sony PlayStation Meeting {DT} (Sep 7th 2016) | PS4 Slim, PlayStation 4K and more?

[Eudemon]

[headline]PlayStation Meeting[/headline]

The PlayStation Meeting event is about to get underway in NYC where we are expecting to see the official reveal of the leaked PS4 Slim and our first look at the PlayStation 4K or PS4 Neo as it is also known. Rumours and info have been around a good part of the year about the upgraded PS4 but what exactly is it and how will it compare to Project Scorpio, the next piece hardware to come from the Xbox division.

 

 

Mutterings of first-looks at some top titles and maybe even a new handheld or some sort of mobile tie-in have also been heard over the air but for the most part, Sony have kept what will be shown at this pretty locked down.

 

Live stream: Twitch

[Eudemon]

Ok PS4 Slim got a brief reveal which was expected and the upgraded PS4 is called PS4 Pro. I had to dive out and grab me washing due to the rain appearing hours earlier than it should!! :evil:

 

PS4 Slim: $299 / €299 / £259

 

All PS4s will get HDR via a firmware upgrade too.

 

PS4 Pro: $399 / €399 / £349 :nods: (out November 10th 2016)

 

[Ryzza5]

Well that's good as I have a HDR TV now... except the PS4 connects to my old PC monitor so meh.

 

The lack of 4K BluRay is a bit concerning though. Sure Internet streaming and all that but our Internet can barely handle 1080p60. And if all I want to do is stream most new TVs already have apps for that.

[Ryzza5]

Why the PS4 Pro won't always achieve 4K gaming, and why it probably won't matter:

 

PlayStation 4 Pro games look amazing, but don't expect real 4K

 

 

 

I'll probably wait and see if the XB Scorpio is a compelling buy next year since I already have a PS4. The PS4 Pro has around 4 TFLOPs (used to have 2), and the Scorpio has 6 TFLOPs (similar to a GTX 1070 or the 2015 Titan X). The GTX 1080 has 9 TFLOPs for comparative reference.

[Eudemon]

I think you would have been fooling yourself to believe this console would be putting out 4K native. I mean the PS4 has issues putting out 1080p sometimes without dips and noticeable downgrades. It's an ever repeating sequence of events and it will probably happen again with 4K and PS5. Speaking of the next PS, I reckon that will be coming in 2018.

 

One thing I've noticed though, as I have grown from the early days of gaming I know that visuals really aren't a huge thing for me. Games do look good and every new upgrade and new generation improves on the last and of course we know how devs like to cram all the pretty effects and such in at the expense of framerate but I hope we are now getting to a point where games look good enough and can run effectively solid without the need to constantly put graphics over gameplay.

 

Then again maybe I'm just getting old. :lol:

[hassan1995]

I'm probably going to get the ps4 pro when it dips under £300 I've got a 4k TV so it seems to be the right version but that means I'll have a fat xbox and fat ps4, I don't think my stand will hold that weight :lol:

[Ozzmcom]

I don't understand why anyone would buy these for 4k when you can build a PC that is far superior that would be hell of a lot cheaper in the long run. What are they gonna introduce next year when these become underpowered? My gtx 1070 is already more powerful than the gpu's they have in these new consoles and that is now. Are people just gonna keep buying new consoles every other year now? I've sold my xbox the day they've announced fh3 for pc, best god damn decision I've made all year.

[Eudemon]

People just like the ease of use of a console, and these new versions and not generations are here because apple and co have shown that people don't mind buying upgraded hardware and features every 2 or so years. It's not really got anything to do with being the most powerful as like you say PC has that in spades, it's about buying something that will, out of the box, last for a good number of years before the need to buy another.

[Ozzmcom]

I hardly think last generation of consoles lasted for more than a year. They already had ancient technology when they were launched. It wasn't like that with previous ones. When you ordered a ps2, the technology inside that thing was far superior than anything you could build at home.

Yeah I understand the utility/convenience, if you don't have a proper cable provider it's nice for tv, netflix and stuff but even that is limited to a few countries. I mean I took my xbox to australia, they have crap for services.

Also lets not forget talking of utility, PC is the only platform that you can play the games and create them on. That scale of freedom is something console users will never have.

 

My point being,

instead of throwing the crap around running around in circles, they should build something powerful that could rival PC so that not only we have actual competition in result raising the quality of the future hardware components, but the game engines won't be bottle necked by technological limitations that are enforced by underpowered consoles each year = better quality games.

Prices will rise you say? Well that's good, less people = better community. The end.

[hassan1995]

I've heard these arguments about building a pc over and over again, okay I've built a pc now can I play the exclusives that's playstation are churning out? I don't think so, I'm not taking any side but people buy these consoles for the games, now the xbox is useless now if you have a pc and I see the argument there , but with its not the same case with the ps4.

