The Newest Tech on PlayStation and Xbox

By: Max Cannon

While the PlayStation 4 may be the most popular console around, it's not the end of Sony's lineup with a successor to the PS4 planned according to Sony themselves. While this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, Sony's willingness to talk about the future could suggest that more information about a potential PS5 is closer than we think. 

Will This be the PlayStation 5?

In an interview with the Financial Times, the CEO of Sony Kenichiro Yoshida confirmed that it would be "necessary to have a next-generation hardware." Though, as also pointed out by the Financial Times, "He declined to formally name Sony’s future console the 'PlayStation 5.'" Even though Yoshida, not to be confused with Sony Interactive Entertainment's President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida, didn't have much to say beyond that, it's interesting to see Sony confirm the rumors of a next-generation Sony console as many claim games are in development for both next-generation consoles from Xbox and PlayStation.

 

There's tons of speculation on what these consoles are capable of doing. Will they run all games at 60 frames-per-second or a high 4K resolution? Will they support VR headsets out of the box? Honestly, there isn't too much officially confirmed but there are tons of credible rumors centered around streaming games. Game streaming works similarly to how you'd stream a movie through Netflix, the game is running on a server and you're seeing a live video feed of the game you're playing. At the moment, you can play games like this on PlayStation using PlayStation Now but there's often a bit of noticeable lag through the experience. If next-generation consoles can remove that delay then you'll be able to play better-looking games on cheaper hardware assuming you have a strong enough internet connection and though it's likely PlayStation is planning something along those lines it's been confirmed that Xbox is.

Cross-Play with PlayStation - Kidzworld Weekly News

Microsoft's xCloud

Through an article with The Verge, we got our first look at Microsoft's new Project xCloud which plans to stream games to your mobile devices. For example, The Verge's writer played Halo: The Master Chief Collection and said they felt no latency when using an Xbox controller clipped onto a Samsung Galaxy. He even went on to play the recently released Forza Horizon 4 by using the touchscreen on a tablet provided to him by Microsoft with a template of controls specific to the game. There's no official release window for when the general consumer can expect to try it out because Microsoft seems to be waiting until the service is absolutely perfect.

 

This also aligns with the other rumors about Microsoft's next Xbox launching with two models, a traditional console with tons of power and a more standard price tag and a streaming box that focuses entirely on an online experience alongside a much lower price. 

Tell Us What You Think!

What are you looking for in a new console? Would you want to pick up a more standard console or a streaming box? Share your thoughts below in the comments!