It has been officially announced that the PS4 Neo will not be making an appearance at E3 2016, with Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Andrew House confirming that although the previously rumored console does exist, the company will not be officially unveiling it at the expo as was speculated. It’s imaginable that this news means that Microsoft’s own rumored upgraded system, reportedly code named the Xbox One Scorpio, will also not make an appearance at the event, but I don’t believe that this is necessarily a bad thing. Though the most exciting E3 events are typically the ones in which new hardware is unveiled, I predict that the expo will benefit from these consoles being absent from the line-up. Here’s why.
They’re not really new consoles
Though people always appreciate new stuff, especially when said stuff is a console, both the PS4 Neo and the rumored Xbox One Scorpio aren’t exactly wholly unique systems. Sure, they’ll have more bells and whistles attached to them than the current incarnations of the consoles they improve upon, but the PS4 Neo has already been confirmed as a system that will share the library of the PS4 and “complement it,” rather than leave it in the dust. The same can be expected for the Xbox One Scorpio, as Sony and Microsoft wouldn’t risk alienating their existing, well-established player bases for their respective consoles by introducing brand new systems that make the previous models look woefully outdated in comparison. Both consoles are more powerful versions of the consoles we already own, and while there’s definitely a market for that, it’s not particularly exciting.
In my opinion, having Sony and Microsoft take to the E3 stage and wheel out upgraded versions of consoles we already own would only be marginally more exciting than E3 2010, when they both tried to sell us on the PS Move/Kinect. Though I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the new consoles, I’m not exactly expecting anything from them aside from them making my existing PS4/Xbox One games look and run better, which wouldn’t exactly make for an exciting presentation.
Most people don’t have a 4K TV anyway
The jump from 1080p to 4K is a monumental one, and for those such as myself who own a 4K TV, buying the new, Ultra HD versions of both the PS4 and Xbox One might be a no-brainer depending upon their price points. However, the majority of people still don’t own a 4K TV, and so for them these new consoles won’t offer an experience comparable to the one offered to those who own a television that can output in an Ultra HD resolution.
This would present a problem for Sony and Microsoft’s E3 press conferences if they spent an ample amount of time discussing these new consoles, with a significant portion of the audience not having a home entertainment setup capable of making the most out of their new consoles. Even though I am personally interested in learning more about the PS4 Neo and the Xbox One Scorpio, they don’t need to take center stage at E3 2016.
Focus upon PlayStation VR
Sony haven’t exactly done a great job of promoting the upcoming PlayStation VR thus far. With it only a few months away from its release,* Sony’s own headset hasn’t really registered on our radars. Although it is less powerful than both the Vive and the Rift, considering it’s the only VR platform for consoles (that we know of), it’s still a big deal and Sony are definitely going to need to invest some time into highlighting that at this year’s E3.
If Sony wheeled out the PS4 Neo it would undoubtedly overshadow the PlayStation VR, which could do with as much help as it can at the moment in order to sell the prospect of VR to console owners. If Sony relegates it to second place on the bill of its E3 2016 conference, then it wouldn’t be granted the level of exposure it so sorely needs. As previously noted, I’m skeptical of the PlayStation VR given Sony’s track record with supporting its previous peripherals, and if the company didn’t even manage to give it the spotlight at this pivotal point then that may have proved problematic for the hardware’s future.
More games!
Without the PS4 Neo and Xbox One Scorpio to take over the Sony and Microsoft E3 2016 press conferences, one thing is for certain: that means there will be more games. Last year’s E3 was very much centered around which new releases each company had up their sleeves, and it’s set to be exactly the same this time around, too. Though it may have been enjoyable to see what the likes of Uncharted 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider looked like when rendered in 4K, I’d much rather that more time was dedicated to new experiences, rather than upgraded versions of old ones.
*The article previously stated that the PlayStation VR had yet to receive an official release date, though Sony has announced that it will launch in October. We have amended this error.
