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PlayStation (Games) Sony Games

Next PlayStation Is Three Years Off, Sony Says (wsj.com) 90

Posted by msmash from the take-note dept.
Don't hold your breath for the fifth-generation PlayStation. From a report: Sony wants to spend three more years readying its next videogame move [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], the head of the PlayStation business said Wednesday. That would mark a slight slowdown in the six-to-seven-year update cycle for the console since the first one in 1994. The PlayStation 4 went on sale in 2013 and has sold more than 79 million units. [...] Speaking to a small group of reporters, Tsuyoshi "John" Kodera, who took over last October. said the network-services side of PlayStation is changing the way Sony thinks about product introductions. "We need to depart from the traditional way of looking at the console life cycle," he said. "We're no longer in a time when you can think just about the console or just about the network like they're two different things."
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Next PlayStation Is Three Years Off, Sony Says More

Next PlayStation Is Three Years Off, Sony Says

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  • Upgrade Fatigue (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sqorbit ( 3387991 ) on Wednesday May 23, 2018 @01:39PM (#56660240)
    I am okay with longer release cycles. iPhone upgrades that feel like they come on before I even knew about the last one, other mobile phone providers constantly releasing new models. Previously we were bombarded by hardware upgrades for PCs (that has slowed too). Software upgrades, TV Upgrades. It seems for awhile there consumers were just bombarded with upgrades. I think a slower upgrade cycle is better all around. It will hopefully lead to more stable products and as a consumer feeling like you get more from your investment and are willing to spend again.

    • You really don't need to upgrade your iPhone every release. If you want to stay current on the technology you can upgrade every 4 years. If you are OK with some apps not being supported then you may be able to last longer.

      With consoles normally when you upgrade, you have typically lost a degree of compatibility with your old stuff.

      • I'm marginally hopeful that the lack of backward compatibility will be a thing of the past now that the major players are using more commodity hardware. If they *don't* do it, they'll have to face some very tough questions about why they deliberately chose not to. I think many gamers will consider that a valuable feature going forward.

      • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

        by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 )

        I'm happy with waiting a bit longer between console upgrades.

        Sent from my Intellivision.

    • It's not really a good comparison. It's easy to skip a revision or three in the mobile phone upgrade cycle. With game consoles, if you want to play the new games, you kind of have to have the new console. But I don't want my current one to die before the next one is available, as that would leave me with a bad choice of throwing money away on a replacement current gen console for use until the next gen ones come out, or going without.

      • Re:Upgrade Fatigue (Score:4, Informative)

        by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Wednesday May 23, 2018 @02:04PM (#56660420) Homepage Journal

        if you want to play the new games, you kind of have to have the new console.

        What if everyone kept their game consoles for 10 years and kept buying games for them? Would game studios still produce new games? I think yes, if there was money in it for studios and if the console licenses permitted it.

        The upgrade cycle is intentional and very artificial. It doesn't represent consumer demand but it is organized by marketing. In exchange we get new whizbang graphics, better physics, more realism and ultimately better immersion.

        But if you play games because you like the mechanics or you like the stories they tell. Then more powerful hardware isn't strictly necessary. For games that don't need beefy hardware I think we'll see more and more market share going to mobile games as long as nobody gets sick of the manipulative quasi-gambling freemium model that plagues the current mobile industry.

        • I respectfully disagree.

          I was a huge Xbox 360 fan. I played a lot of games, but there were parts of the console that really bothered me. Mostly load times. Stopped playing for about 4 years.

          I finally got an Xbox One about a year ago. My favorite 'feature' is that I can be playing a game, and power the console off....next time I turn it on, I can go right back into the game, exactly where I was. I can do the same when going between games. In the middle of a game, click 'Home' and go into a different ga

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Wulf2k ( 4703573 )

            There's no reason they couldn't add a hibernate feature to the PS3/X360 in a software update if they felt the urge.

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by Anonymous Coward

              There's no reason they couldn't add a hibernate feature to the PS3/X360 in a software update if they felt the urge.

              Uh, no. That's not how any of this works at all.
              Hibernation is a hardware feature that is controlled/managed by software.

