GRcade

Upcoming new consoles like Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Sony's PlayStation 5 will be backward compatible with most games, according to Ubisoft. The ability to play old games will grow the industry, the gaming company's CEO said in a financial results call last week, as reported earlier Tuesday by Games Radar.

"Those consoles will be running almost all the back catalog of the previous consoles," Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO, said when asked about the top benefits of the new consoles to players. "It will be something new in the industry, it will help the old generation to continue to be big consoles on the market in the years to come ... it will actually grow the market a lot."

The potential of the new consoles "is really high," Guillemot added. "Players will be able to be very impressed by the quality of what those new consoles will bring to the market."

Sony Is Struggling With PlayStation 5 Price Due to Costly Parts

Scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs for Sony Corp.’s next PlayStation to around $450 per unit, forcing a difficult price-setting decision in its battle with Microsoft Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Sony typically finalizes a console’s price in February of the release year, followed by mass production in the spring. With the PS5, the company is taking a wait-and-see approach, said the people, asking not to be named because the details are private.

The PS4, released in 2013 at a retail price of $399, was estimated by IHS Markit to cost $381 to manufacture. With the $450 unit cost and a similar gross margin, the PlayStation 5’s retail price would have to be at least $470.

The company’s biggest headache is ensuring a reliable supply of DRAM and NAND flash memory, with both in high demand as smartphone makers gear up for fifth-generation devices, according to people familiar with Sony’s operations.

Sony’s Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida has said the business should be judged by the number of active users, not the number of hardware units sold. Some Sony games staff think it should sell the new console at a loss if necessary to match Microsoft’s price, while other Sony executives would prefer to make money as the company did with the PS4.

Most of the components for the console have been locked down, the people said, including the cooling system, which is unusually expensive at a few dollars per unit. Typically, companies would spend less than a dollar, but Sony opted to lavish more on making sure heat dissipation from the powerful chips housed inside the console isn’t an issue.

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has had no impact so far on preparations for PlayStation 5 production, they said.

Separately, Sony plans to release a new version of the PlayStation VR virtual-reality headset, tentatively scheduled after the PlayStation 5 goes on sale, the people said.

Sony executives are voicing patience about the next console’s pricing as they anticipate the transition to be a gradual one, said people familiar with its day-to-day operations. Many of the games launched for the PlayStation 5 will also be available to play on the predecessor machine

People within the PlayStation business unit said a key factor in deciding the ultimate PlayStation 5 retail price will be where Microsoft sets its price for the next-generation Xbox Series X.

There is pressure from CFO Totoki for Sony to provide more transparency and information in the buildup to the PS5’s release, which has caused some consternation internally.

Monkey Man wrote:(Rumours on PS5 pricing)

KK wrote:Ratchet and Clank and Gran Turismo 7 is what I would like, but would Sony put any trust whatsoever in Polyphony to get a GT out at launch?

KK wrote:Ratchet and Clank and Gran Turismo 7 is what I would like, but would Sony put any trust whatsoever in Polyphony to get a GT out at launch?

Carlos wrote:

KK wrote:Ratchet and Clank and Gran Turismo 7 is what I would like, but would Sony put any trust whatsoever in Polyphony to get a GT out at launch?

In a genre ruled by Forza Horizon 4 is umpteen cars, a few new tracks and tartier graphics going to cut it?

Carlos wrote:

KK wrote:Ratchet and Clank and Gran Turismo 7 is what I would like, but would Sony put any trust whatsoever in Polyphony to get a GT out at launch?

In a genre ruled by Forza Horizon 4 is umpteen cars, a few new tracks and tartier graphics going to cut it?

Poser wrote:

Carlos wrote:

KK wrote:Ratchet and Clank and Gran Turismo 7 is what I would like, but would Sony put any trust whatsoever in Polyphony to get a GT out at launch?

In a genre ruled by Forza Horizon 4 is umpteen cars, a few new tracks and tartier graphics going to cut it?

Beggars belief that they pulled the plug on the Driveclub devs. They could have been working on a next gen launch title for the past two years.

I heard that there are 2 consoles per company. The mid-gen refreshes are going to be introduced at release so that these consoles can run the entire 7yr cycle.

XSX that was released yesterday is the top end one. 12TFLOPS

There will be a base Xbox Series X that is slower than that one.

Sony is releasing 2 PS models. The base PS5 is 9TFLOPs . Their other one is also top of the line to compete with XSX top dog.

This all makes sense now as to why people are getting mixed numbers for each of the platforms.

I also heard that the top of the line models will be expensive. No pricing but I would guess around $600.

Also no dates on when the top models will come out for PS5.

My guess is that they are going to release both models at the same time.

This is ALL I know and won’t be fishing for anymore info.

Saint of Killers wrote:

Carlos wrote:

KK wrote:Ratchet and Clank and Gran Turismo 7 is what I would like, but would Sony put any trust whatsoever in Polyphony to get a GT out at launch?

In a genre ruled by Forza Horizon 4 is umpteen cars, a few new tracks and tartier graphics going to cut it?

I don't understand what FH4's apparent dominance has to do with a PS5 game? Going by trophy data, GT Sport may have sold over 8 million copies by now, so PS owners are still clearly into the series and would likely want it to continue on the PS5.

ITSMILNER wrote:I would go for the more powerful PS5 for sure mainly for future proofing as i'm sure games released later in the next gen will run better on that than the standard model.