The PlayStation 4K, or Neo as it's supposedly codenamed, is not a rumour anymore; Sony may have refrained from commenting on the upgraded hardware, but it's almost certainly happening. The big question is: when? Previous rumours pegged the supercharged platform for October, which is when PlayStation VR is also set to deploy. But now a French distributor – continuing the console's penchant for leaks – has hinted that we may see it before the end of September.
That's according to reports on Innelec Multimedia's earnings results by stocks website Boursier.com and blog Otaxou.fr. According to both sources, the company expects the "Neo 4K" to arrive in the first half of its current financial year, which runs through until the end of September. It's not entirely clear whether it's working from guesswork or inside information, but history does show that Sony has rolled out hardware revisions in the same period in the past – the original PlayStation 3 Slim being the most notable.
We're really interested to see how E3 plays out for the platform holder. On the one hand, we suspect that it won't want to announce the PS4K until it's almost ready for release, which we do anticipate will be in the September timeframe. But, given the scale of the Neo leaks, we're not entirely sure how it's going to get through an entire convention without mentioning the unannounced machine. We suppose that our questions will be answered in a few weeks.
[source boursier.com, via otaxou.fr, videogamer.com, neogaf.com]
Comments 34
As much as I don't want to... I'll probably end up making the leap. 😕 Why not I guess...
The launch of PS4K right around the sametime as PSVR will probably relegate PSVR to something akin to the Sega CD. Just saying, I think after the Occulus and Vive launch, VR hype has slightly disapaited, and although PSVR had more of a chance than anything else to capture the mass market, the PS4K on top of that (which will probably be the optimal platform for VR anyways) will also hurt it, at least in the near term.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
Sony: For the $ (we will bring back that gamers schick in another three years or so).
"But, given the scale of the Neo leaks, we're not entirely sure how it's going to get through an entire convention without mentioning the unannounced machine."
Ask Nintendo, theyve already announced NX is launching in March 2017 but they said they aren't going to talk about it at E3. Focusing instead on Zelda U, not Zelda NX, which they also confirmed. E3 is a dead game on a dead console for them.
And I still don't think Neo is "for the upgraders", any more than the slim models were.
80m PS3 + 80m X360 = 160m
40m PS4 + 30m X1 = 70m
So that's 90 mil who haven't upgraded from last Gen yet. Add in another 90m who haven't upgraded from Wii to Wii U and that's 180m. (But most of the casuals wont)
So I'd say "for the fence-sitters" is more accurate. And with NX not launching until next March, they may get a few of the 13.5m Wii U owners to defect as well.
Yes, some will upgrade, but I think it's more of an enticement for last Gen owners to get it in gear. It's the answer to the question - "Well what are you waiting for?"
Expect the marketing slogan to be something along the lines of - "If not now, when?"
Not gonna double dip for another PS4, will wait for an NX methinks, but it'll be interesting to see how sony plays it with the neo.
I'm waiting to see what MS is going to do. I can't see it sitting back and I think Sony may know something and will try and get out front. I can't imagine if a new more powerful PS4 is on the way (and it seems a certainty now) that MS will sit around and say 'ok, good for you.' It's going to bring something and I think if MS is going to bring something it has to be better than what Sony is going to offer to make this is a real competition again. E3 is going to be interesting. I'm going to upgrade, it's a just a matter of who is going to pull it off better. That's the one that gets my $ first.
Lol at the For the Upgraders. Just give me a ps4 that can play uncharted 4, ratchet & clank, the witcher 3, and bloodborne at 60 fps in $400-$500 package and you have a customer sony
"The PlayStation 4K, or Neo as it's supposedly codenamed, is not a rumour anymore"
Even if indeed it is happening isnt that a bit sensationalist? Absolutely nothing has been confirmed yet - only rumours and speculation. Its like reading The Sun sometimes in here...
@solocapers We have its specifications and virtually every piece of information regarding it aside from a final name and its physical form. It's more than rumour at this point - it's a full-scale leak.
@get2sammyb Is it not possible these "specifications" might not be true though? I get that its entirely likely that these rumours are true atleast to an extent but surely that goes against good journalistic nature to state it as facts. Not trying to nit pick but it gets my goat up a bit when rumours are stated in such ways.
It'll be interesting to see what happens at E3 either way.
I'm still not exactly sure how people could be against this. No exclusive games, no separate network, backwards compatible with performance increases should the developer patch in a "neo" mode, and we will officially know we won't be looking at the same system under our tvs for a decade again. Essentially all it means Is those who haven't who don't mind spending the extra money, or those who do that want the latest and greatest, and those who haven't because of pricing can buy some form of the ps4. I've got 2 ps4, and I know I will be buying one ps4.5 as well as whatever xbox has cooking for the x1 so long as it's not a proprietary add on (I really hate clutter and add ons drive me absolutely nuts). Now if the rumors are false, and there's a distinction in any way other than eye candy between the ps4 and 4.5, then my tune will change.