              The PS3 and X360 both used very custom hardware, and in doing so they most likely did not adhere completely to ATX specifications,
              where APM (advanced power management) was introduced.

          • I agree, being able to put the console to sleep is the best feature of this gen. PS4 and Switch both have it as well, and for the latter it's especially handy.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          There used to be huge improvements between generations, but now you can get many of the same games for PS3, PS4 and PS4 Pro and they mostly look the same. The Pro in particular isn't really worth it if you don't have a 4k TV or VR.

      • A better plan is to switch to PC where there isn't an upgrade cycle. It may be more accurate to say it's a constant gradual increase in hardware requirements. The benefit is that I can still play a game I bought 20 years ago on my PC; 30 years ago if I use an emulator.

        Sure you might miss out on some games but it will only be the exclusive titles and unless you already own a XBox One and a Playstation 4 then you're already missing out on some of those exclusive titles. My opinion, if it's a good game then th

        • If I only had mod points....

        • I have a gaming PC, and I agree that in general if your option is only one gaming platform, then PC is the best.

          But this generation, console exclusives are some of the best (if not the best) games out there: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, God of War, Yakuza, Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, Persona 5... and there are more on the way like The Last of Us Part II, Spiderman, Shadows Die Twice (speculated to possibly be Bloodborne 2), Death Stranding...

          And those are just the ones I can name off the top of my

          • TBH, if I had to choose only one platform to play on right now, that platform would be PS4.

            The main reason here is, where are the games? If they're cross platform, they'll likely appear on PC, PS4 and Xbox One; and on Switch to a lesser degree

            So disregarding games that can be expected to appear on a given platform, which platform has most of the good platform exclusive games?

            Xbox is already irrelevant because it's games are also available on PC, and has a very short list of exclusive games worth buying (Hal

            • Definitely get a PC, PS4 and Switch to have access to all of the current gens best games

              Yep, and that's exactly what I have.

    • According to Apple, the average user replaces their iPhone every 3 years. Despite the fanboys that upgrade a device every time something new appears, it's not really a thing. https://www.apple.com/environm... [apple.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      The question is not how frequently they release a new model, it's how long until the old models are retired. Pretty much every year cars come with new tweaks and why not? It's not like I have to run out and buy a new car, the improvements just accumulate and every year it's somebody's turn to retire their old car and get a new one. Would there be anything gained by waiting years between upgrades? Smaller upgrades means exactly what version you get matters less, it's big generation gaps that make you care an

      • And it's usually not that which kills support

        For a mobile app, sure, having to support many devices is fine. However, consoles have a lot of bare-metal programming.

        Also, you're not going to take advantage of those features if you have to pay more programmer time, and you're not going to take advantage of those features if it involves shrinking your market.

        Would there be anything gained by waiting years between upgrades?

        Sure, less R&D costs, etc. Keep in mind that car upgrades are usually things like

    • Yeah... didn't Sony just upgrade their Playstation 4 with a 4K capable "Plus" model a few months ago? I don't think that anybody that just bought one of those for $500 is going to be happy that it would have been obsolete by this Christmas.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DMJC ( 682799 )
        PS4 Pro has been out for almost two years. Same with the PSVR. I know because I own both.

    • I am okay with longer release cycles.

      I'm okay with it providing the quality control keeps up. It's one thing to not like to upgrade iPhones for incremental garbage, and quite another to end up spending money on the same unit twice.

      Microsoft got taken to town on that by a 13 year old kid in Australia who's XBox red-ringed after the warranty was over. The ACCC ruled that there was a reasonable expectation for a console to last the life of the current generation which led to Australia having the first extended warranties for the problem.

    • I'm ambivalent, personally. On the one hand, I agree with you. These things are treated a little too much like they're disposable. I'm also not sure that the games are being heavily limited by the hardware these days. A lot of times, a new generation console comes out, and the same basic games get a fancy graphics overhaul, but they play the same way, and they're not particularly more fun.

