PlayStation Chief: Why PS4 Pro is Sony's iPhone

Sony's Andrew House gives us the inside scoop on the new PS4 Pro.

[S2Killinit]

I think so as well. But not because it is NOW, but i think both Sony and MS know just how big gaming will be in the future.

[nX]

Gaming can never be compared to smartphones, it's delusional to think that far. The PS4 Pro is certainly a smart move to stay competitive in the current market conditions, but it won't be the huge success some expect it to be. Scorpio's success will disappoint just as much because there are a lot of people who would rather upgrade their PC instead of a closed console ecosystem... or don't even have a 4k TV to make use of the hardware. It's a great purchase for people who have yet to buy a console this gen but otherwise it's appeal is limited.

[colonel179]

I don't know why Sony and Microsoft are so stubborn to make the gaming industry like the phone industry. I don't think it could even work at all! Games don't take 1 month to make, and trying to change and improve the consoles every few years it's going to be a nightmare for developers. Consoles should still have generations.

Just look at MacOS now. They went for the yearly releases and now we have horrible OS because there is just no time to polish them anymore. They release one OS, and they have to already work on the other, so there is no optimization. For example: The Keychain app still shows the OLD icon when you open it! No one at Apple has even noticed and fixed it for years!

Games should have time to be developed and consumers shouldn't have to pay for a new console every year. Is that simple. It's not like games are free or cost $10 like a movie ticket.

[freshslicepizza]

Why won't it work? Let's say it takes 2 upgrades before you are forced to move on. That might mean 6 years which used to be the average console life. Your new iPhone doesn't mean last year models are obsolete. Only the diehard fans get a new phone every year.

Sony's answer to what about the future clearly shows that if the Pro us a success which I am confident it will be means we will w see these cycles more and more.

The conversation about psvr and experiences and not full blown games is what I always said. It's a peripheral which means it don't get the same type of support which is not good for something that costs more than the console.

[colonel179]

So you are so happy to expend $400 dollars (or more) every 3 years? There are many people that don't like to throw out money. Remember, phones are subsidized by phone companies, so you don't pay the full price for your phone. Also, very few people actually upgrades their phone every year.

[jmc8888]

@colonel179

Wrong. You don't have to spend $400 every 3 years. You have the option to get better performance every 3 years. You don't have to, nor do we know this is how it's going to be going forward. But if so, you don't have to spend it.

Consoles already have 30 FPS and lower resolution, that's not changing. It's just the higher end stuff will be able to hit 60 FPS more often, and have better quality.

So there is no problem, just you confusing the two.

You still pay the price of the phone, it's called your phone contract. They lock you in at an above market monthly rate in order for you to pay for that phone.

...also $400 is nothing. Yes, for human beings in a depression where our wages haven't risen this century it's a lot. Blame Obama/Bush/Hillary (or if a different country your own morons screwing crap up... it's not just us)

But from the perspective of actually making stuff, $400 is dirt cheap. A NES would cost about $800 if it was launched today given inflation. We're making cheap consoles. That's why they are $400.

If Sony wanted to make a PS3 or Microsoft wanted to make a Xbox 360, the prices would be much higher. Don't people realize that in a real sense the move towards more iterations was driven because of the cap on console price to begin with?

We got LOW POWER machines in 2013. I said it then. I repeat it now. 1.3 TF and 1.8 TFLops in 2013 was weak. If you wanted a PS3/360 in 2013 it needed to be what PS4 Pro is now, but in 2013. That would of cost about $800.

Since we are in a depression, and no one is fixing anything, people can't afford such prices. So they made low power, X86 devices, to make it cheaper and easier with less risk. That's why now, because they went cheap, they need to have mid-gen cycle.

Now they are giving us what they should of given us in 2013, except for 2016 and 2017 it's just more of the same. Even Scorpio in 2017 isn't that powerful, it's just the 2017 version of the PS4 from 2013. It's sort of mid range for 2017. Just like PS4 was sort of midrange in 2013.

This is reality. It sucks people can't afford higher priced machines, and perhaps knowing this, people should pay more attention to the bad stuff that is destroying our purchasing power and growth around the world. Because on one end our money is being debased for wars and wall street/the city, and on the other end, jobs are being outsourced to your countries favorite 3rd world hell hole. Until you stop the Neo-Cons and Neo-Libs in the U.S. and everywhere else in the world, expect things to get worse.

Overall these companies need to try to make a profit, within this madness our gov't put them through. They are doing their best. They are giving us options. They are keeping prices low. But instead of getting mad at the politicians and bankers that put us here, they get mad at Sony/MS and various games makers for DLC and crap. Guess what, it's the macro situation that is pushing these companies here. Maybe people should pay attention and vote on it.

[ShowanW]

Project Scorpio is at least 4yrs out from the Xbox One.
The OG Xbox to the 360 was also 4yrs Out.

