Playstation 5 Console Discussion

[Julius]

So far this is only for the US, but Sony are going to be using air freight to ship the PS5 (unclear if this is supplementary to sea freight). 

I would imagine this is to ensure as much stock is available as possible for launch, but still, seems a drastic move. Then again, if it ensures there's stock for launch (and with them likely to sell record numbers), I'm sure it will be worth it. 

There was that report a few months back that they wanted 5 million units shipped by September (this would be for launch), which went on to say they wanted a further 5 million shipped by December. I don't think it's too crazy to think these air freight shipments are bolstering the launch stock with the second round of production. 

Which is to say that Sony is confident at hell, and rightly so. I wasn't playing games much when the PS4 and Xbox One launched (and certainly wasn't keeping up with the news on it), but I don't think it's crazy to expect the PS5 to dwarf the sales of the PS4. What little I can remember going into this gen was all the hot buzz around "the death of video game consoles" (yikes), and the narrative is completely different now. Even back then I remember reading about stock shortages. 

Makes one wonder. 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Julius

[Rummy]

Ah yeah I had thought earlier when it comes the price etc also the issue of supply and how mad this might be to get? I don't need to rush(again its OW I want and I still have my PS4) but I would like it early on for the experience as its been ages since I've touched a console on launch.

Also again wondering with Brexit etc in addition to Covid-19 but its a bit of a huge double whammy for trying to launch an international product right now :/

[Ashley]

In fairness I don't doubt both consoles will sell out pretty quickly. I'm sure they're hoping to keep it going over Christmas but I'm sure the demand is there to keep on par with/briefly outstrip supply.

[Julius]

Sony has cut estimated PS5 production by 4 million units through to the end of the financial year (March 31st 2021) due to a low SOC yield, according to Bloomberg. Also have predictions a bit lower than what was generally expected. 

Quote

Sony Corp. has cut its estimated PlayStation 5 production for this fiscal year by 4 million units, down to around 11 million, following production issues with its custom-designed system-on-chip for the new console, according to people familiar with the matter.

Quote

But the company has come up against manufacturing issues, such as production yields as low as 50% for its SOC, which have cut into its ability to produce as many consoles as it wishes, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the deliberations aren’t public. Yields have been gradually improving but have yet to reach a stable level, they added.

Quote

The full PS5 console may be priced as low as $449 while the slimmer digital-only version may dip below $400, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Masahiro Wakasugi.

Quote

It is clear that Sony has revised down the production volume of the next-generation game machine "PlayStation (PS) 5" to be released within the year by 4 million units in this term (the term ending March 2021) to about 11 million units. Became. The production yield of the specially designed integrated circuit "System on Chip (SOC)", which corresponds to the heart of PS5, is not stable.

Because the information was not disclosed, multiple parties revealed it on condition of anonymity. In July, the company informed its parts suppliers that it would double its production volume, considering that the consumption of nesting due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection would support demand even after the year-end sales season.

According to the person concerned, the production volume has been forced to be reviewed because the yield of SOC is sluggish at about 50%. He said that the yield is improving, but the quality has not reached a stable level. A Sony spokeswoman declined to comment.

Key takeaways:

- 15 million units by March 2021 is now 11 million
- SoC yields are improving but not quite where they want them
- Japanese analyst predicting $449, $399 (though I think this might be more a prediction of how low Sony might be able to go? Not sure)

Best get those fingers warmed up for the second those pre-orders go up, if there's any truth to this. Though that's still an insane amount of consoles by March! 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Julius

[drahkon]

3 hours ago, Julius said:

Though that's still an insane amount of consoles by March!

If they really sell all of those by March...colour me impressed

All these rumours, predictions and leaks are nothing to me right now. I just want to see the 40 minute video tomorrow...

[Goron_3]

Scalpers will be happy with the production news.

[Julius]

12 minutes ago, Goron_3 said:

Scalpers will be happy with the production news.

It's annoying because you'd imagine their video game fans to some extent to be in the loop, but they're clearly not a great side of video games. Scalping sucks. 

I think scalpers are my biggest concern when it comes to securing a pre-order, and they're why I would want PlayStation to drop pre-orders at the end of tomorrow's Showcase instead of giving us a date and time for them to drop like Xbox have (in Xbox's case I think it's fine though, seeing as I don't think we've heard about any production issues on their side). 

I really don't like the idea of giving scalpers a heads-up when it comes to stuff like this, but announcing a date and time is how you guarantee record breaking pre-order numbers, so 

[Sheikah]

Scalpers will be happy with the production news.

Yep. I have to say, if they did do a "register your interest to get a preorder invitation" thing in the UK then that could only be a good thing to help combat scalpers. Would be a win win... loyal customers get the consoles, and they're more likely to spend on PSN.

[Ronnie]

Thankfully they're not doing that loyal customers might possibly be in with a chance to pre-order maybe, if Sony decide they've been good enough.. in the UK. Scalpers will be around regardless. It's up to Sony to ensure there are enough consoles to go around. If there aren't then they should delay the release.

[Sheikah]

Thankfully they're not doing that loyal customers might possibly be in with a chance to pre-order maybe, if Sony decide they've been good enough.. in the UK. Scalpers will be around regardless. It's up to Sony to ensure there are enough consoles to go around. If there aren't then they should delay the release.

Not sure why you think it's a good idea they're not doing it in the UK?

