Virtual Reality has finally gone from a pipe dream, to something you can buy and experience on a PlayStation console. Competition has been fierce from the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, but Microsoft has been lagging behind in this department. Meanwhile, more and more companies are coming out with epic experiences on PlayStation VR as the catalog grows by the week. Recent sales numbers are showing strong adoption of this new hardware, and while Microsoft is finally discussing VR in more detail, it’s clear that Sony is ahead of the pack. When PS5 releases, it will have the power (and possibly the VR headset) to beat them all. Join us as we look at all the evidence pointing to a future where Sony rules the VR playing field. PlayStation VR Selling Strong, Competition is Lagging After its launch in the final months of 2016, everyone wanted to know how PlayStation VR was selling. Would it soar high and break Sony’s track record of under-performing peripherals (sorry PlayStation Move)? There were plenty of naysayers who wanted to shoot it down, but in early 2017, Sony started talking numbers. Andrew House, global chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment, spoke with The New York Times and mentioned some specifics about the sales of their VR headset and how they stacked up against expectations. Andrew House himself was concerned about how quickly the market would jump on the VR bandwagon: “It’s the classic case in any organization, the guys who are on the front end in sales are getting excited, very hyped up. You have to temper that with other voices in the company, myself among them, saying let’s just be a little bit careful.” They decided not to manufacture as many as you would expect, and as a result, there was a major shortage in stores everywhere, Japan especially. During his interview with The New York Times, Andrew House revealed that as of February 19th, 2017, PSVR had sold 915,000 headsets in four months since launch. The internal goals for Sony were a million headsets in the first six months. Andrew House mentioned in his interview that “You literally have people lining up outside stores when they know stock is being replenished,” when he was describing the atmosphere in Japan. Clearly Sony is set to meet or exceed these expectations. These numbers also place Sony at the forefront of VR success. In terms of premium headsets, PlayStation VR is the lowest price point at $399. While Oculus, Facebook, and HTC haven’t shared their sales numbers yet, research from SuperData Research has estimate that Oculus Rift sold about 243,000 and HTC Vive sold 420,000 by the end of 2016. Comparing all of this to other technology launches, one of the most successful launches was the iPhone first three months in 2007 in which it sold 1.4 million units. On the software side of things, Sony is enjoying massive engagement with VR since the launch of Resident Evil 7, which supported the entire game in … Read More
Michael Pachter: Sony Will Wait on PS5 Until After The Next Xbox Releases
Hardcore gamers have probably heard about Michael Pachter. He’s an analyst at Webbush Securities and famous for his gaming predictions. He’s right every once and a while, but I wouldn’t call him gaming’s Nostradamus. Even so, it’s always interesting to see what he thinks and compare it with our own thoughts. To this end, he has revealed yet another prediction during a podcast. He seems to believe that Sony is going to wait and see what happens with Project Scarlett before they go public with PS5. How does that make you feel? Is that even something we think is possible? It’s time to discuss. Pachter’s Prediction: A Hint of Truth? Pachter’s predictions are often met with mixed reactions from the community. Sometimes he’s pretty close, but other times he makes a vast majority of the community’s eyes roll. We’ve got a new prediction from him, courtesy of an interview with GamingBolt where he mentioned a new prediction about the PS5. According to Pachter, they could be waiting on Microsoft: “I’m sure Microsoft intends to launch first, and I am equally certain that the new Xbox will be backwards compatible with any Xbox One X software. I agree that it’s hard for Xbox One X purchasers, but they should know 4 years into a cycle that there is another one coming. My guess is that Microsoft intends to launch in 2020, but if they think Sony is going to launch the PS5 then, they will launch early.. Let’s dive in and see how I feel about these predictions. Michael Pachter’s Vision For The PS5: Releasing in 2019? Michael Pachter spoke with Gaming Bolt in the wake of Shawn Layden’s PS5 comments, and of course, the analyst had some predictions to throw out for those interested in his wisdom. Pachter confirmed his beliefs that the PS5 will indeed be backwards compatible, but he also mentioned a release date: 2019. In Pachter’s words: “The PlayStation 4 Pro is better (from a technical perspective) than the PS4, so I think that’s a half step towards the PlayStation 5. I think the PS5 will another half step. It will surely support 4K. Will it support 240 frames per second? Great. Will it play games that were made for the PlayStation 4 Pro? That’s the question. I think it will. So I think they will build a console that will be backwards compatible with the PS4 Pro. So I think it will be perceived by the consumers to be a half step and I think Shawn is telling the truth when he says it will be a full-fledged console.” Pachter went on to explain his prediction, saying that Sony is waiting for the 4K market to mature more before they release their new console. He admits that it could be 2019 or 2020, but leans towards the former. According to his predictions, Sony already has the PS5 nailed down, they’re just waiting for the timing to be right. Breaking Down Pachter’s Claims: A Few Hits and … Read More
