In an interview with The Guardian, PlayStation President Andrew House has revealed that the reason they confirmed the PS4 Neo ahead of E3 2016 is because they didn’t want fans to be disappointed by its absence:
The point of confirming the existence of PlayStation 4 Neo and the bare bones of the plan last week was about not disappointing the fan base who would obviously come to E3 with high expectations of all kinds of announcements. And from past experience, the worst thing you can do is disappoint and pull the rug away from people. That’s why we went out last week and said, yes, it does exist but don’t expect to see it at E3. I think it was the right thing to do.
PS4 Neo wasn’t at E3 because Sony is waiting until they can show people the new hardware, as well as the “full range of experiences that can take advantage of it.”
As House explained, Sony decided to create the PS4 Neo in order to keep people from moving towards high-end PCs before the generation is over, and they also wanted to give 4K TV owners something to use while the content catches up:
We’ve traditionally seen that some of the core audience tends to gravitate back to high-end PCs at some point because these are the people who want the finest graphical performance. So here’s a great opportunity to have them stay within our ecosystem.
If you are a person who’s just purchased a 4K television, maybe there’s not that much content around right now, so there’s something interesting about games being able to fill that gap and offer that experience. Those are the fundamentals of Neo.
He also touched on Microsoft’s decision to detail Project Scorpio at E3, saying, “I was surprised by the step of announcing something over a year ahead of time. The dynamics of the tech industry are such that there’s a much heavier emphasis on immediate gratification than there was.”
[Source: The Guardian via Gamasutra]
Essential Reading:
- E3 2016 – God of War Preview: Closer to Kratos
- Top 5 Sony E3 2016 Moments
- Games on PS4 Neo Will Have a Higher Resolution & Enhanced Graphical Experience, Sony Says
Now Loading...Who Won E3?
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Now Loading...Who Won E3?
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Chandler Wood
Some would say it's easy for me to pick Sony because of my obvious bias towards the brand, but let's be real here. E3 is about games, and Sony showed us the games. They showed software and titles that we care about, things that everyone is clamoring to get their hands on. The flow of their press conference was unprecedented, with not a lot of talk, just great game after great game after great game. God of War, Kojima's new game, an impressive VR lineup. Oh, and a live orchestra?
It's safe to say that while Microsoft did hint at the most powerful console ever coming in 2017, gamers need great content to play, and a console is really only as good as the games it can run, not necessarily how powerfully it can run them.
And forget Bethesda, EA, and Ubisoft. Bethesda was mostly already released games. EA has lost touch with their audience, and Ubisoft was alright but didn't strike the same kind of chord and pace that Sony did.
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Cameron Teague
It's so cute that people even think there were two people in this war. Microsoft had a good conference full of leaked material, and while it was nice they announced Scorpio, Sony just hit it hard on all cylinders. Sony, and it wasn't even really close.
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Jowi Meli
I'm sure I'll love what Nintendo has to show of the new Zelda game (my Twitter handle is @HylianJowi for a reason), but I think it's safe to say that Sony has locked this one up. With the bloated, overstuffed nature of E3 conferences mocked every year, it was so refreshing to see a company dial back all the hyperbole and bluster and just let the games do the talking.
Sure, there were moments that didn't impress — I wish they had saved their Crash reveal until they could actually show some gameplay — but overall, my criticisms feel like nitpicking when taking into account the size and scope of the creativity we saw on display. I can't wait to get my hands on Horizon: Zero Dawn or Insomniac's Spider-Man game, and I even found myself surprised with my interest level in franchises I've previously been unable to get into (Call of Duty and God of War, I'm looking at you).Overall, Sony made me more excited about games than I have been in a while, and I think that says quite a lot about their presentation. -
Zarmena Khan
I don't think anyone "won." It was a solid event overall. I was happy with Bethesda's showcase, Ubisoft surprised me and kept my interest with For Honor, Microsoft took my breath away with Forza and Dead Rising 4, and Sony's announcements of God of War and Days Gone just made me excited to play games all over again.
Only problem is that I now have to wait to play these beautiful games. -
Paulmichael Contreras
I think some people are still recovering from Sony's press conference, something that can't be said about the other conferences. Microsoft's Xbox One S looks nice and sleek, but they've almost guaranteed low sales by announcing Project Scorpio. Sony kept all the focus on what we are all here for, and that's the games. That was exactly what they delivered. Many of these games are coming relatively soon, as well. Sony also quietly killed the Vita, which should've surprised no one...But now we look forward to many great titles coming our way in the near future! -
Stephen Bitto
Sony. The only people not talking about their presentation this morning are people who haven't picked their jaws up off the ground yet.
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Michael Briers
In a word, Sony. Difficult to look past its barrage of gameplay demos and the entire showing really made other conferences feel bloated and sluggish by comparison. Microsoft did have some highlights and the Scorpio sounds pretty incredible, but the whole tie-in with PC -- "XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 EXCLUSIVE" -- isn't all that appealing. Maybe that's just me, though. Nintendo, on the other hand, started strong by unveiling Zelda Wii U/NX to be Breath of the Wild before meandering into a Pokémon Moon/Sun demo that was ten times longer than it needed to be.
So yeah, bias though it may be PlayStation clinches it for me. In fact, Sony's presser put me in mind of last year's conference in that it wowed PlayStation users all the while keeping release timelines for its AAA releases -- God of War, Detroit and Days Gone in this case -- under wraps. And that's OK. Best to save face after so many delays.
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Alex Co
Did Sony just beat their last year's E3 press conference? Yeah, it looks that way. While Microsoft wowed everyone with the announcement of a new super powerful Xbox, the end point of these gaming consoles are just that: games.
And this is where Sony shone the brightest. Game after game was announced, and it was so damn plentiful that Shawn Layden almost didn't even have any stage time to talk. The only sore spot here is we don't know whether these games will be out next year, in 2018 or beyond.
Of course, the possibility of Sony holding back info on these games for gamescom (or Paris Games Week) and for this year's PlayStation Experience is quite high, so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.
You know you had one awesome press conference when you don't even need to announce or show off your new upcoming console (PS4 Neo). Heck, even PSVR's release date fell to the wayside since all we could think of were the games.
Now this is the way to deliver a press conference, Sony! I hope other game companies follow suit!
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Mack Ashworth
Sony nailed it. They let the gameplay do the talking, and boy did it work! God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn are my personal gameplay demo highlights. I'm still not totally sold on PlayStation VR, but the Resident Evil 7 biohazard stage demo had me intrigued. Perhaps it will win me over, eventually.
