The Sony Playstation VR viewer with the Playstation 4 System was unveiled at CES 2016 in Mandalay Convention Center last January 5, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images/Alex Wong)
Sony fans are optimistic that the much-awaited PlayStation Neo will be released before 2016 ends, despite no announcement having been made at the recently concluded Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2016 in California.
Several sources believe that the PlayStation Neo will be launched this year, possibly at the third quarter, to compete with rival Microsoft which is expected launch Project Scorpio, a new console, in 2017.
But what exactly is PlayStation Neo and what is the fuss all about? Unfortunately, Sony (as well as Microsoft with Project Scorpio) has been stingy thus far with details regarding its upcoming console.
Meanwhile, here are some details that you need to know so far about the PlayStation Neo.
According to GiantBomb, the PlayStation Neo will use a higher clock speed, an improved GPU and higher bandwidth on memory compared with the original PlayStation 4.
The Playstation Neo will reportedly be able to render games in 4k, the ultra high-definition video format being used in newer TVs, as reported by gaming website, Eurogamer.net. At present, current-gen consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One have no 4K support. Basically, 4k gives viewers higher image definition quality and more detailed picture among others. Hence, the PlayStation Neo is sometimes dubbed as the "PS4K."
No one gets left behind in the new game console. To ease the worries of PS4 owners who have no plan of going Neo, President of worldwide studios at Sony Interactive Entertainment, Shuhei Yoshida, has assured that the PlayStation Neo won't affect the original PS4's life cycle. In other words, the Neo and the old PS4 are expected to co-exist. This means that game developers cannot make games that can only run on the Neo and not on the PS4. Sony will require all games to be released starting from October 2016 to support the PS4 and the Neo.
Lastly, Sony has not officially announced what the Neo's price would be, but reports indicate that it would probably be pegged at $399 due to the following reasons - existing PS4 console users should want to upgrade; people who purchase Playstation Neo will need to separately buy $350 PSVR headset to make use of the console's VR-ready capabilities; and lastly, Microsoft is bound to release their new Xbox.
See YouTube video below to know more about PlayStation Neo.
