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[icespide]

Come to think of it, isn't it a little suspicious that there's only a "PS4" logo on the front? Seems odd to me. If this thing has a tag like Neo or whatever it should be displayed on the front instead of just "PS4".

nah no matter the name it'll only say PS4 on the hardware.

 

[Inuhanyou]

What is he replying too?

Some Nintendo fan bragged that Nintendo was keeping the Wii U under wraps because it was twice as strong as the(at the time) unannounced PS4, and they wanted to surprise everybody with the specs.

So the guy was asking if it was the truth or not to Yoshida, and we got this response.

 

[-ImaginaryInsider]

Not true. We have good idea on how multiplat will look on console with 4.2TF or higher.

We only have a vague idea how things like a more mature checkerboard rendering technique are going to look, so we don't really have a good idea of what a 4.2 teraflop console is going look like.

 

[StrongBlackVine]

How do you put someone on ignore?

 

[wapplew]

It depends entirely on where the game's framerate is bound. If a game is GPU bound to 30fps on a standard PS4, it's possible it could hit 60 on Neo if the CPU frame time is ~21-22ms or less on PS4 standard (assuming the rumoured CPU upclock). If the new GPU can bring efficiencies to CPU render threads the possibilities there might be greater.

It sounds like you're looking for simple, universal answers wapple, negative or positive. Nobody can give you that. The benefits at 1080p will vary from game to game. I'm pretty sure you will see a fairly decent number of games go to 60fps on Neo that aren't on standard.

Thanks for the reply.
I'm not thinking straight, maybe lost my mind a little, keep bang my head against the "weak CPU" "weak CPU" "weak CPU" wall.

 

[Primethius]

I agree with sjfen.

I know its a very unpopular and controversial thing to say around here, but i actually think Sony could have gone farmore conservative with the GPU and balanced out the components a little more.

3.26 TFLOP Polaris GPU by intentionally underclocking the GPU significantly

2.4 GHZ Jaguar CPU by overclocking

8 GB GDDR5 218/gbs would essentially stay the same.


Digging into it, if Sony wanted to, they could have set 1080p as the main target res just like the PS4, and used the extra headroom to overclock the CPU to its maximum potential clock.

Perhaps then the framerates would have gotten closer to what the FPS people wanted it to be, and there would still have been tons of GPU power left to push ultra settings on all games with great AA to boot with locked 1080p res for all games, and been pretty power efficient for the upgrade.

Hell, if they wanted higher resolutions, they could have just lowered the graphical settings closer to current PS4.

As it stands now, we might be getting a 10 pound heavy ass unit with supposedly a much bigger PSU just because the overkill GPU needs the extra space in a specific form factor to not set on fire, at the sacrifice of the CPU being clocked at an uneven and weird number, not even getting to the highest it can be clocked, and this is all on 14nm.

I don't doubt Sony researched whatever they came up with in the end, but i still think all that GPU power is unnecessary and a waste for a clear upgrade to PS4 tied to the same constraints, and will show more clearly the imbalance of the CPU too.

I think this is a bit hard to say without knowing the exact purpose of the Neo. Would the bolded really be an issue if the Neo is designed to push more and higher quality graphical effects at slightly higher resolutions but at the same frame rate? I don't think so.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Thanks for the reply.
I'm not thinking straight, maybe lost my mind a little, keep bang my head against the "weak CPU" "weak CPU" "weak CPU" wall.

Its not the same for every situation. But for most games, the CPU is definately going to affect them. So, you don't have to dehype yourself, just dispense with the notion of 1080p60 for all games being a possible reality

 

[Raiden1018]

What is he replying too?

Someone asked him what he thought on people saying WiiU would be more powerful than PS4

 

[Guymelef]

Come to think of it, isn't it a little suspicious that there's only a "PS4" logo on the front? Seems odd to me. If this thing has a tag like Neo or whatever it should be displayed on the front instead of just "PS4".

It's a PS4.
Take a Xperia phone, it's only branded as "Xperia", no Z5, XA, etc...

 

[Inuhanyou]

I think this is a bit hard to say without knowing the exact purpose of the Neo. Would the bolded really be an issue if the Neo is designed to push more and higher quality graphical effects at slightly higher resolutions but at the same frame rate? I don't think so.

Your right. Sony's goal is most likely(if we take the GPU into account) a big push on visual fidelity over basically everything else. refined graphical rendering, resolution, AA all at the same time, to scale with the 4K output and HDR capabilities of the NEO.