      On the other hand, that's in terms of tossing what you currently have and replacing it. It is a bit annoying, just

      • PS5 will need all the power it can get for Virtual Reality. 2021 is a good time to release a 2nd gen, console-based VR set.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DMJC ( 682799 )
        More like, why not stop screwing customers over with controller redesigns. We don't need another Playstation controller. The PS3 and PS4 controllers are both excellent controllers. But at $100 AUD each brand new, it gets harder to justify upgrading each release.

    • With the lack of quality offerings on the game end of things there's little need for a console. Microtransactions have gutted the industry.

      My X1 is a glorified DVD player at this point and a lousy one at that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      I used to love getting the (late/new)est stuff, but not anymore due to being BUSY, bugginess, pricey, etc. I use many old stuff like my hardwares, softwares, etc. If I get paid to use the newer stuff for work, then sure. Personal stuff, no. I had enough.

  • We're no longer in a time when you can think just about the console or just about the network like they're two different things.

    So... if I buy a PS5 I can ditch my ISP

    • So... if I buy a PS5 I can ditch my ISP

      Like Satellaview for the Super Famicom? Or Sega Channel for Genesis?

    • We're no longer in a time when you can think just about the console or just about the network like they're two different things.

      "The network IS the PlayStation!" -- Sun Microsystems

      So... if I buy a PS5 I can ditch my ISP

      Well, not exactly . . . Sony wants to BE your ISP!

      The new PlayStation will not work with the normal Internet. It will only work with Sony partner ISPs. Sony will charge the ISPs for traffic to the PlayStation servers. The ISPs will add a surcharge to their customers who want to connect a PlayStation to their networks.

      Outrageous . . . ? Let's just wait and see . . .

  • Now how are we going to convince our dupes to buy the same game again if we can't say "but it's on a new console"?

  • Graphics look the same between PS3 and PS4. What is another order of magnitude of cores going to do?

    Since Sony probably loses money on each console sold (and I lose money on each unnecessary console I buy) how does this benefit anybody ??

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Robyrt ( 1305217 )

      Graphics look the same between PS3 and PS4. What is another order of magnitude of cores going to do?

      It's not just graphics, although the PS4 definitely looks better than PS3 when connected to an expensive TV. The extra processing power also enables games to provide better quality of life. The PS3 classic Dark Souls routinely went below 20 FPS, while PS4's Dark Souls Remastered is three times smoother at 60 FPS. The PS4 version of Valkyria Chronicles loads three times faster than the PS3 version.

      • Ok ... some arguable differences between PS3 and PS4 (PS3 Skyrim took forever to load) ...

        But PS4 games load plenty fast AFAIC. And I doubt the graphics are going to be noticeably better on anything.

        Not interested in the case where my face is inches away from the screen since I don't play that way.

        If my HD TV isn't retina resolution I can't tell. So no interest in 4k, 8k or any fps higher than 30.

        • If my HD TV isn't retina resolution I can't tell. So no interest in 4k, 8k or any fps higher than 30.

          There's nothing magic about 30 FPS. 30 FPS looks jerky on fast pans and looks more jerky when you're playing a game compared to passively viewing TV. FPS isn't constant in games either. So if you want to not dip below 30 FPS you have to shoot for a higher average.

          • Au contraire.

            Human eyes cannot see more than 30 FPS.

            People on /. have such a hard time owning that they are human beings.

            What's so bad about that anyway?

            As Jim Collins once said ... the best way to overcome your limitations is to acknowledge them.

            • Au contraire. Human eyes cannot see more than 30 FPS. People on /. have such a hard time owning that they are human beings..

              It's not that clear cut. At around 30 FPS we indeed start to perceive individual frames depicting motion as continuous but this isn't some hard limit of our visual system. Indeed, the flicker fusion threshold of the optic nerve is at least twice that number [wikipedia.org]. There is no hard FPS number at which things suddenly become smooth and it also depends on a bunch of things such as ambient light levels, what is being displayed, and how fast it's moving. Film is typically projected at 24 FPS, where fairly static scen

        • > So no interest in 4k, 8k or any fps higher than 30.

          Hope you are enjoying that shitty 12 fps [youtu.be] in Dark Souls, because the rest of us sure aren't put up with those shenangins.

