Does the PS4 NEO mean your “old” PS4 will run games at suboptimal performance?
Developer Kai Tuovinen from FrozenByte games was recently interviewed by site Gamingbolt, and shared concerns about the upcoming PS4 NEO (the PS4.5, mid-generation upgrade) and its impact on the current gen: Since all games on the PS4 will still need to be “backwards compatible” with the current PS4’s generation, isn’t there a risk that they will run slowly on the Old platform, or, conversely, that they will not run as good as they could on the upcoming PS4 NEO?
Kai Tuovinent told Gamingbolt:
“I believe that’s a valid concern and what a lot of people are fearing. If the rumors are true about mandatory support for the “old PS4”, then it’s a bit puzzling what the purpose of NEO really is from a developer perspective. Of course as developers we’d want to support both platforms, but if we were making a game that could only run on the higher spec device, we’d have to consider our options on what to do with the version that’s coming to the older hardware to make it work. Naturally we’d look for a solution that would be great for both”
I personally don’t share the concerns, assuming Sony do a good job like they did for their past consoles. The PSP Slim (PSP 2000) had twice as much RAM as the original PSP (PSP 1000). Some official Sony apps such as Skype required a PSP Slim or higher to run, but games had a requirement, just like in the case of the PS4 NEO, to be compatible with the lower-spec older model.
With a RAM upgrade being the only difference though, that was fairly easy: the PSP 2000 allowed for more caching of heavy textures, so in general that meant games had fewer loading times, had less lag, and ran more smoothly. This allowed some developers to have higher texture quality on the PSP2000 than on the PSP1000, as well.
With the PS4 NEO bringing additional GPU power, it could be a similar situation: improved textures or resolution for the PS4 NEO, and “regular” graphics for the old model. I don’t see this as a huge compromise for the owners of the current generation.
It could, however, make the work of game reviewers a bit tough. Will they have to judge a game’s quality on both devices before outputting their score?
Would you get a PS4 NEO when it is announced?
*** NEO..mam i think just a bulshit
sony know they cracket the ps4,then he upgrade the console whit moore security and some power at gpu,bulshit
“Would you get a PS4 NEO when it is announced?”
It’s still made by Sony, right? So no, I won’t get one when it is announced or freshly released, I’d wait another two years until Sony manages to fix all the bugs.
I am going to stick with my old reliable PC. Almost every game eventually gets released on PC anyway.
I am just going to stick with the retro consoles like super nintendo and dreamcast. Those consoles had fun games. So far I had not seen any games that interest me enough to buy a PS4.
You must be thinking of XBox, because I’ve never seen Crash Bandicoot, InFamous or Uncharted on PC. (I’m not stupid, I know about emulators, I’m just saying they aren’t LEGALLY ported, like how Nintendo never released a Mario game on Playstation, (AFAIK))
legal or illegal PC still does everything Mario wiiu is playable now on pc and mario kart 8 haha owned and old wii is playable too… im buying a 1070 and 1080 gtx that would be more worth it than upgrading a console anyday
we’re talking about Playstation exclusives here. who gives a rats *** about mario. and your 1070 and 1080 already costs more than a PS4 for just a graphics card. oh i get it now, the PC Pirate Race spends all their money for a pc then pirates all their games. no wonder they keep saying building a pc is a better investment. wait, still can’t play Playstaion exclusives. i don’t care if your pc can play games at 10K resolution, if it can’t play my favorite Playstation exclusives, i don’t give a rats *** about it.
This nigger talks *** about piracy and is visiting wololo surely for legal hacks. And anti-piracy measures. What a hypocritical ***.
Besides, the Playstation 4 has what, 10 worthwhile exclusives? What a pathethic excuse for a console, even worse than the WiiU or the Bone. Not to mention than half of those exclusives are weeaboo *** or movie wannabes like Uncharted.
If you’re satisfied with a subpar experience, by all means, go ahead and use emulators. I’ll be over here using the real thing.