I understand that. I just wonder if there were other ways of going about this upgrade business.

 

[wapplew]

Its not the same for every situation. But for most games, the CPU is definately going to affect them. So, you don't have to dehype yourself, just dispense with the notion of 1080p60 for all games being a possible reality

I'm don't care about 60fps anyway.
Just cannot believe Sony hardware team make an for lack of better word "unbalance" system.

 

[Primethius]

Your right. Sony's goal is most likely(if we take the GPU into account) a big push on visual fidelity over basically everything else. refined graphical rendering, resolution, AA all at the same time, to scale with the 4K output and HDR capabilities of the NEO.

I understand that. I just wonder if there were other ways of going about this upgrade business.

I think the thought process for Sony is that it's a mid-generation refresh and they absolutely cannot piss off current PS4 owners. If that's the case, then I find extra graphical effects, slightly higher resolution are probably the ways to go about it that don't really substantially effect current owners (as opposed to say... 4k60fps games or even double the framerate).

Scorpio has muddled things up a bit, as invariably, Neo is being compared to it. While both are similar in some ways, Scorpio is not a refresh. MS has other plans for it given their current market position. I think that's pretty apparent given that it's launching in the 4th year of the XB1's life.

The 360 also launched 4 years after the OG Xbox. MS, to me, is effectively masquerading a new console launch in the guise of a "mid-generation" refresh. Sony obviously doesn't see the Neo in remotely the same way.

 

[Inuhanyou]

I'm don't care about 60fps anyway.
Just cannot believe Sony hardware team make an for lack of better word "unbalance" system.

But they did that with PS3 and PS4. PS3's GPU was weak as feck, RAM split memory pool, and the CPU of PS4 is as we all know. Its par the course.

And its not just Sony either.

360's GPU far outstripped the abilities of its CPU, and its RAM size(both the EDRAM and the actual main memory) became a ball and chain on the system long before its GPU was ever tapped out.

Even the Wii U just uses a marginally upgraded Wii CPU, which was also a marginally upgraded GC CPU.

Barring whatever Scorpio does, i think PS5 will be the first console in a long time to actually have semi balanced components with the CPU being Zen, and the GPU and RAM being whatever they are.

 

[Wollan]

Just cannot believe Sony hardware team make an for lack of better word "unbalance" system.

Did the gods write a golden ratio for CPU vs GPU resources?

 

[gofreak]

I think this is a bit hard to say without knowing the exact purpose of the Neo. Would the bolded really be an issue if the Neo is designed to push more and higher quality graphical effects at slightly higher resolutions but at the same frame rate? I don't think so.

The standard benchmark on game performance is frame time, but an obsession about that is blinding people who talk in more general terms about CPUs 'holding back' the GPU.

Regardless of CPU frame time, the GPU can be put to good use on productive work.

Even if you want to focus on reducing the max frame time between CPU and GPU, If we're talking about typical workloads and what improvements would make the most difference, casting a design as 'imbalanced' in advance of results would at least require some data on typical ps4 game frametimes on CPU vs GPU, if 'typical' exists here. I don't see anyone offering that. It's reminding me of Microsoft's narrative about 'balance' - it's nonsense to talk about that without talking about software. Or to talk at all about any one-size-fits-all resource set.

(My take: I don't think reducing frame times in TV games was the the absolute primary motivation here. I think enhanced resolution on UHDTVs is probably number one. Then on a second tier is a more game-dependent set of enhancements for HDTV - which certainly can mean reduced frametimes too depending on the game. And then for VR the design seems like it should neatly accomodate more or less universal framerate bumps for 90hz games, along with fidelity improvements etc. This doesn't seem an unreasonable target for Neo but then I guess I don't have access to good market research...)

 

[Inuhanyou]

I think the thought process for Sony is that it's a mid-generation refresh and they absolutely cannot piss off current PS4 owners. If that's the case, then I find extra graphical effects, slightly higher resolution are probably the ways to go about it that don't really substantially effect current owners (as opposed to say... 4k60fps games or even double the framerate).

Scorpio has muddled things up a bit, as invariably, Neo is being compared to it. While both are similar in some ways, Scorpio is not a refresh. MS has other plans for it given their current market position. I think that's pretty apparent given that it's launching in the 4th year of the XB1's life.

