PS4 Vs Xbox One: Will PlayStation 4 ‘Neo’ Be Able To Compete With ‘Scorpio’?

The PS4 vs Xbox One console wars may be about to happen again, with Sony and Microsoft both seemingly adopting the Apple business model. Instead of releasing a new console every five to 10 years, they are planning to re-release the console with improvements such as a greater GPU.

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One won’t likely be dying anytime soon, but older versions could be going obsolete like older computers and smartphones. Sony has said they will continue to support the launch consoles, with future game developers offering a basic mode for them and a higher-performance mode for the upgraded models.

It really makes sense if you think about it. Many who bought a new Xbox One or PS4 in the past few years would be bitter and probably start a mass boycott if they just threw upwards of $500 into a console that will be basically unsupported garbage next year.

Here is a run-down of the key differences between the PlayStation “Neo” and the Xbox One “Scorpio.”

• Visual performance will be upgraded, so future games will likely maintain their benchmark 1080p 60fps visuals consistently. On the PlayStation 4, there will be the option to play current games with minimal drops in frame rate, so games like Mad Max won’t dip so low at weird times that they’re nearly unplayable. The Xbox One will be allegedly supporting a high-end PC peripheral, the Oculus Rift. This means that the visuals will possibly be on par with most high-end computers, bridging the gap between consoles and gaming PCs.
• Virtual reality headsets will require upgrading the GPU and everything else on the visual level since the standard benchmark for consoles at the moment is actually rather low for a screen situated literally inches from your eyes. The PlayStation 4 will need the upgrade, as a rep told Edge Magazine.

“PSVR was going to be terrible on a [launch] PS4. It was going to be truly awful. Something a bit more powerful starts to bring VR into range. If you want to deal with crazy requirements for performance in VR, you absolutely have to do this.”

A possible deadly blow in the PS4 vs. Xbox One console war seems to favor Xbox One Scorpio, which will support a peripheral meant for PCs so new that they’re practically just reaching the shelves. Of course, with PCs, there is also the option of upgrading the hardware yourself, and Xbone will end up being “inferior” within a year to gaming PCs anyway.

• Support for optional upgraded hard drives was built into the PlayStation 4 at launch, with Sony knowing that gamers prefer to be able to upgrade from the standard 500GB to a much more spacious 4TB hard drive. Xbox One Scorpio will allegedly have a higher capacity hard drive in the package since swapping out an Xbone hard drive is an option Microsoft decided against after the Xbox 360.

Homefront: The Revolution PS4 vs. Xbox One graphics comparison. https://t.co/GW5wnL3PEA pic.twitter.com/MsZaGt7RWo

— GameSpot (@GameSpot) May 20, 2016

It’s unknown if Microsoft will change their minds about swappable hard drives, but it could cost them support in the PS4 vs. Xbox One console war next year.

• Both consoles will supposedly support 4K visuals, as a standard prerequisite for handling a VR headset. It doesn’t mean that the games will reach that level, but in the future, they may be able to double in resolution without costing performance. It will likely be an option most readily used for streaming services like Netflix to display TV shows and movies in beyond-Blu-ray splendor.

For now, Sony is the only one to have confirmed the option to improve performance on existing games using an in-game option, handing that point to them in the PS4 vs. Xbox One console war. It is also assumed that the PlayStation “Neo” will come with a smaller price tag due to the Xbox One “Scorpio” being more powerful.

Which upcoming console do you think will end up winning after the upgrade?

[Image via charnsitr/Shutterstock.com, Barone Firenze/Shutterstock.com]