It appears that the age of iterative consoles has arrived. Hooray. Speaking with the Financial Times,
Sony Interactive Entertainment president Andrew House has confirmed
that all of the reports we’ve been hearing about for the past few months
are accurate: Sony is indeed working on an upgraded PlayStation 4.
The system, codenamed “Neo,” will have upgraded hardware that will
allow it to produce 4K resolution and better graphics, and is built for
Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR
peripheral. The system is not meant to supplant the current PS4, and
will be sold alongside it. House didn’t give an exact price for the Neo,
only saying that it would be more expensive than the current $350
console. The PS4 Neo is being aimed at “hardcore” gamers and those who
want more high-resolution content.
The system will be backwards compatible with almost all current PS4 games. The report actually says “all or a very large majority of games will also support the high-end PS4.” This tells us that we can expect that some PS4 games may not be playable on the Neo. The report also says that developers will only be required to put in a “small but manageable” amount of effort when creating games for both the PS4 and Neo.
Mister House isn’t worried about consumers who may not be happy that a
new PlayStation console will be launched so closely after the last
system. “The consumer is attuned to a different cadence of innovation in
technology thanks in great part for the upgrades cadence on mobile
phones or PCs.” This statement mirrors what Xbox head Phil Spencer said
about his company’s plans for an upgraded Xbox One.
Those looking forward to hearing more about the PS4 Neo during next week’s E3 event will be disappointed to learn that Sony does not plan to discuss it during their annual press conference. Some reports suggested that the console could be released as early as this fall, but House has stated that Sony is not ready to announce a launch window for the PS4 Neo at this time. But don’t lack the lack of Neo stop you from checking out all of Geek.com’s E3 coverage next week.
The system, codenamed “Neo,” will have upgraded hardware that will
allow it to produce 4K resolution and better graphics, and is built for
Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR
peripheral. The system is not meant to supplant the current PS4, and
will be sold alongside it. House didn’t give an exact price for the Neo,
only saying that it would be more expensive than the current $350
console. The PS4 Neo is being aimed at “hardcore” gamers and those who
want more high-resolution content.The system will be backwards compatible with almost all current PS4 games. The report actually says “all or a very large majority of games will also support the high-end PS4.” This tells us that we can expect that some PS4 games may not be playable on the Neo. The report also says that developers will only be required to put in a “small but manageable” amount of effort when creating games for both the PS4 and Neo.
Those looking forward to hearing more about the PS4 Neo during next week’s E3 event will be disappointed to learn that Sony does not plan to discuss it during their annual press conference. Some reports suggested that the console could be released as early as this fall, but House has stated that Sony is not ready to announce a launch window for the PS4 Neo at this time. But don’t lack the lack of Neo stop you from checking out all of Geek.com’s E3 coverage next week.