PS4 Pro Speculation (PS4K NEO Kaio-Ken-Kutaragi-Kaz Neo-san)

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mpg1 said:
"people don't know what they want until you show it to them" - Steve Jobs

It's an experiment that I think Sony should try. Whether they do a good job of it/it's successful is another matter.

Consoles have already become specialized gaming "PC's" whether you like it or not. Has an OS, software updates, patches, have to install games...

Hardware iteration on a specific software platform will become the norm and Sony might be the first one to pull it off.
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Look, don't get me wrong, most likely I will be one on the line to get the upgraded console. But managing a website for 10 years allowed me to get a feeling at people. My reality is Portugal and Brasil, not America.

Sony already stated that Portugal its their best market in the world. Not because of the number of sales since Portugal is a small country, but because of Market share. Sony just rules entirely here.
But what I get on comments are just pissed custommers. Portugal minimum wage is about 500 euros. Brasilian minimum wage is about 200 euros. A PS4 costs 399 euros in Portugal, and was lauched at 1000 euros in Brazil.

Although the Portuguese scene is better, we just left a large austerity period. We had FMI here for 4 years.

So, my feelings about this are not the same as the people in a Country like the US where the minimum wage is 7.5 dolars an hour (over 2000 dolars a month in a 9 hours job), and the console costs also 399.

Most people that buy consoles are not into tech. They dont even know if top of the line PCs are more powerfull than consoles or not. People on this forum are not a good example of the overall market, and i,m just trying to get this perspective into this debate.

Steve jobs is not a good quote here. You can show a person anything, but the reality is that a person can only buy so much. People have cars, houses, kids and all kind of expenses. Consoles are just not a priority.

But this is not a complaint. I'm lucky enough to be a console collector. Yes... I love them, and I try to have them all. This is not even about my case, but the fact that in this discussion people seem to look at the market and see just the reality they know.
Just like Microsoft only saw the reality they have at redmond when they spoke about the dreadfull always online DRM on the One.

Not all people will react kindly to this. This will shake markets. People will be pissed off. And the problem I see with this is that in reality I see no real need for this to happen. Consoles are just fine as they are. This is is most widely accepted generation ever. The One is beating 360 sales, the PS4 is on route to be the most successful Sony console ever.

With Sony not out of the woods yet in financial terms, I think this is a tremendous bold move. One that can cost them! Sony had a "100%" satisfied clients, and now this may change. Why?
Was this really so necessary? Are games like Uncharted so bad?

In another perspective, this will make Microsoft react. All consoles will become like this.
What if Microsoft launches a Xbox 4.7 and crushes in power the Sony 4.5? Will sony stand still and see its console sales plunge?

In another saying "Dont change a winning team". The team is winning big, and yet... They are just doing that!

Hope you get my perspective and add it to this discussion.
 
iroboto said:
I think the takeaway here is something along the lines of how Apple views its own products, if you release X it will cannibalize Y; yes. But if you yourself are not willing to cannibalize your own product, someone else will; so it's best to cannibalize your own product on your own terms in a manner in which you control.
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Agree. But there must be a time and a need for that to happen.
Look at what happened with Microsoft greatest Xbox line up. Sales results show Halo to sell bellow other titles, Ryse of the Tomb Raider release sales floped, Forza 6 sales were low, etc. All because Microsoft canibalized itself in a finite market, in a period where the market is flooded with offerings, releasing all its offerings in a short period of time.
And in their financial report for 2015, Microsoft even complains that Third Party royalties revenues dropped. Wonder why?
Had Microsoft released the same titles throughout the year, I doubt the situation would have been the same.

And look at Samsung mobile. Offers and more offers. They cover all markets and canibalize themselfs a lot. And although I cannot say how they are doing currently, I saw several reports along the years that samsung mobile was not in good financial health.

Nokia also did the same... And plunged.

So I agree with you, as long as there is a real need to canibalize your own market and you think it through.
In the current discussion... I really do not see that need unless NX can be a threat to current consoles.
 
