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Next-gen PlayStation could be 8 times faster than PS4 Pro

By JC Torres/

The Nintendo Switch may be the darling of the console gaming market but when it comes to raw power, the Xbox One and PS4 are still the ones to beat. Especially the PS4 Pro, which unlike its Microsoft rival, is able to support VR experiences. Even more so the next generation PlayStation, a.k.a. the PS5, which has now been leaked to be powerful enough to provide an experience "without disconnections", a.k.a. stuttering and loading.

Sony and Microsoft used to be quite persistent in saying that they didn't have a next-gen console planned yet. Last month, however, details of what is expected to be called the PlayStation 5 came out of the blue, courtesy of AMD. Since then, the Internet has been filled with rumors and leaks about the console that could launch within 12 months' time.

Now new tidbits have landed via some leaked snippets coming from Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai himself. One of the most interesting parts of the presentation is a video showing the next-gen PlayStation's rendering chops compared to the PS4 Pro. Whereas the latter took more than 8 seconds to render a scene, the unnamed console took less than one.

Hirai was also quoted to have said that the next PlayStation would offer a gaming experience "anytime, anywhere, without disconnection". Naturally, that has gotten some excited about a potential Nintendo Switch rival but that might be reading too much into the translation. It's more likely that it was referring to having less lag or choppiness because of streaming from disk to memory.

Whether Sony will be able to pull that off is going to be the big question. While computing hardware does offer that possibility, consoles have traditionally been more constrained and restricted. Then again, the PS4 and Xbox One changed the game by migrating to AMD processors. Perhaps the PS5 will usher in another evolutionary change.

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