Sony Developing 'PlayStation 4K' Console, But What's It For Exactly? (UPDATE April 4th, 2016)
UPDATE (April 4th, 2016)
The chances of the alleged 'PlayStation 4K' being a very real prospect are increasing as a "verified post" via the NeoGAF community forums paints an ambitious picture of this PlayStation 4 refresher from Sony. According to the source of this latest leak, Sony is going for a more powerful PS4 capable of supporting 4K resolution games.
It seems Sony bigwigs are still pondering whether to substantially increase CPU power for the new PS4K model as this could affect the final pricing. Apparently they're looking at $400 for the newer console but it could rise to $500, but that's the self-imposed limit. There are no current plans for 'trade-in schemes'.
The GPU is said to be twice as powerful as the PlayStation 4's current hardware but have yet to state the exact speeds it's running at. To achieve games running at a solid 4K this is certainly one area the Sony engineering team can't skimp on. It will come with a 4K Blu-ray player and upscale non-native media to 4K, continued the source.
"It was stated plainly and with no room for interpretation that there are developers that already have development kits for the PS4K and that they are making games that will directly target and take advantage of the higher specs of the PS4K. It was also stated that these games will in fact work for the PS4 but with considerable sacrifices made to performance." - Source
What of the current library of PlayStation 4 titles? There won't be any noticeable performance improvements, at least not intentionally, without some work from the developers such as releasing an update to take advantage of the new horsepower.
CCP Games' EVE Valkyrie, Crytek's Robinson: The Journey and Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo Sport will all support the full capabilities of the new PlayStation 4 unit as each are in development for PlayStation VR. Also said to be native at launch: Deep Down and God of War 4. The source claimed more were mentioned but these 'stood out'.
It would seem Sony is willing to gamble with a potential 'split' among the PlayStation 4 user base as this can't be ideal for either consumer or developer. Now studios that don't develop their titles with PS4K in mind will miss out on sales and vice versa. There'll also be pressure to go with the upgraded hardware but it's going to be hard considering the original PS4 has the established numbers.
Is Sony's two-tier PlayStation 4 strategy a looming misstep? The better hardware is certainly better for PlayStation VR given the greater demands it requires for top-notch quality, but 4K hasn't reached anywhere near the levels it would take to justify such a re-launch. This is a curious move indeed.
Original story follows...
The rumours of a PlayStation 4.5 - as some have dubbed it - are in fact very real as sources claim it's even got an internal project name: PlayStation 4K. What's Sony up to?
A mid-way refresher for a console is hardly anything new as it's been happening to extend the life cycle of generation platforms since the dawn of the console. SEGA Mega-CD anyone? PlayStation is no stranger to re-releasing in the form of literally slimmer models of itself with the aptly named PlayStation 2 Slim and PlayStation 3 Slim.
Is the supposed PlayStation 4K a Slim model for PS4? It would certainly fit Sony's business model to-date, but it seems they might be trying to jazz it up a bit with potentially more functionality. The '4K' part is especially telling as the latest hardware would presumably be pushing for 4K resolutions. If not to benefit games then at least to position itself as a better home entertainment centrepiece.
Digital Foundry has broken down three possible reasons why Sony is pursuing a newer designed PS4, which has been tremendously successful for the corporate giant.
They argue it's either to create a more powerful and significantly overhauled PlayStation 4, a slightly better model to give everything a boost, or to follow in the slimming footsteps of its predecessors.
It's a very tough line to tread between offering a better PlayStation 4 with improvements and threatening to expose the huge install base already in play now as being inferior. Mostly likely Sony will pursue the Slim agenda as they've done before, but might sprinkle in a bit extra because of the huge push for virtual reality with the PlayStation VR.
Sony uses AMD hardware in their current generation platform and AMD does have some interesting chipset developments in the works and has shrunk its microprocessors down to 14nm (FinFET) for 2016, with the last five years stagnant at 28nm.
This new 'PlayStation 4K' may bring a breeze of fresh air but there's only so far it can go, but it's clear Sony are investing big with this generation as they look to launch arguably the new VR platform this October. Would Sony gamble with a serious tech upgrade for PlayStation 4 at the risk of alienating current owners?