It appears the PS4.5 is real and the rumors were (kind of, sort of) true. Giantbomb is reporting that Sony is in development of a console codenamed PlayStation NEO and developers must ship compatible titles as early as October this year. No release info was contained in the documents obtained by Giantbomb, but the source did report a $399 price tag.
The NEO specs, unconfirmed by any official sources, are rumored to include hardware upgrades for the CPU, GPU and increased internal memory bandwidth. Of course, part of the reason behind the NEO development is the introduction of PS VR and the ability to render beautiful video games at 4K resolution. However, here's where it gets interesting: Sony emphasized that every PS4 game must ship in both a standard PS4 and uprated PlayStation NEO format. It also means there will not be NEO-exclusive titles. There will not be NEO-only content (gameplay modes, special unlockables, or otherwise) featured in its games either.
Instead of introducing the PlayStation NEO to supplant the current PS4, Sony intends to create an environment that will allow existing PS4 users to play harmoniously with NEO adopters. The NEO and PS4 will share the same online community and both will have access to the same titles on the PSN store. What's more, past PS4 users can expect to see all their digital purchases transfer to NEO as well.
What about VR? As the report from Giantbomb suggests, shared online play for the standard PS4 and NEO will also mean the platforms must receive equal peripheral support, including virtual reality. NEO is not expected to have exclusive VR games.
So if there's nothing that separates the games between the standard PS4 and the anticipated PlayStation NEO... what's the point of a brand-new console then? The name of the game for Sony, apparently, is frame rate. Expect the PS4 NEO title to deliver vastly improved frame rate and higher visual fidelity due to its 4K support. Ultimately, whether a game is 4K or not will still be up to the developer to decide. However, what will definitely separate a NEO console to a standard PS4 is frame rate. According to Giantbomb, Sony iterated multiple times that the NEO title must meet or exceed the frame rate of the original PS4 system. That means developers cannot compromise frame rate for the sake of pushing 4K.
It is very critical for Sony to find the right balance between its existing community of PS4 users while also creating a PlayStation NEO that is attractive enough to woo a significant number of gamers to drop their hard-earned cash on the new product.
Now it's your turn: do you think Sony can introduce a successful NEO without alienating the PS4? Let us know in the comment section below!