          Just because _you_ can't tell the difference between 24 fps [cachefly.net] (which looks like shit) and 60 fps [cachefly.net] doesn't imply that no one else can either -- because we most certainly tell if there is micro-stuttering below 60 fps for even as little as on frame.

          If you actually had a 120 Hz monitor you might even be able to visually visually see the dif [testufo.com]

          • My science teacher told me I can't tell anything past 30 fps.

            I'm inclined to agree.

            I'm really not sure what you're talking about.

            • Your science teacher was either

              a) Ignorant, or an
              b) Idiot.

              In ether case you were lied to -- but keep believing the delusion that there is no difference between 30, 60, and 120 fps.

      • "extra processing power also enables games to provide better quality of life"

        The Matrix has you
    • im pretty sure the next playstation will hinge on 4k adoption

    • Graphics look the same between PS3 and PS4.

      Uhhh.. no.
      https://youtu.be/XgAAl5gLouo?t... [youtu.be]

      And that was a launch title so best case PS3 vs worst case PS4.

      • You are so many miles into I don't care you have no idea.

        These HW formulas are just going to turn the industry into a yawn factory.

        Massively increased mediocrity does not excite me.

  • Don't hold your breath for the fifth-generation PlayStation.

    A PlayStation 5 would be ninth-generation; Sony got into the console business late. The original PlayStation was fifth generation--its stablemates were the N64 and the Saturn.

  • On some level, I wonder if they plan to have the FF7 Remake be a launch title. :P

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mentil ( 1748130 )

      Funnily enough I was just considering this today. I suspect part 1 will come out in a year or two. What exactly is on their plate after KH3, DQ11 International, DQ Builders 2, and the last of the FF15 episodes are out? They can reallocate to FF7 remake after those are shipped. I suspect the PS5 will come out in 2020, around a year and a half after the first 7nm video cards are out. Recall the PS4 came out ~18 months after the first 28nm video cards came out. They could be waiting for 5nm, but who knows if t

  • I stepped off the merry-go-round when I figured I couldn't afford 50 quid a game anymore and charges for online play. Plus I couldn't find any quick, fun games that I could play with another human who might be on the same room.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by darkain ( 749283 )

      Crazy enough to think about it, but PC is honestly where its at for single-system local multi-player games now. Steam is absolutely FULL of amazing, fun, simple, quick to pick up games. Its funny to think how the industry did an absolute 180 in this regards, where PC was traditionally a single-person system with consoles being multi-player, and now it is the other way around entirely.

    • I haven't paid 50 quid for a game in years - and I have plenty of games. In fact, a longer console life works well for me since I just buy my games a year or two after release when they are much cheaper. I don't even have any problems with online only games as long as they are fairly popular (currently playing Battlefield 1 and Rocket League and there's no problem finding online opponents - obviously with less well known games ymmv). The bonus is, I usually get all the dlc included and all the launch bugs a

  • Im in no rush, I have a powerful PC.

    • If you play AAA titles, the console development cycle should still matter to you as a PC gamer. While there's a certain amount of scaling up that can be done for more powerful hardware, at the end of the day the technical ambition of big budget games is going to be limited by the capabilities of the latest console. Few developers are willing to develop big games for the PC only, and they also don't want to have to do more work than absolutely necessary for the port.

      • The ability of even a modest platform to show HD resolution full motion video means that a AAA production budget (which is ultimately the real definition of AAA) is possible on current and even previous generation hardware. So from the stand point of pre-rendered (static) content all systems are equivalent.

        What makes something AAA isn't limited to the technology, but there is quite a bit of production value. That includes art (2D and 3D and pre-rendered 3D), voice acting, sound, music, story, performance, a

  • As long as there's backwards compatibility, I don't think it's a big deal how often they release new hardware.

    Too bad the idea of maintaining an ecosystem, rather than pushing a specific hardware platform, was only fashionable for a while. Now that all the major consoles are online, hopefully the manufacturers will come to their senses.

  • "Don't hold your breath for the fifth-generation PlayStation" this makes it sound like we're never getting a PS5, or it's some incredibly long ways off. 3 years doesn't seem too terrible, especially when the console makers started acting like they wanted 10 year cycles.

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