PS4 NEO: how the gaming industry change

The last step between a generation and the other was far from painless: it was not only convert the development tools to the new platform, but there have been long delays as regards the technical side due to hardware too outdated in the last part of the previous generation and difficulty in keeping up to date with the times even after the advent of the new hardware. In short, the gaming console industry must find a way to better blend the generation step.

The answer to these difficulties could be PS4 NEO, revealed by rumors yesterday. Rumor too arrogant and too "realistic" to be unfounded, because now also confirmed by Digital Foundry argues that, in no uncertain terms, that "the leak on the specifications is absolutely genuine."

Of course such a solution is not very appreciated by the community of players, also because for some unexpected verses Having regard to the commercial success which however the basic version of PS4 is encountering. One might assume that Sony is thinking of a structure that provides a hardware gradual strengthening of its console, so that we find ourselves no longer in the condition in which the hardware of the console is so distant from the art of the configurations was not only PC, but now even furniture. On the other hand it is a radical change that threatens to displace the players more related to classical to generations structure.

There will be games that leverage hardware PS4 NEO via the so-called "NEO Mode" and instead calibrated games for the PS4 base and running in the "Basic Mode". When there will be a hypothetical future SS5, however, one would assume the existence of games that can turn into "PS5 Mode", others in "Neo Mode" and others in "Basic Mode", with differences in terms of graphics and technical quality . In short, nothing more abrupt transition from one generation to another and instead gradually adapted to the state of the computer systems, a bit 'as it happens on your PC.

According to information gathered by Digital Foundry, Sony is already starting to plan the delivery of new devkit developers. We have already talked about specifications, but from the hardware point of view the most important aspect of the new PS4 NEO is undoubtedly the GPU based on the chip Polaris 10, which AMD has not officially presented, which will probably happen in the next Computex. This aspect is interesting, namely the contemporaneity of the debut of the new architecture and its arrival on consoles, which shows that AMD is increasingly focused on the development of its hardware console optics.

Clearly Sony will ask its partners not to show devkit development, because they will not be equipped with the definitive houses and form factors that users will see in shop windows. In June should then get a second version of the test kit, while Sony will provide technical briefings on the occasion of his DevCon event in May. But even then nothing should become official, with the final presentation which should be planned at an E3 that promises roaring like never before.

There will almost certainly Nintendo NX and at this point Microsoft is forced to enter a few announcements. The Redmond, gaming side, it gives the feeling of being in perpetual pursuit. There is talk of a Slim Xbox One, but now seems indispensable that Microsoft also adapts to the new model imposed by Sony with progressive hardware upgrade, because otherwise the difference in the calculation would become enormous capacity.

The presence of the chip Polaris makes 10 PS4 NEO much more powerful than could be expected after the release of the first rumor of what was then identified as PS4.5. On the other hand it is not so clear hardware evolution can allow you to run games at native 4K resolution. It is more likely that the rendering is done at 1080p and then implement a 4K upscaling.

On the other hand, not all the console players are provided to 4K monitor, for which the new PS4 NEO must also ensure improvements for those who play in 1080p. From this point of view, just remember what the name of PlayStation VR code to do once the association who have studied the PlayStation technicians. Project Morpheus was right, another iconic character of The Matrix: in short, PS4 NEO first need to ensure the computing capacity required for virtual reality. So, if Morpheus is PS VR, Neo is PS4.5, Trinity What will?

In addition to this, the 1080p monitor holders will have other benefits, such as frame rate higher and stable, more fidelity graphics and additional features visual and therefore more detail. Moreover, according to the leaked information, the games in "NEO Mode" will use more RAM, 512MB others for a total quantity of 5.5 GB. It was not immediately clear why the titles that run in the traditional "Basic Mode" can not use this amount of additional memory.

It does not seem, however, are planned changes to the Blu-ray player. PS4 should not join the new 4K UHD standard for movies, which seems contradictory to the previous reasoning. PS4 NEO should therefore be restricted to read discs 50GB and be unable to manage superior solutions such as those from 66 and 100GB.

Digital Foundry also makes a prediction about the date of availability of the new console. First, PS4 NEO should move to 14-nanometer manufacturing technology, but in the second half of the year many manufacturers will pass to 14 nm, and this will produce a glut of production lines. Surely it will AMD, but also many manufacturers of mobile and portable devices will contribute to the depletion of production lines. Why Sony might not be able to launch its new console in the Christmas season.

"What we know from documents leaked on NEO is that the hardware for development and debugging will be recalled in January, when it will be replaced by units ready for mass production," write journalists from Digital Foundry. "Historically, this tends to happen close to or after the launch".

In short, PS4 NEO could debut tentatively in March 2017 but, at this point, in about two months, at E3, we will know definitely more.