Baseless Next Generation Rumors with no Technical Merits [post E3 2019, pre GDC 2020] [XBSX, PS5]

[BRiT]

They'll adjust. Just like how digital downloads are now the majority of all sales, it just took a little while for consumers to make the adjustments.

 

[Xbat]

So I find SSD and 3D audio far more interesting. I'm actually really hopeful for the 3D audio as that's a game changer where more resolution or better shaders isn't.

Yup, exactly the way I feel. Even the haptic feedback and tension changing triggers has me intrigued.

 

[goonergaz]

I could also see people leapfrogging console generations if both have BC. You'll always just have 2 consoles (ignoring Nintendo for the moment) but you'll just buy one console per generation.

Alternatively while having BC in theory locks you into a platform, it also makes it easy to come back if you do leave the platform. When you come back, not only will your library still be there, but you'll be able to play any exclusive (after you buy it) that you missed while you were away.

So, the lock-in may not be as much of a deterrent to switching as some of us think. It's certainly going to be an interesting dynamic to look at going forwards if both companies have robust and well supported BC.

IMO, I think the biggest effect that BC will potentially have is making generation switches smoother. Software (game) sales perhaps won't fall off a cliff every time a new generation hits if people know that whatever they buy will run just fine on the "next gen" console. Even more so, if BC is so robust that not only do the titles run, but they run with better graphics IQ on the next gen consoles.

Regards,
SB

This time though BC will be more online focused as well as deeper SP games which take longer to complete than previous gens (not to mention backlogs of ‘free’ games).

Imagine a seamless upgrade like when you upgrade a PC GFX card...and you just continue like nothing happened.

Sony did talk about a rapid migration.

 

[KirkSi]

Game pass may be a bit of a cushion to returning Xbox owners that switched to the PS4 due to the disastrous Xbox One marketing. Instant game library with all the exclusives in there that you missed out on. At a new console launch there's always a shortage of launch titles showing off the nice new hardware so at least you'd have a load of games to go play whilst waiting for new releases.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I could also see people leapfrogging console generations if both have BC. You'll always just have 2 consoles (ignoring Nintendo for the moment) but you'll just buy one console per generation.

Yeah, same as alternating Netflix/Amazon Prime or the like.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Is it just me or Sony doesn’t sound as confident to market PS5 hype as they did with PS4? Could the alleged weak specs bear any significance to this or is it just different leadership this time?

So far, Sony has lost exactly 0.000% of their userbase to Microsoft for not announcing processing tech specs sooner.

I too thought that CES would have been a nice time and place to show something more, but the reality is we're still 11 months away from release and Microsoft isn't taking consumer pre-orders AFAIK.
Whether they announce GPU TFLOPs today, next month or in August isn't that relevant to their business.

And Microsoft didn't formally announce any GPU TFLOPs yet, by the way.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Game pass may be a bit of a cushion to returning Xbox owners that switched to the PS4 due to the disastrous Xbox One marketing. Instant game library with all the exclusives in there that you missed out on. At a new console launch there's always a shortage of launch titles showing off the nice new hardware so at least you'd have a load of games to go play whilst waiting for new releases.

Is PS Now any different in that regard?

I could also see people leapfrogging console generations if both have BC. You'll always just have 2 consoles (ignoring Nintendo for the moment) but you'll just buy one console per generation.

Nah, I don't see a lot of people picking up 7+ year old titles. There's a reason most of a game's sales happens during their first month after release, except for a few exceptions.

 

[ultragpu]

Will they stop making first-party games?

They don't necessarily. They are two different approached to product marketing. Numbers is the old way. Lifestyle is the new way. I can't recall any car advert that mentioned engine power in BHP; they all talk about lifestyle and experience as those are the things that really matter. Joe Driver doesn't start car-shopping with BHP and 0-60 times. Wii never once mentioned specs but just showed happy families playing together. Games are sold on gameplay and features, and not millions-of-polygons per second and framerates and resolutions.