I hope they tell us soon I have to know what to do with my money, if it is true and it probably is, it's a must buy day 1 purchase for me I have no choice I just need to know when!!
I will be getting one as soon as they launch and trading my current one in, the specs suggest it'll be a decent upgrade and I'm hoping for a patch to Uncharted 4 for 60fps amongst others
@solocapers I see where you're coming from but I think at this point they're pretty much fact.There have been far too many sources for these to be rumours any more, not to mention that we have exact specifications not the guesswork we normally get. I'm excited to see what the new Polaris GPU from AMD can do in the PS4
@solocapers No because the specifications came from Sony's developer relations website. They're legit. Publishers have devkits. It's real.
Sony will announce at E3 that PS4K is available immediately after their presentation.
I would be happy to buy a PS4K in September - Just think how great games will look and run. BF1 in October, CoD:IW/MW:R in November, no doubt Horizon: Zero Dawn around that time too, as well as the games announced for 2017 - ME:Andromeda for example. I would love to see a Neo mode added to U4 - 1080/60 across both aspects - maybe even 1200-1440p! It looks stunning now of course but it does have the occasional frame rate drops - more so in MP. It does feel a bit different going from one to the other.
The finer details may not be realised yet - like the Bluray (upscaling or 4k), final design, maybe not even the final specs - they could be looking at other CPU's but had to get SDK's out so developers know the 'minimum' specs so they can add the 'Neo' mode.The CPU (rumoured) is the same CPU as in the PS4 - just over clocked to 2.1ghz - the most it can - so they could replace it with a 14nm Chip that could be clocked faster to avoid CPU Bottlenecking - something that hampers the PS4 now.
It would make 'sense' to release in Sept/Oct time if the rumours are true that every game releasing from Oct must have a 'Neo' mode and in time for Christmas. For me the PS4k has a LOT more appeal than VR and I can see the PS4K helping to make that a better and more successful add-on. VR is very intensive as it hasto maintain a high frame rate as well as have very accurate and fast responding motion controls.
Oh God, if this runs FFXV with a better framerate I'd be inclined to buy it soonish...you evil masterminds
@get2sammyb Im really not trying to get in a war of words here but the 'internal documents' as you yourself stated in the article from Giantbomb you quoted originally "Sony probably won't be happy today, as the PlayStation 4K has leaked in full – assuming that Giant Bomb's sources are correct."
Assuming is a long way away from confirmed.
This can go on for forever but it seems like the momentum of various "leaks" with no actual confirmed released documents released other than what a few websites have said and even then.. if these technical documents are actually real then why was the sites you've based facts on have been proposing 3 possible systems? (eurogamer)
So the question I have I guess.. Eurogamer and Giantbomb are both saying they have these documents but dont really seem clear on how the system will actually shape up with like I said earlier.. 3 possible systems being touted. Doesnt that sound odd? Certainly doesnt seem like they actually have documents if im being honest and no leak from any dev has confirmed dev kits have been released either.
Seems like a big confusion over facts and speculation still to me...
@solocapers AMD have stated they will have 3 new console systems with their 'new' hardware in them in the next financial year (ending Apr 2017). That didn't mean that Sony themselves will have 3 new systems. 1 of those is likely to be the NX, the other, the new PS4K and the 3rd is the rumoured new Xbox console. MS have been far more secretive about theirs with only a FCC indicating a 'new' device - its manual is under an NDA but the other wireless chip has the XB1 manual more likely indicating a 'slim'.
Those specs were 'leaked' from a reliable Sony source and has been effectively confirmed accurate by a few developers too - even effectively confirming how the Neo will 'operate' alongside the PS4 (things like min 1080p, games have to have a Neo mode etc). Sony themselves are unlikely to announce the PS4k until every element has been finalised - that includes the design and other hardware beyond GPU, CPU and RAM. IF they are releasing a new console, developers need the spec of these 3 components only - they don't need to know the type of bluray player, where the ports will be etc. With just 4-5months to go until October - the date developers are expected to put 'neo' modes into their games, they have to have these specs far sooner than its official release to be able to incorporate this into their games.
@solocapers But the context you miss is that after that article was written, two or three more sources said they'd seen the same documents. Which means we've gone beyond rumour at that point.
@get2sammyb are these really reliable sources or just fans to the flame? To be fair this isn't going anywhere anyway when you can't even admit it's still not just speculation at hand at this moment. As a 'journalist' I thought you'd be able to make the distinction between the two.
My point is that it's not really hard to say on a blog that you've seen these documents that funnily enough haven't been made public in any way apart from an amd roadmap which shows off their next line of mobile processors. Eurogamer seem to be the only real source of these stories.. It really is all speculation when you look between the lines.
I can't believe I created an account just to comment on this, but... "is no longer a rumor"? Really? That's still exactly what it is...
@PlaytendoGuy Im with you, I've been toying around with buying a wii u for starfox, Mario maker and splatoon. So waiting for the NX is a better option for me. Will keep the Ps4 as my main console for a good few years yet.
