After months of reports and speculation, Sony has confirmed its plans to launch a more powerful version of the PlayStation 4, codenamed “Neo.” While the news is now out in the open, Sony revealed that the console would not make its public debut at E3 next week.
“We want to ensure we have a full range of the best experiences on the new system that we can showcase in their entirety,” said Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House.
E3 2016: How to watch all the E3 2016 press conferences
Speaking to the Financial Times, House said the upgraded console will support “4k resolution and richer graphics,” and offer a smoother experience for the PlayStation VR headset, which is set to launch in October. The Neo, which House referred to as the “high-end PS4,” will be sold alongside the current model, and will carry a higher price tag. (The PlayStation 4 currently retails for $350 in North America). Like the PS4 and PlayStation VR, the Neo hardware will be sold for a profit at launch.
Multiple outlets reported that Sony was speaking to developers about the Neo, which early reports also referred to as the “PS4.5” and “PS4K,” during the 2016 Game Developers Conference in March. A report from Giant Bomb in April leaked specific hardware specifications for the upgrade, including upgraded CPU, GPU, and memory bandwidth. House did not confirm any specific hardware specifications for the Neo.
All PS4 games will be compatible with the current PS4, and “all or a very large majority of games will also support the high-end PS4,” House added. Past reports asserted that developers would effectively need to make two versions of their games: a “base mode” that will run on standard PS4s, and a Neo mode that takes advantage of the upgraded console’s hardware. According to House, making games that work on both versions of the console will require “a small, but manageable” amount of extra work from developers.
Even with the Neo out of the E3 spotlight, fans may still see some as-yet-unannounced hardware. Reports last month suggest that Microsoft is working on a similar upgraded version of the Xbox One, codename “Scorpio,” which could make an appearance at the show, ahead of a 2017 launch.
There’s no timeline for when Sony plans to show or ship the PlayStation 4 Neo, but don’t expect the console to launch until 2017.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.