PS5 Confirmed Backward Compatibility

[EricHiggin]

Zoombael said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

You will never please anyone.  Instead they should be asking what is smart.  PS4 was smart, even if people complain, they did the right thing.  Obviously we can tell it has been doing well.  PS3 was not smart.  They lost a ton of money with that.

Everything said so far makes the PS5 sound powerful.  To most people this sounds good, because they haven't announced the price yet.  But anyone who thinks about it a little will know that high power means high price.  This is why most people saying favorable things doesn't matter at all.  People talked very favorably about the PS classic when it was first announced.  Did those people actually buy the device?  Nope.  This favorable talk for PS5 will melt away if it turns into a high price tag, which is what it is looking like right now.

They are better off having people moan about playing it safe.  I mean, is playing it safe a terrible strategy?  "Sure Sony, you could go for guaranteed profits, but why not do something really risky instead?"  Playing it safe is not really such a bad criticism for a piece of hardware.

What it might look like from afar... very far away...

With BC and games mostly likely be enhanced, right from the start PS5 will have an array of high quality titles, that were praised to high heaven almost throughout the entire generation, including yet to be released heavy weights. While the main competition guy was scolded continuously throughout the entire generation, with a powerful hardware already released, but no system sellers in sight. It is what it is.

There will be enough buyers when the PS5 launches. Even if the price tag is 600. I have no doubt about it. Taking in consideration how the PS3 did fare. And that even Sony was surprised how well PS4 was selling, struggling to keep up with demand, with hardware shortages well over half a year after launch.

To shoot for a higher price in order to spread demand and not to be outperformed in power for an extensive period of time is strategically sound. Always keep Virtual Reality in mind. Undoubtely Sony insinsts on pulling through. As we all know VR is very demanding. When a PSVR2 arrives a base of potent hardware has to pre exist. There is no way around it if Sony wants to surge ahead to be ahead of (potential) competitors. 

The_Liquid_Laser said:

CGI-Quality said:

The PS4 was a powerful console when it launched at $399 (a price plenty of people thought would be higher, hence part of the roaring response at E3 2013). Even more so than its nearest competitor's machine (which was $499 at that).

Next, what happened with the PS3 doesn't mean it will happen with the PS5. You're making these correlations from.....nothing. This remains on top of the fact that we don't even know anything of the solid specs yet. 

$499 for a console in 2019 (2020 when this launches) is a bit pricey, yes. Without specs, it remains a guess though. 

Sony took a loss of $60 per console at PS4's launch price of $399.
Sony took a loss of $307 per console for the PS3's that sold at $499 and a loss of $241 for the PS3's that sold at $599.

The PS3's were costing them about twice as much to make at launch than the PS4's were.  PS3 was very ambitious and PS4 was not.  It turns out that the PS4 was the smarter move.  Not only does the PS4 have significantly more market share, but more importantly, the PS4 has posted record profits for them, while the PS3 caused record losses.  The success of the two consoles is as different as night and day.

So now when there is talk of the PS5 being a powerful console, that should be a red flag.  High power and high cost has not been good for Sony.  A conservative strategy has been very good for them.  If they do a similar thing again, then we should expect similar results.  I don't know what the price will be, but based on what we know so far that is heading in the pricey direction.  That is not good.

PS3 was too much at $499 in 2006, let alone the premium unit at $599, I think the majority agree with that.

PS4 was highly affordable at $399 in 2013, along with the $399 Pro in 2016. People seemed to be fairly happy with PS4 but not quite as pleased with Pro. XB1X just one year later was the leap everyone seems to think made more sense, but cost $499, and was definitely well subsidized.

So what's the answer to next gen when your existing consoles are on fire and making you huge money, based on the past launches? Make PS5 x86 and BC with PS4, so minimal dev or game problems if any, and split the difference in terms of future proofing and launch pricing. Launch at $499 in 2020, with undeniable next gen features, but features and specs that allow you to eat a reasonable amount of upfront cost for the first couple of years.

For those that want to jump on board in the first year, by all means, go ahead. The hope would be that enough people were buying PS5 simply to go toe to toe with 'XB2' so it doesn't gain a lead. While PS doesn't want a slow start, they also don't really want another PS4 situation early on with shortages and poorer quality assembly due to a mad rush to feed the market beast. Meanwhile, a tonne of PS4 SS (and/or Pro S) are being sold and making PS insane money. More than enough cross gen games to keep both PS4 and PS5 owners happy with full third party support on both for at least a couple years into the PS5 life cycle.

PS5 can launch at $499 and then drop to $399 a year later once they have plenty of parts and manufacturing is ironed out while allowing PS4 SS (and/or Pro S) to have a strong enough launch, making up the difference in the PS5 launch subsidy. PS5 can then coast at $399 for years like the PS4 did, while part and manufacturing costs drop to the point where PS is only losing a small margin or breaking even on hardware sales.

This strategy would work out best for everyone, without anyone being screwed over too badly. PS won't need to hold back on next gen features or over subsidize the PS5 and lose out on the huge money PS4 is making, while early adopters will either have to shell out another $100 for the PS5 or they can just wait a year and still play those cross gen games on their PS4. XB Anaconda being another beast almost guarantee's it's $499 as well, so PS5 will be on par in terms of price.

That's not to say PS couldn't or wouldn't shoot for $399 or $449 to have an edge on XB Anaconda, or be more competitive with a $299 XB Lockhart, but with PS4 and/or Pro still in the mix receiving full support, PS wouldn't need to worry about the lower end hardware in terms of next gen. After the first couple of years, PS5 is now sitting pretty, steady at $399, with a worthy base and plenty making the jump from PS4.

Last edited by EricHiggin - on 17 April 2019