Sony Addresses The PS4 Neo/Xbox One Scorpio Power Gap

The chips are now on the table- we know that the PS4 Neo and the Xbox One Scorpio both exist, and even though specs for both have not fully been officially confirmed yet, we also know that the Xbox One Scorpio is truly a beast of a machine, and far outstrips the PS4 in terms of power.

In a way, it is an amusing reversal of roles- where the PS4 was the more powerful machine over the Xbox One for so long, a difference that Sony made sure to play up when they got the chance, something that definitely contributed to their dominance in the console market currently, now we are seeing the PS4 being left behind by Microsoft's upgrade to the Xbox. What does Sony have to say about this? In an interview with Time magazine, Sony's Shawn Layden discussed Sony's PS4 Neo, with respect to Microsoft's Scorpio.

"We're seeing apparently Microsoft taking a similar course to ours, which is to innovate within the life cycle of the console," Layden said. "It's nothing that's ever been done before, so there is no road map to how to do that. Both companies are trying to find the right way to bring that to developers, to bring it to market, to talk about it. But seemingly they're doing similar things to what we want to do, which is to bring more power to developers, to bring more weapons for them to create games with, to create an enhanced experience. Again I think it's good for gaming, so it's good for us."

Specifically when asked about the power gap, he tried to downplay it as much as possible.

"Is that going to be the end-all, be-all of the gaming experience? No," he said. "I think more than anything else today, we're seeing the power of narrative move the gaming business forward more than ever before."

Well, that's... that's an interesting deflection, Mr. Layden. Do you think that 'power of narrative based games' also nullifies the lead in hardware power the PS4 has over the Xbox One, then?

All the pixel counters over the last few years suddenly won't care.

I know I'm out on a thin limb with that prediction..... yeah right. lol :P

lol straight dodged. Sony fanboys went nuts over the marginal power difference PS4 has over the X1. Microsoft went out of their way to make sure that wouldn't happen next round, and Sony fanboys will need a better argument than " LOL 720P Box, cant even play games at 1080"

At the end of the day, both the new revisions are going to be two years behind cutting edge PC's when they release, it's really not that different from where we are now. At least 1080/60 should easily be achieved this time.

Will be easy for Microsoft since its basically the worlds most powerful home console including Steam Machines i believe. Unless there is a Steam Machine more powerful then Scorpio. Now if they do cross buy and cross play, plus BC, will be pretty cool.

They are doing that.

Scorpio makes no difference. You need to buy 4K TV to see game 1080p turned into 4k(not native) meanwhile PS4Neo is PSSlim with extra power but all games still will be ported on PS4 but those who own PS4 Slim have bit better frame rate and graphics

@Crypt_mx: The already have one. NeO games will push higher quality assets while scorpio will go for native 4K.

So should we stop caring about pixel counts and frame rates now, or are we waiting for the Scorpio to launch? I guess we would get a year of lulz out of the PS4 Neo vs OG Xbox One comparisons if we waited. We will have to await the decision from the next Cow meeting to find out probably. Then again, they have a lot of rules to rewrite so who knows if they will get to this one at the next meeting.

So much for all the nonsense about Sony scraping Neo and going for MS and making it more powerful. But of course that was common sense. They would have taken a huge loss and developers are already working on Neo.

I for one didn't buy PS4 not because it's powerful, I got it at launch to play there games on it and they had the games I was interested. Both Sony/MS really need to get back into making games, not trying to be PC wannabes. At least Wii U is different from the rest and that's what I call a true console but Nintendo screw it up on there part.

@AM-Gamer: Microsoft said they aren't forcing 4k.

@FreedomFreeLife:

You would not need a 4K tv to see the benefits. You may lose the absolute resolution but the added benefits of the GPU such as PQ, effects and frame rate are all still going to be present.

The system will just scale to the output resolution of your tv/monitor.

sony fanboys are hypocrites

first it was all about the FPS,resolution and GFX,now it's all about the games

I think Sony needs to market the Neo as the "alternative" to the X1 S. They can recapture some "high ground" by claiming they will wait on releasing the next "full" PS upgrade, while lording how much better their "revision" console is than XBox's (referring to the S). Already the prices are rumored to be comparable between Neo and X1S (Neo speculated to cost in the $400-450 range; Sony would be smart to hold firm at $400 even if it means razor thin profit margins), and already the Neo is simultaneously rumored to have a similar feature set to the S (4k Blu-Ray, 4k scaling, etc) but also have the big power bump the S is lacking. This is their best opportunity, in a way, to turn the "boo Sony, new console already?" scenario into a win by letting that rest on MS and simply tweaking how they market it.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Spencer said those who don't have a 4K display should instead buy an Xbox One S, "because Scorpio is not going to do anything for you. Scorpio is designed as a 4K console, and if you don't have a 4K TV, the benefit we've designed for, you're not going to see."