The 360 also launched 4 years after the OG Xbox. MS, to me, is effectively masquerading a new console launch in the guise of a "mid-generation" refresh. Sony obviously doesn't see the Neo in remotely the same way.

That's true. You do get the sense that the NEO and the Scorpio have different goals entirely in mind. What with House saying generations as they are defined still exist and NEO is explicitly not a new generation, while MS says XB1 is their last conventional generation upgrade.

 

[RibMan]

If the Neo isn't launching until November, then I don't get Andrew House's comments about Apple-like release schedule. A 2 month gap from announcement to release isn't "Apple-like."

Maybe he was talking about the PS4 slim because it looks like that is definitely releasing in September.

He definitely could have been talking about the PS4 Slim. The fact that the Slims are out in the wild means the availability should be within the next 3 to 4 weeks (basically within a month).

So a second gpu? Where have we heard that before?

Yep. We're entering into secret sauce/infinite power of the cloud territory.

If the power difference is enough, maybe we see a few more on Xbox than we have so far.

Well have to wait and see the difference first and how it translates to sales.

Someone will want to focus on a highest of high end game if a difference is there?

I cannot imagine a single scenario where a publisher enters into an exclusive agreement with Microsoft without a humongous check. Four reasons:

1) Installbase. Assuming the PS4 doesn't stop selling and the Neo isn't a commercial flop, there will be over 50 million PS4's by next Fall. That's a number you don't ignore when thinking about making money.

2) The difference in power -- assuming Scorpio is 6TF and Neo is 4.2TF -- isn't significant enough to make the Neo version a moneysink and a nightmare to develop for. We're talking about differences in resolution, framerate, texture resolution, shadows, etc. This stuff is absolutely meaningful for a Digital Foundry comparison, but developers aren't going to avoid making a Neo version because they can only hit 1080P 30fps.

3) Most games that will release next Fall and in 2018 are already in active development. Given how we've heard next to nothing about Scorpio's actual specs, it's safe to assume most 3rd-party games are being made for the X1 and not the Scorpio. Focusing on the highest-end console is therefore impossible because much like a trailer for a game that isn't in development (I'm looking at you Phantom Dust reboot), the console doesn't actually exist. Developers can't focus on something that doesn't exist.

4) The Rift hasn't penetrated the mainstream. If you're a developer and you're thinking "I want to make a game on a VR platform and make a boatload of money on it", the Rift isn't it. Depending on how PSVR pans out (after launch), it might not be it either. What this means is one of Scorpio's main selling point (Oculus VR) isn't going to rake in exclusives because 3rd-party VR exclusives will be a terrible idea for business. A year from now the three headsets will probably share the exact same library of 3rd-party games.

4.5) Let's assume the NX launches and is a success. Developers and publishers will then have more reasons to support "lower" powered hardware than higher powered hardware. To put that differently, it will make zero sense to make exclusives for a 6TF machine because the majority of hardware that sells will be <5TF. Remember: Publishers and developers are businesses that want to make money and won't do things that won't make them money.

 

[Wace]

I cannot imagine a single scenario where a publisher enters into an exclusive agreement with Microsoft without a humongous check. Four reasons:
---cut---

One caveat to the perfect analysis: it's still possible (very small chance) that Scorpio will introduce some kind of killer app/accessory (Wii Sports-like) that will:

a) make everyone and their mother drop everything and start developing stuff for it;
b) make competition to hastily change generations and develop their own version of the killer-thing.

But I really doubt it'll happen.

 

[onQ123]

Yep. We're entering into secret sauce/infinite power of the cloud territory.

Nope just speculating until we get the final specs & PS4 Slim APU is the only processor that has been moved to 14nm that I can think of that could be used as a better CPU for Neo & it would also explain base mode running games just as they was on PS4 . it also make sense of the SLI comment made by an insider,

I cannot imagine a single scenario where a publisher enters into an exclusive agreement with Microsoft without a humongous check. Four reasons:

1) Installbase. Assuming the PS4 doesn't stop selling and the Neo isn't a commercial flop, there will be over 50 million PS4's by next Fall. That's a number you don't ignore when thinking about making money.

2) The difference in power -- assuming Scorpio is 6TF and Neo is 4.2TF -- isn't significant enough to make the Neo version a moneysink and a nightmare to develop for. We're talking about differences in resolution, framerate, texture resolution, shadows, etc. This stuff is absolutely meaningful for a Digital Foundry comparison, but developers aren't going to avoid making a Neo version because they can only hit 1080P 30fps.

