Sony confirms they're working on a new console, patent potentially hints at backwards compatibility
During an interview with The Financial Times--a business publication--Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony's CEO confirmed that while they don't have anything official to say yet, they are working towards a new console release. "At this point, what I can say is it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware" were his words. Of course, with four iterations of PlayStation systems so far, it's no doubt that Sony would eventually continue its success with gaming consoles. Such a claim shouldn't be a surprise, but it does beg the question as to when the next generation of hardware will actually begin to roll out, marking an end to the current PlayStation 4, which has been selling incredibly well, and if Sony will continue their hot streak.
Yoshida's comment also possibly ties into a document that Sony has filed. Within it is a patent for "remastering by emulation", which would allow for "legacy game software" to be remastered for a "higher resolution display". Though, while the publishing of the patent and its details is from October 2018, Sony actually filed the patent back in 2016, meaning its not certain that it relates to any future hardware, or will definitively be utilized.
The original software is then played on the higher resolution display, with asset (such as texture) calls being intercepted, identified, and the data structure entered to retrieve the remastered asset having a matching identifier. The remastered asset is then inserted on the fly into the game presentation.
What are your thoughts? Are you ready for a "PlayStation 5" to maybe get a reveal soon? Do you think Sony can hold onto the lead they gained over Microsoft this gen? And would a new PlayStation system even offer backwards compatibility, when the PlayStation 4 notably did not?
Source 2: Patent