Sony's PlayStation 4 Neo could be released later this year, well ahead of Microsoft's Project Scorpio, new reports suggest.
Neo was confirmed by Sony's Andrew House before E3 kicked off but the company made no mention of the console at the event. The Neo is expected to be lot more powerful than PS4 and could support gameplay at native 4K resolutions, as part of the next-gen upgrade from 1080p gameplay. Microsoft's Project Scorpio which was briefly mentioned is expected to arrive early 2017.
As pointed out by Forbes, leaks about PS4 Neo before E3 could have forced Sony to hold off an announcement about the console at the event; given that the Neo is not an exact match for Scorpio, Sony may not have wanted to look like the underdog at the event where Microsoft announced Scorpio.
Microsoft on the other hand announced Project Scorpio after announcing Xbox One Slim and was later pounded by questions from prospective gamers seeking to know why they should invest in the Xbox One S when a newer console is on the way.
Reports carrying spec information threadbare have since surfaced, indicating a major change in the gaming console industry. Both PS4 Neo and Project Scorpio are being seen as mid-cycle devices that console makers Sony and Microsoft realize are important given evolution of technology. Microsoft's has stated that Project Scorpio is capable of 6 teraflops, a huge jump over last generation devices.
While both Project Scorpio and PS 4 Neo are expected to be incredibly powerful and faster compared to their predecessors, questions about their ability to handle next generation games capable of being played at 4K, 60 fps are being asked. Both these devices are not expected to feature major CPU improvements but will boast of considerable graphic prowess, thanks to AMD's new Vega architecture.