The 4K Dilemma: How PS5 Will do What PS4 Pro Won’t
The PS4 Pro (previously known as the PS4.5 or PS4 Neo), releases in November of 2016. For the first time in the gaming industry, we’ll have a new console release with better hardware and more capabilities that still exists within the same generation. That’s right, the PS4 Pro is not the PS5, it’s something new. Furthermore, the extra power isn’t able to run games in native 4K as of yet. Instead, Sony has opted to upscale games to this higher resolution. Combine this with the lack of a 4K Blu-Ray player, and you have to wonder how all of this fits together. Today, we’ll break down the details of the PS4 Pro and ultimately use it to peek into the future and find out what Sony is planning for the PS5. Mark Cerny Breaks Down the PS4 Pro Mark Cerny is the system architect for PlayStation. He’s also been involved with countless other game franchises like Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted, Spyro, and even Ratchet & Clank. He worked on the PS4 and now he’s sat down with The Verge to talk about the approaches he took to PS4 Pro. It’s safe to say that Mark, and his wonderfully smooth voice, will also be the architect on the PS5. Moments like these offer a lot of great insight into what he and Sony are thinking. For starters, the PS4 Pro is indeed 2.28 times more powerful than the PS4. The first caveat, even with this power, is that not everything will run in native 4K resolutions. When asked about the new GPU, Cerny revealed that it’s not actually new. Instead, they decided to install a second GPU that’s almost identical to the first one with a 14% boost to 911MHz. The standard PS4 hits 1.8 teraflops, but the Pro is bringing 4.2 teraflops to the table. The same eight Jaguar CPU cores are being used, but they’ve been clock at higher speeds. Furthermore, the RAM has a higher bandwidth, and they’ve also added an additional gig of conventional RAM to boost the speed of menu applications and switching between them. This power allows the system to hit native 4K in certain situations, and what Cerny calls “extremely close to 4K” in others. For games like Call of Duty and Horizon: Zero Dawn, the system uses a workaround called checkerboard rendering. This allows the system to reach 2160p resolution by changing the way pixels are arranged so the resolution is in fact higher. Other games will use this same technique to run in 1080p. As you may already know, a shocking amount of titles only run at roughly 900p on PS4, so this will also offer a boost for 1080p television owners. Games will require a “Pro” mode or a patch to take advantage of the extra hardware. This means that games will run the same on the new system unless modified to use the extra power. For 1080p television owners, the difference won’t be huge, but developers can use this power to … Read More
PS4.5 Will Surprise Microsoft and Crush Scorpio’s Performance
PS4.5 vs XBox 2 Scorpio – See video below</em For the first time since the dawn of gaming, we’re seeing new hardware coming out in the middle of a generation. I’m not talking about a “slim” model either. The PS4 Neo (PS4.5) and Project Scorpio (Xbox 2) are true leaps forward in terms of power. Both are confirmed, but the specs haven’t been finalized for either one. Even without that information, there’s still a lot to be found when we read between the lines. Microsoft is confident that Project Scorpio will be the most powerful console ever built, but their focus is all out of whack. Meanwhile, Sony’s made it clear that PS4.5 is all about power. Read on to find out why this gamer believes the PS4.5 will crush Scorpio when it releases. Project Scorpio: Microsoft’s Caged Beast When Phil Spencer took the stage at E3 2016 and announced Project Scorpio, the crowd went wild. I was personally surprised that they were talking about a new console over a year before its release. He didn’t provide many details beyond the fact that it would be “the most powerful console ever built.” This had the PlayStation fan within me worried, but since that big announcement, new information from the big man himself makes me wonder what Microsoft is planning to do with Scorpio. During an interview with Eurogamer, Phil Spencer shed new light on Scorpio’s purpose and place in the new Xbox Family. In the same breath that he announced Project Scorpio, he also announced Xbox One S. One is clearly more powerful than the other, so why would anyone purchase the S when they can have the power of Scorpio in holiday 2017? In Phil Spencer’s words: “Scorpio is designed as a 4K console, and if you don’t have a 4K TV, the benefit we’ve designed for, you’re not going to see. Clearly you can buy Scorpio, and if and when you decide you want to buy a 4K television to take advantage of the increased performance, obviously the console will be ready for you.” He told customers that they should just stick with Xbox One S, because Scorpio isn’t going to do anything for you unless you have a 4K TV. We all know that extra power is needed to run games in 4K, but if that’s all Scorpio is going to do, what about all that talk concerning the most powerful console ever built? This is where Microsoft’s other decision to create an “Xbox Family” comes into play. Microsoft is planning on keeping everything level with their new releases: “That fact that when you buy an Xbox One and start creating your game library and when you buy Scorpio those games and accessories and everything are going to run, make it feel like part of the Xbox One family to me. That’s why we communicate it that way. That was also part of the design point of the box.” I’m all game for backwards compatibility, but Microsoft … Read More