Not going to completely support franz but in the end all of these things are computers… most of games are created on PC’s and as for emulators… they improve pretty fast to the point you can’t see difference between real thing (which is restricted computer) and PC… And to Burns, “PC pirate race” keeps more gaming companies alive than both mainstream consoles together. + companies like CD projekt red know their stuff and there is mostly no need to pirate games by them as bonuses provided are too high… but companies like Ubisoft ? where you need to crack original version of your game just to make it run ?
(replying to myself as there seems to be a limit to the chain)
@aramaru:
“Not going to completely support franz but in the end all of these things are computers… most of games are created on PC’s”
Like I’ve said below, consoles are not PCs.
“as for emulators… they improve pretty fast to the point you can’t see difference between real thing (which is restricted computer) and PC…”
They are, however, not like the real thing. Most emulators are not accurate, but do high level emulation, meaning that they won’t run 100% like on the real thing. In most cases, being accurate demands too many resources, even more than today’s PCs can provide. Why do you think “game compatibility” is a thing when it comes to emulators?
One of the few consoles to be emulated accuractly is the NES, which is hardware from 1983. Its main CPU has a speed of 1.79 MHz, but you need a CPU of 1.6 Ghz to emulate it accurately.
Another notorious contender is the SNES, which still hasn’t been emulated correctly. Try comparing the sound output between an emulator’s and a real SNES’s.
Actually, one problem. God of War isn’t on PC so thats why I prefer SONY over PC.
I keep hearing things like “Don’t worry this is not the first time sony upgrades consoles,do you remember the psp-2000 and the PS3 slim?” and every time I facepalm so hard because this is a completely different scenario.
The psp-2000 had twice the RAM than the original psp,but this extra RAM was just meant to be used as a cache,it couldn’t be used to make a game run at twice the framerate or with more effects or something like that since the rest of the hardware was the same and sony explicitly asked the developers to only use that RAM as cache to speed up loading I don’t know of a game with better textures on the PSP 2000 compared to the original PSP so I would like to know about your those games you are talking about.
And with the PS3 slim that argument is even more dumb,they just made the cell processor with a more advanced lithography (90nm of the original PS3 vs 45nm of the slim PS3) so it could consume less energy,that and minor hardware changes like bigger HDD’s aimed at the consumers,for the developers the console was exactly the same.
Now this PS4 neo is essentially a new console,the GPU while still being based on AMD’s GCN architecture will be almost certainly a whole generation ahead of the current GPU.
It will have twice the bandwidth too.
Kai’s concerns are real,this is not a PS4 slim…this is basically a whole new console that no one asked for…I certainly will not buy one of those…actually I wonder if I’m going to buy a PS5 in 2018….who says that I will not be beta-testing a PS5 neo?
Yes, they can use new GPU generation Polaris (GCN 4th gen), but is widely expected they will use same GCN 2nd generation as is now used on PS4, just with more power. GPU power won’t be so high as it can be, but it will be much better for backwards compatibility.
It still means there will be two development targets, though, and that’s what everyone’s concerned about. The industry these days is risk-averse and wants to cut costs anywhere possible, so they won’t jump on this.
Thank you. I though the same thing when reading this.
The logical thing to do is continue targeting the PS4 and at most include improved textures for the PS4-N.
Playstation 2 Slim clock was also a little faster than Playstation 2 clock because of the crappy Playstation software emulation. But it was just from 295 to 299 MHz.
I dont see the PSP2000 – PS4 NEO comparison. Games will use the PS4 NEO performance and PS4 will recive crappy ports, i’m pretty sure of that. Developers cant spend that much time working on two performance profiles. Maybe not the “first generation” of PS4 NEO games, but they will come.
What do you mean? PC game makers do this constantly, so why would console game makers (who almost always also make PC games) need so much time to create an extra performance profile?
Because console games are designed differently. There are advantages to optimising for one hardware target.
I’m a bit out of the loop. So has this been confirmed or are we waiting for e3 for some proof of existence?
@THEGUARDIAN unfortunatelly this article is based on wrong assumptions – true is, the extra RAM on PSP2000 was not available for games.
