Highlight: PS4 Slim Priced at $299

Sony could have kept the PlayStation 4 Slim at roughly the same price as the default PS4, maybe even sold it for $50 less. The console, out on September 15th, will retail for $299 instead. That’s a hugely motivating price for new users who don’t care all that much for 4K gaming and despite its looks – which are kind of “eh” at this point – the PS4 Slim is more compact and energy efficient.

Highlight: PS4 Pro Pricing

The real coup de grace for Sony is with the pricing for PS4 Pro. Again, $449 would have been generous while $499 is more realistic. But it will instead retail in November for $399. New players who want to future-proof themselves or get the best visual experience with 4K and HDR can easily pick it up. Meanwhile, current PS4 owners won’t have as high of an entry point for upgrading. It’s a great compromise overall…

Concern: PS4 Pro Appearance

…So it’s weird that Sony went for the appearance that it did for the PS4 Pro. Look at the PS4 Slim and stick another plastic-looking layer on top. Boom, there’s your PS4 Pro. This design may have kept costs down and the telltale blue streak can be seen in one of the edges. However, when we think “premium” and “pro”, this isn’t the design that immediately comes to mind. Looks are subjective though and it’s highly unlikely that potential consumers skip the PS4 Pro because it’s not pretty.

Highlight: PS4 Pro Benefits Outside of 4K Resolution

While many may ask, “Why opt for a PS4 Pro if I don’t game on a 4K TV?” And that’s a pretty good reason to skip the console even with its attractive price. The more powerful hardware is nice and all but what immediate benefits will PS4 titles receive? The answer is HDR which provides dynamic luminescence and caters to a broader spectrum for human eyes to perceive, thus providing for more realistic visuals. It should be noted that HDR will also be coming to PS4 and PS4 Slim in an update next week. However, if a 4K TV isn’t immediately in your budget, the PS4 Pro still presents a nice means of future proofing while still offering better hardware and HDR support.

Concern: Frame rate differences not showcased

Though Sony did show the differences in resolution and HDR for upcoming games like For Honor and Paragon – not to mention 4K footage of Mass Effect Andromeda and Horizon: Zero Dawn – it didn’t really capitalize on one key point: Frame rate differences. Obviously a CPU and GPU with double the power of a base PS4 would help in that department right? Maybe Sony didn’t want to point how obviously better the PS4 Pro is with frame rates. Maybe the difference is so negligible that it didn’t warrant focus. Regardless, the key selling points are 4K and HDR above all else.

Concern: PS4 Pro VR Demos and Gameplay Benefits

Those frame rate differences would have especially come in handy for PlayStation VR demos. Farpoint looked good and all but we would have liked to have learned a lot more about the gameplay benefits that the PS4 Pro offers PlayStation VR. Also, Sony announces a powerful new console for November but doesn’t so much as hint at a bundle for PS4 Pro and PS VR? Granted, the news will come in its own time but it would have been great to hear it now, especially with PS VR releasing in a month.

Highlight: Mass Effect Andromeda Gameplay Debut

Bioware finally, finally, finally showcased gameplay footage for Mass Effect Andromeda, its eagerly anticipated action RPG in the vaunted franchise. Yes, it wasn’t all that long and yes, we didn’t get to see how the shooting worked. However, this came across as a demo for the overall in-game visuals and how they look on PS4 Pro. The in-game lighting and benefits of HDR support were readily apparent and serious kudos are to be afforded to Bioware for their environmental design.

Highlight: Updates to allow older PS4 game support on PS4 Pro

As rumoured, Sony mandated all PS4 titles to work on PS4 Pro. We already know of several games that will be receiving updates including Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Modern Warfare Remastered and Black Ops 3. What’s more, it doesn’t seem like developers will have to put in too much effort for these updates. The ability to access your PS4 downloads and features on the PS4 Pro is a reassurance that the latter is meant to complement the former.

Concern: The Last Guardian Absent

Sony did mention The Last Guardian but that’s it. The game wasn’t showcased, either on PS4 Pro or in visual comparison demos. Why is this concerning? Because the game hasn’t been scheduled for Tokyo Game Show 2016 either. In fact, with its release on October 25th, we’re yet to hear much of any information on the oft-delayed adventure title. What’s going on? Sony knows the answer but didn’t choose to reveal it at the PlayStation Meeting.

