Sony Offers Brief Comment on PS5

No surprises here.
I clicked the link to read the original article for more info, but it’s a subscription only website, but I was wondering, why does he think “it’s necessary”? I’m assuming based on the source he was speaking in reference to Sony’s financial health.

That was Briefer than I was expecting

I'm not too worried about it, I'm happy with my PlayStation 4 Pro performance and library of games. The PlayStation 5 will release when there is the need to release it.

@Neolit Oh, yeah, that makes sense now. I won’t sell all my Sony stock just yet.

You know what this means guys? Knack 3 baby!

@JoeBlogs Eh no, hardware is necessary to play games, I mean look at the smartphone industry, it's a device super connected to internet, yet they still have new hardware every year, with new cpu, screen and new tech, there's no talk about smartphone hardware is going to diappear and all smartphone will be streaming device only.

And I don't think microsoft, always last place in hardware race on all generation (ps2, wii, ps4 gen), will dictate where gamers will be heading lol.

Pre-ordered.

@wiiware it actually was second afrer ps2. The gamecube was the least successful of the 5 gen, when taking into account console sales.

Of course its necessary. Gaming is the 'biggest' media currently and Sony's most profitable division. Spider-Man (Game) making more profit in its opening week than Spider-Man: Homecoming. If Sony want to keep delivering the 'top' games at the highest standard, then they will have to make a next generation console.

The 'iterative' approach isn't really Sony either. The Pro was born out of necessity as people were transitioning from HD to 4k and it was too early to bring out a 'new' generation so Sony made a 'half way' step. The iterative approach would be difficult to maintain long term as at some point, the weakest' console just won't have the hardware to run the latest games. At some point, you have to either go without new releases or exclude that console. Sony have been adamant that the PS4, whether Pro or base, will offer the same games and both are essentially 4th gen Sony Consoles. If they added another, much more powerful iteration, at some point, the base PS4 will have to miss out on games or the PS4 family miss out entirely.

As for when, there is definitely a lot of areas that the PS4/Pro falls very short on now due to hardware limitations. We all know that the Consoles are limited often to just 30fps and can't maintain a consistent frame-rate AND Resolution in many titles - opting to use dynamic scaling which is essentially dropping the visual quality to cope with busier scenes instead of the frame rates. Can't deliver the 'full' 4k with reasonably high visual settings either and often not great draw distances for things like shadows, textures, reflections etc.

Of course games still look impressive and generally play well too. PS4 exclusives may well look and run superbly but they are built specifically for the hardware. If draw distance in a scene is an issue for example, they can reduce it by changing the scene, put a wall in so that draw distance isn't an issue. If too many enemies are an issue, reduce the count - they can't really change multi-platform games to suit the hardware and be 'different' across the different devices so they have to reduce frame rates or image quality (not just resolution) to handle it. In terms of image size, 1440p isn't 'half' way to 4k, its around 1/3rd of 4k and then there are things like Dolby Atmos audio and Game VRR that are 'missing' from the PS4 too.

I know that 'cost' is an issue for consoles and having a console capable of meeting the standards of the display they could be connected to (ie 4k HDR TV's with Game VRR) isn't cheap and I know that 'some' people will be resistant to change - especially those who still have older HD TV's and content with the amount of scaling down games have to do to run on current hardware, but Sony will need to keep at the forefront of technology and certainly can't rest on their success. A new generation doesn't mean the instant death of the PS4 either - as proven by their previous generations and how long they continued to be supported after the next gen released. 6yrs is still a LONG generation!

Seeing there are 3-5 big 1st party titles left (and they cancelled the PS event this year so they aren't going to anything that big any more), you would guess were around 18 months away from a new generation.

I wouldn't be surprised if they ship it Q1 2020 so they don't experience stock shortages at Christmas.

Take your time Sony, and do it right.

cant wait. from ps1 in 1995 to the king of gaming.been a PlayStation fan since day 1.PlayStation is the g.o.a.t. like the best nfl franchises ever. pittsburgh Steelers. and nas.word up son

@Zoroflamingo Oo I forget about gamecube, I don't know why gamecube is not successful since the box is cheap ($200 if I remember correctly), the console not using expensive cartridge, and it's more powerful than ps2. I though at least it's on 2nd place, compared to wii u gamecube is way more attractive console.