[Eudemon]

Games consoles are for the ease of playing games for everyone. What value of those 40 million+ PS4 customers do you think care about playing and creating on the hardware they bought? Hardly any and yeah consoles used to be ahead of the game but as with anything to do with technology it will always be outperformed and if money is no object even the older ones were under performing at their release. It's all relative but what will always remain is that consoles will sell to those who just want to pick up and play and be able to do so for 4+ years without having to worry about the need to upgrade, however now if they want to, they will be able to as there will be mid-gen releases from now on as the markets show people don't mind it, but I cannot see everyone jumping to PC gaming unless a universal platform arises but that will never happen unless some corporation manages to monopolise it all to themselves.

 

Better hardware and performance doesn't always equal better games, it will bring better visuals and effects but the gameplay is what makes a game fun after all and that's the tough part to get right. You also run the risk of the old just power through it method if power is just always there. Not to mention that the techniques learned from squeezing out the max from a console has brought a number of findings and ways to essentially get the same results with little to no overhead which in the end benefits everyone. :cool:

 

You seem to want some sort of elite hardcore PC gaming only future which in all respects would probably kill off the industry rather than make it better. In fact, you would probably find virtually every developer would switch instead to mobile and tablet gaming and it would be Kickstarter and other crowd-funding campaigns where your games would come from.

[Ryzza5]

Perhaps one interesting angle is that a bunch of people will give away their current consoles to relatives (when they upgrade) who might not have ever purchased one themselves. Now there's a whole new audience of people buying games, of which Sonysoft get a ~30% cut.

 

 

Didn't you enjoy watching 7mate, Ozz? :)

[Ozzmcom]

no no I'm not saying everyone should switch to PCs, I'm just saying whatever happen to companies releasing their consoles with better technology like they did in the older days? and most people get confused here but the reason for better hardware is not just there to justify the graphical improvement. Game engines run thousands of nodes, if you're a developer and the console standards say you can only simulate 5 types of ai in one scene then you start making compromises. All I'm saying is people asking for cheaper and cheaper consoles depreciated the quality of the newer games significantly.

I mean you talk about buying the console and not worrying to upgrade it well isn't this just an upgrade really only you're buying a whole new console because you can't change the parts yourself?

True when I bought the ps2 I didn't worry about its hardware for the next 6-7 years because it trumped whatever the open market could offer at the time.

Now my $400 gpu is superior than the best, any console platform could offer in its launch day, I say there is a problem.

@Ryzza

please...

[Eudemon]

Should that really be the case though as taking your example it should be easy for devs to implement additional aspects within the code for that platform should it not? I guess what you are saying is that as they are doing a one-for-all production then it limits those that can have and do more. But in effect isn't that then the fault of the devs more than the console manufacturers? Unless you mean to say that the multiple compromises between platforms takes away time and effort that could be put elsewhere, however again you have to support a base specification, therefore unless you have a game coming out that is only for the 1% then you'll always have a lower barrier that will be aimed at. :)

[Ozzmcom]

no, standardized hardware is brilliant, it's the only thing that consoles do best, but if those standards are low then as a developer you can't use all of the power of your multi million dollar game engine. You hear devs complain about the ancient hardware of consoles all the time, there is obviously a problem. Think of it like this, forget all this scorpio , pro ps4 crap. Imagine years ago when ps4/xb1 was announced they came with this technology, 4k and all that (it already existed at the time) now that would be the equivalent of ps2's power at the time.

[Eudemon]

Yeah but how much would that thing have cost back in 2013?! And taking into account having native 4K which would probably require a new tv (or monitor) would add even more to that value. 8K and 16K exists now too but until it goes mainstream its value is diminished and nobody will really support it.

[Eudemon]

The whole uproar about the PS4 Pro not having 4K Blu-ray support seems crazy to me. I get that it would be a good thing to have and I can see why people are saying if Sony is happy to promote the supposed 4K(inda) ability of this system then does it not seem weird not to have one but, it's a games system set for the harder more enthusiast console gamer so why the crying about a media capability?

 

I still think PS5 will come in 2018 and that it will have a drive that supports UHD Blu-ray due to mainly game storage than for the media ability and in a way a new generation (if it happens) makes more sense in providing that support than adding it mid-way.

 

If you were considering picking this up before the reveal due to the leaks and such, does the lack of that function change your mind?

[Ryzza5]

It seems that hardly anyone wants to release UHD BD players because of the two competing standards (I know, again....) and also because many brands are ignoring one part of the UHD Alliance standard saying the required brightness (nits) is completely over the top. Streaming HD is all well and fine, but streaming 4K HDR content in a decent bitrate is basically impossible right now, which brings us back to reliance on discs. I certainly would prefer to have an all-in-one box rather than connect a console and a player to the TV.

 

 

A collection of 4K HDR video clips showing duration and size - is your connection fast enough to stream these:

 

[Ozzmcom]

but streaming 4K HDR content in a decent bitrate is basically impossible right now, which brings us back to reliance on discs.

 

Maybe in Australia :rofl: