Sources: Sony Is Working On A ‘PS4.5’

Here are some quotes from the Kotaku article. A link to the full article can be found below.

"Based on conversations with developers who have spoken with Sony, this ‘PS4.5’ will include an upgraded GPU both to support high-end 4K resolution for games and add more processing power that can enhance the games supported by PlayStation VR, the headset Sony will launch this fall. It’s unclear if ‘PS4.5’ is an official name or just a nickname that developers have been using. One developer jokingly called it the ‘PS4K’ while telling me about the device."

"We’ve also heard that at this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Sony held meetings with developers about the hardware and how it would work. As we were chasing down this story, coincidentally,Kotaku UK EIC Keza MacDonald overheard some developers casually talking about the machine while on line at GDC. They mentioned the name ‘PS4.5’ and discussed its increased horsepower, mentioning both 4K resolution and PlayStation VR."

"A more powerful PS4 would also allow the machine to be more competitive with PCs in the world of virtual reality. With a higher-end GPU, the PS4 could more easily match up against the more expensive Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual reality headsets, which are designed to work with powerful PCs."

Source

If this is true I'm gonna sell my ps4 and just buy a 4.5 later, maybe there will be games out by then

I can also see Sony got desperate and is copying M$

Interesting

Sony will get sued by all PS4 owners if it does that. Not to mention a gpu that can handle 4k are at 650+ USD price range. Like we use to say in Russia, they are hanging spaghetti on your ears.

What would the price point be?

like 600 dollars? 700?

I'd be okay with that if the system was BEEFY and fit for gaming

Sony Fan continue to be the clowns of SW.

If they are trying to do 4K gaming..... like $1,500. They must have some serious deal with AMD or something if they think they can sell 4K capable hardware at consumer prices.

I'm calling bullshit. That would be suicide.

Lol at being unable to achieve 1080p/60fps while believing a PS4.5 is gonna chase 4k. Can't wait for the 2000p memes to surface.

In spite of the above, I'm interested in a hardware refresh.

I think this is what Sony fans are wanting.

This is Sony we are talking about.

If this true Nintendo will still be behind forever plying catch up with Sony and Microsoft

Does anyone know if there are any ex-Sega employees working for Sony and Microsoft now? Wouldn't it be some shit if they infiltrated their former competition in an attempt to burn them to the ground? That's the story I'm going with. Nice and juicy!

@GoldenElementXL: Let go ahead and call it the DreamStation.

sony wins again baby

Not likely. These kinds of rumors get thrown around every gen. They almost always end up being slim versions of the consoles with manufacture improvements.

Do we know the specs of the nx yet?

@GoldenElementXL said:

Yeh April the 1st came early this year.

If this is a real thing you can consider PlayStation and possibly even Sony themselves as good as dead, think the whole Xbox One mess was a big deal? This could kill their only profitable branch and possibly the entire company, if they do this they are committing suicide.

I really hope this isn't true, what a colossal **** up this would be.. I can't even imagine the outrage, I can see people storming their headquarters and picketing.

I can see this being real, their success and arrogance is up.. I can see them doing this and assuming all the loyalist will follow.

Well, some would.

This isn't your average internet rumor though. Developers are the ones saying they have talked to Sony about this. It sounds like it's a very poorly kept secret seeing as how people were talking about it out in the open at GDC.

"The circle of people who knew about this upgraded PS4 was small until recently. I first heard about the device from one trusted source, then two. Kotaku’s Jason Schreier and Stephen Totilo were also able to independently verify the existence of these hardware plans with their own developer sources"

4K? Assuming Sony isn't trying to sell a random $1.000+ console I don't see this happening, unless they just mean some sort of upscaling. I mean, I can believe in a PS4.5 with a slightly better GPU+CPU (it seems that the console makers are finally breaking that "taboo"), but 4k gaming capability is a bit too much I think.

The kind of hardware that is needed to run most games at 4K these days, while not forbiddingly expensive isn't exactly cheap either (especially if they don't want to cross the $400 barrier).

Ahhh so this is where the greatness we were awaiting was at. Maybe PS4 is upgradeable like they are planning with NX. A add on wouldn't be too bad.

Remember AMD talking about the next lineups of console APU's and so on and how they would be 5x more powerful than what they currently are, this may be that and it would be able to handle 4K.

Yeah if consoles ever hit $1000 dollars, I would switch to PC then.

I'll wait for Slim PS 4 (2017) , will be much cheaper :)

There is a reason people call them "Soony"

Now I'm really gonna wait on PSVR. At least Sony is teaching me patience.

