I don't think they where ever planning on an e3 showing. I can see them just staging their own event just for it. I mean if Sony wanted to host their own event I don't think it would be to difficult to get people to pay attention. That way they get all the eyes and ears on then and possibly have an easier time controlling the message.

I don't think it was going to be at E3 to begin with, but may show up at PSX. They may be mandating that games start accommodating Neo in October, but that doesn't mean Neo needs to be released in October. They are going to want a healthy library of existing games that take advantage of it, not just whatever games happen to have come out at the same time.

I think they had to swing for the fences on Playstation VR, and couldn't afford to tell a story that got in the way of that. VR is a big bet, and they don't want to sink it due to poor communication.

They might not have made the right choice, but I'd say it's a smart bet.

I would assume it was because they wanted to focus more on bad VR games

I don't think they were even planning to talk about it at E3 for one simple reason: they don't need to. Over 40 million PS4s sold worldwide, with the Xbox One trailing by a large margin. Yes, the latter is still successful when compared to its predecessor, but they clearly want to be the market leader. Even without the Scorpio leaks or announcement, talking about the Neo at E3 would not have benefitted Sony. Microsoft on the other hand has been left trying new things to make up ground: price drops, killing off the Kinect, pivoting away from TV, and backwards compatibility. A more powerful version of their console fits right in.

I thought it was because they have the PS VR coming out later this year and they were going to focus on it way more than they did at the conference.

I think it's mainly because of the leaked specs which would have drastically changed the conversation coming out of E3. Instead of specific games or VR, I think every podcast and news outlet would have focused in on the fact that the Scorpio is vastly superior to the Neo. Sony probably doesn't want that.

On top of that, they just didnt't have to. They're still outselling the Xbox by an incredibly wide margin and the Neo specs aren't really considered final. They can easily just shift the focus to all the games coming to the PS4 over the next year or so and then come back and announce something much more powerful than the Scorpio when they get the chance.

They pretty much publicly stated that it was reason number 2

Other, they wanted to focus on VR which is a 500$ investment in itself and didn't want to add another potential 500$ system to the mix just yet. Also probalby a 2018/19 release date. There is a romur it's coming out this year? I can't believe they would release 1000$ worth of equipment in one year and expect to meet sales projections.

I thought that the press conference felt like it was missing something because if the weird pacing.

It seemed like instead of going from VR trailers and straight into Call of Duty, they planned to show off the Neo.

Unless I'm giving Sony too much credit with how they pace their press conferences.

I think they want to devote a later conference/announcement solely to the Neo outside of E3 so they aren't fighting against other announcements for air time on news websites.

i thought it was because they wanted to give the internet a reason to be cynical.

Yeah I agree.. they probably caught wind of the specs MS was going with and realized their slight overclock was just not good enough, I mean this Scorpio thing is basically a new console all things considered, Sony would be virtually crushed in terms of power.

They still have the biggest install base by far though... and depending on when they released Neo they could still rack in more users, since scorpio is just holiday 2017 and by then they could have a proper response to it, so yeah.. idk

I think it's two of those options, actually. I think they were very intentionally going for a games-only conference (which I thought worked to awesome effect), and I also wouldn't be surprised if they are altering things due to the Scorpio. It's also possible they were hoping Microsoft would drop their price and info first, which would allow them tor react accordingly, much like the start of the generation.

@onarum: The PS2 & Wii were also crushed in terms of power, the PS4 install base will be 60 million before the Scorpio is even released. Neo still might be launching this year Several sources have indicated to me that PlayStation Neo launches this year, despite its E3 no-show.

They want people to buy the PSVR. Announcing the Neo would cannibalize sales.

@thepanzini: umm.. might want to read my entire post again... I said exactly that, that they have the largest install base anyway and that depending when they release the neo they could increase that margin even more

Also times changed a bit since the ps2 and wii dude... one of the main reasons why the PS4 got so far ahead is exactly because it's more powerful, so it does matter.

Probably a little bit from column A and a little bit from Column B. Considering everything points to a release this year I don't think they can or will change the specs of the thing greatly. Scorpio will be more powerful, but also come out a year later and be more expensive, so I doubt it's that big of a deal.

