What Sony need to do to make the Playastation 5 a success (my opinions)

[the8thark]

1. Ditch the platter HDD drive
SSD drives or some form of SD cards is totally the only way to go these days. Platters have slower read speeds thaty SSD/SD and they are spinning parts which are prone to more wear and tear and a higher failure rate. As well as more noise is created

But you say 1TB SSD drives are not affordable yet. Correct and the next point addresses this.

2. Ditch Blu-Ray and all all optical media
It does not matter if Sony invent a 500GB or 1TB optical disc or some form of spinning media. The same flaws are there. The read speeds from optical media are slow by today's standards. Also spinning disc drives are very noisy, take up lots of space and skipping discs and other optical media issues are enver fun.

The solution is go to carts (like the Nintendo Switch is). Also with a cart, there is no need to pre-install any game so you don't need a fat 1TB platter drive anymore.
Would Sony every move away from their soecial Blu-Ray child though? Sony will have to or suffer the consequences.

3. Have the launch console (not only the slim) be power efficient
The PS4 slim is relative power efficient but the PS4 launch is way more power hungry. About 30% more. Less power hungry launch consoles are always a good thnig.

4. Make the launch console slim
With points 1 and 2 here addressed the Playstation 5 launch console can be quite slim indeed. Also with new tech in fan technology even they can be miniturised a lot.

5. Stay region free
The PS4 is region free and the PS5 also needs to be.

6. Have more play options in the Launch box
The Switch does this in many many ways (dock, joycons, grip or no grip, table/tablet or TV). The Playstation 5 needs to do this also.

7. Offer Platstation 5 + VR bundles ad semi-affordable prices
I say semi affordable as it's still new tech and will be pricey for quite a few years yet. VR is sony's new thing and if Sony can get it to take off, it'll really help the Playstation brand.

 

[Zachie]

A lot of your points reference the Nintendo Switch, and unless Sony directly create the next PlayStation device to fit the same form factor of the Switch most of those will not be possible for them to do effectively. Not to mention that there is at least 3-4 more years before Sony will release their next console if they stay true to form of 6-7 year gaps between releases.

1) SD cards for storage is a terrible idea for a console that a lot of people will buy digital games for. The market as it stands doesn't have 1-2 TB cards yet, and even though by then it certainly might SD cards are a lot more easily corruptible than a regular HDD is. An SSD is a good idea, but it will raise the price point a little bit more. Not to mention, them using carts (which you reference a bit later) will make them more likely to lower the overall size of the storage capabilities.

2) Carts! I'm not a fan of people using carts for anything other than portable devices like the Switch or the DS family of devices. Since most current gen games have ridiculous file sizes it would mean that they would have to raise the price once again to accommodate for the much larger size that they would need in order to make carts a viable option for the console, and there would have to be a dramatic remodel of the console in order to add a socket for them.

3) A lot of the time the first model of something will be a test run. It's a lot easier for them to release it to the market for testing & then use complaints or just general feedback to refine and rerelease a newer model down the road. I don't know if you've ever ran an iOS beta (or if you even own an iOS device to begin with) but they almost always have terrible battery consumption for the first beta & then they refine it in Beta 2 or Beta 3. While I know that this isn't always a good thing for the people buying the console it means that when they release the next iteration (whether it be PS5 Slim, or PS5 Pro, or whatever they decide to call it) they have a lot of feedback (or complaints) from the hardcore adopters of their devices that buy day 1 (or close to it).

4) This isn't a bad idea, but at the end of the day it also depends on the kind of (*thinks of the word for 5 minutes*) hardware that is available at the time. Sometimes when they're in the development process they only have a certain kind of bulkier hardware available to them (think about it, they're probably developing the PS5 as we discuss this) and then when they've relaxed a bit from that release there's a whole other kind of tech available for them.

5) 100% agree, they also need to finally allow region-free blu-rays.

6) It's a bit unfair of you to expect Sony to do something like this when they never have before in order for it to make their next console great. Nintendo, on the other hand, has always allowed this choice. The GameCube has had the controller & GBA Player (I think that's what it's called, I never owned a GC), the Wii had the classic controller, wiimote & wiimote/nunchuk. But Sony has always been a single controller deal. But they do now have the PS Move controllers which is a step in the direction you want I guess. I, personally, am happy with how they currently are, and once again personally, I feel that you've been spoiled by Nintendo, but each to their own.

7) If PlayStation wants to compete with Project Scorpio they'll have to up their specs which will mean that they'll have to offer them at a higher price to compensate for the upgraded hardware. This will mean that it'll be priced similar to Scorpio which is rumoured to be around anywhere from $600 to $800 AUD.. with the current price of PlayStation VR being around $500 (I think.. let me check actually) yeah, $549.95 AU, and the current price of a PS4 Pro (which will be closest to Scorpio) which means that unless there's a price drop, a 'cheap' bundle for PS5/PSVR would have to be in the low 1000s if they have any hope of turning a profit and competing with Project Scorpio.

Also, before anyone calls me an Xbox or Nintendo Fanboy I have owned PS devices since PS2 & have owned at least one of each numbered iteration since then. I currently own a PS4 Pro/PSVR. My first Xbox console was the Xbox One S late last year, and I've owned a Wii/Wii U/Switch & at least one of every DS & 3DS variety.

 

[the8thark]

A lot of your points reference the Nintendo Switch, and unless Sony directly create the next PlayStation device to fit the same form factor of the Switch most of those will not be possible for them to do effectively. Not to mention that there is at least 3-4 more years before Sony will release their next console if they stay true to form of 6-7 year gaps between releases.