3) Most games that will release next Fall and in 2018 are already in active development. Given how we've heard next to nothing about Scorpio's actual specs, it's safe to assume most 3rd-party games are being made for the X1 and not the Scorpio. Focusing on the highest-end console is therefore impossible because much like a trailer for a game that isn't in development (I'm looking at you Phantom Dust reboot), the console doesn't actually exist. Developers can't focus on something that doesn't exist.

4) The Rift hasn't penetrated the mainstream. If you're a developer and you're thinking "I want to make a game on a VR platform and make a boatload of money on it", the Rift isn't it. Depending on how PSVR pans out (after launch), it might not be it either. What this means is one of Scorpio's main selling point (Oculus VR) isn't going to rake in exclusives because 3rd-party VR exclusives will be a terrible idea for business. A year from now the three headsets will probably share the exact same library of 3rd-party games.

4.5) Let's assume the NX launches and is a success. Developers and publishers will then have more reasons to support "lower" powered hardware than higher powered hardware. To put that differently, it will make zero sense to make exclusives for a 6TF machine because the majority of hardware that sells will be <5TF. Remember: Publishers and developers are businesses that want to make money and won't do things that won't make them money.

Only thing I can think of is devs who make games for Windows 10 store

 

[Caayn]

Folks SLI is a NV technique, AMD's equivalent is Crossfire. It annoys me a bit to see people call multi-GPU, when talking about AMD, SLI.

So a second gpu? Where have we heard that before?

Even if it were true, which is rather unlikely, three processors eating from the same memory pool would utterly destroy any bandwidth that pool has.

 

[StrongBlackVine]

He definitely could have been talking about the PS4 Slim. The fact that the Slims are out in the wild means the availability should be within the next 3 to 4 weeks (basically within a month).




Yep. We're entering into secret sauce/infinite power of the cloud territory.



I cannot imagine a single scenario where a publisher enters into an exclusive agreement with Microsoft without a humongous check. Four reasons:

1) Installbase. Assuming the PS4 doesn't stop selling and the Neo isn't a commercial flop, there will be over 50 million PS4's by next Fall. That's a number you don't ignore when thinking about making money.

2) The difference in power -- assuming Scorpio is 6TF and Neo is 4.2TF -- isn't significant enough to make the Neo version a moneysink and a nightmare to develop for. We're talking about differences in resolution, framerate, texture resolution, shadows, etc. This stuff is absolutely meaningful for a Digital Foundry comparison, but developers aren't going to avoid making a Neo version because they can only hit 1080P 30fps.

3) Most games that will release next Fall and in 2018 are already in active development. Given how we've heard next to nothing about Scorpio's actual specs, it's safe to assume most 3rd-party games are being made for the X1 and not the Scorpio. Focusing on the highest-end console is therefore impossible because much like a trailer for a game that isn't in development (I'm looking at you Phantom Dust reboot), the console doesn't actually exist. Developers can't focus on something that doesn't exist.

4) The Rift hasn't penetrated the mainstream. If you're a developer and you're thinking "I want to make a game on a VR platform and make a boatload of money on it", the Rift isn't it. Depending on how PSVR pans out (after launch), it might not be it either. What this means is one of Scorpio's main selling point (Oculus VR) isn't going to rake in exclusives because 3rd-party VR exclusives will be a terrible idea for business. A year from now the three headsets will probably share the exact same library of 3rd-party games.

4.5) Let's assume the NX launches and is a success. Developers and publishers will then have more reasons to support "lower" powered hardware than higher powered hardware. To put that differently, it will make zero sense to make exclusives for a 6TF machine because the majority of hardware that sells will be <5TF. Remember: Publishers and developers are businesses that want to make money and won't do things that won't make them money.

There are gonna be around 70 million PS4s sold by next Fall. Only way Microsoft is getting 3rd party exclusives is by massively overpaying a desperate developer, but even that strategy has shown to be a bust(Tomb Raider).

 

[Hydrargyrus]

Only thing I can think of is devs who make games for Windows 10 store

At this moment... I can't.
Windows 10 store is a disaster

 

[Simo]

Playstation South Africa trying to play with my emotions...
https://twitter.com/PlayStation_SA/status/771272453096034304

Spoiler

The game is Call of Juarez 2 but still...it's a western...

