PS4K

Hello everyone! Mitch Best here, at your service.

Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to spend my first article talking about the only thing I know anything about; video games. Specifically, the rumors and scant information surrounding Sony's “PS4.5”, an upcoming incremental upgrade to its console line.

I've only heard of this recently, but after some investigation, it seems that the purpose of this upgrade is to enable 4K textures and support for the Playstation VR, likely with an increase in processing power as well. Although these things should be supported by hardware if possible, its development raises some questions, at least in my mind.

Mainly, if Sony are willing to upgrade an existing console to keep up with high-end new peripherals and display devices, how far ahead will technology have to go before they make a PS5? People weren't clamoring for a PS2.5 when HDTVs became popular, after all. Will they ever make a true successor to the PS4? Or are we nearing a time in which console hardware ceases to be a self contained “full package” and instead mimics the modular and continuously replaceable nature of a personal computer?

Which of course leads into, if consoles become prebuilt and upgradable computers... do we really need consoles anymore? We could just slap the controllers on standard gaming PCs and have done with it, couldn't we? Not that the big three (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) would ever allow all of their games to be played on PCs, of course.

Probably I'm overreacting to a necessary action to bring the current generation up to snuff. But I do wonder, if these “incremental upgrades” become mainstream, is every console generation going to upgrade multiple times to maximize profit from the people who want to be on the cutting edge? Are we going to have a Street Fighter IV situation on our hands, where I have to wait for the “Playstation 5 Pro: Ultra Arcade Turbo Tournament Platinum Gamma Edition: EX” to buy in so I won't feel like I'm getting ripped off? Oh, boy.

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