Are Microsoft and Sony coming out with upgraded XB1 and PS4?

[Bilnick]

http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/1/11121666/xbox-one-hardware-upgrades-phil-spencer-microsoft

 

and

 

http://kotaku.com/sources-sony-is-working-on-a-ps4-5-1765723053

 

Kind of interesting that both Sony and Microsoft have rumored upgraded versions of their consoles in the works. Part of me likes the PC style evolution of hardware specs vs completely separate generations of consoles, while part of me likes the fixed hardware spec for 5-6 years.

 

Do you guys think these rumors have any merit?

 

 

 

 

[cimerians]

They may be true because of how fast things advance (VR etc). Personally I wouldn't be too happy if they didn't offer some kind of upgrade plan. Hopefully they think about that, especially guys like me who invest and enjoy BOTH systems. Asking me to spend hundreds of dollars again just won't happen.

[HammR25]

Sounds like something they're exploring but I'd think they wouldn't be out until X-mas 2017 at the earliest. I'm sure they both want to figure out how to get people to buy consoles as often as they buy $800 flagship phones on a two year cellphone plan.

[RupanIII]

I think SONY is left in the unenviable position of Selling 4K TV's and new game systems don't output 4K games.

 

Now, very few PC's actually do 4K as well, and 4K gaming setups are very expensive.

But, Microsoft is in the second position, but, they are trying to ride the draft and slingshot.

 

They might as well launch a new 4K upgraded XBOX system and try to capture the enthusiast market because they are losing ground so quickly to SONY.

Meanwhile, it's possible if they make it with the same core system it is now, but add a GPU,they might be able to just upgrade all of the old games to 4K rendering on the new machines, or better than 1080p anyway.

 

SONY meanwhile has a HUGE and YOUNG platform and they won't be in a position to really tell everyone you need to upgrade.

So, they end up in a Blu Ray like situation where a new machine would have to play 4K games, and possibly be expected to delivery 4K BD Drives as well, and SONY actually would have to source that from Panasonic at this time, as they opted NOT TO be first out the gate with Ultra HD BD.

 

I say if this happen, it's 2 years away, which makes it 'slightly early' compared to usual, but, at least your old games 'might' get an upgrade in actual rendering on a new machine.

 

This would be kind of a shame as I'd rather new machines also be mated with ReRAM / Memrister memory systems so they have much more RAM available and the advantages of those new memory techs added.

 

So, I think so, but, I think they will talk it up, get people hyped for it, then drag it out. It's already 2016. 2 more years might get them to the new memory tech, which I think they really need.

[enoofu]

From my understanding they are probably going to sell Addon such as VR and better cloud services

 

Doubt they will make some consoles have better GPU or CPU's since they will cause consumer and developer confusion

[MrMaddog]

To me it doesn't sound different from before with the Xbox 360 S and PS3 Slim which let you play existing games with better rendering...

 

Down the road it sounds good, but I hope that the 4K graphics then will still support 60 FPS. (For PC's now 4K/60 FPS requires two video cards)

[Mord]

They may be true because of how fast things advance (VR etc). Personally I wouldn't be too happy if they didn't offer some kind of upgrade plan. Hopefully they think about that, especially guys like me who invest and enjoy BOTH systems. Asking me to spend hundreds of dollars again just won't happen.

 

I doubt any kind of upgrade plan would be feasible for the console maker honestly. The upgraded versions of the consoles are going to cost money to produce, money to ship, and if they really did offer to replace the units then they'd both end up with potentially millions of units in stock.

 

In the end you'll probably end up seeing few games developed for it because there will be few able to buy and play the games. Consider how many people who have already invested in either console. Most of those are going to demand or simply require an upgrade plan. (We don't all have money trees in our backyards.) Devs are going to want to develop games for the larger target audience, so if they do make VR as an optional thing, it'll probably be something that doesn't need the enhanced hardware anyway - or will need it just to maintain the same level of detail as a standard ps4/xbone game.

[leods]

To me it doesn't sound different from before with the Xbox 360 S and PS3 Slim which let you play existing games with better rendering...

 

Down the road it sounds good, but I hope that the 4K graphics then will still support 60 FPS. (For PC's now 4K/60 FPS requires two video cards)

Actually, if you Play at medim Settings (more or less what the consoles use) you can run 4k on a single 980ti at 60fps. Of course it depends on wether the game is properly optimized.

 

The Problem still is, a 980 ti costs more than a Ps4. Are they going to release an add-on that costs more than the console itself?

