PlayStation 4.5

[Drew Sebastino]

I shit you not: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... -making-it

I'm speechless.

[tepples]

Is the PS4K the Game Boy Color to the PS4's Game Boy?

[Drew Sebastino]

I don't know. What I do know is that there's no way that this thing is going to be able to run a modern game without costing $1000+ Anything they'll do at a reasonable price won't make a significant difference in terms of visuals. The PS4 isn't even that old, not enough to build new hardware. It's like they're aiming for a demographic that doesn't exist. If you're that concerned about visuals and getting the most advanced piece of hardware to date, you'll get a PC, because you can improve those for a comparably small price as opposed to throwing it out and getting a "PC.5". It just seems like a big scam to me, and I don't like where this is going. I suppose this has already been done in the handheld market with the DSi and the "New" 3DS (although the technological improvement is kind of lousy) but I never liked those either.

[tokumaru]

Consoles these days are looking more and more like PCs that you can't upgrade, so I honestly don't see how this business will survive much longer. Here in Brazil in particular, where consoles easily go for twice the price they're sold for in the US on launch, assembling a beefy PC makes much more sense.

[tepples]

In Brazil, do they have a tradition of PCs in the living room? Because that's where consoles have held the traditional advantage. Smash Bros. (or whatever SCE calls its clone) wouldn't be as fun if you needed to organize a LAN party to play it.

[Drew Sebastino]

Consoles these days are looking more and more like PCs that you can't upgrade, so I honestly don't see how this business will survive much longer. Here in Brazil in particular, where consoles easily go for twice the price they're sold for in the US on launch, assembling a beefy PC makes much more sense.

Agreed.

In Brazil, do they have a tradition of PCs in the living room?

Ask tokumaru.

Edit: Actually, me saying that doesn't make any sense. I thought you posted before tokumaru, since are complaints are largely the same.

Smash Bros. (or whatever SCE calls its clone) wouldn't be as fun if you needed to organize a LAN party to play it.

tepples, I could list all the games now being sold with local multiplayer on a napkin.

[tokumaru]

In Brazil, do they have a tradition of PCs in the living room?

I don't personally know many gamers or visit their homes, but most people appear to have completely switched from desktops to laptops, meaning it's perfectly possible for them to move their computers to any room necessary, even though laptops aren't typically good gaming machines. But considering that everyone has a large full HD monitor in their living room these days, it isn't so farfetched to imagine that a gamer would have a desktop computer stashed somewhere in there too. A computer case doesn't have to be all that bigger than a PS4 or an XB1.

[whicker]

A "plus" version of a console sounds appealing to me.

Successful 3D age consoles, especially Sony's, typically underwent a redesign halfway in their projected life. (PS2 slim, PS3 slim, etc.)
Sometimes it's just a major circuit board change (part cost reduction) and not visible in the case design.

So what is so wrong when there is room in the budget to increase the graphics power during a midcycle redesign?
Maybe this time the chip manufacturer is forcing the change to a smaller process technology for nearly free (because they want to sell off the old process)?

So for the console manufacturer, all the stars line up for this and other reasons (the VR stuff, 4K TV stuff), that it just flat-out makes sense to put a more powerful graphics chip in.

Maybe this makes the jump more appealing to those that do not yet own a PS4 (like me) to buy new. It'd be even more awesome if existing games would run at a higher framerate or something with the faster clocked GPU. So new games would still be designed to be tolerable on the slower version console, and then maybe crank things up for the faster version console.

I really don't see a problem, other than envy.

It seems that some of the early adopters are fueled by the envy they feel they can create in others, but then oh no something better comes out and then they are not the "best" anymore (phrased it this way because many gamers take things too personally).

[Drew Sebastino]

Trust me, I have no envy, as I'm not interested in getting a PS4, or a newer PS34. (If I wanted non-Nintendo modern games, I'd get a good PC.)

So new games would still be designed to be tolerable on the slower version console, and then maybe crank things up for the faster version console.

And then they start dropping support...

To me, it just feels like a big scam. There's very little in the way that they can do technology wise in that computing power hasn't increased enough since then to warrant a new machine, especially when it's even difficult to differentiate good PS3 from good PS4 games and that's about an 8 year gap. It's really kind of sad. Since the beginning and to the present, I haven't seen any improvement in graphical quality in the games. Look at early PS3 to late PS3 games (before the PS4 came out). There's sure as hell and improvement there, and even more so with the Xbox 360.