The only reason to mix power number marketing with lifestyle marketing is if you have a power advantage that represents part of your USP, so it works well for Apple who can talk about having the most powerful thing and then showing how that power is used. If you don't have the most powerful (rival is releasing a product at a higher price-band than you) then giving a metric to your product power just makes a comparison that works against you, so why do it? You can instead talk about more power than any PlayStation before to so Stuff, but make it about the Stuff and getting users excited.

I think we're seeing a general maturing of console marketing across the board. It's the same as moving from install base to MAUs and the like. It's all less transparent because transparency doesn't help with the messages that want to be associated with the products and services. Compare adverts for all products from the 1900s to the 1950 to the 2000s - it's completely different where original it was just about the product and now it's about association. Console advertising already does the lifestyle thing, and as part of that. moving the core messaging from day one towards lfiestyle is in keeping with the evolution of product selling. Keep the numbers for those who need to know, the devs.

Except Sony is a prestigious tech company with products aiming for both the ultra high end and everything lower. Even their CEO not long ago has emphasized on that prestigious part regarding the PS5 stature. What you described is perhaps your idealism of what console business should be like which doesn't necessarily reflect the real world situation. A lot of people hold their favorite console or brand to high esteem and pride themselves for its power, visuals, games, you name it. I don't think it's all about lifestyle, power generates hype as well as other factors, how do you think PS4 exclusives get so much praise these days? They're big celebrities on DF, forums, YT and critics alike not simply all because of their art style, industry leading narrative or gameplay, their graphics play a huge role in it and people know it. Would God of War, Uncharted, Spiderman be as great as they are if running on Switch or hardware way less powerful than XB1? It would be a biblical outrage among the community.
That said I don't think Sony is fully abandoning the power crown, it's just the evidence, atmosphere surround it are not there yet and it sure as hell is making the wait very excruciating to find out the real specs.

 

[BRiT]

Nah, I don't see a lot of people picking up 7+ year old titles. There's a reason most of a game's sales happens during their first month after release, except for a few exceptions.

Minecraft and GTA series seem to be the exceptions, I know there are a few others but I can't think of them.

 

[ultragpu]

So far, Sony has lost exactly 0.000% of their userbase to Microsoft for not announcing processing tech specs sooner.

I too thought that CES would have been a nice time and place to show something more, but the reality is we're still 11 months away from release and Microsoft isn't taking consumer pre-orders AFAIK.
Whether they announce GPU TFLOPs today, next month or in August isn't that relevant to their business.

And Microsoft didn't formally announce any GPU TFLOPs yet, by the way.

But MS scratch the power itch tho, not saying Sony are loosing customers, they're just playing with our patience.

 

[BRiT]

We already know the specs of the PS5, this is the denial phase of coping.

 

[ultragpu]

 

[KirkSi]

Is PS Now any different in that regard?

Not massively no, other than not getting all the exclusive games Day 1 (so no need to buy the MS exclusives at launch, can spend on 3rd party next gen games instead). I'm also assuming here that MS will have the superior hardware and as their messaging has been on point for a while now wasn't expecting a mass migration away from MS to Sony this coming gen. The discussion was around whether the 360 gamers that moved to PS4 would return to Xbox or stick with PS and loosing your digital library was mentioned. Was just pointing out that you can get an instant back library as well as the new gen exclusives with game pass and this might soften the blow of losing your PS library.

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

We already know the specs of the PS5, this is the denial phase of coping.

Its Durango/Orbis in backwards.

Would not be surprised by following scenario (target specs) :

Sony - "3x more powerful then PS4 Pro"
MS - "2x more powerful then X"
Devs - "PS5 is slightly more powerful".

Eh...

 

[Karamazov]

Sony will be fine, the drama happens only on gaming forums, just like at the release of the PS4 it was already called a low/mid range subpar gaming PC equivalent, majority of other people were happy with what it was and still is.

 

[PSman1700]

I’m not forking out thousands on PC, neither do I find it easy to connect to my TV and all that PC issues, not to mention the poor HDR support on that platform.

