Since GDC in March this year, rumours have been circulating that Sony is planning on introducing a new PlayStation 4 console to the market. This new console was first referred to as the “PS4.5”, or “PS4K” as it was allegedly designed to support 4K video output for gaming.
New reports saw the codename “Neo” surface for the new PS4 revision, along with technical details stating the CPU would be upgraded from 1.6GHz per core to 2.1GHz per core, while the GPU would feature an improved AMD model, doubling the original PS4’s 18 CUs to 36 CUs. The memory would remain at 8GB, but would be boosted from 17GB/s to 218 GB/s.
Additional rumours circulated stating that this console refresh was necessary to support PlayStation VR. Now, an anonymous developer has commented on that rumoured console upgrade in the latest issue of Edge Magazine. The developer, a chief technical officer, states:
"PSVR was going to be terrible on a [launch] PS4. It was going to be truly awful. Something a bit more powerful starts to bring VR into range. If you want to deal with crazy requirements for performance in VR, you absolutely have to do this."
A second anonymous developer also weighed in, saying:
“There hasn't been a real outcry for more power, apart from developers making VR stuff – and those are weighted more heavily at the moment. VR is the most exciting development in the industry right now, and if it's here to stay then there will be a lot of demand for more powerful hardware.”
Microsoft is also rumoured to be exploring its own new console hardware iterations, with the view toward being technically capable of supporting the Oculus Rift. PlayStation VR is due to launch in October of this year. We’ll likely hear more about PlayStation VR, and this rumoured Neo console upgrade, at E3 in June.
If the current XB1 and PS4 aren't going to support VR, then both companies should offer a way for people to exchange their existing consoles for the newer models for an upgrade fee...
We're still in a recession/austerity period for the most part, and people simply cannot be expected to afford the constant "obsolescence war" the gaming industry is famous for.