Select a region
Sony is hosting a rare standalone event on Wednesday, when consoles boss Andrew House will talk about “the future of PlayStation”.
What this is likely to mean is the unveiling of two new consoles – one a more compact version of the PS4, the other a more powerful and capable console to push the platform along into next year and beyond, with virtual reality in mind.
This is what you need to know.
@notaxation @GameOverGreggy It's Legit :-D pic.twitter.com/vklTN8yQYm
— shortman82 (@shortmaneighty2) August 21, 2016
The first thing likely to be announced is the imminent arrival of a PS4 Slim – a slimmed down version of the existing PS4 with a smaller price tag designed to grab those consumers yet to make the jump to this generation of console and entice them in.
We’re pretty confident this is real too because one actually turned up on Gumtree a couple of weeks ago.
The specs should be the same as the PS4 but with a perhaps slimmer controller too. Exiting if you don’t have this generation of console, but just the warm-up act for what is likely to follow.
Much rumoured and pretty much confirmed by Sony when they said they wouldn’t be discussing it at last month’s Gamescom – because of this event – the PS Neo is set to be the next step for Sony’s console by offering 4K and HDR visuals for the first time.
What does this mean? Higher definition and sharper, more colourful images in your gaming, combined with a power boost, could mean a more realistic gaming experience.
The reasoning for this jump to the Neo is multi-layered: Xbox are planning a massive console upgrade next year with the insanely powerful (if the specs are true) Project Scorpio, but also the need to provide a console that can better handle and support Sony’s upcoming virtual reality system, PlayStation VR.
PS VR is very nearly here – it launches in October – and as already alluded to, many expect that the Neo is the console PlayStation wants to pair with this new gaming experience.
If this is the case it will be very interesting to see if the Neo’s release date is linked in with that of VR. If so, Neo could be here in a month or two, a very exciting prospect.
If Sony does show off its new console, it’ll want to give a tangible example of what it can do, so there is a chance we might see some ‘remastered’ or even new games announced to be launch titles alongside the Neo.
This is a long shot, as we have no idea on PlayStation’s planned timeline for the Neo, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for.
