mid way into the generation. I'll wait 3-4 years into the next generation to buy if I do.

I may start doing this like I did with the iPhone, before I left for Android after 6+ years. I only upgraded on the 'S' revisions.

Yeah mine is a 55" Sharp Aquos 4K and it was $650. The tech cratered in price pretty quick. You can still spend $3000 if you want one, but there's no need to do right now.

Yep, and they have decent 'off-brands' that use same panels and parts in the $250-$350 range for larger sizes as well.
 
Not very big if 4k displays are already sub $1000. I'm actually surprised by tnat how quickly 4k displays have become affordable.

Yeah mine is a 55" Sharp Aquos 4K and it was $650. The tech cratered in price pretty quick. You can still spend $3000 if you want one, but there's no need to do right now.
 
For damn sure I'm not going to be an early adopter for PS5. The best games releases mid way into the generation. I'll wait 3-4 years into the next generation to buy if I do.

And what if there are no more traditional generations? What if what you consider the "ps5" is actually the ps4.6 and the ps5.5 is just the ps4.7 and the ps6 is the ps4.8 (and by then the original ps4 is dropped from receiving games, updates and patches)

I hope Sony has a replacement plan in place for those with a ps4 already. Like 100 bucks? :_(

Lol you're talking about Sony here
 
For damn sure I'm not going to be an early adopter for PS5. The best games releases mid way into the generation. I'll wait 3-4 years into the next generation to buy if I do.

I don't think there's going to be a next generation. In my opinion the PS4 is going to be constantly updated until Sony can drop '4' and just call their console 'Playstation'.
 
Which is why I recommend Sony turn the PS4 into something pc like, with upgradable parts instead of having gamers left with what is essentially a doorstop. At least former consoles TRIED to be sensible and release an upgrade module like with 32x or sega cd, and even those saw limited success. Creating a completely new console for the exact same generation makes no sense to me.

It's still the PS4 just with offloading power for up rendering to 4K
 
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