EricHiggin said:
Proof it won't happen? XB1X already does 4k/30 and sometimes 4k/60, so your saying that time is now, or XB is going to launch another console in 3-4 years that's not much more capable than XB1X?
PS portable at Pro specs is out of the question around 2020. Switch 2 around 2020 will just be hitting the PS4 spec area. Something between XB1 and PS4 specs would be more likely for the PS portable between 2018 and 2020, which is good enough. The PS handheld hybrid doesn't need to be the XB1X of it's genre, PS4 and Pro have proven that.
The memory would probably add some cost, but if the device uses existing PS4 tech, than those costs should be super cheap, so it should balance out. There is the question of a dock and would it have a BD disc drive and/or hdd in it to transfer games to and from the handheld? HDD could always be an external plug in to the dock. This would all add cost. 2019 seems too soon. I would say at least 3 years gap, minimum. Nin doesn't like to upgrade their consoles any sooner than every 5 years, and only upgrades sooner if they really really need to. Even if Tegra X2 may be able to offer twice the battery life, will Nin take advantage of that, or will they use a smaller cheaper battery and just give you an extra hour or so? Extending the PS4 life span could also mean dropping base PS4 and making the hybrid the base system. Pro would most likely remain as the lower priced console, and Premium would become the new flagship. I don't see why they couldn't have all 4 systems still, with PS4 being the base at $199 and Premium at $500, with Portable and Pro in between. In this scenario if one had to be dropped, I would agree, get rid of Pro like you said. Having a hybrid PS5 as the base system for $300-$400, with standard PS5 (4k) being $500 would also work I think, and should make the overall hardware process much easier and better overall. I like this idea more than having a base PS5 console be $350-$400 and PS5 Pro being $500 at launch. The Pro console could eventually come 3 years later like normal, and possibly a hybrid upgrade as well at the same time maybe.
If I were PS and I were going to attempt a Switch like device, if all options we've talked about are possible and none of them are too expense or just to hard to accomplish, I would definitely move on to PS5, have a hybrid and standard console, and make them both BC. The PS5 console should be a shoo-in regardless as long as they don't do anything stupid, but the hybrid may be a tougher sell. If that hybrid can play all if not most of the PS4 games, that will be huge in terms of getting people to buy one asap with a library that large with so many quality titles. With so many of those PS4 titles being so cheap, as well as showing up in PS Plus, as long as the hybrid wasn't too expensive, it should sell well enough to be worthy of producing. If they can't do BC for whatever reason, then a hybrid base PS5 would still be doable, but probably won't find near the success that Switch has. In this case it's really a toss up whether you dedicate the handheld to PS4 and add a Premium console, or if you dedicate the handheld to PS4 and also drop a PS5 console and try to have your cake and eat it too, or go all in on PS5 and just hope for the best. |
You mean some selected games, not all. Call me when Xbox 1 X run all games at 4k/60 fps. If you want more, next Xbox can be 8k. For now, the 32GB cartridge is still quite more expensive than a 60GB Blu-ray. AAA Western third party games can be 90 - 100GB, what cartridge that hybird you talk about will use? At what price? In next 2 - 3 years, 32GB cart will go down in price, but 64GB is still very high and above 64GB then OMG. Or you want a portable use Blu-ray disk drive?
