Two next-generation consoles are yet to be released in the future to top off Nintendo Switch's success. Microsoft had announced the Xbox Scorpio in 2016 and it is a promising console as teased. Meanwhile, Sony has indirectly denied plans for the rumoured PlayStation 5. But after revealing its intentions for the PlayStation 3, Sony is now the subject to the prying eyes of the public who firmly believes that the PlayStation 4's successor is already in the process.
Sony recently announced that it had stopped the production of PlayStation 3. The console was first released in 2006, competing against Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii. After the announcement was made, a Japanese publication speculated that the PlayStation 5 might be released sooner than expected. Game analysts were on the same page with the publication as the halt could be the leeway for the Tokyo firm to prepare its next hardware.
The PlayStation 5 is rumoured to wear 10 teraflops in computing power, a huge step-up from Xbox Scorpio's expected 6 teraflops and PlayStation 4 Pro's 4 teraflops. Sony's future console might also sport a native 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, a feature that Microsoft cannot confirm as of now. Apparently, this brings logistical challenges for anyone who plans to get the 4K capability at 60 fps. If Sony can do so, it is well on its way to beat Microsoft's promising Xbox Scorpio.
Sony's rival Microsoft already made the official announcement for the Xbox Scorpio since November 2016. With the initial roadmap it showed off the press, Microsoft is the console maker to watch out for. The Xbox Scorpio's final specs: CPU has eight custom x86 cores clocked at 2.3GHz; GPUhas 40 customised compute units clocked at 1172GHz; 12GB of GGDR5 RAM; and 1TB hard drive.
However, Sony could be hiding its plans behind the bush. Sony president Shuhei Yoshida told Tech Radar recently the existence of the next-generation console is uncertain. Nevertheless, fans are expecting that the company will make an announcement during the E3 2017 event this month in Los Angeles, California. Despite Sony being tight-lipped about the PlayStation 5, Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Damian Thong told The Wall Street Journal that 2018 may see the launch of the console and will start hitting the shelves in 2020.
