Sony’s rumored Playstation 4.5 is a step closer to being reality. According to the Wall Street Journal’s sources, the more powerful brother of the PS4 could be coming as soon as the third quarter — ahead of the planned October release of Sony’s virtual reality headset, PlayStation VR.
Sony’s updated console would feature more powerful hardware to handle a higher-end gaming experience for 4k and VR games. This would require existing owners to purchase the enhanced PS4 — dubbed PS4.5 — in order to take full advantage of its virtual reality capabilities.
What’s not clear is what sort of VR experience those that decline the upgrade would have. It’s not confirmed, but the likely scenario is that existing PS4 owners would still have VR capabilities, albeit a watered-down version that could lack features like UHD and a fully 360-degree experience.
The typical console release schedule has followed a predictable pattern with new consoles dropping every six to seven years. Sony’s newest refresh would reduce the wait time to almost exactly three years.
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