| KBG29 said: Now this is some good conversation on the topic. A couple more things to take into consideration.
1. The NUC is likely based on a diferent pricing model than a PS4 Portable. Retail price is most likely somewhere between 2x - 3x the cost of components, packaging, and shipping. Teardowns in the months to come will give a clearer picture. 2. The NUC has about 14 additional ports that would not be necissary on a PS4 Portable. PS4 Portable should only require a USB-C port, a Micro SD Slot, and a Nano Sim Slot. Maybe a Headphone jack. 3. The Ryzen Mobile information in Permalite's link are for Raven Ridge, which is 14nm. PS4 Portable would have to be based on 7nm which see improved performance and TDP, along with a smaller die, and more cost reduction. It is the best indication of where we sit with AMD based X86 and Radeon tech for a mobile platform.
We are closer to a PS4 Portable than some here are thinking. I see a lot of people looking at current desktop components as a barometer, but the PS4 does not use desktop parts. I also see people saying that PSP and PS Vita fell short of PS2 and PS3. You have to remember PS2 and PS3 were much different beasts than PS4. PS2 and PS3 went toe to toe with high end PC's on release. PS4 was using a weak mobile CPU and a mid range GPU on release. It really is not a question of tech and pricing, but whether Sony will pull the trigger. Do they want to strengthen their position in the market, or do they sit on a single golden goose and prey the market never changes? I hope they take advantage of this current position, and expand the business, so they can be more flexable, depeneding on where technology takes us. |
1. Source the NUC is selling for 2-3x cost?
2. Why do you think adding ports adds a notable cost increase? Also, super adorable that you add the sim card port as a requirement, and more important than a headphone jack. Why are you having such a hard time coming to terms with the fact that almost no one besides you would be willing to use a PS4 Portable as a phone? Besides, PS4 Portable wouldn't use USB-C ports. They would charge and interface with PS4 controllers, wouldn't they. Unless Sony wants to start trying to popularizing USB-C to micro USB controllers, that shit isn't flying either. It's pretty obvious that even if Sony were to make PS4 portable it would have a completely different feature set than what exists in your imagination.
3. I don't know why you're talking about manufacturing processes and about what a PS4 portable would have to be based off of when you have demonstrated time and time again that you barely have a basic understanding of hardware design. This should be pretty obvious to anyone who hears that you believe that Sony use use their Playstation OS on their phones and car stereos as if that even makes a modicum of sense. No. A PS4 portable would not have to be based on a 7nm process, would not necessarily have improved performance, or a cost reduction. That all depends on the chip design, and the yields.
We are not "closer to a PS4 portable than some are thinking" just because you assert that we are. PS2 and PS3 went toe to toe with high end PCs on release? Since when? Only if you believe the marketing nonsense coming out from Sony when they released those consoles. At 2000 and 2006 when the PS2 and PS3 were released, a $2000 PC would outperform them easily. It's like It really still is a question of tech and pricing. It's the reason why no one develops video games that are optimized for Cray Supercomputers. It's why nVidia sells more graphics card models than the 1080 Ti. Who besides you is going to buy, say, a $600-$800 PS4 portable that is twice the size of a Switch and weighs 2 lbs? Sony is only going to make something they are confident tens of millions of people are willing to buy. Not just a handful of people. Making a device without mass appeal doesn't serve Sony at all.
Think about it, how does making a portable device that doesn't sell (like the Vita) strengthen their position on the market? It obviously doesn't. How would they be "preying" the market never changes by NOT making a handheld console after releasing two handhelds that the market more or less rejected? If anything, wouldn't releasing a PS4 Portable would be "preying" the market DID change? And maybe, maybe you might have had a point about Sony sitting on their laurels with the PlayStation brand if they didn't release the PS4 Pro and PSVR, but its pretty obvious they've already pushed the envelope plenty during of the life of the PS4. Now they're priming for a PS5. The dev kits are already in the wild. PS5 games have already begun development. Even assuming the technology is there at a mass-market price point (it obviously isn't) it still probably doesn't not make any sense to try and sell a portable version of a console you're about to set on the back burner. It can be quite difficult to espouse the virtues of your new handheld PS4 when in the next breath you're trying to make a case why people should be moving away from their PS4s and into PS5s.