What was your highlight and key concern from the PlayStation Meeting? Let us know in the comments.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Sony have confirmed that the PlayStation 4 Pro will be launching this year, after all- although it will be missing its rumored October release date, shoppers and fans cans still get their hands on it this Holiday season- the Pro is going to launch on November 10.

This gives it a head start over both the NX and the Scorpio, and it also means that shoppers looking for some 4K and HDR content to go with their 4K and HDR TVs will now naturally gravitate towards the new system- not a bad place for Sony to be in. Perhaps the year head start, and the install base and content library that go with it, will let Sony fend off the Scorpio when it launches exactly a year later, then.

Sony have also confirmed that the system will be made available for $399, the same launch price as the PS4 and the upcoming PSVR.

After so long of teasing, so long of showing us nothing but concept trailers, so long of us having seen absolutely nothing of the eagerly anticipated Mass Effect Andromeda, the next installment in Bioware’s science fiction RPG franchise, we finally got to see the game in action today at Sony’s PlayStation Meeting conference- and it looked gorgeous, even in its ‘pre-alpha’ state.

The game looks to be a far more contemplative and sedate experience than the original trilogy- the section we saw almost seemed like a tamer Metroid, featuring the Pathfinder exploring some ancient ruins, talking to someone over radio, as he tried to find his way to the ‘heart of the vault.’ The gameplay shown did not have much action (there was an action cutscene right at the end)- so really, the biggest takeaway from this footage was that Mass Effect Andromeda will allow us to jump.

That’s enough for me for now. Hopefully we get to see more of Andromeda in the coming months. Mass Effect Andromeda will launch on the Xbox One, PC, and PS4 with PS4 Pro support, by March 2017.

Bioware have made it very clear, categorically, explicitly, and in no uncertain terms, that the next time they are going to show off Mass Effect Andromeda on November 7– but it seems like there may have been some change of plans, because Bioware are now hinting that the game may be at the PlayStation Meeting, the event Sony is holding to debut the PS4 NEO and the PS4 Slim later today.

Bioware’s Michael Gamble, producer for Mass Effect Andromeda, as well as Ian S Frazier, are hinting at something related to Mass Effect happening at the PlayStation Meeting- and while my first assumption and hope is that they will show off Andromeda (at long last) at the event, it is also entirely possible that they end up showing off something like the long rumored Mass Effect Trilogy at the event, too (though in the context of it being the unveiling of a more powerful PS4, a Trilogy remaster certainly makes far less sense than Andromeda does).

The PlayStation Meeting will be later today, and it will be broadcast live. Mass Effect Andromeda is slated to launch by March 2017 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

It looks like Ubisoft’s upcoming Watch Dogs 2 may end up being shown off at the PlayStation Meeting later today, the event where Sony are planning on debuting the upcoming PlayStation 4 Slim and the PlayStation 4 NEO, later today. A tweet by Colin Graham, Animation Director on Watch Dogs 2, certainly seems to suggest so.

There has long been speculation that Sony will be showing off games at the event in addition to their hardware announcements, too- after all, nothing can sell the new and improved PS4 better than Sony showing some highly anticipated upcoming games running better on it, side by side with how they run on the original PlayStation 4. It looks like that speculation may indeed have been correct, because Watch Dogs 2 certainly seems like it will be there at the event.

Multiple new PlayStation hardware announcements, including the NEO and the Slim, are expected at the PlayStation Meeting tonight; for software, a lot of (probably wishful) speculation seems to be expecting Rockstar to show up and finally announce a Red Dead 3.

Whatever ends up happening, we will keep you posted. Stay tuned.

We already knew that the PlayStation Meeting tomorrow, which is where we are assuming the PS4 NEO and the PS4 Slim, not to mention a possible new PlayStation handheld, will occur, will be livestreamed. Now, we know exactly how to watch it as the event occurs.

