PS Vita 2, Or PSP 2, Must Happen..... Sony Vs Nintendo?!

[KBG29]

greenmedic88 said:

So you're thinking of Sony's hypothetical long game here. That's more interesting than theorizing on a Vita 2.

It's hard to imagine a future in which the Playstation is no longer a console box, just as it is very easy to imagine the Playstation 5 as being an upgraded $399 PS4 Pro with a new operating system in 2019.

Much of how the 9th console generation will develop, will have to do with the market reception of the Switch. And it should be clear that Nintendo is kicking off the 9th gen with the Switch, all arguments about specs determing generation aside (which I will assert is false). It could be a failure, which would mean terrible things for Nintendo in the market as this time both the 3DS and Wii U portable and console markets are being placed into the same basket, leaving them with no leg to prop up the other. 

It could be received with the same level of enthusiasm as the Nvidia Shield (medicre), but the key distinction is Nintendo is a software company with its own top of the industry level IPs; the Shield simply played other developer's content. 

And of course, it could be received so well that we see a run on hardware not seen since the Wii, outstripping supply, although it's more or less irrefutable in hindsight that Wii demand was propped up by market demographics that were one and done. They bought it for Wii Sports. Some stuck around for Wii Fit, and that was the end of their video game console experience as evidenced by the cliff like drop off of Wii U buyers. 

In the case of the later, Sony could potentially follow suit and base the future Playstation environment on portable technology as it continues to mature to the degree that it is somewhat competitive with desktop power ICs, which reflects existing trends in the semiconductor industry towards lower power consumption rather than increased computational capacity. Moore's Law is running out of steam. 

At any rate, if that hypothetical scenario turns true for Sony, the future of Playstation will look more like the Nintendo Switch than another set top box console. We wouldn't be seeing a PSP Phone or PS Vita 2 (personally, I think the Vita name will be killed off simply because the PSV underperformed and one doesn't continue to brand build off a more or less commercially failed product) so much as a Playstation 5 that only exists as a hybrid/portable unit. 

I still don't see the phone and data network service in the future, but we'll see; we are talking about years from now. Potentially, all electronic devices will be network capable in the future, not just gaming devices. 

I am definitly talking about the future. I don't see any chance of a PS Phone having success anytime sooner than 2019 or even 2020. So this is a ways off. 

However, I think that the PlayStation hardware portfolio will grow beyond just home units. I think that PS5 will definitly be another super optimized PC. The PS5 will deliver industry leading 4K graphics with next generation visaul effects. It will be the industry leader in high end Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. The PS5 will be for a good majoirty of people the data center or server of their computing world. I think it will be a bigger device than the PS4 Pro, and launch it $500 for the base unit, but it will have options day one for even more powerful units. I think PS5 will arrive around 2023 - 2024 when 3nm fabrication is matured enough for mass production. 

Along side the PS5 home unit, I believe we will see a Portable Home device in the form of a Laptop/Tablet, and finally a Mobile Line of products that features a Handheld/Phone Hybrid, a Slabphone/Smartphone model, and a Wifi only version of the Handheld/Phone device. All devices will be built on the same hardware design, and all software/applications will be made to scale between the products. 

I actually expect this to start with the PS4 family of products, over the next few years. Basically, I see the future release schedule being;

PS4 Laptop/Tablet 2018

PS Haldheld/Phone, PS Slabphone, and PS Portable 2019

PS4 Super Slim, PS4 Pro Slim, PS4 Ultra, PSVR Slim, PSVR Ultra 2020

PS4 Laptop Slim, PS4 Laptop Pro 2021

PS Mobile Products Pro and Slim Revisions 2023

PS5 and PSVR 2 2024

All products will continue to get the yearly updates Sony always does with 1100, 1200, 1300, etc. inbetween major hardware revisions, assuring they allways keep up with the newst standards for wifi, bluetooth, LTE, etc.

All PS4 family products will be able to interact with PS5 Products in the beggining, eventually phasing support out near 2030. All Software will be scaled across all platforms unitl PS4 support is dropped. No additional features will be added to PS5 games, because PS4 will be able to keep up with PS5, although it will only be able to display games at 720p/30fps with much more simple graphics. 

Sony will be able to do this on the cheap, because although they will several products on the market, they will really only have 3 basic harware configurations at all times shared between the devices. 

To understand this it has you have to look at PlayStation as the future of Sony's consumer electronics products. They sell multiple TV's, Smartphones, A/V Recievers, Blu-ray Players from $100 - $50,000. They have a wide range of products that reaches a highly diverse market. PlayStation will be built to reach this market in the future, as Sony focus' on unification across the entire corperation. This is basically the rebuilding Sony from the ground up with PS4 being ground Zero. PS4 is Sony's iPhone.