I'm not sure a slim PS4 would even make sense. It's already a small and well built system. I don't know how much smaller they can actually make it.

Lol this won't kill sony. The notion that you can't have multiple skus and classes of a console is dated. How many different versions of the 3DS does Nintendo have out right now? Is the furyx killing the 390x? It's time home consoles had different classes of product. There isn't just one Honda you can buy. There is one type of TV you can buy. Sony and Microsoft should be able to easily support at least two versions of a console. A base and a premium. The architecture and operating systems can be similar enough to make coding easy as moving sliders up. So long as games are released on both devices it would work. In fact they could make the same disk work on both devices if they wanted. Thus is the future. This is a good thing

I can't even see a slimmer model being a possibility ever, there are certain things you just can't shrink and it's already small.

Lets say this is true, they would use the M$ model.

So PS4K games can still work on the PS4.. just low end graphics, since the Playstation and Xbox are pretty much PCs, all they gotta do is change the graphics settings/profile depending on your system

PC wins.

@dynamitecop: Only profitable branch? Boy you are really ignorant and arrogant with it too.

While I can believe AMD has new APU's with much better performance ready to roll out, price will be the main factor. The same exact reason the XB1 and PS4 have their current hardware (though the XB1 also had to factor in Kinect) instead of better stuff that was available at the time.

So yeah, I think we'll see new iterations of both consoles (XB1+ was rumoured not that long ago) but I don't think the upgrade will be THIS big. Just my opinion of course, I could be completely wrong.

Where else is Sony profiting? As far as I am aware PlayStation is the only place they're having profitable success.

pretty much

if consoles hit 900-1000 dollars like Iphones and macbooks, I would just switch over to PC.

I don't have the data in front of me, but they have made more money by selling image processing devices (aka, phone cameras for other phone makers) and insurances (which has been their top branch quite a few times already). The PS division has been making profit since the PS4, but not to the same level as those two (yet, at least).

Sony's PlayStation division pretty much cancels out it's mobile losses. There are other divisions though that do well.

"Sony's Devices business, which includes its highly profitable sensors operation, was up significantly in its fiscal first quarter, as sales rose 35 percent to $2 billion and operating income rose 164 percent to $249 million. Sony Music's revenue jumped 8.5 percent to $1.1 billion and operating profit was up 173 percent to $260 million. Sony Pictures was the one downer in the company's turnaround efforts, as revenue fell 11.9 percent year-over-year to $1.4 billion. The Sony Pictures business lost $96 million.

Still, Sony believes that by focusing on gaming, devices, movies, and music, it can make billions of dollars in profit each year. In February, the company said that by the end of its 2017 fiscal year ending in March 2018, it anticipates an operating profit of 500 billion yen (about $4.2 billion)."

Source

This is all a bunch of bullshit. No one who already owns these systems are going to pony up more boat loads of cash for 2.0 versions of these systems. It would be disaster and chaos for customers not knowing if this PS4 game works on PS4, PS4.5, PSVR or PSASBR.

Same goes for Microsoft. Terrible ideas and I doubt it'll ever happen. Just make new systems ffs.

If MS is doing it, it's only natural to think Sony is too. I think developers want smoother transitions between generations rather than the crazy discontinuous jumps we have now which forces them to redo a lot of their tech and take massive risks on unreliable player bases. Smaller upgrades more frequently is probably what dev want and if they want it Sony/MS should try to provide it.

Not content to be th emost powerful video game console of gen 8, no no, no, we must give the gamers MORE>

I'm talking more consumer branches, not industrial level hardware manufacturing and technological development, aside from the PlayStation I cannot think of a single Sony product line that is doing well, they've fallen behind everywhere.

I guess I should continue to hold off on buying a PS4

@GoldenElementXL: I still believe "Just Wait" is the official tagline for Playstation this gen.

Or "Greatness awaits" that one comes pretty close too.

Doubt it

I see. In that case, it would be a disastrous move on their part. I don't get why MS and Sony think this might be a good enough idea to entertain. And does 4K mean gaming or just video playback?

Sad that's your view.

if this generation is already coming to an end, the amount of games and exclusives have been disappointing.

Well its true, its not a view actually more than it is a factual statement.

The video game companies are trying out the mobile business model. Cell phones cost TWICE as much as video game consoles and yet they are able to sell people a new one every year or two. I can totally see why a businessman would think this is a good idea. Unfortunately he doesn't know his customer-base that well. Gamers HATE spending money.