If you fork out thousends on a pc youre doing something wrong. Unless you want to offcourse.
Connecting a pc to a tv is the same process as connecting a console, plug and play, i connect both ps4/pc using hdmi cables. HDR aint poor, in miltiplats it has the same support. You cant compare hzd as it is not on pc. I can imagine that will change next gen, as MS 1st party will most likely have solid hdr inplementations.

 

[Nesh]

Sony will be fine, the drama happens only on gaming forums, just like at the release of the PS4 it was already called a low/mid range subpar gaming PC equivalent, majority of other people were happy with what it was and still is.

Thats the impression of the PC enthusiasts. The console gamers viewed the PS4 as a super powerful console better than One. They didnt care about PC capabilities. PCs are as if they dont exist

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

Thats the impression of the PC enthusiasts. The console gamers viewed the PS4 as a super powerful console better than One. They didnt care about PC capabilities. PCs are as if they dont exist

Its all about perspective.

If Oberon is final chip, and if PS5 was 9.2TF Navi with RT, 8 core Zen2 and 16GB of GDDR6, it would be almost a match for best performing AMD stock gaming rigs. If Arden is actually 12TF of RDNA, then it would be comfortably fastest AMD GPU on the market.

So, in both cases we would get MUCH more then we did back in 2014 or 2016, but only this time one console would go above and beyond of what is expected of consoles considering TDP constraints and form factor. If both are around that number then thats astonishing.

 

[iroboto]

Minecraft and GTA series seem to be the exceptions, I know there are a few others but I can't think of them.

Add DOTA, LOL, CS, R6 Siege, WOW, Eve Online, overwatch, Soon to be hearthstone, MTG, I suspect Fortnite; quite a few old games finding new players.

As long as developers give the population a chance to stick together the players will keep playing. It’s been this way on PC and I largely suspect it will be this way on console if the players are given a chance.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Nah, I don't see a lot of people picking up 7+ year old titles. There's a reason most of a game's sales happens during their first month after release, except for a few exceptions.

That's the case if the majority of your software (game) sales are on physical media. There's usually a huge spike at launch and then it just tails off over time until sales die off completely.

That's because physical retail stores can't afford to continuously stock years old titles combined with the effect of used game sales.

Digital changes that dynamic. There's no need to ever remove a title from retail as it's not taking up valuable shelf space. Hence, we see what developers selling games on Steam call a Stegosaurus effect on game sales. Large spike at launch and then numerous other large spikes (usually not as large as launch) every time they...

• Put the game on one of Steam's seasonal sales.
• Release new content for the game.
• See a surge in Twitch streaming of the game.
• Releasing the game in a new territory and/or providing additional language support.
• Other reasons that I can't remember from research that some developers did.

I wouldn't be surprised if TLOU is having a significant spike in sales at the moment due to the imminent release of TLOU 2.

Minecraft and GTA series seem to be the exceptions, I know there are a few others but I can't think of them.

The Witcher 3 just had it's highest concurrent user numbers and they are back on Steam's best sellers list. So it's not only people playing the game again, but new players being drawn in. However, that's due to the TV show hitting Netflix. They have had numerous other spikes in sales over the past few years, however.

If we look at PC. Rust is back on the best sellers list on Steam. The developers keep updating the game which spurs new sales. 7 Days to Die went through a similar large spike in sales a few months back.

Warframe gets a huge boost in people playing every time there's new content added. And every time there's a major content update there's a huge influx of new players. I don't follow PoE as much, but I've heard similar things happening there.

While not as old the base Monster Hunter game is also going through another large sales spike as Twitch streaming of the game in preparation for the PC release of Iceborne has ramped up interest in the game among people that haven't played it yet.

There's other examples, but I can't think of their names at the moment. Like that UBIsoft title where you have Japanese, Norse, and Knights in the game. That one has a large surge in sales every time there's a new content update (which is accompanied by a massive surge in Twitch streaming).

Regards,
SB