The extra 32MB of RAM was available only for Skype, otherwise it was used by system for caching when reading from UMD optical media; this caching can be turned off (somewhere) in PSP’s menu.
PeterM, You are right, thanks for the correction! I think TheGuardian was actually thinking of some Homebrew games that made use of the extra RAM.
i think we will se a few fps difference when both are playing a 1080p since old ps4 cant do 4k.. maybe like 5fps at most..
“Does the PS4 NEO mean your “old” PS4 will run games at suboptimal performance?”
That has been the case SINCE LAUNCH!…. Pointless article is pointless.
The only way i would buy one is if they made it legitimately backwards compatible with ps3 games otherwise I’ll pass on it
nice comparison with the psp but the ps4 has better CPU and GPU compared to the old ps4, pc gamers are upgrading to 1080 gtx now too lol that simple newer games need more horsepower
they have already said that games will come with the “NEO” mode. PS4 NEOs can enable it while PS4 regular can just play the games regularly. basically two optimizations for the two systems. so i don’t know why idiots kept saying that PS4 regular will run games at suboptimal performance because of the existence of the PS4 NEO.
For me when ppl say suboptimal they mean “not the way it was meant to be played”, it doesn’t mean it will be full of bugs, it means it’s not the best performance and not what the developer really intended
I’m talking about the deadpool movie.
The Asian dude from the Thor movies is in the deadpool movie.
After stan lee makes his appearance you can hear him say ” you cant buy love but you can rent it for three minutes” Then deadpool goes into a restroom, Now pay close attention to who’s image shows up in the mirror.
I personally feep betrayed by ps4 neo and xbox scorpio. If i wanted upgradable hardware I would have bought a PC. For me the the idea of consoles is having a machine that will last you 5+ years without having to worry about the hardware.
So,Pedro why didn’t you comment on what I posted about?
Pedro
June 4, 2016 at 9:44 am
For me when ppl say suboptimal they mean “not the way it was meant to be played”, it doesn’t mean it will be full of bugs, it means it’s not the best performance and not what the developer really intended
Check the date and time
Kevin
June 4, 2016 at 8:08 am
I’m talking about the deadpool movie.
The Asian dude from the Thor movies is in the deadpool movie.
After stan lee makes his appearance you can hear him say ” you cant buy love but you can rent it for three minutes” Then deadpool goes into a restroom, Now pay close attention to who’s image shows up in the mirror.
Check the date and time
Pedro
June 4, 2016 at 9:40 am
I personally feep betrayed by ps4 neo and xbox scorpio. If i wanted upgradable hardware I would have bought a PC. For me the the idea of consoles is having a machine that will last you 5+ years without having to worry about the hardware.
Check the date and time
Kevin
June 4, 2016 at 10:27 am
So,Pedro why didn’t you comment on what I posted about?
Interestingly enough my last comment/ question is very relevant.
It already does.
It amazes me how many people are upset by this. When a game is made for PC and PS4, the PS4 versions runs as fast as possible with the best resolution it can. PC version has the potential to run better with the right hardware. The same will be true when the newer PS4 comes out. The newer PS4 will be closer to what a PC can do, and the older PS4 will be exactly what it was before… maximized for the best it can be. Worst case, sell your current PS4 and buy a new one — or sell it and spend $500+ for nothing but a graphics card that can run it better on a PC. Don’t forget to spend the other $1k on CPU+RAM+Motherboard. IMO this is the best thing to happen to consoles in a while.
PC is computer, it can theoreticaly do anything. PC continues to evolve constantly. New PS4, not even released yet, is now several graphic generations behind current generation of PC hardware. My PC cost me 200 $ and it has decent amount of performance. For 400$, provided you don’t need to buy monitor – tv in case of console, you can buy custom built pc/compotents, with more performance than any of the current console gen consoles released. You wont have their exclusives though, yet.
