After the PlayStation 4 Pro was announced, the official Xbox Twitter account reminded everyone that the Xbox One S includes a 4K Blu-ray player – something the PS4 Pro lacks – and Microsoft’s Albert Penello talked about how he believes next year’s Project Scorpio will be the “most powerful box.” In a new interview with Digital Spy, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House was asked about Microsoft’s response:
I thought it was quite intriguing given that we’d seen a year of stories about “a new and different Microsoft” in terms of their attitude towards the competition.
House added, “That was rather short lived, wasn’t it?” when Digital Spy brought up the new and gentler politics of recent years.
Although the official Xbox Twitter accounts and some executives made these comments, Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned that he prefers things to be more civil. “I’ve been public about my dislike of the negative dialog. We should stay focused on what we are building for Xbox gamers,” he wrote on Twitter.
Elsewhere in the Digital Spy interview, House mentioned that the lack of a 4K Blu-ray player in the PS4 Pro doesn’t necessarily mean the start of a digital-only future, they just noticed that streaming is beating physical media 5:1 on PS4:
No, I don’t think one should read into it that way. If you look at our current business, we see very stable sales of packaged media when it comes to games.
On the other hand, when I look at other ways people are using their PS4 – video content is absolutely the number two use of people’s time on the console. But it is 5:1 in favor of streaming video versus packaged media. We looked at that and said that’s probably where we should place our emphasis.
But I don’t think you should extrapolate out from that to say that’s now going to change our philosophy around other areas of the business.
House added that it’s “to be determined” if the PS4 Pro will support Sony’s Ultra Streaming service, and the $400 USD system is being targeted “towards someone who is probably pretty knowledgeable and committed in the kind of entertainment they want.”
As for the 4K gaming PS4 Pro will provide, and whether it’s native or upscaled, House said, “I would say the majority will be upscaled – at least based on the game portfolio I have seen to date.” Asked if he feels like ‘4K gaming’ is a misleading term, House replied:
No, I don’t think so. I think that whatever the term is, it’s a question of whether people see a demonstrable difference in the game experience or not, rather than the term we use to apply to it.
I think that’s what people are looking for and they’ll make their judgement as to whether that’s working for them or not.
So far, games confirmed to support native 4K on PS4 Pro include The Last of Us Remastered, Mantis Burn Racing, and The Elder Scrolls Online.
[Source: Digital Spy via VideoGamer]