People will only get sent one link tied to their main PSN to preorder a console, so they can only buy one - an absolute nightmare for scalpers. And if Sony are picking the "most lucrative" PSN gamers who buy/play the most then that's going to exclude most scalpers who are usually just opportunists.

Obviously it doesn't eliminate the scalper issue, and some people might still sell their console to make a profit if there is low stock and high demand, but undeniably it would help curtail it.

Not saying Sony is trialling this scheme out of the goodness of their hearts mind (they'll make more money by selling consoles to loyal customers), but if it has a net positive effect for gamers then I'm all for it.

[Julius]

We've discussed console price a lot, but considering just how much is going into the controller this time around, I'm curious: how much do you guys think the DualSense will end up selling for (solo, as an accessory)? 

The only thing close enough for comparison in my opinion would be the Switch's Pro Controller with its haptic feedback, which I believe retails for £64.99 or thereabouts? But even that's missing some key features PlayStation are setting up for the DualSense, like the adaptive triggers. And it's hard to see it coming in at the price of an Xbox Elite controller. 

I'm thinking probably in the ballpark of £70 - £80 myself. I don't think they can go too wild with it, but there definitely seem to be enough new features and improvements (the new mould and larger size too) for them to want to up the price a bit compared with the DualShock 4. 

[killthenet]

Yeah, it has to at least be as expensive as the Switch Pro controller. The way Sony are talking up the haptics could just be hot air and it could only be as good as the Switch HD rumble (which wouldn't be a bad thing by any means) but the fact that the triggers have adaptive resistance will surely make it pricier to produce than the Switch controllers. 

Insiders have been hinting at Silent Hill being revealed in this showcase so that's my only out there hope for it, though it would be nice to see something from Ueda's new project. I think it will be mostly updates on games that we already know about, the launch titles will get an 'Available at launch' tag to their trailers but they'll keep the actual release date under wraps until the end of the presentation when they'll announce the RRP alongside it.

[drahkon]

Quote

Sony has reached out to GamesIndustry.biz with the following statement denying the Bloomberg report:

“While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false," the statement reads.

"We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production."

Source

Just FYI.

[Ronnie]

23 minutes ago, killthenet said:

Yeah, it has to at least be as expensive as the Switch Pro controller. The way Sony are talking up the haptics could just be hot air and it could only be as good as the Switch HD rumble (which wouldn't be a bad thing by any means) but the fact that the triggers have adaptive resistance will surely make it pricier to produce than the Switch controllers. 

Switch also has NFC and a beefy battery though, so who knows. I just hope the Dual Sense battery life is on par with the Switch Pro.

[Julius]

14 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Source

Just FYI.

Yeah, just saw that myself.

Good news I would think, but if there's no truth to it at all as Sony are saying, I can't help but question why a place typically as reliable as Bloomberg ended up running this story.

And unfortunately we've seen a lot of stories go this way leading up to this new generation: poor journalism with unreliable sources looking for clicks. Not saying that's necessarily what's happened with Bloomberg, but I'd be keen to hear an update from their side about how they got this story. 

PlayStation have done really well at keeping things under wraps so far I feel, just a bit under 25 hours now to go until the next big one 

[Dcubed]

Sony have stated that they have not changed their planned production numbers since they started manufacturing.

 

They did not deny the poor yields however.

[Ashley]

Do you know how tempting it's been to change the topic title to random dates just to troll everyone? Sony better announce the date soon.

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

PlayStation have done really well at keeping things under wraps so far I feel

Yeah, I've been expecting quite a lot of leaks, given what we've seen in recent weeks.

Guess Sony has nothing worthwhile to show. They're doomed. Pack up, boys.

Watch how this will come to haunt me tomorrow

Edited September 15, 2020 by drahkon

[Rummy]

54 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Sony have stated that they have not changed their planned production numbers since they started manufacturing.

 

They did not deny the poor yields however.

Yeah my kinda issue here is - why are the SoC giving bad yield?

Will it potentially mean an issue longevity wise and flaws appearing in launch consoles later? SoC fix would surely mean big official repair costs outside of warranty too?

[Julius]

English stream for tomorrow night's Showcase is live!

23.5 hours to go 

[Rummy]

Internet so annyoing these days. Does anyone have year on year sales of the PS4 roughly to hand across/between the main territories? Just curious to compare projections to that personally.

[Will]

41 minutes ago, Rummy said:

Internet so annyoing these days. Does anyone have year on year sales of the PS4 roughly to hand across/between the main territories? Just curious to compare projections to that personally.

VG Chartz is probably the best you’re going to get, not super accurate but should give you a general idea on things.

[Rummy]

10 minutes ago, Will said:

VG Chartz is probably the best you’re going to get, not super accurate but should give you a general idea on things.

Man I got a shitstorm of not being able to click what I wnated to click on my browser phone then couldnt get a year on year specific one for PS4 - just general all consoles LTD. Tried googling for other sources and just as I potentially found exactly what I wanted on one site BAM! Paywall motherfucker -.-

[drahkon]

Rumour has it that one game is set to make an appearance tonight:

Spoiler

Something Five Nights at Freddy's related.

I really hope it's just something for a sizzle reel  

 

[Goron_3]

15 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Switch also has NFC and a beefy battery though, so who knows. I just hope the Dual Sense battery life is on par with the Switch Pro.

Tbh, I wouldn't even mind if the batter wasn't that much longer than the Dualshock 4 IF it also supported fast charging. Pretty much all of my devices can go from 0 - 80% charged in not much more than 30 minutes, so I'm hoping they can do something similar.