420°

'PlayStation 4K' and 'Xbox Durango' will be key to Ultra HD adoption

With leaked details of octal-core processor banks paired with 8GB of RAM, the PlayStation 4 "Orbis" is sounding powerful (just for comparison of RAM alone, the 8GB of system memory is roughly 32 times more than the current model). But to see where 4K comes in it's worth taking a trip back seven years.

In 2005, very few people had an HDTV. According to one study, there were "as many" as ten million homes with high-definition screens -- globally. The problem, according to many commentators, was the lack of HD content: nobody wanted to buy an HDTV because there was little HD content; very little HD content was made because there were very few people to sell it to. Classic catch-22.

Kamikaze1354116d ago

I could understand why people wanted an HD TV, but an Ultra HD TV? I'll stick with 1080p.

Anon19744116d ago (Edited 4116d ago )

Even on a small screen, 4k makes a noticeable difference. Just search for "4K" on Youtube, and then were you adjust the HD settings, select "original". They're really quite stunning, although streaming these videos can be laggy. I understand there's a new compression codec for 4k coming that will reduce the file size so it's closer to what standard HD uses. It looks stunning even on computer monitors in higher resolutions, and even those aren't the 3840 pixels × 2160 pixels of 4k.

Don't forget, back when HDTV came out, no one wanted that either. You often heard: Too pricey, the difference isn't that much better than what I see with DVD, there isn't any content available, etc...etc. In 2008, less than a quarter of TV's in the US were HD. Now that number is over 3/4. When the prices start coming down and more content becomes available, why wouldn't you buy 4K?

http://youtu.be/Cx6eaVeYXOs

FriedGoat4115d ago

It would be good if they could render in 4K and downsample to 1080p, that will still increase the quality as we can do the same on youtube and see a difference.

irepbtown4115d ago

Very expensive though...

I would love to buy it but the prices are ridiculous. They will obviously come down as time goes on however in the near future I'll pass.

I'll also stick with my 1080p.

nukeitall4115d ago

"Don't forget, back when HDTV came out, no one wanted that either."

It's pointless to talk about technology when the price difference is negligible for an upgrade. Furthermore, HD has been around for almost a decade available to consumers.

With HD, it wasn't necessarily the video quality that attracted the masses, but rather the form factor of the TV itself (i.e. significantly smaller and lighter) as well as the quality of the screen i.e. the more pleasant viewing as opposed to the traditional tube TV.

If you really looked at how DVD migration to Blu-Ray happened it is very telling. It was very slow, and only when prices really really dropped as to be as cheap as DVD, traction really gained. Basically, the demand wasn't there to pay a premium. DVD was good enough unless the upgrade was insignificantly more in price.

4k content? That will take even longer for adoption than HDTVs. It will probably be slightly better than 3D adoption until it becomes the standard.

However, there is no real demand for it!

Bimkoblerutso4114d ago (Edited 4114d ago )

It does look stunning, but it's way, WAY too early to try and replace the HD standard at this point. HD had been around for a few years prior to the previous generation of consoles, and price was STILL a very large barrier of entry at that point.

Imagine a bunch of companies producing around a standard that is still very much in it's infancy...

SilentNegotiator4114d ago

HDTVs didn't cost $30K or whatever when the 360/Ps3 launched.

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4115d ago
JohnnyAkiba4115d ago

2006: Why people want a 1080p tv right?
xD

ATi_Elite4115d ago

LMAO I'm already gaming in Ultra HD 1600p

Besides 4K TV's are still $20,000 and with NO 4K broadcast available I really do not see a big influx of people rushing out to buy 4K TV's when the prices drop especially seeing how their 1080p TV's are just fine.

ALSO remember how this Gen was suppose to USHER in 1080p Gaming......How did that work out?

I'll tell you how that worked out. NOT one AAA game is in 1080p and most AAA games struggle with 720p.

Consoles have Wattage caps and therefore they do not have the power needed to pump out superior graphics at high end resolutions. They do make good use of the limited specs that they do have.

Also 4K is more Hype than substance as 4K only helps TV's that are 60" or bigger. So don't get caught up in the 4K Hype unless you got deep pockets and 80" TV in your living room.

The proposed GPU's in the next Gen consoles are 4K capable but will sacrifice frame rates in order to do so.

MaxXAttaxX4115d ago

I don't see happening anytime soon either. But this is about mainstream adaptation, so no one cares if your PC can run games in 1600p, which isn't even Ultra HD(2160p or 4320p).

JamieL4115d ago

To be honest I think it's too soon for them to push 4K. They are in bad shape right now, and I think they should be careful what tech they put in the PS4. They can’t take such a monster loss on the PS4 this time. They’re not coming off the all time best selling console in history this time. I could live without 4K right now, and I think it could hold off for the PS5. I want Sony back in the black, and I don’t see 4K supported enough yet to justify it. They try so hard in the gaming side I would hate to see their troubles worsen.