@playstation1995 Steelers couldnt even beat the Browns, unlike the mighty Raiders!

You get Bell back soon, which is bad, I'll need to replace Conner on fantasy football.

Still some life in the PS4 yet, got KH3, Ghosts and LoU2 on my radar.

And in other news, Pope puts on funny hat!

"next-generation hardware"

Clearly he's referring to a "PS Duo", named after their failed memory cards and modeled after the Switch hybrid model. But done right, no big ugly dock and miniscule 32GB storage, it will have mini-HDMI or wireless dongle TV out, no Joycon, basically a Vita with a separate DS4 controller in the box.

Now that would be real "next-generation hardware" Not a PS5, that's just more of the same.

Clearly he is talking about the PS Vita 2: Electric Boogaloo.

@wiiware "Eh no, hardware is necessary to play games"

Maybe you missed yesterdays big MS announcement that @JoeBlogs was referring to, here's the /. version, and it could be interpreted as MS getting out of the home console business, just making everything playable on PC and streaming everywhere else, TV, phone, Surface tablet.

https://games.slashdot.org/story/18/10/08/2152251/microsoft-announces-project-xcloud-for-streaming-games-to-pcs-consoles-and-mobile-devices

If you dont' like /. google "project Xcloud" and you'll get more. Here's the official MS blog talking it up.

https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2018/10/08/project-xcloud-gaming-with-you-at-the-center/

I think the key phrase in the blog is "and on any device of your choosing." To me that sounds like a company giving up on dedicated hardware. Which might be related to Sony saying "next gen is coming".

I really thought Sammy would run a soapbox about it to be honest. Maybe he's still writing it.

Pfft. This scribe expected something a little more exciting from the titular PS5 comment.

@rjejr Just like psnow?

@eltomo. pittsburgh Steelers is the best.the best nfl franchises ever.we going to the playoffs.and win the Superbowl.word up son

What exactly will be different on a PS5 though, graphics wise? I mean, can they get much better than they are now, in reality? To be fair, I will likely get a PS5 at some point in the distant future, but only if I can play my digital PS4 games on it and it is a million times better graphically than PS4. Personally, I can't really spot a huge difference between regular and Pro consoles so doubt another console will be that much better. A lot of games have neared photo-realism now anyway, how do you top that?

@JoeBlogs "include PlayStation consoles"

I wondered that as well. You can play Minecraft on a PS4, so here's that. And MS and Nintneod looked chummy with cross play on the switch. And how many other games does MS make? Enough that they should worry about them playing on a Sony console? If anything Sony would block the streaming aspect coming in.

I dont' things are as isolated and competitive as they once were. I was shocked when Sony let PS Now onto PC's, but it hardly registered on the internet. If MS got out of the dedicated home console hardware business - I don't think they'll give up on Surface tablets or laptops - then they aren't Sony competitors, so why not? When Sony gets out of the handheld market they may play nice with Ntineod if Switch remains an under powered handheld that can't do 4k home console games.

Sony makes home consoles and games, Ntinedo makes a handheld and games, MS makes everything work together. No real competition, just money making. So yeah, streaming on PS5 from PC is a possibility.

And it's not like MS hasn't abandoned hardware areas before. Zune crash and burned, I dont' think they make portable music players any more. Their phone business crash and burned, no more phones. They may make an Xbox 2, but I think it becomes more a PC under the TV than ever before, their game exclusives aren't barnstormers. They could become a Sega - Minecraft, Forza, Gears of War, Halo - on PS5 and Switch 2, while also making an Xbox 2 as a multimedia device. I'm not sure why anybody would buy 1 then, but I'm not sure why anybody buys 1 now.

@wiiware And what kind of crappy games do you want to play. Well the phone i just terrible to play on.

@wiiware Just like psnow

Well I dont' think they think of it that way. PS Now is a subscription service, we pay a certain amount each month to play a limited amount of games, some of which we can download, most of which we can not, and we can play those on PS4 and PC.

