Playstation 5 [PS5] [Release November 12 2020]

I'm thinking Sony could compete against XSS with a PS5 lite:
Same SoC (good from a manufacturing perspective) downclocked to 7TF, discless, 512GB SSD with 8GB GDDR6 (entire 8GB available to devs or maybe 0.5 reserved for OS if it must) + 1-2GB DDR4 connected to the southbridge for the OS (similar to the 1GB connected to southbridge in PS4 PRO).

Downside: having only 0-0.5GB of the OS/system in faster memory might make switching between games and the OS or OS functionality a little bit slow (but then again maybe too bad), but thats not a horrific sacrifice to get a system still with more memory bandwidth and larger GPU than the XSS. Sony could manufacture for maybe $50 higher than the XSS (since the only sizable difference would be the SoC cost?)

(the higher cooling & power cost of the LITE at 7TF is probably negligable and might even be offset by the cheaper ram (8GBGDDR6+1-2GB DDR4 on PS5 lite vs 10GB GDDR6 on XSS)

 

Just because something is not mentioned, it is not a confirmation of it not being there. I guess we will know more, when the stuff starts leaking.

 

There was a rumour that Sony had 2 consoles, don't know if that specifically ended up being the DE though. If we consider MS didn't want to let XSS out of the bag yet, then it's possible Sony have plans for a Lite? Only thing is the XSS rumours were much stronger for much longer.

Maybe it's something they were thinking about, maybe it's something they could re-ignite...but then Sony were very vocal about proper generations so it would kind of go against that.

 

They could lose tens of millions of casual gamers who are insanely price sensitive. IIRC probably 65+ million of PS4 owners waited 2 years or longer until PS4 dropped to $299 or lower in various sales (eg Black friday) / or just msrp dropping to 299 or lower.

 

Well that's what the DE is for - if that is priced 'just' 100 more than the XSS then why throw away your games and start again with XSS?

edit - why no XBO on the chart!?

 

That's just a natural sales cycle of a console. The PS4 sold a gazillion units and I really don't think Sony are sitting there wondering how to target people they have been targeting very successfully for quite some time. Also, don't forget that Sony has to actually manufacture the units and that for the first couple of years, supply is what limits sales and not demand.

 

That chart shows how insane the PS4 has done with minimal price reductions...I'd love to see that chart with XBO and timeline of 10 years

 

not sure, its hard to find charts that cover the entire generation, this one even took a while to find
Throw games away? [scratching head]
I'm just talking about taking the same PS5 SoC downclockig to reduce cooling power requirements with half the ram (+1GB DDR4 via southbridge) and half the SSD to compete against XSS. Software thrown away what does that have to do with this?
Consumers are insanely price senstivie on hardware this is maybe an idea to compete against XSS price

 

You mean consumers who bought more Switch platforms than Xbox, while being more expensive and much less powerful?

Consumers are NOT "insanely price sensitive". Some are, some are not, but most want - that magic word again - VALUE. I know I keep droning on about these things, but when I see this kind of statement, my business hat goes on.

 

Also! Given the response on all media, Sony will sell the PS5 to everyone and their grandma unless they really mess up the pricing (ie higher than the X) which I really don't think will happen.

 

Yea, but people change. Some people are willing to try new things. Some people churn because of price. etc. etc.

 

Unlikely. US/CA I see xbox outselling ps5. They were already close this gen.

 

People are very reluctant to change, I would point you to the extremely poor performance of Xbox 360 outside of the UK and US markets during the PS3 era, for all intents and purposes most of the EU market just waited for Sony to get their shit together on PS3

 

I guess that just comes down to how much you're willing to spend to get what you want.

 

Yes, switching from PS4 to XSS will mean you throw away any digital content and any online progress.

As I said, if DE is 100 more then it's not a great leap to make (pay 100 more and keep all your games). Of course Sony could do a 'lite' but as I said previously that goes against their mantra of true generational leaps...however, as I also said it doesn't mean they might not have looked into it and even might have a plan 'in the wings'.

Oh yeah, I was just contesting your "There's no reason to expect the same outcome." - and of course, churn can go both ways.

I suspect next gen we will get a bit of a Wii effect with a budget console that even grandparents might buy so little johnny can play something when he comes over.

 

lol. I always take the safe position. The reality is, MS is investing way more into Xbox and this launch than 2013. Usually big spending should change the outcome (though not always; see Mixer).
Though Xbox is an established business, they should know if they can get more audience by spending more.

 

Spending more eh? I refer you to the PS3! lol

 

lol I mean, MS spending more, on game pass, on studios, marketing etc. Not the console; investment in the game value.

 

It's interesting because both approaches were/are to add value, with PS3 there was BC, BR, built in wifi and HDD, various memory card slots (etc) - "it only does everything" was true. They gave people a ~850 unit for ~600. It was an amazing value proposition. MS have reversed that with XSS and concentrated on the software - next gen should be awesome.

 

PS3 was an amazing value proposition but people wanted to play next gen games and 600 was a hard price. It is made clear with both the PS3 and XBOX One(the initial plan), that people want value in the gaming experience and want to afford it.