PlayStation Boss Has No Interest In Seeing PS5 Games On PS4

[Nergal]

 

 

The people who own a PlayStation 4 shouldn't expect to see PS5 games on the system, based on comments made by PlayStation boss Jim Ryan. Microsoft's strategy with the Xbox Series X has been all about promoting cross-generational play between its line of systems, yet Sony hasn't shown much interest in this idea for the PS5.

Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation 5 will be backward compatible with almost 4000 PS4 games, but nothing has been said about the other way around. There are many people who expect late PlayStation 4 games (like The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima) to be ported to the PlayStation 5 in the form of definitive editions, and it's also expected that PlayStation 5 "exclusives" could be downgraded for the PlayStation 4, especially if the system doesn't sell well straight away.

PlayStation fans should expect a clear divide between the console generations with the upcoming system. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan recently spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about the PS5 and he stated that the experiences that the system will offer are meant to only be possible on that hardware. This means that fans shouldn't expect to see PS5 games on the PlayStation 4, as the hardware wouldn't be able to reflect the kind of experience that was intended.
 

 

"We have always said that we believe in generations. We believe that when you go to all the trouble of creating a next-gen console, that it should include features and benefits that the previous generation does not include. And that, in our view, people should make games that can make the most of those features. We do believe in generations, and whether it's the DualSense controller, whether it's the 3D audio, whether it's the multiple ways that the SSD can be used... we are thinking that it is time to give the PlayStation community something new, something different, that can really only be enjoyed on PS5."

The PlayStation strategy is in stark contrast to the one employed by Microsoft, but that could be a good thing. The Smart Delivery system of the Xbox One/Xbox Series X will be a selling point throughout the first few years of the console, but it offers fewer incentives to pick up an Xbox Series X at launch. Microsoft has already defended the Xbox Series X's lack of exclusives at launch, as that could be a major factor in fans waiting a year or two before picking up the system.

The fans are eagerly awaiting news of the PlayStation 5 and they won't have to suffer for much longer. A PS5 reveal event is due to happen next week, which will hopefully answer a lot of the lingering questions everyone still has about the system. There are rumors that Sony is enforcing PlayStation 5 compatibility with upcoming PlayStation 4 games, so the intention is to encourage people to invest in the new system to play its new games and experience the hardware, while still keeping as much access to the older library as possible.

The PlayStation 5 is due to be released during the 2020 holiday season.

 

[Pandsu]

This is honestly the only right way to do things for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I don't think console-generations should feel like a mere upgrade like a PC. Consoles are already way too PC-like in my opinion and the mid-gen upgraded models didn't help that issue at all. So once a new gen actually comes around, I'd like for that to feel like a leap forward instead of just a bit of a step up in visual fidelity or framerate.

Also, things like Ray Tracing are already something with a hard cut-off point that can't be done on older hardware but can go beyond simple eye-candy. If devs want to make a game that is designed around seeing off-screen elements in shadows or reflections (a horror game could make great use of that but even a regular online shooter can give you a great advantage if only those with ray tracing can see stuff that's off screen), they can only do that with games that are meant to leave older hardware behind.
Same thing for level design, types and amounts of assets, player amount in multiplayer, better physics and other such advancements that would be hard/expensive, or impossible, to implement on older PC hardware or a last-gen system. So if things that fundamental are possible on the new systems but not on PS4, PS4 Pro or even a mid-high range PC then I would much prefer them to have the freedom fully utilize those new possibilities and not be bogged down by a requirement to support legacy systems.

On top of that, they have said that the way the PS5 uses its SSD, and the speed of it, is way more important to making it feel like a huge leap forward than its sheer processing power ("forget teraflops" they say), which implies that the way games are designed, loaded and displayed works completely different than it does on other, already existing systems so it'd be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to simply turn down some settings and target a lower resolution and framerate and make it run on an older system. At least without some major reworks that would probably still not be ideal and would cost a lot of resources and lead to an inferior product.

That is IF everything they have said so far can be taken at face value. But if it is the case then I'm honestly pretty happy, because a new console gen hasn't really felt like a big leap since... shit.. the Gamecube/PS2 era maybe?

And it's just like with VR. Some games, to take full advantage of the possibilities given by new hardware, have to be designed completely with said hardware in mind and nothing else. That's why you can't play Half-Life Alyx without VR without severely breaking the experience. Just like you couldn't have made Mario 64 on the SNES without it being a vastly inferior product. And both of those games, like many others, would have been much worse if they were designed with legacy hardware compatibility in mind. So why should PS5 exclusives?

So, bring it on. I wouldn't have it any other way.