Metal_Spirit said:
So I agree with you, as long as there is a real need to canibalize your own market and you think it through.
In the current discussion... I really do not see that need unless NX can be a threat to current consoles.
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I don't this this would be a reaction to Microsoft or Nintendo. I think it's because of PSVR and the competition from Occulus and Rift. The early adopters probably have a PS4 and a competitive PC, or can afford to upgrade either.

Sony must want to make sure that their brand is associated with high quality VR, and not be third string. The helmet already appears to be the best of the bunch in a number of ways so obviously it's the main system hardware that would be holding things back.

Just speculation of course.
 
Metal_Spirit said:
Agree. But there must be a time and a need for that to happen.
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The time and need to do this is is before your competitor does. This is the rub, if there is new AMD tech available to boost PS4 then it's likely available to boost Xbox One with with ESRAM.

You used the term "PC logic" but it's not PC logic to upgrade your product regularly, it's almost everything logic. It will take almost no explanation to explain this to consumers because they'll be familiar with the concept of rapid product development. What other consumer electronics items do not iterate on an annual or (at most) bi-annual basis?
 
I love Portugal but I really doubt Sony or anyone think about the repercussions of their decision in that country, before making them.

If Portuguese gamers can't afford it - or anyone else! - they'll happily stay with the first version which, hopefully, will be able to play all games this supposed PS4K can.

Regardless, by targeting 4K, Sony and MS are already automatically cutting out people who cannot afford a 4K TV or haven't upgraded their TV in the last year or so.

It's pretty clear that whoever cannot afford it is automatically made irrelevant here.

What's the point of arguing about average wages and €500 a month? They shouldn't even be able to afford the original PS4, or PSVR or any of these toys.

It's all about targeting the right people. Besides, we don't even know what this bloody thing is.
 
They can easily launch an upgraded unit as a premium device with a high margin, continue selling the original box until it's affordable to drop the price to a point where sales would take off. Rinse and repeat.
 
The WSJ now carrying the story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/sony-plans-new-playstation-for-graphics-heavy-games-1459152941

Sony Corp. is planning to sell a more powerful version of its PlayStation 4 machine to handle higher-end gaming experiences, including virtual reality, people familiar with the matter said, while continuing production of its existing console that has so far sold more than 36 million units world-wide.

Existing PlayStation 4 owners would need to buy the new model to take full advantage of the enhanced graphics and power, though it is likely that the current model and the coming one would share the same software catalog, one of the people said.

The new console would be announced before the planned October release of the PlayStation VR, Sony’s new virtual-reality headset, the people said. It would be able to handle ultra-high-definition resolution graphics. The upgraded console would also provide more power for running the PlayStation VR, whose main competitors, Facebook Inc.’s Oculus Rift and HTC Corp.’s Vive, are designed to work with top-shelf computers.
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Stolen from Gameseeker @ Neogaf - http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1201512

I have got to say I was very skeptical about this whole story but the longer it goes the more locked in it seems
 
The argument that single spec hardware is benefit to consumers isn't totally accurate IMO. It's primarily a benefit to developers/publishers.

Most people arguing that they don't want to see a newer/better version are doing it simply because they don't want a better option than what they have to exist. That has little to do whether it's a good idea or not.
 
One of the people on the internet. Impeccable sources. :yep2:
 
Well, regardless what anyone thinks about additional power, a new "PS4k" model would be welcomed not just for 4k blu-ray playback, but also if it could eliminate the PSVR breakout box, because holy shitdamn, a minimum of five cables and two additional plastic lumps next to your console just to use a VR headset is a bit unwieldy and cluttered.
 
London-boy said:
I love Portugal but I really doubt Sony or anyone think about the repercussions of their decision in that country, before making them.

If Portuguese gamers can't afford it - or anyone else! - they'll happily stay with the first version which, hopefully, will be able to play all games this supposed PS4K can.

Regardless, by targeting 4K, Sony and MS are already automatically cutting out people who cannot afford a 4K TV or haven't upgraded their TV in the last year or so.