MS is looking at this more like Apple or Android, buy once, play anywhere, same save point, no subscriptions, no limits. But all streaming off of their servers. I dont' think they'd get any money from consumers, (or maybe I'm wrong on that) I think they'd get it all as a hosting company like they do with Azure and Amazon does with AWS. Only they want to bridge it all, all devices, all OS, Apple, Google, Win X, Sony, Nintendo.

This article, if you can deal with all of Forbes ads, brings up Azure in relation to Project Xcloud.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2018/10/08/microsoft-reveals-project-xcloud-where-you-can-play-xbox-games-anywhere-on-anything/#66751a7268d0

I just gotta complete my purchased 30 odd PS4 games and a dozen PSVR... Ah PS5 I hope you have backwards compatibility cos I ain't got no space for two consoles.

From that it sounds it ps5 might be the last traditional console. Streaming after that.. Imo

@rjejr Just like psnow when it first launched? I remember we can play ps4 games on psnow with psvita, ps3, pc, smartphone and smart tv. But sony scaled back psnow only to ps4 and pc because maybe their infrastructure is not ready.

Or is it xbox cloud will play any game that we bought digitally on xbox store? Like if I bought gear 5 on xbox1, I can stream it using the cloud on my smartphone, ipad or pc. It's cool if it's like that.

@wiiware I'm not sure how to answer your question, I'm just following along like everybody else.

Streaming will never be the only option for gaming lol. With the amount of collector's editions they sell etc etc. Streaming will be an alternative at best for the foreseeable future. They are NOT piss off retailers at this point who carries their hardware and games. People will believe anything.... sheep. (Baaaaa) 🐑

@JoeBlogs well you wouldnt be able to play it on your toaster either

Did anyone see the successful Google gaming stream for Assassin's Creed Odyssey through Chrome? Have a look on Polygons website, it's quite an interesting read. I would like to think that Sony have the groundwork sorted, info from ps now etc, for when it does all go streaming and they aren't left lagging behind.

I hope it's not just 2 PS4 Pro's stuck together (i.e power-wise and that is it) :-/ It needs to be something incredible in power terms and not just a PS4 Pro-point-2. Looking forward to it anyway

@rjejr If xbox streaming solution is good maybe I'll buy ps5 for my main console and stream xbox for it's exclusive, I want to try gear of war 4 & 5

@wiiware Sounds like a good plan.

I never played Gears of War 4, I liked the way 3 ended then traded in my Xbox1 for a Switch. Which I'm sure the PS mods will be happy to read.

Sony know that a console gen refresh every 6 years is the best way to keep everyone engaged and excited about the game industry, which is even bigger than the film and music industry.

PS5 does not have to be a complete new direction like CELL, cutting all ties with the past. That was a big mistake. It can remain within the scaleable PC architecture via AMD and play PS4 games as normal, but offer stuff way beyond what the PS4 could achieve.

Unlike previous gens, back compat on PS5 is a must now because the PS4 game graphics will age well and need to be replayed on PS5 long after the PS4 dies.

PS4 Pro has already reached a threshold of graphical fidelity that is hard to improve without a huge boost in hardware. PC is the same. The differences between PC and console are very slight. 10 years ago, the difference was huge. Today, the PC has an extra shadow detail here and there, or a sharper tree. 10 years ago the console port was a totally different game on console, the tree was gone, whole buildings were gone, whole maps were redesigned on a smaller scale.

That was night and day. Not the tiny difference between PC and console that the PC master race are calling night and day today. They are too young to have seen what night and day really looks like. The gap has closed dramatically.

I laugh when I see these PC tech demos showing a state of the art forest scene that looks almost identical to the forest scenes in Far Cry Primal or Far Cry 5 on PS4 Pro, apart from a few tiny extra details. It's not night and day. Or the guy pulling hilariously painful grimaces with his cheeks. It's all tech and no art. Uncharted 4 is doing the tech and the art already.

So if you squint your eyes, the PS5 version with look very similar to the PS4 Pro version. All the extra power will go into the little details that are hard to do, such as 60fps, better physics, better AI and a systemic integration of all the parts to form an immersive living world.

I would not be surprised if the PS5 still used checkerboard rendering to save processing power for other uses, such as checkerboard at 6K and downsample to 4K for superior anti-aliasing, or checkerboard at 4k and use the extra power for ray traced reflections. All those smart solutions will look visually superior to native 4K.