 

[Nightengale]

Those concerned about delays can rest easy. PS Blog Spain has officiated the consumer-communication of PS Meeting 2016.

https://blog.es.playstation.com/201...de-septiembre-y-descubre-el-futuro-del-juego/

Spain confirmed for true tier-1, the alpha market for PlayStation.

 

[Guymelef]

Those concerned about delays can rest easy. PS Blog Spain has officiated the consumer-communication of PS Meeting 2016.

https://blog.es.playstation.com/201...de-septiembre-y-descubre-el-futuro-del-juego/

Who was concerned about a PS Meeting delay?

 

[wachie]

Onq, you truly are the last misterx of us.

 

[Bitch Pudding]

Playstation South Africa trying to play with my emotions...
https://twitter.com/PlayStation_SA/status/771272453096034304

Spoiler

The game is Call of Juarez 2 but still...it's a western...

Think of Sony announcing a big exclusive Western game for Neo on stage, which then turns out to be CoJ 3 :>. Nothing against CoJ, but right now that's not the Western people are waiting for.

 

[driver116]

I'm don't care about 60fps anyway.
Just cannot believe Sony hardware team make an for lack of better word "unbalance" system.

They specifically said they did it this way as they can offload certain CPU bound tasks to the GPU.

 

[Simo]

Think of Sony announcing a big exclusive Western game for Neo on stage, which then turns out to be CoJ 3 :>. Nothing against CoJ, but right now that's not the Western people are waiting for.

I'm just secretly hoping that going with the obvious "Hey who here remembers this western?! *Insert RDR screenshot*" might of been too on the nose and thus went with a little more obscure screenshot and title.

Spoiler

Although one reply to the tweet did ask if it was RDR...

 

[Nightengale]

Who was concerned about a PS Meeting delay?

I tweeted to Jason Schreier asking if he thought it strange we don't have a public announcement. He responded:



https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/771139504128217088

It's really strange that they haven't publicly announced it. It makes me wonder if it's possible that they'll push it back. It'd probably be a bit easier for them to do given that they own the venue where it's taking place.

Well, not concerned, but thought it was strange there was no consumer announcement of the event yet.

 

[Midas]

Those concerned about delays can rest easy. PS Blog Spain has officiated the consumer-communication of PS Meeting 2016.

https://blog.es.playstation.com/201...de-septiembre-y-descubre-el-futuro-del-juego/

Spain confirmed for true tier-1, the alpha market for PlayStation.

Nice! I guess other countries will follow.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

We have new drawings from the worker::

Playstation Big Mac. We eatin bruh.

 

[FelipeMGM]

New PS Move pack, I guess this will take some time of the keynote

 

[iboshow]

To the guy saying that the 4.2TF is really 8.4. Wouldn't Sony use the patent to just make the current PS4 3.68 instead of making a Neo.

 

[gofreak]

Looking at the leaked dev docs again, I think holding out for 'recent upgrades' is indeed just setting yourself up for disappointment.

The hardware going to devs from April is supposed to be final spec and usable for game submission.

Fiddling with that after the fact could be quite disruptive of both their own dev hardware rollout and for developers themselves. At least as far as CPU and GPU perf goes.

It's also pretty clear there isn't going to be any CPU switch-a-roo at the last minute. There's a single CPU binary for both PS4 Standard and Neo => the same CPU microarchitecture as the standard PS4.

Sometimes there isn't anything 'more' to things than what's laid out already. Neo is a high-res, smoother performing PS4. No more no less. For 1080p TV owners, I think the minimum you can expect is downsampled 1800p + smoother performance in CPU limited games - though it sounds like many devs might split out a separate 1080p enhancement path with different goodiesrather than a simple downsample.

 

[The Pope]

Looking at the leaked dev docs again, I think holding out for 'recent upgrades' is indeed just setting yourself up for disappointment.

The hardware going to devs from April is supposed to be final spec and usable for game submission.

Fiddling with that after the fact could be quite disruptive of both their own dev hardware rollout and for developers themselves. At least as far as CPU and GPU perf goes.

It's also pretty clear there isn't going to be any CPU switch-a-roo at the last minute. There's a single CPU binary for both PS4 Standard and Neo => the same CPU microarchitecture as the standard PS4.

