Should Sony launch dual SKUs to combat Next Gen Xbox's rumored Dual SKU?

No.

1 sku and an upgrade in the middle is enough.

Maybe a 4K model and a 1080p model for us cheapskates.

@Ant_17: This. One well priced model to rule them all!

Sony shouldn’t copy a damn thing the 3rd place squad is doing. That’s just dumb

Simplicity always wins. 3ds, xbone, steam machines, and others have all lost sales due to confusing customers with too many skus.

I would only buy the stronger one anyway.

1080p model anywhere around $ 300-400 will probably be impulse territory for a huge market.

The impact of this might be harder to gauge as the 3DS and PS4 have multiple SKUs and may be considered the winners of their respective direct competition.

Extending that, PC and mobile has even more variable and continue to gain traction specially in Asia.

If it seems more like a pro consumer, maybe they can do their own twist on it or even better versions of it. Regardless of whether it looks "copied" or not.

I'm not sure if it's a bad idea for Sony to host free cloud saves for their consoles like Xbox but I guess one could argue that's a wasted resource instead of just creating a new game.

Maybe.

Personally I’ll most likely go for the more powerful SKU but there could very well be a strong enough demand to support a dual SKU launch.

For the difference in standard and high-end consumers, it might be worth it. Address two markets effectively, rather than a middling solution. It really depends on what's offered at the end of the day.

^ ^

Why would Sony follow MS off a cliff?

Yeah $500, Oh I do remember the Cows saying that was too high for the X1X.

Yup. Even if the demand isn't strong per se, it just has to be profitable enough for them. In fact you can center products as snob effect, high margin low volume style.

I don't have proof but I can easily see Sony even a much more powerful, limited edition $ 999 PS5 of 100,000 units world wide. Anecdotal but if you've been with the company of young upper middle class, that's nothing. These aren't a few people either. Now the Pro unit at $ 999 with super beefed up specs are unlikely to happen but around $ 499 or a little more seem easy.

That's true. On almost all market segments this exist but I guess to some this hypothetical one SKU PS5 are one of the few bastions of comfort away from such a common practice across many markets. I can sympathize.

As for a middling solution, that might still even happen if a one SKU PS5 sits between the dual SKUs of next gen xbox both in power and price.

Right. features to price is a major factor.

How about we hear the price 1st before you spew lem gibiresh at me?

@xhawk27: $500 isn't bad, Microsoft screwed up x1x because their competition was $100 cheaper and more powerful.

That is the rumor of the cost of the PS5.

I see you believe any rumor.

The Cows only believe in rumors that are negative against Xbox. lol

And you don't?

Stick with the mid-gen refresh model. Xbox is a bum ass platform right now. MS has to release hardware all the time because their games get no attention. Xbox shouldn't be the model to follow for anything until they can prove their worth in the market again.

I don't believe in rumors most of the time, in less it is from a creditable source.

@xhawk27: Yet you belive the PS5 will be 500 bucks.

What a joke.

The PS4 pro is more powerful than the X1X? LOL

I believe it because if it's less than that it will be weak for a Next Gen system.

@xhawk27: Whoops, silly me, I meant the xbox one. Regarding x1x, it's a great console but ultimately held back by Microsoft's struggles this gen.

$400 is ideal but $500 is doable, you just need to be able to justify that price.

@xhawk27: So what? They aren't chasing pure power, unlike the Bone.

If the next Xbox doesn't have One in it's name, are you guys still going to call it Bone?

@xhawk27: Yes. best thing MS did this gen. Made the dumbest name to call their console.

Not a big deal to me. I don’t plan on buying the next playstation. I’m buying the next Xbox - the premium version.

Can't beat the name Bone SAD.. Who comes up with name like that lol??

What's this SAD?

@rzxv04: XboxSAll Digital Edition

Unify the hardware and software supply chain. 1 SKU at launch.

Cows came up with the name because they don't know the way proper way to say it, as it would be Xbox One S ADE, but cows don't even know how to do anything properly, that's why Sony gives them so little gameplay as not to confuse them lol.

Yeah, keep trying, but SAD and Bone are staying.

So lems know the proper way to say PS4?

That's alright they can stay, just as you can stay incorrect :)

Yeah PS4 is short for movie station 4 right? with such mottos as "this is for the movie watchers"

lol

@Ant_17: the fanbase that touted their s model as a UHD player really seems to have jokes about movies, somehow.

Personally, I was really holding out for the Water Cooler Edition.

@Shewgenja: Didn't lems say that playing Black Panther in UHD Blu Ray was their equivalent of Sony's Spiderman game?

@NoodleFighter: I dunno. It's been easy tuning out their bs after Quantum Break.

I see. That's kinda funny. Wish they thought about the acronyms. I do wonder if memes already have large effects due to the active net population steadily growing.

I hear a lot of people around here calling it the Piss4.

Doesn't matter what Phony does next gen... Poke'em with a fork, they're done. :P

I don't know, I mean they never had to in the past, so they should be fine another gen doing the same thing. But personally I like what Xbox is doing, I feel targeted more by the premium model(the Anaconda I guess) because I game a lot and I'm willing to spend more to get the better hardware, I don't have to get the one model designed for the bulk of the gamers. It's something different so time will tell how it will all work out. Either way no big deal for me, not in a hurry at all for next gen.

Tbh, I would agree to 2 consoles at the begining rather than mid gen upgrade

NO!

It's an idiotic strategy that undermines the point of having more powerful hardware to start a new generation.

Having 2 SKUs with 1 being far weaker defeats the purpose of having a new generation because developers will always have to develop for the lower end model to ensure compatibility, thus rendering the more powerful units shitty resolution and framerate buffers.

This is the reason why we have high end PC's 10x more powerful than the PS4 that can only boast running the same games just at a higher resolution and frame rate now.

A generation starts with development of the base market leaders hardware.

You xbox and PC fanboys can keep that counterproductive set up, and when Sony shows 1 powerful SKU, no matter if PC or MS has more powerful "options", the most impressive looking games will still be PS5 exclusive.

So Xbox gonna go SAD edition next gen?

Just don't follow that one.

In reply to OP no...because a year later better tech comes along and they have to play the upgrade game again.

This time i'll probably wait a year or two b4 purchasing next gen (if it's even worth purchasing) or a limited pro version.

From a manufacturing view it's not as efficient to have multiple SKUs.

From a software view it really doesn't matter because it's a simple matter of tweaking settings to run on different hardware.

The worst will be if they release only one SKU and it can't run the games well. I don't want another repeat of the PS4 hardware.

Ay ay! Keep it simple, Sony.

@pyro1245: What? When was the PS4 struggling to run games?