Be Excellent To Each Other

An official teaser reveal of sorts, in Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/exclusive-s ... n-console/

tl;dr

* similar architecture to PS4: AMD CPU and GPU (specifically: 8-core third-gen Zen 2, custom Navi variant)
* ray tracing hardware in the GPU
* very fast SSD storage (demo of a Spider-Man loading screen reduced from 15 seconds to 0.8 seconds)
* games still available on disc
* existing PSVR is compatible with this new console, no word on a new PSVR
* 8K support
* fully backward compatible with PS4

I'd be surprised if the PSVR didn't get a new controller; the Move technodicks are woefully outdated. (The headset itself is probably fine, as all it does is pipe in screen content from the console.)

Full backwards compatibility with PS4 will probably mean a day one purchase for me for the first time ever. I cancelled my PS4 preorder as there wasn’t any games I wanted to play at the time, but if PS4 games take advantage of the Pro enhancements then I’ll be all over that.

Well, this is pure speculation, but it seems moderately reasonable to assume that on day one existing PS4 games would look as good on the PS5 as they look on the PS4 Pro, would have better/more stable framerates, and have drastically shortened load times.

Pre-ordering is silly!

I'll probably get one at a later date though.

So exactly the same setup as the PS4 (plus extra backwards compatibility) but faster in every way. Fine by me, I was worried it would be some kind of digital-only live-streaming games-as-a-fucking-service enabling monstrosity.

I do wonder about the likely price though. General costs have dropped in the SSD space, but it'll still be a price jump from HDD so don't see how that won't increase the cost above what you'd usually expect (unless they sell at a loss).

I think we might see a more gradual generational changeover because of the backwards compat. For example, I think the big online games will have inter-generation cross-play, so you won't need to get a PS5 to keep playing with your friends who have one. I also wonder if games devs will be encouraged to sell a "PlayStation" version of the game, that is playable equally on 4 or 5 (with upgrades, of course.) The precedent would be the PS4 Pro, although that's a more modest uplift in power that needs less work from the devs to support it.

All of this could unlock a higher price point, as initially the upgrade could be positioned as a bit more of a luxury than a need-to-have. Which could mitigate the high prices of large SSDs and ray tracing GPUs.

I agree with DocG in that I think the PS4 Pro and XB1X have broken the mould. Looking forward to console games with system requirements on the box

All of that might also explain why that article has Sony being so coy about the name. If it was the usual new console chat they'd just call it the PS5 and be done, but if they're trying to soften the lines between generations then they could well be considering a less polarising brand. Playstation 4X anyone?

I’ve been saying for years now that I suspect the next Xbox will be exactly that.

I also look forward to even buggier game launches--if such a thing is possible--due to increased testing requirements not being matched by QA budgets. Joy!

Having three different console SKUs (PS4/Pro/PS5) is still small potatoes compared to mobile or PC though.

Oh, that's an interesting idea... hadn't thought of that. Maybe! Although the entire internet dubbed it "PS5" years ago, and it's tough to put that genie back in the bottle without it looking like a climbdown and diminishing the hardware in the eyes of gamers.

I miss the days when new generations of console had interesting names.

And by "new generations of console" I mean "new generations of non-Sony and Microsoft consoles"

So you miss the Dreamcast, is what you're saying.

Nintendo says hi.

Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One aren't esoteric enough?

Not long to wait now -- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019 ... 3-briefing

For sure, but even with only two versions of each console publishers are often dumping out horseshit that needs to be patched for weeks afterwards; adding in another model that's arguably even more different isn't likely to improve that situation.

Ah yes. Who can forget the DS, the 2DS, the 3DS, and the shockingly brand-forward naming of the 'Nintendo Entertainment System'.

Do you mean the 3DS, the New 3DS or the New 3DS XL?

They named a console after pee, for crying out loud.

I suppose actually I should include Sony and MS in that, because "PlayStation" and "XBOX" were original names once upon a time...

But yes, mainly Sega

It was the Famicom in Japan which is far more interesting

Although isn't that just a contraction of Family Computer?

It’s interesting in the same way Microsoft was derived, I guess.

ie not very

Yeah in the first few years of PS4, we only got a handful of next gen exclusive games. It wasn't until the likes of Assassin's Creed Unity (which had real problems) and Arkham Knight (which was running on very establish Unreal Engine 3 tech anyway) that we saw third party publishers abandon the previous generation. I think we'll see the same thing this time around, with probably a more drawn out cross gen period. We'll get a few big first party exclusives (but probably the first party lineup will be more focused on cross gen games like Halo Infinite and all of Sony's upcoming PS4 lineup), and maybe smaller teams make the jump early on, but PS4 and PS5 will likely share a software library for quite some time, with games being more like 720p 30fps etc on base PS4, and 4k 60fps on PS5.
PS5 will also get options like:
Much faster load times.
A few new graphical effects (maybe things like ray tracing for some effects etc).
More advanced physics for some objects (kinda like how PhysX worked for some PC games).
Swap in higher quality models/textures.
Bigger draw distance.


But I imagine it will just be one purchase for both versions, like how Sony had a specific policy not allowing charging for PS4 Pro updates.

The technical stuff shouldn't apply to consoles because nobody who has one really cares about that stuff because NEW SHINY and PLAY WITH FRIENDS so I reckon December 2019 and £500 and however much a spotty connection is
And it'll be called Gingeraloud

They’ve already ruled out 2019 but good effort, champ

Lazy shits

Still a better name than the Gamate.

I think 2020 makes sense because the PS4 software lineup is stacked. We supposedly still have Death Stranding, Last of Us 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and probably some more. I am sure many or all of these will be cross-gen, with some kind of PS5 version, but there are a lot of PS4 owners to sell these games to.

Sure. Maybe Star Citizen too.

This sounds like a day one purchase for me, along with another OLED 4K tv for my games room.

Yeah, but "Nintendo Famicom" sounds more interesting to me than "Nintendo Family Computer"

And you know, mid 90s you had the Jaguar, Lynx, GameGear, Wonderswan (or was that 00s?) and all sorts of other weird and wonderful names...

So would the Sony Plefai be more to your tastes than the PlayStation 5.

Japanese often contract everything like that where the words are too long. Family computer. Personal computer. Remote controller. convenience store. Word processor. Brad Pitt.

Sony Plefai sounds absolutely stupid, but is definitely more interesting (to me) than "PlayStation 5".

Master System -> Mega Drive/Genesis -> Saturn -> Dreamcast
NES -> SNES -> N64 -> DS -> Wii -> Switch
PlayStation -> PlayStation 2 -> PlayStation 3 -> PlayStation 4 -> PlayStation 5
XBOX -> XBOX 360 -> XBOX One -> ???

At least Microsoft mixed it up a bit.

Microsoft's names are both bland and nonsensical, though!

True.

Sony's names make perfect sense, and none of them are stupid.

Unlike Nintendo, Microsoft, Google and Apple, to name a mere few.

Have a number. Make it go up. Perfect.

"PS4 Pro."

Vita means life.

That's okay, although I fear it may lead to things like "Playstation 6 AMG 250++ (Turismo Spec) Raw Special Edition".

Is it, though? In what sense is it "professional"? I realise the dilution of "pro" into a suffix to mean "luxury" or "high-spec" isn't Sony's fault alone, but I also feel a games console is a quite egregious example.

maybe it stands for prostitute

Prophylactic

Proper.

Propshaft

Penis