Sometimes there isn't anything 'more' to things than what's laid out already. Neo is a high-res, smoother performing PS4. No more no less. For 1080p TV owners, I think the minimum you can expect is downsampled 1800p + smoother performance in CPU limited games - though it sounds like many devs might split out a separate 1080p enhancement path with different goodiesrather than a simple downsample.

This right here folks. Edit: Id be happy if you were wrong though

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Come to think of it, isn't it a little suspicious that there's only a "PS4" logo on the front? Seems odd to me. If this thing has a tag like Neo or whatever it should be displayed on the front instead of just "PS4".

Not really. The only slim that rebranded name wise was the PSone.

Ps2 slim was just PS2 on the box and likewise with both PS3 Slim's.

 

[Guymelef]

New PS Move pack, I guess this will take some time of the keynote

120 AUD.
lol...

 

[somecrazymember]

New PS Move pack, I guess this will take some time of the keynote

Lol, without the camera.. weird

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

So MIC have added the latest (final?) dev kit to their database: http://www.tele.soumu.go.jp/giteki/...424ul&SN=%94%46%8F%D8&LN=11&R1=*****&R2=*****

I think third parties will receive starting right after the PlayStation meeting.

 

[Dictator93]

Really? Multiple-GPUs?

Console launches make people go absolutely bonkers. Why would they go to complicate the design, increase the thermals, and make development harder after creating the PS4 as a lesson learned from the PS3?

Use. Basic. Reason.

 

[onQ123]

Folks SLI is a NV technique, AMD's equivalent is Crossfire. It annoys me a bit to see people call multi-GPU, when talking about AMD, SLI.
Even if it were true, which is rather unlikely, three processors eating from the same memory pool would utterly destroy any bandwidth that pool has.

AMD is calling this Dual Graphics & it seem to workout ok on PC eating from the same memory pool but some games seem to run worse with it but I think that could be fixed if it's in a console

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/amd-dual-graphics-technology-review/5/

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9763/the-amd-a8-7670k-apu-review-rocket-league/5

 

[RibMan]

One caveat to the perfect analysis: it's still possible (very small chance) that Scorpio will introduce some kind of killer app/accessory (Wii Sports-like) that will:

a) make everyone and their mother drop everything and start developing stuff for it;
b) make competition to hastily change generations and develop their own version of the killer-thing.

But I really doubt it'll happen.

It's possible, but much like yourself I really doubt it will happen. After what happened with Kinect I just don't see Microsoft greenlighting an unproven accessory anytime soon. Hololens sounds cool, but it costs >$1,000 right? Minecraft 2 will definitely be big, but that's a first-party software product so it's not going to do much (if anything at all) to reshape 3rd-party exclusive discussions.

Nope just speculating until we get the final specs & PS4 Slim APU is the only processor that has been moved to 14nm that I can think of that could be used as a better CPU for Neo & it would also explain base mode running games just as they was on PS4 . it also make sense of the SLI comment made by an insider,





Only thing I can think of is devs who make games for Windows 10 store

It's going to take a lot of briefcases full of cash to get developers to support the Win 10 store. As cool as cross-buy is, you're still buying into a platform that Microsoft (ironically enough) has continuously failed to support with software, features, discounts, etc.

There are gonna be around 70 million PS4s sold by next Fall. Only way Microsoft is getting 3rd party exclusives is by massively overpaying a desperate developer, but even that strategy has shown to be a bust(Tomb Raider).

Yep. Sony will likely provide us with a sales update at the meeting next week. I can't see them not hitting 50 million sold-through this year. One of the many reasons I believe Microsoft targeting performance (and not price) is a baaaaaaaaaad idea right now is because unless something major changes in manufacturing/supply/technology in general, they're going to launch a console that can't compete in pricing with the Neo.

Basically, you'll have a situation where the software library between the Neo and Scorpio is the same, the differences in software are minimal, but the price difference between the two is significant. If Microsoft don't realize this (yet), they're walking into a trap by chasing specs. It's not too late for Microsoft to "revise" their Scorpio platform, however, if they do so they'll be seen as doing another 180. This is why announcing Scorpio 12 months ahead of release was a bad idea: they've setup a lose-lose situation for themselves. The good news is the One S seems to be crushing it in NA, so their numbers are going to look good for the rest of the year.

Do we have any new info on the PSP-like device that was spotted alongside the Neo and Slim?