Nope. There are no benefits. Only those who buy 4K TV, only those people can use scorpio and change to 4k(not native) upscaled screen. So no, Microsoft console don't add any res or frame rate meanwhile PSSlim gives frame rate boost

That will be the only play for them. I just want to say oh noo what happened to the genius Mark Cerny. He got outmanoeuvred by MS and the rush to rectify hardware for VR lol. Where is @notafanboy to explain this.

Narrative games .
damn ... I remember a time which everything was about Gameplay and gameplay only ....

@ShepardCommandr:

Yep. Goes both ways though. Whatever benefits your argument at the time to make your choice better.

I do love to watch all the flip flop though from all the fanboys.

@FreedomFreeLife: his statement is wrong because unless Microsoft plans on somehow gimping the Scorpio to run like shit (ie xbone) when not rendering in 4k the boost in power alone means games will perform better. Anyone with a clue knows this regardless of what Microsoft says. They just want you to buy the slim.

I have a feeling the X1 S price point wont be $299 for very long. It'll probably drop to $249 when Neo launches or for the holiday season depending on which ever comes first. I bet X1 consoles are down to $199 by Nov 2017 with a $399-499 Scorpio launching at the same time.

thats because we live in an era where the kids rather watch lets plays then to actually play themselves. Nobody wants the challenge, they want time wasting, collecting, and walking simulators. The new generation of gamers is just sad.

Oh, how the tables have fallen...

Neo specs haven't been finalized I thought? Doubtful they get to 6tf but they will be launching way ahead of the Scorpio

what PS4 Slim?

Used the same excuses during the PS2/PS3 era, I been here long enough to see it

Cows always flip flop

@NFJSupreme: That wasn't phills response to a fan. Basically said if you don't own a 4K TV don't buy a Scorpio.

Sounds like the Scorpio will be great for the 4k market, finally more content that utilizes the 4k screen. I don't own one because there hasn't been a point to one but if the Scorpio can output 4k (even upscaled) then I'm all in.

I'm sure that Sony will probably be planning a successor to the PS4 NEO.

The Neo is basically like the Xbox One S. Those are the two going head to head, releasing this year. The Scorpio is something else entirely.

That's such BS though. With the raw power it has over the X1 it'll runs games much better unless you think devs are going to gimp it to run at the same level as the X1. Do you think that's what they're going to do?

THAT deflection!

lmao

Without exclusives, Xbox family will die, it is already dying.

Riiigghtttt, cows have been saying that for a decade. You cows need new material

@kingtito: No I think they will push 4K. The power it has over the X1 would allow it to run X1 visuals in native 4K. They could choose to push higher assets as well but 4K will be off the table.

Am I the only one that saw this when I read the interview?

Maybe this is why it was named Neo

I wonder how many people will now make the "other" console now be there go to console for multiplats. I know I will be. Im not buying another ps4, so it would seem that sony's ambition to bring out a more powerful playstation has simply pushed me towards buying a souped up xone. I don't have allegiance to plastic, and buying another ps4 seems wasteful.

Viva la Xbox! Thank you sony!

I think the ability to run future games at 1080p 60 will be incentive enough for people to purchase the Scorpio as well as incentive to purchase 4K TVs. They're getting so cheap these days.

Well I already have a 4K TV so I'm ready for Scorpio.

#datdeflectiontho

Just watch the lems who bought a PS4 switch sides now lol.

Or most likely watch the cows claim gfx and power no longer matter.

Great....another specs argument. I play games for the game play. Not sure about the rest of you. And I don't have a 4K TV and I'm not planning on buying one anytime soon anyway.

There really isn't anything to say. Powa is Powa!

lulz, suddenly power doesnt matter to sony.

@kingtito: True but NeO can do 1080p 60 as well. Maybe Scorpio will give you a choice. I don't think Neo will even attempt 4K on high end games.

There's not much reason to buy one that's for damn sure.

Which is great because it pretty much makes it so I need a Sony console and an NX only.

Sorry I just had to put this LOL.....Too funny. I'm sure holiday next year the 1080p 30fps numbers discussion won't matter anymore, it will be about having fun and playing games LOL.

Let's just pretend MS didn't have a 4yr cycle with the OG Xbox, there's never been mid-cycle hardware(SegaCD, CDX, 32x, Nomad), and people are playing games for stories. Let's be like that.