@Armakus Its only a 'rumour' in so far as it hasn't been 'officially' confirmed. Like the NX before it got an official announcement recently, that was still just a 'rumour'
not sure how legit is this, but imma leave this here:
vrworld.com/2016/05/11/amd-confirms-sony-playstation-neo-based-zen-polaris/
if this is true, it means that PS4k has jumped from awesome to OMFG
@solocapers Okay, feel free to come back in a couple of months when it all turns out to be true.
Also, I'm not a journalist.
Wouldn't it be funny if the Xbox ONE.TWO was more powerful than the PS4K?!?! The Internet would Break + If the PS4K is real then I really hope it has a 4K Blu-ray drive/player in it If not I can't see me buying it to get slightly better graphics really.
@Carl-G Funny enough, I read a rumour that the 'nextbox' was 5-6x more powerful than current gen. The PS4k is around 2.5x more powerful than the PS4 and 3x more powerful than the XB1 - looking at the tflops. The PS4k, if the specs are as rumoured, works out to be around 4.2tflops, the PS4 is 1.84tflops and the XB1 around 1.41tflops. The rumours indicated that MS were going to do what Sony did with the PS3, sell at a loss - at least initially. There was mention of HBM2 being used which would indicate that the GPU would be AMD's new 'Vega' which is due out in October and more powerful than the Polaris.
MS are in a different position to Sony in that they have the UWP eco-system and theoretically could slot in a 'new' device. It could run the same software as the XB1 but also offer something 'new' too - like Oculus Rift support meaning it has something to rival Sony's PSVR and as far as 'gaming' goes, it would leave developers more 'free' to decide if they want to release XB1 versions - particularly if its a 'struggle' to get them to run. Its not likely to 'split' the community too much because the new console 'could' play the same games as the XB1 and some XB360 games too in cross-generation gaming (like the XB1 and its BC XB360 games now) and the 'party chat' would still work across all UWP devices. Being a whole new device, it also allows developers to put extra features in that the PS4/4k can't have because of keeping things the same.
With Sony not having an equivalent to the UWP, it has to keep the PS4 users happy and with 40m+ of them, that's a lot of people. A new console could split the user base far more and like I said could lead to a more significant difference (not just visuals) in games as well as the library available. It maybe the reason that the PS4k isn't 'much' more powerful because it would make the 'difference' between the two much more significant and upset the user base.
Of course that's just speculation but if there are to be new consoles as rumoured, its going to be an interesting 6-12months...
@BAMozzy hadn't thought about that with XBOX, interesting with regard to the Rift.
@Cron_13 MS has already partnered with OR and provided them with XB1 controllers. We know that MS (or at least believe) that they are not working on a VR headset. We also know that AMD's Polaris is designed to bring VR to the masses and be 'affordable'. Its specs are going to be 'sufficient' to run the headset and be more powerful than the minimum required. As a result, the new Xbox, if it uses Polaris and a decent CPU could offer VR and being a 'new' system, wouldn't have to offer the same to XB1 owners. It seems one way or another, VR is going to be the 'next big thing' - not just in gaming but certainly a feature that PC and PS can offer and Xbox cannot. Another reason that MS may be interested in releasing a new console. They are 'struggling' to match sales now - even though the XB1 is cheaper, offers BC and a 'good' range of exclusives. If/when PS4k and NX are released, Xbox sales will no doubt drop significantly. Not only can it not compete visually with the PS4, it can't offer VR experience ether and so will lose out on that market/games too unless it does something. Waiting a year or so could be more damaging too. Developers may opt to release on the NX because it has more power and so doesn't require quite so much 'work' to get games to run smoothly and use that to make up for any 'deficit' lost in sales to XB1 owners. They will still make the effort for PS4 because they want to reach 40m+ people and release on PS4k.
Like I said its just speculation and me putting 2+2 together - of course this doesn't always add up to 4 but from my PoV, this is what I would be considering if I was MS.
If the rumours are true about MS making a 'much' more powerful console and taking a loss on each unit sold (like Sony did for the PS3 at launch), by offering VR support, they could make their money back by selling VR apps/games as well as maybe some 'partnership' deal with OR. OR will make more money too because it now has a new market to sell to as well - the console market.
puts his feet up and waits til E3 and watches the fireworks
i could see a ps4 vr edition for extra power. But ps4k I cant see them selling enough in uk to make it worth while. Its fine talking with tech geeks/gamers. But try explaining to wife why we need another flat screen tv/blu ray player. ETC & something shot in 4k looks great some other re masters look worse than bluray,
@solocapers dude. Pushsquare work in the gaming industry. That means they sign NDAs, have lots of friends/contacts in the industry and are part of the professional journalistisic console industry. They trickle info for the lay person as news, previews and reviews. If you been visiting pushsquare for say the past 6 months have you find any misinformation yet? I haven't. This site is well trusted and loved. Sit back, relax and chill dude. Do you work in the industry, are well connected or know Phil Spencer or Mr Woodhouse personally? If not stop spreading cynicism please lol!
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