 

[Tratorn]

Sometimes there isn't anything 'more' to things than what's laid out already. Neo is a high-res, smoother performing PS4. No more no less. For 1080p TV owners, I think the minimum you can expect is downsampled 1800p + smoother performance in CPU limited games - though it sounds like many devs might split out a separate 1080p enhancement path with different goodiesrather than a simple downsample.

What do you mean by that? Do you think there'll be enhanced effects/textures/whatever if you play on a 1080p tv and then on a 4K tv the power will be used to increase the native resolution instead?

Nah, I doubt that would happen. 1080p version would be superior for most people. If the dev goes for >1080p it'll be on every kind of tv and if it's just a 1080p tv, that'll be used for downsampling. They won't differentiate the versions depending on the used tv.

Edit:
But yeah, some people are probably expecting too much from the console. Especially because the devs can't sell the Neo version for extra money. PS4 version is PS4 version, doesn't matter on which console. So 95% of games probably will be enhanced by a way that doesn't need to be tested much and can easily be bruteforced by the extra power, so basically just flipping some switches like on PC instead of really getting most out of it. Sony (and probably only a few other devs) will hopefully do a bit more than that.

 

[gofreak]

So MIC have added the latest (final?) dev kit to their database: http://www.tele.soumu.go.jp/giteki/...424ul&SN=%94%46%8F%D8&LN=11&R1=*****&R2=*****

I think third parties will receive starting right after the PlayStation meeting.

The cert date there seems to be June 2016.

That and the serial number seem to mostly line up with the Prototype Test Kit 2, that started shipping out in June to developers. It's the last of the prototype test units planned, and the last kit planned for this year (to be replaced with final-chassis, mass-manufactured test units in 2017).

 

[Raylan]

Lol, without the camera.. weird

Of course without the camera. A lot of people already have it. You can buy the camera since 2013.

 

[Bitch Pudding]

New PS Move pack, I guess this will take some time of the keynote

Cool, I already bought the camera a couple of months ago as I feared it would be rare once PSVR arrives - and more expensive. Still need them move controllers. Didn't buy used ones cause of battery issues.

Not really. The only slim that rebranded name wise was the PSone.

Ps2 slim was just PS2 on the box and likewise with both PS3 Slim's.

But this time we get two separate SKUs, one entry-level PS4 which replaces the vanilla PS4, and a complete new one with 4k capabilities. I doubt they'll just call it "PS4" as well. As for the brand, there is a PlayStation Logo on every console. I still would be very surprised if the name of the new model wasn't prominently placed on it.

 

[benny_a]

Sometimes there isn't anything 'more' to things than what's laid out already. Neo is a high-res, smoother performing PS4. No more no less.

But if I accept that to be true then all this faffing about for several months would be in vain! I must reject this for the good of my mental health.

Spoiler

gofreak is on the money

 

[onQ123]

Really? Multiple-GPUs?

Console launches make people go absolutely bonkers. Why would they go to complicate the design, increase the thermals, and make development harder after creating the PS4 as a lesson learned from the PS3?

Use. Basic. Reason.

Dual Graphic don't make development harder because to the dev it would still be Jaguar CPU & 4.2TF GPU

 

[NOOI]

Basically, you'll have a situation where the software library between the Neo and Scorpio is the same, the differences in software are minimal, but the price difference between the two is significant. If Microsoft don't realize this (yet), they're walking into a trap by chasing specs. It's not too late for Microsoft to "revise" their Scorpio platform, however, if they do so they'll be seen as doing another 180. This is why announcing Scorpio 12 months ahead of release was a bad idea: they've setup a lose-lose situation for themselves. The good news is the One S seems to be crushing it in NA, so their numbers are going to look good for the rest of the year.

Well in theory, it still isn't too late for MS to back off from the Scorpio release date, purely so they could wait until the part costs drops down cheap enough to not freak out buyers.

But it really depends on how far they have actually gone with the prototype. I don't believe they even HAD any kind of physical hardware to test with back when they announced it, but by now they should have something nailed down. Only Microsoft truly know what the Scorpio would truly cost them to make, and even then they probably didn't decide on it until the last few months.

I am reminded of the original gigantic Xbox with the gigantic controller. Microsoft promoted it for its power. But Scorpio is really one giant mystery.


In the end, Microsoft didn't make any promises. They are likely free to change any element of Scorpio if they had to, because we know so little about it. Price, internals, costs, release date. These are all up for negotiations.