It's pretty clear that whoever cannot afford it is automatically made irrelevant here.

What's the point of arguing about average wages and €500 a month? They shouldn't even be able to afford the original PS4, or PSVR or any of these toys.

It's all about targeting the right people. Besides, we don't even know what this bloody thing is.
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You are getting it all wrong. This is not about Portuguese people, or who can or cannot afford it.

This is about making changes to a product. A change that will affect many people (Portuguese or Brasilians are just an example). This has the ability to change the current state of things, specially since it opens a precedent and Microsoft can reply with and even more powerfull console (beeing first to present a product was never necessarily a good thing, and Sony took real good advantage of that in the consoles launch presentation)

But the fact is that you cannot produce a mass product and not target it for the masses. This generation was less expensive because companies were exactly trying to reach for a broader audience.
Besides the market is not just America. And even there there are persons who will not be able to upgrade so soon.

But this is not about specific persons not beeing able to upgrade, this is about client satisfation. The thing that makes you keep buying products from some producer. If you are not happy with it, you change! And cost is one factor for shure!

The point here, is that people will not be happy by suddently seeing its console becoming a low end product. And may boicot Sony products. If company policies are not clear, sales will suffer!

I own both a PS4 and a Xbox One. They are both great. Its not trully the resolution diference that makes the diference between them. Its the fact that Microsoft doesnt seem to know what to do with the console, changing policies "on a daily" basis. Today is DRM, tomorrow it is not, today is Kinect, tomorrow it is not, today is all Xbox games will be on PC, tomorrow is not all all Xbox games are going to PC, today is Xbox cannot cross play, tomorrow Xbox can cross play and we invite everybody to join us, etc. This drives people away, want it or not.

Sony was so far more coerent. But this... Will cause people to be unhappy. Maybe even more than all Microsoft policies together. Some of my readers discuss never buying Sony products again. And this insatisfacton is something new. One month ago everybody was happy with their consoles, be it XBox or PS4. And some Xbox owners claim they would stop buyind conif Microsoft ever does the same.

I'm not even shure what these people/readers can or cannot affoard (thankfully many Portuguese and Brasilian People make a lot more than the minimum wage). But I do know, they are not happy with this.

I'm conviced that all these news about the console may not be true. On my posts I state that my belief is just 4K for movies, and that even if the GPU changes, no change in power will occur, but this doesnt seem to relax anyone, because news are all around about a more powerfull console. And that is just my belief.

So please dont miss the point. This is not about who can or who cant buy the thing. That will always be a factor to any product. This is about changing the rules of the game in the midle of it. Client satisfaction! And many people will not like it.
Not all, but the problem are not the clients you keep happy, the problem are the clients you make unhappy.
 
Let me reassure you, I didn't miss your point. I just do not agree with it.

Personally I'd be shocked if they really do release a PS4 that plays games 'better'. I think they'll just launch the same PS4 with better media capabilities and perhaps slimmer and quieter.

But if they do, then I don't really agree with what you're saying. That's all.
 
MrFox said:
The longer it goes, the more journalists reuse the story for click money.

There is still zero credible source for "additional graphics power for gaming".
Click to expand...

Except every single rumor from high profile source mentions 4K gaming and more processing given to PSVR games. As for finding "credible source", good luck finding it when nobody can openly talk about it. Having WSJ report on it is as close to credible as we can get. Kotaku has their sources, DF theirs and now WSJ. All signs point toward same thing, and all that remains is to wait to get update directly from Sony.
 
Hell it could be a letdown if it's only 4K video, not better graphics.

But you'd think they'd announce and show it off at E3, not wait until almost October?
 
You know what will happen if this is true right? Rise of the annoying PS4K Master Race. :runaway:

I'm not going to pay the stupid paywall for WSJ click bait. Is there a transcript anywhere which shows exactly what their source confirmed, and what is their speculation?

Because so far, all sources confirm there's a 4K prototype, and none confirm it will be for high end gaming. That last part is journalist speculation.
 
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