Prediction - PS6 will not be designed to replace the PS5.

[Hardstuck-Platinum]

Kyuu said:

Hardstuck-Platinum said:

I disagree with what I put in bold. I think most devs will completely drop support for XBSS/X when next gen starts because it's selling like Wii-U, and PS5 will become the new base. The Switch 2 apparently can't run Elden Ring as well as a base PS4 so I don't think devs will support that either. The PS5 will be the only console on the market that is both technically able and successful. PC is a different market and doesn't influence the console market. It's the other way around actually. The devs develop for the lowest spec console and then scale up for PC

It's a complicated topic.

All popular platforms (including PC, which is a very wide range of specs) have a "gravitational pull" that will influence some developers in some way. But highend hardware are at a disadvantage, because making a technically jaw-dropping game then down porting is so much more expensive than making a less impressive version of the game then scaling up. AAA developers will try to adjust and find their new balance by targeting a reasonable average (then scaling down or up from there). So they will not go all the way down to Switch specs in 2020, or Switch 2 specs in 2027. PS5 seems destined to be the base spec for most AAA games in at least the first half of the PS6 generation, regardless of the existence of the PS6 handheld. The handheld will simply take advantage of that.

Switch 2, Series S, and comparable PC's will "future proof" each other to some extent because their specs are fairly similar, and one of them is massively popular. It should be relatively cheap to port less-demanding games between them. Future demanding games will use the PS5 as a base, until even more demanding PS6 exclusives arrive late in the gen (and I guess this is where you can argue that PS6 handheld and comparable hardware will hold back the PS6 IF the handheld is permenantly mandated. But the PS6 handheld should be powerful enough to run even PS6 exclusives at lower resolutions, fps, and settings. Turning off some RT features alone could save a ton of resources).

This I half agree with, but I disagree that it will just be incidentally taking advantage. It will be a strict instruction from Sony that any PS6 game must support the handheld too and...therefore PS5 because it's easy port. Why would Sony damage it's PS6 handheld image as soon as devs move on from PS5? That's what would happen and fans would be angry that handheld is no longer supported. These things require commitment. 

Also, It's unfair to the Series S to say Switch 2 is similar in power. XBSS has CPU at least 3x more powerful, and superior bandwidth by 2-3x.

Disagree again. Handhelds are so weak relative to dedicated consoles. It will only just barely keep up with PS5 but won't come anywhere near the PS6 high end machine. 

Louie said:

Hardstuck-Platinum said:

I disagree with what I put in bold. I think most devs will completely drop support for XBSS/X when next gen starts because it's selling like Wii-U, and PS5 will become the new base. The Switch 2 apparently can't run Elden Ring as well as a base PS4 so I don't think devs will support that either. The PS5 will be the only console on the market that is both technically able and successful. PC is a different market and doesn't influence the console market. It's the other way around actually. The devs develop for the lowest spec console and then scale up for PC

Your post is saying that 2/3 of their new consoles will be weaker than PS5, but the 1/3 will still replace the PS5? Wouldn't that support my theory that it wouldn't replace the PS5? Most new hardware they are selling is weaker than PS5 but they're still aiming to replace it?

Yes, because it's not about power but the new platform. The Series S is not significantly more powerful than an Xbox One X, but Microsoft still focused on Series S (and X) because it was the new platform and a new platform generates excitement, higher software sales, etc. Same happened with the move from Wii U to Switch. I predict Sony will do the same thing: The PS6 consoles are supposed to replace the PS5 consoles. However, I also said that the cross-gen period will be even longer and backwards compatibility will be important. 

No I'm sure it's about power and capability. The XBSS is significantly more powerful than Xbone X in terms of CPU and storage read speeds. It wasn't because it was new, but because whilst the Xbone X was good in some areas, it was terrible in others and overall was actually a very unbalanced console. Wii-U and Switch is a different story as the Wii-U sold horribly and they would've always wanted to move on from that.