Thank you for your reaponces. I appreciate them. I agree Sony are a few years at least away from the Playstation 5.

I will reply to your points now.

1. You have hit the hammer on the serious issue here. Ditching the platter HDD is a great idea but is 200GB enough for the digital only customers? Maybe not. This is seriously where SD card technology and SSD technology need to improve and lower in price till something like 1TB is affordable. Your concern here is legit. Performance wise SD/SSD walks all over HDD platter drives, but they are not 1TB yet for the digital only fans.

2. At the moment you have 25GB-50GB Blurays or up to 50GB carts. Sure the carts might cost a few $ more than the blu ray disc but you'd not need to install anything and not need a large noisy slow reading optical media drive anymore. Since we don't have 100+ GB sized PS4 discs then I see it as an installation issue. As in a game is compressed fit on the disc but installed on the console it's much larger. And it's this much larger final size that would have to be on the cart. I would also call on the developers to code better. So the games are not so large. Most games can be under 50GB these days. Breath of the Wild is much smaller than that. I am aware that for 4K, games could require more than a 50GB disc. This where carts are good, you can make the cart just as big as you need, you don't have wasted space like you do a cart. Still I get your concern. Blu Rays then unpacking and installing the data is cheaper because blu rays are cheaper. I'd rather just do away with the optical disc drive entirely. But that's jsut my opinion.

3. I agree with you 100%. I run MacOS and iOS betas all the time (within virtualised sandboxed environments). So I understand your point toally. However a free beta ti test is totally different to a $300+ paid beta that you have to rebuy later on to get the slim version. Maybe my idea is not fiesable based on what you said, but Sony should be thinking of these thing first up with the PS5. The tech is there to do it now. But it would take a huge shift of thought from Sony. Away from the most powerful console we can make, to the most powerful console we can make per watt of energy used and per decibel of base sound emitted. The slim versions consider all of this well. I just wish that same mindset could be applied ot the launch consoles as well.

4. I think goes with your point 3. It's all about what tech is available at the time and the power/cooling/noise requirements it has. However changing their thinking as I said in the point above would be good also.

5. Region free media and media players ahould be a thing I agree. This region locking is so old now and it literally helps no one at all.

6. Nintendo really did this first at launch with the Wii. A huge risk for them. Sony thuogh have a different market. Sony would have to do this in such a way that their core customers felt like they were not being forgotten. Getting the marketing right on this is very tough indeed. Nintendo failed it with the WiiU. Xbox failed it with the XB1. Sony failed it with the PS3. I do think VR is a good start for Sony though. I do really want to see this take off.

7. Does Sony have to compete directly with Scorpio though? Most people I know hate the XB1. Why do they hate it and the Scorpio as well? Nothing to do with the base hardware. It's all do do with the games on the XB1. The XB1 exclusivesd, very very few I know play them. I think the Playstation as a brand needs to be the best Playstation it can be, not just try to one up MS always.
I agree a decent PS5/VR bundle would be like $1K. But that won't be forever. Eventually the VR tech will drop in price.
However the big question is where do they do from the Pro? A PS5 (based on what Sony is now) would just be a PS4 Pro Pro with no PS4 backwards compatability. I think Sony needs to differentiate the PS5 from the PS1-4 and give people a real reason to buy it.

I know you're not a single console fanboy, you like them all fairly.
I am not a fanboy either. I criticise the big 3 as much as I praise them.

 

[Deleted member 84722]

One of the main selling points for a console main is it's library of games. If sony can release some good launch titles for it, and even add backwards compatability with PS4 titles, they will have huge library of games at the PS5's launch. People will see that the PS5 has a huge library of games, and buy the console.

 

[Zachie]

backwards compatability

But in all seriousness, Sony really needs to bring the backwards compatibility. I was so sad when they dropped the PS1 compatibility with the PS4. I miss playing my PS1 HP games.

 

[Deleted member 84722]

But in all seriousness, Sony really needs to bring the backwards compatibility. I was so sad when they dropped the PS1 compatibility with the PS4. I miss playing my PS1 HP games.

No backwards compatabilty for PS2 titles on the newer PS3 models is the reason I bought a PS2 recently. I wanted to go back and relive my childhood that consisted of spending hours in front of the TV playing Burnout 3: Takedown. Of course I bought some other games I enjoyed as well. I went as far as installing FreeMCBoot and OPL for those games I could not find. I do agree that dropping PS1 backwards compatability was not a bright idea considering the fact that the PSP was capable of handling PS1 games.

 

[Deleted member 14134]

1. Unless bigger SD cards are developed hard drives are the way to go.

2. The PS brand has always been more than a gaming console and has appeal as a media device as well. I can't imagine them getting rid of blu rays for this and I think it was a mistake for the switch to go with cartridges. Some games like the Witcher 3 and arkham knight won't even fit on switch cartridges and games are only getting bigger.

3/4. This becomes more possible if they go the route Nintendo goes for its consoles and uses dated,underpowered hardware. Can't see it happening but it would be nice if it didn't sacrifice power. Also the original ps4 was much slimmer than the original ps3 if that counts for anything.

5. No reason why it shouldn't be.

6. I don't think this is necessary. I expect when most people buy a PS they want to sit back on the couch in front of a TV, controller in hand.

7. I'm really against vr and hope they don't try to force it to be the new standard for gaming.