The PS4 Slim hits shelves on September 15th for $300

Sony isn’t done with the PlayStation 4. The company today revealed the PS4 Slim, a thinner version of its latest console that’s been lurking around the rumor mill for months now. The Slim lands on September 15th for $300/£259.

The PS4 Slim features all the guts of a standard PS4 plus a few cosmetic and convenience upgrades, including a lightbar at the top, more space between the front-facing USB ports and the removal of the optical port. The console is about 30 percent smaller than the standard PS4, which came out in 2013, and it plays all existing PS4 games.

We recently re-reviewed the PS4 and found it to be “the best console experience money can buy,” which bodes well for the PS4 Slim — and the PS4 Pro (formerly the Neo), a new and more powerful version of Sony’s latest console.

Find all the news from Sony’s big PlayStation event right here.

Sony’s 4K game console is called PlayStation 4 Pro

Sony’s 4K PlayStation 4 upgrade has been something of an open secret since before E3, but today the company officially unveiled its high end game console. It’s called PlayStation 4 Pro — and it’ll be available on November 10th for $399/£349. It boasts an upgraded, x86-64 “Jaguar” AMD CPU with 8 cores, a 4.2 teraflop AMD Radeon GPU, three USB ports and a 1TB HDD. Sony say’s it’s twice as fast as the regular PS4, and, of course, it’s designed specifically for UHD TVs and PlayStation VR.

PlayStation’s Andrew House says the refresh has been a long time coming. “Display technology offers so much potential if there is content to leverage what’s now possible,” he said. “With PlayStation 4, we’re pretty much maxing out what 1080p TVs can do with most games.” Hence, the creation of the PS4 Pro. This is a console designed for the kind of 4K resolutions and HDR that so-called “conventional TVs” simply can’t display. So, what does a 4K PlayStation 4 game look like? Sony brought examples.

PlayStation lead system architect Mark Cerny used footage from Rise of the Tomb Raider, Insomniac’s upcoming Spider-Man game and Watch Dogs 2 to show how the upgraded console can give exiting games a huge visual shot in the arm. One demo showed mountain top view of a city blown out on a typical TV, but lush with color on an HDR display powered by the PlayStation Pro. A quick look at Day’s Gone with and without HDR features revealed a scene with a much wider color range and more realistic shadows.

“But you don’t need a 4K TV or HDR TV to experience the benefit of PS4 pro,” Cerny explained. Even on a standard HD TV, games will look better on the PlayStation 4 Pro. Super-sampling and advanced anti-aliasing will take the jagged edge off of games that are pushing the standard hardware to its limits. Even at 1080p, games will feature better reflections and brighter colors. Older titles like Paragon, Infamous First Light and Shadow of Mordor are all scheduled to receive high-fidelity graphics patches too, in what Cerny calls “forward compatibility.”

Naturally, the PlayStation Pro will be a boon for consumers who buy into PSVR this October: Sony says virtual reality games played on the new hardware could potentially look crisper, have more detailed special effects and, best of all, run at higher framerates. Specifically, Cerny said FarPoint, Sony’s upcoming VR shooter, will feature about twice as much detail on the PS4 Pro vs the standard hardware.

Finally, Sony announced that 4K and HDR video content will be available on the upgraded console as well, specifically calling out a partnership with Netflix to develop a 4K streaming app for the PlayStation 4 Pro.

As the event wrapped up, House returned to reveal the new PlayStation line up: a slimmer PS4 for a cool $299, or a thicker, more powerful PlayStation 4 Pro for $399. That slimmer PS4 will hit stores next week — but folks with 4K televisions at home will have to wait until November 10th for the Pro. Still, that’s a lot sooner than Microsoft’s Project Scorpio is set to debut. And no, Microsoft, the Xbox One S isn’t the same thing.

Sony will upgrade all PS4s with HDR

At today’s announcement of two new PlayStation 4 consoles, Sony had news for existing owners too: a firmware update will make every PS4 (going back to the launch models) ready for HDR video. There weren’t a lot of specifics on what exactly what your console will support, but we’ll find out more info as it becomes available. Sony showed off some sweet gaming demos with the PS4 Pro showing what HDR can do, but we’ll have to see how well older hardware supports the feature, or if it’s only for video streams.

Just announced: every PS4 will be HDR compatible

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 7, 2016

HDR is coming to all 40 million existing #PS4 users via a firmware update next week. Woo! #PlayStationMeeting

— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) September 7, 2016

Of course, the big takeaway Sony is likely looking for is that gamers won’t need to buy a new console for demo material. You’ll still need a new HDR-ready TV, but if it means you don’t also buy an Xbox One S then it helps keep more gamers on the PlayStation side of the line.

Update: The press release confirms HDR support for all PlayStation 4s, but does not go into any further detail about what games or movies that may impact.

Find all the news from Sony’s big PlayStation event right here.

PlayStation 4 will play Netflix and YouTube videos in HDR

Sony made much ado over high dynamic range imagery for gaming on the PlayStation 4 Pro at its September event, but don’t worry — it knows you want to watch HDR videos, too. The console maker announced that both Netflix and YouTube are making new apps that should play HDR videos on all PS4 models. You’ll need a Pro to play videos from either service in 4K, alas, but this still means that you’ll get richer colors when you’re watching Luke Cage and other supporting shows. At least the Netflix app will be available around the time of the PS4 Pro’s November launch, so you’ll have a way to show off your HDR-capable TV in the near future.

Find all the news from Sony’s big PlayStation event right here.

The PlayStation 4 Pro is not an Ultra HD Blu-ray player

During today’s announcement of the new PS4 Pro, we heard a lot about the enhancements offered by 4K and HDR, but there was one thing not mentioned: Ultra HD Blu-ray. Our reporters at the event asked and confirmed there is not an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive in the new console, although it will include 4K and HDR apps from Netflix and YouTube.

We’re waiting for the spec sheets to find out everything (update: here it is, and it confirms only Blu-ray and DVD support), but those who prefer archival copies, demand the best in uncompressed video or just don’t have an unlimited internet connection could be in for a disappointment. Sony did mention that even older PS4 consoles would be upgraded with HDR, and specifically highlighted the Ultra HD video apps built into the Pro.

It’s not clear exactly what explains the omission, although a BBC reporter paraphrased Sony’s response as wanting to focus on games. It may be that to get the console out by this holiday season with upgraded graphics and storage for $399, something had to be cut. Another thought is that Sony has just fallen out of love with physical media. It wouldn’t be alone in that feeling, but considering the deep historical ties between the PS2 and DVD, the PS3 and Blu-ray, and even the PS4 with physical discs for gaming, it’s a surprising turn.

As it is, the capability to play 4K movies from discs is one thing Microsoft can claim as an advantage over Sony with its Xbox One S. Of course, if the PlayStation folks change their mind, then maybe Microsoft has a few old HD DVD shells laying around that they can use for an add-on?

Find all the news from Sony’s big PlayStation event right here.

Source: Sony (PRNewswire)