It doesn't (to me) have to do with being the best, like it's some sort of status symbol, it's the fact that say I got a PS4 right before this was announced, I'd be unhappy. I just bought this piece of hardware that's now obsolete, so if I want the cool stuff on this new hardware, I'd have to try and trade in the PS4 (and maybe just getting 10% back ) and then buying the new system, using way more money that was necessary. I kind of have the same experience in that I got the 3DS when it was $250 (looking back at it, even for 2012 (which wasn't that long ago) I have no clue what would have made it cost so much) and then there was a large price cut, (I think even several) and had I waited a month or whatever, I could have gotten it for a good deal less money. Nintendo thought they were doing you a solid or whatever by giving you some virtual console NES and GBA games but I owned all of them, save about 2. I think it's a cheap way of saying "sorry". They could have given you points toward actually buying something on the online shop.

Case and point, it's a large amount for a small benefit, something that would have been a proportional amount of money for a small benefit if you were upgrading parts in a PC. I've always been tired of hearing the "PC master race" bullcrap, because not everyone has a monster PC, but in the long run, if you can keep the same machine and constantly upgrade it instead of buying the PS4.5 or then the PS4.6 or whatever, you'll save money in the long run and have a more powerful, flexible system. Now that local multiplayer is dead, it seems like the perfect idea. I'm sure most people have their consoles in their bedroom or game room anyway as opposed to the living room.

I will say one point for redemption for Sony, if they do this (if it's even possible). They could create an add on for the PS4 to enhance its capabilities, and that wouldn't be a rip off because you're only paying for what needs to be improved rather than just completely starting over. I think the Xbox One actually has an HDMI in on it, and I could see Microsoft doing something like that here. Doesn't the 32x actually act the same way in that it gets the video from the Genesis somehow? It'd thought it wouldn't work because of analog signal. Of course in this situation, it would be backward in that the attachment is sending data to the console rather than the console sending data to the attachment.

[tepples]

So new games would still be designed to be tolerable on the slower version console

Perhaps anti-upgrade folks don't trust developers not to start dropping support. There were lots of GBC-only games, a couple DSi-only games, and now a few New Nintendo 3DS-only games.

(If I wanted non-Nintendo modern games, I'd get a good PC.)
[...]
I've always been tired of hearing the "PC master race" bullcrap, because not everyone has a monster PC

The PCMR Guide clarifies that not everyone needs a monster PC. Any PC with a GPU will do. So will AMD integrated graphics, and even the integrated graphics in Intel Core i series CPUs since Haswell are serviceable nowadays.

The point is that gaming on a console from the past 20 years is like being locked in a basement, with the console makers' antipathy toward community-made game mods. If you use a PC, on the other hand, you are the MASTER of your own gaming experience.

Wanna RACE?

Now that local multiplayer is dead, it seems like the perfect idea.

Dead? Since when does Street Fighter series require a separate machine per player?

They could create an add on for the PS4 to enhance its capabilities, and that wouldn't be a rip off because you're only paying for what needs to be improved rather than just completely starting over.

The problem with an add-on is that throughput over the connection to the add-on would likely be compromised. I imagine it's not like the N64, which had RAM expansion planned from the beginning, marked as such on the case, and in fact populated on debug units.

[JRoatch]

Now that local multiplayer is dead, it seems like the perfect idea.

Dead? Since when does Street Fighter series require a separate machine per player?

Not just 2 machines but the whole internet* since Street Fighter V!

*: comments there say that one needs to disconnect first to avoid that particular problem.

[Drew Sebastino]

tepples, I could list all the games now being sold with local multiplayer on a napkin.

Dead? Since when does Street Fighter series require a separate machine per player?

I think I can write that on a napkin. Mostly dead, happy?

The problem with an add-on is that throughput over the connection to the add-on would likely be compromised. I imagine it's not like the N64, which had RAM expansion planned from the beginning, marked as such on the case, and in fact populated on debug units.

That's what I was thinking. The Xbox One seemed to be more prepared than Sony in this regard. I'm honestly shocked that this happened though, considering how long the Xbox 360 and PS3 lasted that they'd consider the "PS4.5", especially when technology seemed to be moving at a faster rate then. (512MB RAM was nearly nothing to most people toward the end of their lives.)

Not just 2 machines but the whole internet* since Street Fighter V!

What?