Most console cycles were usually 4-6yrs apart.

the 360/PS3 generation going 8+ yrs was never the norm...

Going from the Wii to the Wii U, Nintendo actually stuck to the "Normal" hardware cycle change.

[colonel179]

Well yes, but games back then took less time to make, and were cheaper. Also, Scorpio is a NEW generation, don't be fooled by Microsoft. Just because it will be compatible with Xbox One accessories and games (Like the Wii/Gamecube and Wii/Wii U), doesn't mean it's not.

[ShowanW]

@colonel179

at rather it's considered "this gen" or "next gen" doesn't matter.

if nobody loses anything and gains everything, that's all that matters.

if project scorpio is this gen or next gen... what's the difference when everything still just works?

[colonel179]

Because there will be a time when you will no longer be able to play Xbox Scorpio games on your regular Xbox One. Right now this is their PR strategy to hook gamers.

[freshslicepizza]

Who says you have to buy a new system every 3 years, did you even bother to read what I said? Nobody has to upgrade to the PS4 Pro do they?

[ShowanW]

@Moldybread: I never read your post... only Colonel179's post.

@Colonel179 due you know how much time will be in between hardware requirements?

You don't honestly think, Project Scorpio makes Xbox One obsolete over night?

Xbox One will continue to get games for at least the next 4-6years. Which will be 8-10years total during Project Scorpio launch and so forth

Then Project Scorpio will become the regular Xbox, and wash, rinse, and repeat.

[jmc8888]

Spoken like a console only player.

You do realize the whole time, most of the games you play have been also made with an amazing amount of combinations right? It's called PC gaming.

With PC gaming, they are constantly improving, and the PC versions of the console games are constantly improving, even if they can't pass that along to the console version.

Newsflash, the vast majority of games have many levels of textures, effects, different framerate, resolutions, etc, etc.

So how is this going to be a nightmare for developers, when this has always been the case for developers.

Even back in the day when you could buy a game that had an Apple II version, C64, and IBM PC. Yes, there was a time you bought a game and it could have 2-3 discs in it.

Just like with PC's, with multiple consoles, you don't need to upgrade every year. How hard is this to understand? The older tech gets lower levels of IQ and generally lower framerate and resolution. But even without 'newer' tech coming out, this is going to happen anyway.

3-4 years is basically a normal amount of time (4-5 years actually is the standard), it's just that there a lot of gamers, don't know that and are freaking out, because they grew up in a time of Xbox 360/PS3 long generation.

Even now it's sort of both, at least for this generation. We don't know if this is a trend for the future, what we do know is that the generation isn't ending with Pro/Scorpio. So we are getting better gear in 3 and 4 years, but the actual full generation might be 7-8 years. Even then with everything now X86, in a sense there might not be generations anymore. If everything later can run what came before it, and sort of blends in, we might have to change what generations mean.

[wheresmymonkey]

Sony's iphone...more like 32X.

[JamesBondage]

they should just make consoles able to be upgraded, new cpu, gpu, ram etc. all they have to do is make it so only their products work with eachother, and everyone will still have to buy the product directly from microsoft/sony. like the external gpu that one of the laptop companies made, it doesnt work with any laptop, just the brand that made it. (sorry if this is confusing, im like a cake on cloud 9 right now)

[freshslicepizza]

Might as well just get into PC gaming then

[JamesBondage]

i am haha

[ShowanW]

Casual gamers are usually "majority" and the majority are NOT going to go under the hood and change out any parts.

Sony/Microsoft would then have to probably team up with Game Stop or a Best Buy (as well as Sony Stores, and Microsoft Stores), pay for training, pay for store space etc... this isn't free so now there additional cost to staff, etc...

Hypothetical: Mommy tells little Timmy that's she'll upgrade the GPU in the PS5 , all while in house slippers, with a very high static charge, soon as she touches any component she fries the MOBO... Now multiply that by a 5-10 million people the world over...

[JamesBondage]

6 downvotes for wanting consoles to be moddable? Lol so many h8Rz >.<

[MilkMan]

If Apple followed Sony vision of what an IPhone is, Apple would be broke.

[King_Lothric]

Sony is winning in the console market by a huge gap. What they are doing, is working.

[cfc83]

The issue for me is how long before we see the benefits of a new console ? If it takes 2-3 years for devs to get used to a new consoles hardware, this means as they're getting more out of new systems, it won't be long before a new system is out.

[Pricey]

depends how many of those new systems keep the same architecture

[Salooh]

It's just a ps4 with more power.

[ShowanW]

"And from what Sony boss Andrew House has said, Xbox definitely isn't playing nice anymore – the competition is very much back on."

[ShowanW]

"4K Gaming" is quite a loose and nebulous term that's quite open to interpretation. Are we going to see native 4K gaming on the PS4 Pro or will the majority of it be upscaled?