 

What I hate is that out "specialized News outltets" just reproduce whatever crap is being said by anyone (even just rumors) without any capacity of interpreting them, or any intent on making a critical Analysis. I really think People should be telling These companies we don#t care about horsepower. These consoles are definitely good enough. Just make some games that don't suck, polished them properly and release them for a fair Price.

 

But there I go derailing the discussion. Who cares about that? All the talk in the Videogames world are resolutions, FPS and sales.

[Mord]

The Problem still is, a 980 ti costs more than a Ps4. Are they going to release an add-on that costs more than the console itself?

 

Supposedly Sony's VR setup is suppose to be "cheap" (compared to the alternatives) at about $399... so yeah, probably.

[cybercylon]

The "rumors" that both consoles will get an upgrade to handle 4k has been floating around for a year or so, but it will probably only matter if you have a set that handles it and if there is going to be game support. Would two different games have to be release or can it be universal? I just see this causing a lot of confusion, and 4k may not happen until the next (perhaps last) console cycle.

 

Aside from VR, better cloud, etc, I don't see how they can upgrade the current consoles hardware wise. Not like you can pop them open and replace the GPU, add Ram, etc.

[Lost Dragon]

Rumours like these have seemingly been around as long as i've been a gamer.

 

From the talk of Commodore doing the C65, Sega planning an upgrade cart for the Saturn for conversions of VF3 and Scud Racer, followed by claims the PSone would be getting a similar device so it could run Tekken 3, right upto full blown claims Sony were preparing a new improved Playstation 1.5 to buy time for R+D with the PS2, and let the PS1 compete with the N64 and planned 3DO M2/Bulldog.

 

If either MS or Sony DO release upgraded versions just to try and compete with newer PC tech, it's just going to dilute the user base.

 

There was never an upgrade path for PSP users who bought the PSP Go, so they could still play their UMD games, talk of Sony offering them via PSN for 'free' turned out to be rubbish.

 

It's more likely both parties simply looking at what should be key features in next generation of hardware and release them a year or so sooner than expected, in a normal console lifecycle.

[enoofu]

I believe the Saturn and N64 were the last home Consoles with a major upgrade midlife

 

64DD arrived to late to be helpful, but the extra memory expansion rocked on the N64, and the Sega Saturn had the VCD Decorder which only a few Japanese game titles supported, and also had memory addon carts

 

The Sega Genesis/CD/32X basically became the bane of major addon's

 

Mostly everything since been switching around inputs/outputs and new controllers

[Lost Dragon]

SCEE seemed to be the one's pushing the periheral side of things as Europe was seen to be more open to embracing innovative types of new hardware, or so Sony claimed...so we saw Eye Toy, Buzz!, Singstar franchises appear, later Move (in R+D for PS2 same time as Eye Toy), whilst SCEA pushed the software side of things.

[leods]

SCEE seemed to be the one's pushing the periheral side of things as Europe was seen to be more open to embracing innovative types of new hardware, or so Sony claimed...so we saw Eye Toy, Buzz!, Singstar franchises appear, later Move (in R+D for PS2 same time as Eye Toy), whilst SCEA pushed the software side of things.

And you actually see a ton of eye toys, buzz and singstart for sell on e-bay all the time. It really sold here in Germany.

[MotoRacer]

It would have to be all new hardware. There's no expansion port on either console. Maybe, MAYBE, the USB ports, but id imagine they'd be too slow to transmit gpu data. Especially since I don't believe they're 3.0.

 

Still, it would be sadly ironic if Nintendo ditches the Wii u to make the nx, and then Sony and Microsoft already up their hardware making the nx outdated at launch.

 

Anywho, all this upgrading, all this extra cash, but with low specs and yearly online costs. It's like all the crap of PC gaming but without any of the benefits. I think the idea of a "console" might be in life support soon. Maybe that's why Microsoft seems to be so eager to throw the Xbox one to the wolves in lieu of PC.

Edited March 21, 2016 by MotoRacer

[MotoRacer]

The "rumors" that both consoles will get an upgrade to handle 4k has been floating around for a year or so, but it will probably only matter if you have a set that handles it and if there is going to be game support. Would two different games have to be release or can it be universal? I just see this causing a lot of confusion, and 4k may not happen until the next (perhaps last) console cycle.

 

Aside from VR, better cloud, etc, I don't see how they can upgrade the current consoles hardware wise. Not like you can pop them open and replace the GPU, add Ram, etc.

To be fair, these crappy consoles can't even do 1080p half the time haha. I really doubt they can produce 4K in a budget, but if they do at least this generation would feel like a mild improvement over the previous. And as stated before, it would help Sony sell ultra hd players and 4K tvs.