Sony have today shared the livestream for the PlayStation Meeting– of course, there’s nothing on it yet, but it should help you catch the event live tomorrow, as it happens. The event is where Sony are expected to make a slate of new hardware announcements. There is also some speculation surrounding software being showcased at the event, though whether or not that means new game announcements, or simply older ones being shown off running better on the more powerful PS4 NEO is something that remains to be seen.

The PlayStation Meeting will be held tomorrow, in New York, at 3pm ET/2pm CT/12pm PT. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for all the coverage from the event, as it happens.

On the whole, it’s not been hard to guess what Sony will be announcing at the PlayStation Meeting that is scheduled for later this week– the PS4 NEO is a sure shot for the event, the PS4 Slim has already been leaked, and there are even rumblings of a new PS Vita announcement.

That said, for all the leaks and rumors so far, Sony themselves haven’t actually officially commented on anything- as far as they are concerned, what is to be announced at the event remains a surprise. However, PlayStation Korea have now confirmed (via VideoGamer) that Sony will indeed be announcing a new PS4 model later this week- the conference for Asian countries will be held in Hong Kong on September 8, one day after the PlayStation Meeting.

Of course, a new PS4 model doesn’t specify what kind of PS4 model- so for now, the NEO and Slim both remain officially unconfirmed, and there is still no word on that new PlayStation handheld. We’ll know for sure what Sony have up their sleeves come Wednesday, September 7.

As of right now, we already know that we can expect PlayStation 4 Slim and a PlayStation 4 NEO announcements at the upcoming PlayStation Meeting- but if nebulous rumors are to be believed, then Sony may be preparing a third hardware announcement for the event- a new PlayStation handheld.

Rumors for this new handheld are actually associated directly with rumors about the PlayStation 4 revisions- for instance, as NeoGAF are pointing out, months ago in June, a Foxconn worker, presumably working at the assembly lines manufacturing the device, leaked the PlayStation 4 Slim. This, of course, gives him credence, which is why we must take him seriously when he says that there is also a portable device being manufactured alongside, a ‘PSP-like’ device.

Now, before we jump to conclusions, let’s at least assess the other possibilities- could this not just be Nintendo’s NX, instead of being a PlayStation portable? There would be a case to be made for that if a) Nintendo’s NX were not launching in March 2017 (meaning that production for it is completely unlikely to have begun as far back as June 2016), and b) if leaks and patents hadn’t already confirmed that the NX portable takes on a flatter, more tablet-like look.

This lends credence to it being a PlayStation handheld. And then there is more evidence to add to the fire. For instance, Japanese blog Hakanko is reporting that Sony have registered two wireless modules with the FCC in the United States. The module numbers are AW-CB262 and J20H091, which correspond, respectively, with the model numbers for the modules in the PS4 and the PS Vita.

The PS4 wireless module being there makes sense- we already know of new PS4 models incoming. but what is the PS Vita doing there at all?

Where there is smoke, there is likely to be fire, and for now, it appears that there may be a new PlayStation handheld announcement of some kind incoming at the PlayStation Meeting, too. Whether that is a PS Vita successor, or just a slimmer revision, remains to be seen. But whatever it is, a small but loyal band of PlayStation handheld loyalists are doubtless going to be happy at the notion that Sony have not yet exited the handheld market completely.

Well, it looks like at least one announcement from Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Meeting in September has been leaked- and that is going to be a PlayStation 4 Slim, it seems like. Much like how Microsoft took the wraps off of the Xbox One S and the Xbox One Scorpio at the same event, it seems like Sony will be announcing not one, but two new PlayStation 4 systems at once- much like what an analyst had speculated previously.

Leaked images of the PlayStation 4 Slim (Push Square via NeoGAF) give us a very thorough look at the console from all angles (though there is a distinct lack of good lighting in some of these pictures). It seems like the Slim is a fair bit smaller than the existing PS4, which was already pretty small to begin with- and much like previous Slim revisions for PlayStation consoles, it looks like Sony are opting for an all matte finish with this one, too.

For now, rumors are pegging the Slim for a September release, with the NEO release presumably following later. The Slim is also likely to be accompanied by a price drop for the PS4, so sales for the console are likely to hold going into the Holiday shopping season, too.