4114d ago
Gamer19824114d ago

Games wont be enough to sell 4k. People need TV/Movie content and thats simply not coming. Not any time soon anyway. Plus not to mention older films which in fairness some have gone upto 1080p quite well but 4k will be a stretch too far. People will be getting HD and Ultra HD movies as everything is still being recorded in HD right now so anything post 2013 would probably be available in 4k (and probably not all) but anything before that you would get an upscaled version or have to live with 1080p. So most will say whats the point?

Also unless you go over 50" most people won't notice the differnce in TV/movies. It will be a niche product i'm telling you now.

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DivineAssault 4116d ago

Good article.. But there will be way too many people that are content with 1080p versus people being content with boob tubes.. Ultra HD is coming & will be around but idk if it will be supported in gaming this upcoming generation.. To stream games or movies in resolutions that high would require some HEAVY duty high speed internet & will require people to buy $10k+ tvs.. Who knows what the future holds but i dont see Ultra HD coming anytime soon unless the economy rises BIG TIME.. Its way too expensive for people to buy new tvs, systems, fiber optics, etc in the nx 5 yrs

kneon4115d ago

4K TV's should be about $5000 by the end of this year for the smaller ones, so that means mainstream adoption should begin about year later.

H265 was just approved the other day so we're almost set for 4K content to begin being made available. We just need the new HDMI and bluray specs to be updated, and both of those are due this year from what I hear.

But I don't know about 4K for streaming. If you've chosen streaming as your preferred video medium then you have chosen convenience over quality. It that's the case then you probably wouldn't care about 4K.

Anon19744115d ago (Edited 4115d ago )

In terms of streaming, it was revealed that they are able to accomplish 4k using bandwidth similar to what they're using with HDTV broadcasts currently. The bandwidth required for such high res video was a concern for me as well when looking at this tech, but they're apparently already on top of that.

http://gizmodo.com/5942233/...

I mentioned before in another post, it makes sense for the next gen consoles to be looking at this tech. If the consoles are designed for another 10 year cycle, that's going to take it into the 2020's. If they want to make sure their consoles aren't left behind by TV tech, they need to be making gambles on what TV's will look like in another 5 years, and that seems to be trending towards continued 3d (3d tv sales doubled in 2012 and don't appear to be slowing, if though focus has shifted off the feature) and 4k resolutions.

But it's no different from HDTV adoption. We're not going to see 4k take off until prices come down, which will happen over time.

JoGam4115d ago (Edited 4115d ago )

Hopefully, but doubt it

SandWitch4115d ago

Dude, that was just a teaser for Ascention

steve30x4115d ago

The consoles wont make people rush out and buy a stupidly high price 4K TV. Until the prices get to a reasonable price then people wont buy into it.

ThyMagicSword4115d ago

Whoever buys the new 4K Tv without thinking twice, has too much money or suffers from immense stupidity. If the game line-up is not good enough, I wont go out and spend tons of money for the videogame-industry.

Karpetburnz4115d ago

True, I heard they will cost up to $30,000 USD. damn

They wont be maintream for at least another 7-10 years, then we will see price drops.

kneon4115d ago

The manufacturers have already said to expect prices of the smaller (55-60 inch) 4K TVs to be comparable to current high end TV's by the end of this year. It only costs them about $700-$900 more to make a 4K 60 inch TV vs a 1080p 60 inch TV. So that premium pricing isn't going to last long.

Those current $25,000 4K TVs would never have much market appeal at any price since they are a massive 84 inches. So why not charge a premium since they will never sell in big numbers anyway.

UnholyLight4115d ago

It's just like with every new technology in the TV sector. LED was expensive when they introduced it, more so than Plasma and LCD at the time. It's how you get to subsidize and improve on your technology is by introducing the expensive stuff first. There WILL be early adopters of 4K TV's and that will push the market into the range of greatly reduced prices and trickle down technology to the smaller less expensive televisions. They've already said prices will drop substantially after release.

This all makes sense in my mind because for example, the news channels generally still use the old format "Beta" method or whatever, and they have been waiting for a long time to use a new standard, I would see 4K being this standard. I believe the consoles will be much like what Microsoft did wih the Xbox 360 this gen; Initially there was support up to 720p and 1080i, and then a little while later the console was updated to output all the way up to 1080p as necessary. Same thing will happen this gen. These consoles will HAVE to be future proof enough that they will have a lot of support for 4k as 4k will become what 1080p is today IMO.

dcbronco4115d ago

Premium pricing is sometimes based on ripping early adopters. It won't take long for prices to drop. The real problem might be getting mainstream Americans to bite. Many don't really notice the difference between HD and upscaled. 4k has to really look like a huge leap to get them to move up.

Also there are the TV stations. The government made them switch here. I don't see them allowing themselves to be pushed into new equipment so soon. Plus a lot of TV personalities hate HD, They would really fight 4K.

ThyMagicSword4115d ago

I am not worried about the costs of the new Xbox or Ps, I am more worried about the costs for a new TV to fully enjoy the new generation of homeconsoles ...

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130°

Let's Be Real, There Is Nothing "Micro" About Microtransactions Anymore

Microtransactions have gotten ridiculously overpriced in recent years, with titles now offering cosmetic skins worth more than some games.

