Your speculation on PS5 and Xbox Series X's slim & upgraded variation?

Dear gamers in the Giant Bomb forums

We're in July 2023, and so far, Sony and Microsoft haven't announced their respective current generation console's slim & upgraded variant, so here is my short speculation for both, they may get announced by Q4 2023, capable to run on 8K resolution, games getting patched to have slightly better performance (Graphics and frames per second) and launches 3 years before the launch of PS6 and next Xbox.

8k by xmas, you're living in la la land

I wouldnt be surprised if they released them because capitalism but at the same time most people I know who wanted the consoles have only within the last half a year been able to pick them up. They're JUST now starting to not have games be both last gen/current versions and 2023 is the first year where I consistently feel like I'm getting more "Next Gen" products.

So in my opinion it'd be pretty audacious to even hint at producing something new.

For what it's worth I'm seeing the PS5 already on decent discounts pretty much everywhere and that makes me wonder if these retailers know something we don't. It's a fairly ugly device and Japanese people appreciate neatness so I do think we might see a PS5 slim by the end of this year.

Microsoft has a bigger problem that a third device could confuse a lot of buyers, and what would they even call it? The Xbox Series XS? I'm not sure what their hardware strategy is but I expect them to just keep rolling with what they have.

The rumors/speculation around a PS5 that has a separate disc drive could potentially mean a slim PS5, but Microsoft has so much identity in the design of the Xbox Series X, i doubt there will ever be a slim or smaller version of it, plus they have the Series S.

I doubt either has an upgraded "Pro" console, the existence of those last time around were largely due to alot of the hesitation in the market at the start of the Ps4/Xbox One generation.

the past few years lead me to think the platform holders are going to be much more conservative in the days ahead. i'll be pretty surprised if we hear about new hardware from anyone before jan 2024.

I really hope it's just shareholders stoking whispers in the market in hopes of some kind of new commerce or whatever. I've owned a PS5 for coming on two years now and I'm still mostly playing PS4 games on it, or games that don't seem implausibly PS4-grade (FF16, for all its exclusivity, is about as polar opposite of the visual splendor and variety present in God of War or Horizon which run just fine on PS4 it seems).

Hell, even the sports games didn't showcase a dramatic leap in graphical fidelity the way they did a generation ago, and honestly The Witcher 3's ray tracing upgrade is probably the best looking thing I've played on this system and that game's a decade old. I just can't imagine what the sales pitch would be to someone like me, a very casual player in terms of what I purchase and complete but always listening to gaming podcasts and reading forums anyway.

The way the PS5 has been performing for me after two years, I wouldn't be surprised if it were still in my life 15 years from now, the way the 2008 iMac I'm using to type this message has been on my desk since my senior year of high school. I don't know what more I could want from a console, and the few times they've tried to show me (Ratchet, FF, Last of Us Part I) I just don't feel like I'm having a significantly different experience than the games the generation before. Rift Apart honestly didn't seem that different from the reboot released many years earlier, FF is just another colorless character action game as though it were 2007 again and Last of Us, gorgeous as it was, had less gameplay mechanics than the sequel and wasn't any sort of tremendous leap from Part II.

Again, I really, really hope nobody within the companies themselves is seriously considering this sort of thing because it seems absolutely pointless.

I don't see them doing it. The supply constraints probably pushed any plans back a couple of years. It's not really worth doing unless the manufacturing costs on a slim system make it really, really enticing.

I think Sony coming out with a Pro so soon would be a big mistake by them. I think it will ultimately push more people to just save up and invest in a gaming PC. Which is not a problem for me, because I also own one, but for Sony it will be. People who buy consoles usually don't just have money laying around to get another one a couple of years from now. They see them as a long time investment, and finding out the console they just bought is pretty much useless because a new and improved version is coming out is not a good look. Add to the fact that many Sony exclusives are now going on PC after a year or so, and it makes this even more clear.

I'm not sure, but if Sony does something, it will have to be a size you can travel with. Currently it is very unrealistic to travel with a PS5 for most people. Personally, it is a deal breaker for me. Even PC gaming has better options when it comes to portability, and consoles are supposed to be convenient, but as we stand there is nothing convenient when it comes to the size of a PS5 console.

I would also love an upgrade for PlayStation VR where a cable is not needed. A cable has always been a deal breaker for VR. I heavily supported the first PlayStation VR, even though it was highly inconvenient with all the cables. I did it because it was very innovative, but at this point I will continue to pass until they have something completely wireless, which honestly sounds very unlikely to happen in the years to come.