I would say the majority will be upscaled – at least based on the game portfolio I have seen to date."

[ssj27]

I definitely got a feeling next year we will see at least a new PlayStation pro with hhd player. And 2tb memory. Maybe even small power boost to match scorpio specs but i maybe be wrong. Hopefully i am. I don't want to have the option to upgrade every year specially if that raw power will be hold back by the old consoles no thanks

[ShowanW]

"Xbox's response to the announcement last week was interesting, certain execs took to social media to "fire shots" at the two consoles, and they put out a press release about the relative capabilities of the Xbox One S and the Slim and the Pro. What did you make of their response?

"I thought it was quite intriguing given that we'd seen a year of stories about "a new and different Microsoft" in terms of their attitude towards the competition."

[slate91]

Its funny because the "fire shots" was literally just naming off the features of the One S. No mention of the Pro or Slim. ThisGenGaming flamebait article.

[Tobsesan]

That explains the lack of optical out

[Aenea]

And what explains the lack of a new more powerful console in 2016? :p

*hides behind the couch with a teddy bear clutched in her arms awaiting the wrath of Tobsesan*

[Tobsesan]

Because forcing the playerbase after 3 years to get a new console is just sad?

[Aenea]

Sjeesh don't be so serious Toby!

But since we're being serious: and forcing the playerbase after 4 years to get a new console is less sad because?

[ziggurcat]

"That explains the lack of optical out"

PS4 Pro has an optical out...... you're getting confused with the slim.

http://cdn3.dualshockers.co... - third jack from the top is an optical out.

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

The difference is a lot more people will be buying iPhones and on a more consistent basis.

[Aenea]

Something I've never really understood.

Who needs a new phone every year?

There was 10 years between my most recent mobile phone upgrade and the previous one, my oldie was still a dumb flip phone! It made phone calls, could text too, needed nothing more...

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Hey man. clam shell phones are awesome! :D I was really sad when they went the way of the dodo because I always enjoyed the one I had.

The reason why people buy an Iphone every year has more to do with social circle acceptance than actual practicality. Now that gaming has gone mainstream, companies believe that the same type of peer pressure will happen to gamers.

[jmc8888]

It is starting to slow down. They will have some good moments, but phones in general, have equalized out. Notice the lack of lines the last few rollouts? I've seen pictures of the lines for Iphone 7 in NYC. They are between 0 and 10 people. Mostly 0. Then there was Apple watch... rofl.

Hell a year and half ago you could buy an android, dual camera, 6 inch screen, with 12 gb memory, 2gb ram, and a quad core Adreno for $150-200. No contract.

Most people are figuring out you don't need phones every year. Apple is too. It's also getting hard for them now that Jobs' well has run dry for Apple.

Today's phones can be competent for 5-6 years. You could use them longer even. If you want to upgrade after 3-4 fine. Either way, only people chasing prestige really need to upgrade their phones every year.

[Fullmetalevolust]

I don't know that comparing the two, especially in terms of game quality, makes me feel comfortable or reassured about the gaming industry. Maybe it needs to crash a bit to send a message of humility.

[DillyDilly]

Wow first this replaces PCs & now its their iPhone LMAO

[ZeekQuattro]

Just think the PS5 will be a thing in 2 or 3 years and if Sony continues this trend expect the PS5 Pro 2.5 years into the PS5's life. Not a promising future for console gaming if you ask me. Might be time for a reboot of the industry.

[jmc8888]

We don't know that.

Sony can only make a machine when it makes sense. It made sense faster for them this time because of PSVR, otherwise they likely would of waited another year like Scorpio.

They also had to go cheap in 2013 because people don't want to spend much more than $399-499.

So what do you think is coming between now and 2.5 years that makes it worthwhile to make a PS5? They really need to wait until it hits 7nm, and allow 4k/60 to be mainstream, while 4k/120 5k and 8k become a thing on PC.

They need to wait until things hit about 20TFlops or so before 4k/60 really gets mainstream and 'normal'.

According to docs from EU regulations, 10nm will focus more on power reduction, then raw power increase. Might not be a good spot to build a console. Probably have to wait for 7nm. We'll see though.

People have to remember every 4-5 years is the general length of a console generation anyways. If people were expecting one machine to last them 7-8 years and this was how the industry is, they're wrong. One long generation doesn't mean it will or should be that way always.

[jmc8888]

Please don't compare it to Apple. Iphone's are overpriced and underspecced and their improvements per iteration is paltry.

Just because they decided that after ONE TIME of having such a long console generation, they are going back to shorter upgrades, but not completely rebooting everything (like the OS), doesn't mean it's an Iphone.

Also we aren't even sure this is how it's always going to be. Maybe PS5 doesn't come until 2021 and then what?