Terry_B21h ago

Yup..this is 100% the sad truth

z2g1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

The elephant in the room tho is personal accountability. It’s easy (albeit basic) to blame the big, bad corpo, but microtransactions wouldn’t be where they are if gamers didn’t spend money on them. As it stands the MTs usually make more than the game. Publishers know raising game prices will cause backlash, so they do MTs to compensate. But the adult conversation is consumers determine the success of products with their wallets. So if MTs are a huge thing, it’s because we as consumers told them we like them by giving them a lot of money for them. So if you don’t want them to be a thing, convince your fellow gamers to stop buying them and expect that games will be decently more expensive. You all can disagree all you want, but reality is a bitch, and eventually you have to live in it.

isarai13h ago

I mean except for the amount of content you're paying for.

Hugodastrevas3h ago

There never was, the only time I paid for a microtransaction was on Blacklight Retribution (PS4) and it was because I enjoyed the game a lot so I felt the devs should get something for all that entertainment (€5 "membership")

-Foxtrot1h ago

The devs wouldn’t get that though, that shit goes straight to the higher ups who do f*** all let’s be honest.

Hugodastrevas1h ago

Probably, but I wasn't as cynical back then and €5 wasn't a big ask to get the guns with grinding instead of renting them, and the game was good (still is on the PS5/4)

CrimsonWing6947m ago(Edited 47m ago)

I couldn’t believe what Blizzard charged for horse armor and cosmetics in Diablo 4…

I remember back in the day when a season pass was $15 and you got everything included in it. Now, I see them at $60 and you still don’t get everything.

Shane Kim34m ago

As soon as gaming wasn't deemed nerdy anymore, and reached the casuals this happened. We're smart, but casuals play mobile games and other stuff, and don't really have anything to compare. They think gaming is supposed to be like this and pay for in game purchases.

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140°

Keoken Interactive lays off majority of team after failing to find funding at GDC

Deliver Us Mars developer Keoken Interactive has laid off the majority of its staff after struggling to secure funding …

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
mastershredder4d ago

The industry model and standards and who's in place to approve/disapprove have changed ^ what Keoken is feeling now is much like the Mobile burst 15 years ago. Expect more to come out of your own finances. Investors are treating games like movies and now (thank$ a lot for involving yourself hollywood) only the big (and money blind) investors get involved, effectively killing a lot of content that would come out with proper non-gate-kept and/or with incentivized funding.

Markdn4d ago

And when you only make a fraction of your games worth on gamepass you suffer

Tacoboto4d ago

Palworld and Manor Lords are so suffering.

RiseNShine4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Sorry but i couldn't care less, Deliver us Mars was as woke game as they come, climate change disaster, all female cast plus only a comic relief indian guy (it takes only 5 minutes into the game for the main female character to say how smart she is compared to the guy), evil white guys, ugly females, then add generic gameplay and puzzles (how many times do you have to cut things with a laser for gods sake), you can't change anything in how the events develop so 0 agency in the story, sub par graphics even while using UE4. So well, go woke go broke, that's how it works.

Miacosa4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

That stinks but with a 68 average critic rating on their games probably made it difficult for people to invest considering there is a bloat of games getting made these days.

ROCKY283d ago

You guys will be back with team strength and funding !

210°

PS5 Was The Market Leader In Unit & Dollar Sales For Q1 2024 And March In US

Mat Piscatella of analyst firm Circana has revealed that the PS5 was the market leader in North America for both unit and dollar sales during not only March 2024, but the first quarter of the year as a whole.

Writing on Twitter, Piscatella revealed that spending for video game hardware in February 2024 dropped 32% in comparison to the same period last year, totalling $391 million. In addition, spending for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch each fell a minimum of 30% year-on-year.

Cacabunga4d ago

What will happen when Sony announce a new Uncharted, Killzone, Tsushima or Horizon ..

ChronoJoe4d ago

Ah yes, Killzone that'll light the world on fire.

I'm joking but I do wish it were likely or more popular.

shinoff21834d ago

I'd rather an upgrade over some fps personally. Like a true rpg not some action game with a couple of rpg lite mechanics in it.

Jingsing4d ago

To be fair Sony usually know when to let a franchise go dormant, They gave Killzone over 6 different games and it never reached that summit. You end up in a situation like Microsoft if you just keep hammering out Halo and Gears and Forza etc. Microsoft should be smart enough to let them games go.

Demetrius4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I thoroughly enjoy my open world games, but highest interest will always be the shooter genre lol it's just something about a good well crafted shooter with lore to it something like the Max payne series

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ravens523d ago

Lmao. Perfect example of the denial.

Hofstaderman4d ago

But PS5 and Switch still outsells XBOX embarrassingly even with overall consoles sales decline.

Giga_Gaia4d ago

At this point, I think PS5 and Switch sell more in one month than Xbox does in an entire quarter...

Ironmike4d ago

Stop being sad mt just enjoy ur console of choice and just accept there's not only ps5 in the world

4d ago
Elda4d ago

This is not surprising in the slightest. The song will continue to remain the same.

romulus234d ago

And in other news wet is water.

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