Featured Image Credit: Sony
Topics: Sony, Tech, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
A PlayStation 6 pricing update has got fans arguing, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be too bad.
Last week, a new report by gaming hardware experts Digital Foundry has suggested that the PS6 would need 24GB of RAM to fully get advanced ray tracing, as well as the machine learning technology Sony is embracing.
That seems like a small leap above the PS5 and PS5 Pro’s 16GB of RAM, but it’ll be a substantial improvement for the capabilities of the console, particularly when it comes to loading and streaming assets from the installed files.
It also shouldn’t break the bank when it comes to the cost of the machine, as RAM has been getting cheaper over the last few years. In fact, Digital Foundry also reckons that Sony can keep the cost relatively similar to the PS5.
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Still, it’s causing a little bit of a debate amongst PS5 users over on Reddit, who aren’t sure what to make of the RAM increase.
“The main reason Sony can go cheap with RAM is the storage speed of the next generation. And 24GB is cheap,” writes one commenter.
“All the stuff you're mentioning was true in the PS2 and PS3 era but with the average CPU power and RAM in modern PCs it's not as important anymore. Best part is that the PC gamers will not be burned too hard by Nvidia's next generation 24GB cards.”
“The main problem for ‘not much improvement’ is people's reaction to price,” another user writes. “I see it everywhere, from Switch 2 price (which is pretty cheap), PS5 Pro price etc. So the company needs to make it under a certain budget, to get at least some profit after 2-3 years, then they get the biggest profit from games.”
“So if people would be okay with higher price at the launch, we wouldn’t get Pro versions and the hardware would be significantly better,” they continue to write. “But it’s all just a matter of time, and Cloud will send all console into the past. Just look how powerful GeForce Now is… and its power can be increased each year.”
It sounds right that Sony would want to keep the cost low on the part of the consumer, if the company learned its lesson from the rather pricey PS3.
But bear in mind, we’re still a few years out from the PS6, and probably won’t see an official announcement for a while.