From SONY they have taken a path that for us is wrong and that is resulting in a huge bottleneck, the fact that developers continue to support PS4 and take that console as a base, despite being a 2013 disk-based design hard. However, this opens up the possibility that SONY could eventually launch a low-cost PlayStation console, something that, although we will never see it, makes sense in times of economic recession and for emerging markets. In any case, despite the non-existence of said model, we have decided to give it a little thought and think about what it would be like and to what extent it would be viable.
What would the PlayStation Low Cost be like?
To begin with, the PlayStation Low Cost would have the ability to run all the games created for PS4, in better conditions than the original console, thanks to a series of improvements inherited from PS5, such as replacing the 8-core Jaguar processor with less than 2 GHz, for an AMD Zen 2 at more than 3 GHz speed. A jump in CPU performance, which would give you 4 times more performance. The other improvement would be the use of an SSD drive, not below the speeds of PS5, because it would not be necessary, but with the advantages in access time in games.
As for the RAM memory, this would be 8 GB, since PS4 games do not use a higher amount of RAM, this would allow us to cut the bus to 128 bits with 4 GDDR6 chips of 2 GB each. The memory chips would be the same as those used in PS5, 14 Gbps GDDR6, allowing a bandwidth of 224 GB / s. A figure higher than the 176 GB / s of the original console. Going from a 256-bit bus to a 128-bit one allows for a much smaller and cheaper chip to be created.
In any case, here is a reconstruction of what the chip would look like internally after removing and rearranging the different pieces that would make it up.
And what about the graphics card?
Of course, we are missing the GPU integrated into the PlayStation Low Cost chip. In the original console it was of GCN architecture with 18 cores or Compute Units. PS5, on the other hand, uses RDNA architecture, 36 Compute Units and a clock speed that exceeds 2 GHz compared to 800 MHz for the 2013 system.
Due to hardware backwards compatibility, it becomes possible to use an RDNA 2 chip with 18 Compute Units and reduced clock speed. Also, all RDNA 2 elements that are not of use for PS4 games and would take up space on the chip without doing anything would be removed. This would include several units that were unreleased on PS4 and PS4 Pro.
All this would result in a console that would be able to run PS4 games in Full HD and at 60 FPS without any problem and that could be sold for a very low price by SONY. As for refrigeration, they could do without exotic elements without problems, which would mean a significant cost reduction.
The PlayStation Low Cost would not use a Blu Ray reader
The system, like its rival, the Xbox Series S, would lack a serial Blu-Ray reader and, therefore, it would not be possible to load games in physical format. Although it would be possible to connect the modular reader that SONY is preparing for the PS5 design review. Rather, the PlayStation Low Cost would have been designed for users to maintain the PSN Plus subscription, to get games on charge, and to buy games through the console’s digital store.
Low cost controller: Dual Shock 5
As long as the PlayStation was Low Cost, the console would come with a controller that looked the same as the DualSense, but with differences from the original model, since it would be cut as it did not support haptic vibration or adaptive triggers. However, it would keep the rest of the functions. Said command could be called Dual Shock 5 to differentiate it from the PS5 standard, but to mark that it would be an evolution.
In hardware it is viable, but, what about games?
The problem would be all those PS5 titles that have been designed for the console and that are designed to take advantage of the power of the next-generation system. Although, in some cases it may seem to us that the games would work perfectly on a PS4, the reality is quite different and it would be an additional job to port them to this system and a waste of time in human resources. In any case, the conversion would not be impossible, but they should deal with the conversion. Of course, being a Full HD console, the textures could be reduced to a quarter.
However, the main problem would be the fact that it would conflict with PS5 in purchase intention, since SONY has opted for a AAA game policy for both generations, this Low Cost PlayStation would receive massive support from the public that would see that the console would be good enough to play your favorite games. In other words, PS5 would inherit the problem that Xbox Series X has right now, which is being cannibalized by its less capable sister in sales.
Let’s not forget that a video game system is nothing more than a box that allows us to enjoy our favorite titles, if that is put on a silver platter with a system that requires less money, it is normal for most users to invest money in what which is good enough.
