With Microsoft (MSFT) executives having confirmed the existence of the Xbox Two, we can now be certain of a ninth console generation. Sony (SNE) is absolutely guaranteed to release a PlayStation 5, following the success of the PlayStation 4, and indeed the company has already confirmed that it is developing ideas. So what can we expect from these two consoles, and which one will be a winner for gamers?
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 4 has cleaned up in the eighth generation of consoles, but the processing power of the system is still ultimately insufficient to deliver 4K resolution gaming. This will become a major part of the gaming landscape in the coming years as 4K technology becomes more mainstream. This means that one of the first aspects of the PlayStation 5 that Sony will place emphasis on is the ability of the machine to deliver 4K gaming.
Numerous virtual reality systems are also being developed at present, with one of these being Sony’s own PlayStation VR (previously Project Morpheus). The existing PlayStation hardware will surely struggle with the demands of such systems, even if the initial PlayStation VR is intended to be compatible with it. As virtual reality develops, so the demands of such systems will develop with it, and there is little doubt that the existing console hardware will struggle to cope.
Sony has made a more obvious investment in virtual reality than Microsoft, and it is possible that virtual reality technology will be built into the PlayStation 5, or at the very least that Sony will significantly emphasize it when the console is released.
In the time since the PlayStation 4 was launched, video games streaming has become massive, with services such as Twitch achieving huge success. Additionally, it is increasingly possible to stream games in real time, and with broadband speeds increasing by the time that the PlayStation 5 is released, some such service could be implemented.
It is also possible for gamers to download games with increasing convenience, and the PlayStation 5 could choose to particularly embrace this technology. There have been suggestions in some quarters that the PlayStation 5 could be an entirely disc-based system. But they still seems unlikely considering the predilection that gamers have for discs, along with the fact that Sony knows it achieved a significant lead in the existing generation by listening to the desires of consumers.