 

Speaking of 4K tvs, I own one right now. I'm selling it as I actually prefer the quality of my 1080p Sanyo. The only use I see for 4K capability for me is with vr. Otherwise my tv and definitely my monitor are far too small to see any notable improvement.

Edited March 21, 2016 by MotoRacer

[leods]

It would have to be all new hardware. There's no expansion port on either console. Maybe, MAYBE, the USB ports, but id imagine they'd be too slow to transmit gpu data. Especially since I don't believe they're 3.0.

 

Still, it would be sadly ironic if Nintendo ditches the Wii u to make the nx, and then Sony and Microsoft already up their hardware making the nx outdated at launch.

 

Anywho, all this upgrading, all this extra cash, but with low specs and yearly online costs. It's like all the crap of PC gaming but without any of the benefits. I think the idea of a "console" might be in life support soon. Maybe that's why Microsoft seems to be so eager to throw the Xbox one to the wolves in lieu of PC.

Xbox one and PS4 have both USB 3.0. The new graphics amplifying Technologies comming out right now use USB 3.1 though.

[MotoRacer]

Xbox one and PS4 have both USB 3.0. The new graphics amplifying Technologies comming out right now use USB 3.1 though.

There's 3.1? Does it look any different? Haven't heard of that.

[Clint Thompson]

Maybe true but I don't see it as they both would be shooting themselves in the foot. I don't think this generation of consoles should half-step to 4k, not that they realistically could I don't believe. We're still waiting on a single card for the PC that is capable of doing a full 60fps at 4k - the 980 Ti does a decent job but still isn't there yet. They should use this generation as a stepping stone for VR on console gaming at 1080 and then adopt the 4k stuff later down the line when it's more affordable for consoles to handle. 4k and the current generation of consoles is a no go either way.

[Rikkarr]

There's 3.1? Does it look any different? Haven't heard of that.

My motherboard has one 3.1 port. It's red, but is otherwise just a regular rectangular USB Type-A port. Backwards compatible with 3.0 and 2.0, too.

[leods]

There's 3.1? Does it look any different? Haven't heard of that.

There is. There is one USB 3.1 that Looks the same, and one that has a different connecttor, it's called USB type C. It's the type of connector. USB type C connects upsidedown and works normally. You just plug without looking wether you have the right side up because it's just the same.

 

The cool Thing about USB 3.1, is that it's actually way faster, and has some other better Features. They want to make it even more universal, and kinda plug anything through it. You can buy Adapters to plug Monitors..

[Atariboy]

I think SONY is left in the unenviable position of Selling 4K TV's and new game systems don't output 4K games.

 

Not to mention the newly launched 4k Blu-Ray format.

 

If anything even comes of it, I think the Sony rumor that I saw is likely going to end up being a PS4 upgraded to play Ultra HD Blu-Ray's, with no advantages from a gaming perspective. Sony's doing so well that it's difficult to envision them foolishly fracturing their install base with a needless upgrade.

 

To me it doesn't sound different from before with the Xbox 360 S and PS3 Slim which let you play existing games with better rendering...

 

There was no such upgrade.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Atariboy

[leods]

 

There was no such upgrade.

 

From what I know they migrated to a smaller manufacturing process, making the processors cooler and cheaper to make, but it's the exact same Performance on the Slim Versions. The difference might be that These processor might throttle because of the high temperatures on the oldsystems, so they would lose Performance, and on the Slim Version with lower temperatures that wouldn't happen. But it's not like a game that would normally run at 25fps in a certain part would automatically run at 30 in the new model because of an improved processor.

 

(Yes, I am agreeing with you.)

[MotoRacer]

There is. There is one USB 3.1 that Looks the same, and one that has a different connecttor, it's called USB type C. It's the type of connector. USB type C connects upsidedown and works normally. You just plug without looking wether you have the right side up because it's just the same.

 

The cool Thing about USB 3.1, is that it's actually way faster, and has some other better Features. They want to make it even more universal, and kinda plug anything through it. You can buy Adapters to plug Monitors..

 

 

My motherboard has one 3.1 port. It's red, but is otherwise just a regular rectangular USB Type-A port. Backwards compatible with 3.0 and 2.0, too.

 

And I'm all proud that my new PC build will have four 3.0 ports. I'm already outdated, lol.

[Bill Loguidice]

If done right, I don't think they would be doing anyone a disservice. I posted my thoughts here: http://armchairarcade.com/perspectives/2016/03/21/quick-thoughts-potential-playstation-4-5-xbox-one-5/

 

Essentially if they just allow for better native 4K compatibility and didn't allow for software that could only take advantage of the updated version of the hardware and not work on the original hardware, they should have no issues. The key would be in the messaging to stave off any knee-jerk reactions.