My pc’s board is from 2011, my pc’s cpu is also form 2011 (3770K), my old gpu is from 2010 (gtx 570), my current gpu is from 2014 (gtx 980), meanwhile the ps4 is getting replaced by a follow up model, the xbox one might as well also get a revision, the wii U lived from end of 2012 till next year and will be replaced…
Wow, my machine has truely come a long way and has seen many console generations fly by… will upgrade my graphics card in about two years, when the ps4 neo, xbox one+ and NX will be phased out and replaced by follow ups. Will keep on using the same board, ram, cpu, ssd/hdd and soundcard unless it burns through. XD.
Forget about the old ways, console makers are shortening the lifespans of consoles, the old 10 year cycle is gone, never to return.
Consoleros will also become to feel the need of upgrading their gear every year, or else get left behind.
Look at the guys already buying ssd’s for their ps4’s and xbox ones just to have slightly more performance and less loading times…
Might as well give up on supporting consoles.
You see, quality pc components are something like a long term relationship… while a console is a one shot like a quicky.
BTW. anybody remembering the N64 ram upgrade, that also alienated a lot of gamers. For certain games, that was a MUST have.
In my perspective, I see the PlayStation also as a computer. Like any other computer, it needs upgrades in order to compete with current generation gaming standards. I love how Sony deals with this by making upgrades to the Hardware of its current generation console, and don’t see any problems with it. With them making sure that old games are working before the hardware upgrade, it is a nice deal. Since the majority target of these gaming consoles, in my opinion, is those people who want to play console exclusives, those people who can’t afford expensive PC gaming hardware or maybe assembling or dealing with one, this upgrade would be nice if it would go together with a nice affordable price. To me it isn’t such a big deal, and I’m happy to know that Sony still supports the console gaming scene. <3
Both PCs and consoles are computers. But consoles are not PCs. When you buy a console, you pay for ease for use and a standard platform that will last for years. The PC is not easy to use and is a clusterfuck of thousands of similar platforms.
When you buy a console game, you don’t have to wonder “will this run on my console?”.
I think this kind of development is making console more like pc. And for me, the reason i started getting into consoles in the first place was that all the games that were made to that console worked on it, and worked like they were meant to work.. I had gotten tired of having to upgrade my gaming pc every 6-12 months to make games run on it and having to change graphics settings to make a game work on my pc smoothly.
So to me this is a let down.. 🙁
The preassure comes from the industry, namely the big 3 players (EA, UBISOFT, ACTIVISION). They force the console makers to accelerate console life cycle so that development of titles can be much more streamlined and unified because of unified up to date hardware.
Instead of having for example 5 versions of one and the same title in development (dragon age inquisition pc, ps3, ps4, x360, x1), they opt to have only one version in development anymore.
Believe it or not, best thing for those 3 players would be, if only one single platform keeps on living. EA already canceled off wii u, then ps3 and x360, ubisoft and activision followed example.
If such a global player like EA would say to sony, “Sorry we can’t support your ps4 anymore, because its too much development cost.” sony’s console would starve off like the wii u.
“I had gotten tired of having to upgrade my gaming pc every 6-12 months to make games run on it”
Why you lyin’? I have a HD 7970 that I bought when last gen was still around and to this day I can still run most games with atleast 60 frames/second and medium-high settings, the card is ancient at this point.
If you buy bargain bin equipment that barely meets the requirements of your games, then of course you’ll have to upgrade it regularly. I see lots of people buy things that way, choosing cards that specifically meet the requirements of some game they want to play, sometimes even the minimum requirement. Buying mid to upper tier equipment that surpasses your immediate needs is much more expensive, but it will actually save you money effort and time in the long term.
Yeah, sure. Current graphics cards dictate what was around in the past, since that makes PERFECT sense. You do know hardware was more of a pain in the *** in the past right?
moaning,about it isnt going to make any difference,i personally own a ps4 for ,ps4 exclusive games,and an xbox one because i prefer it (and also for exclusives) and also an up to date gaming pc ,the whole point of gaming is to get the latest up to date *** ,bring on the future gaming ,its not the end of the world
@Vilpo absof**ki’nlutely