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PS4 Neo: ‘PlayStation Meeting’ Invitation Hints That Console Won’t Actually Be Named After Keanu’s Character

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 04:17 PST, Aug 10, 2016

Sony’s upcoming reveal has been given many names, but PS4 Neo is the one that stuck the most. However, it could simply be the result of PlayStation 4 fans wanting it to be called something different so it seems like a new console.

Some even believe that since the PS4 and Xbox One weren’t actually that big of a leap from their predecessors that the upcoming PS4 Neo and Xbox One Scorpio are the definitive next-generation consoles we should have seen in 2013. The truth is that the PS4 and Xbone were both a disappointing step up after the PS3 and Xbox 360 had been a dynamic leap by comparison.

It was after a recent invitation that Sony sent to various industry professionals for a “PlayStation Meeting” on September 7 in New York that the rumors swirled once more. There was no mention of Neo anywhere on the invite, which led some to believe that it was a name the press gave it to make the PlayStation 4 upgrade sound cool.

The word “Neo” was actually derived from a mode that the console will reportedly use to up-convert older titles and make them run better. Various titles like Fallout 4 and Mad Max were both recipients of some of the worst frame drops and loading times we’ve seen in a long time, and “Neo Mode” will supposedly help fix that.

The real upgrade that has been confirmed is that the console, alongside the Scorpio, will be able to display 4K resolution. This doesn’t mean that the games themselves will run in 4K natively as much as the fact that the PS4 Neo will support full resolution for streaming services and natively play 4K Blu-ray discs.

Rumors surrounding Sony’s invitation have been circling after sites such as Vice cited multiple sources in the reveal that the “PlayStation Meeting” will coincide with the official reveal of the upgraded console. After the console’s no-show at E3 2016, Xbox stole the spotlight by revealing what will be under the Scorpio’s proverbial hood. Sony only confirmed that the new PS4 exists but offered no details.

This could be a result of Sony realizing that Scorpio will be their biggest competitor. They will be up against a console that will be closing in on high-end PC gaming for performance, and the company may have kept the details under wraps because they were secretly upgrading their own upcoming console.

No matter what the PS4 Neo has to show when its release date hits, Xbox will still have a year in which to push the Scorpio even further. For now, the PlayStation 4.5 will only be competing with the Xbox One S, which appears to do everything the Neo can in a console about half of the original console’s size.

The current buzzword PS4 Neo also seems to coincide with a peripheral that was announced around the same time the PlayStation 4.5 was likewise announced. Project Morpheus is to be Sony’s answer to virtual reality, though it could be up against what appears to be a vastly superior Oculus Rift, a headset that only works on the most high-end gaming PCs. Neo and Morpheus share one other thing in common as well: Both are names of major characters in the Keanu Reeves movie The Matrix, a film made famous for its mind-bending concept and inventing the slow-motion effect known as “bullet time.”

Alongside the official reveal of the PS4 Neo, it’s said that Sony will be sending out official development kits so their confirmed creative bases are covered. This means it could be another three years before we start seeing games actually using the new 4K up-scaling standard well. It often takes three years for any console to start showing its true potential in the games released for it.

[Image via Peter Kotoff/Shutterstock.com]

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