But they are probably looking at the options at least. Announcing it now would mean to lock down the specs, if they wait a while they can find out if it's worth the investment to upgrade it somehow. And focusing on just the games was a also a pretty good strategy it seems, so that probably also counted for something.

@thepanzini: Thanks for the links.

The rumor was that they were planning to show Red Dead Redemption 2 but scrapped it in light of the shooting in Orlando. Adam Boyes said that wasn't true, and everything they planned to show was shown. If what he said is true then the Neo wasn't going to be shown either.

I just don't get what both Sony and Microsoft are trying to do. At this point in the console cycle you already have the people that are willing to spend 300 - 400 on a games console. What I would be concentrating on is getting the millions that are willing to spend 150 - 250. That's how you sell another 40 million, not releasing an even more expensive system. Sure you'll get some people who will buy in again and you'll get some that haven't made the decision yet and some that went with the opposite system. I just don't see this as a good move, especially for Microsoft. But if this is how the console business is going to work now I suppose I could be totally wrong.

For me it's simple. They have VR launching this fall, and didn't want to cause customer confusion. To this day, there are people who won't buy an Xbox because they still believe the always online bullshit. To this day, people still think WiiU is a Wii controller add on. Talking about a new version of your console with a VR launch so close would no doubt lead to customer confusion. With the info currently out there, only the educated realize a more powerful PS4 is coming. If they made a big deal of it at E3, things get lost in translation and people assume VR is for the new PS4 only. Good on them to worry about VR first. Allow the average consumer to realize this device can be used on current hardware before busting out the new stuff.

@marc: I guess I took the Neo as something that could be coupled with VR. I can see that if they don't communicate well, then people would think they need the Neo in order to have VR.

I honestly think Neo was an R&D projects taht was started for many reason more than two years ago, but that today Neo is no longer are as important
- PS VR
- Nitendo NX
- The possibility PS4 was going to flop given the assention opf PC/Steambox/etc
- R&D on PS4 Slim and an effort, as they alwasy have, to reduce pasrt, save costs, and fix flaws

So what changed
As it stood in May 2016, VR is showing that ist will have a much slower start depaite the eagerness of the insutry for Rift and Vive. I think as soon as Sony saw VR was having a slower and rockier start made Sony feel ist had breatjhing room for ist own product and what was EXPECTED of it.

As it stood in May 2016 Nintendo was not going to show off teh NX. A year ago the WSJ reported that NX woudl be a console and handheld with "industry-leading chips". As of May, I do not think anone ion the industry thinks 'NX will have industry leading processing power which si what Sony might have feared. With the NX looking like less of a "bougy-man" I think Sony thinks Neo can wait

As As it stood in May 2016 Steambox was a flop, there are a few companies selling them, but ist hardly took off and PS4 outsells steam box 9000 to 1. The PC and Steam are a force in gaming, taht si why Microsoft is moving hard, but Steam and Steamboxs are not a threat that is coming very fast. PCs will be and remain a part of the gaming industry, but even over the past year we have all see that PC releases can be broken shit-shows because open platforms are by definition OPEN.

As As it stood in May 2016, Sony knew VR, NX, and PC were not going o be an immediate threat, What they didn't know was what Microsoft was going to do. Microsoft didn't have a VR plan. Microsoft has never really demonstrated a fear of Nintendo seeming their family friendly segments as uninteresting, yet NX might have been something Microsoft would be unpredictable with. Microsoft most definitely thinks Steam is a huge threat, and over teh past year has been making moves to fight Steam directly. So Sony going into may probably has a diagram oif what MS might do but coudl not know.

My Conclusions
So why didn't Sony going more out with Neo? It didn't make sense at all. Sony is selling PS4 great. Sony is moving software. Publishers are just getting a handle on workflow and porting for PS4 now, no reason to rock the boat. The outcry from Neo leaks and the reaction to what Phil Spence's said earlier this year about new system under Xbox was OVERWHELMINGLY bad. Three years in peopel are wondeing is they go cheated. Nobody wants a 3 year cycle!

I stand with what I said earlier about Neo rumors in May - Sony will be backing away from Neo and I bet you will never anything called Neo nor will Sony promoste anything that is more pwoerful that PS4. They will put out a slim that likely WILL decode/encode 4K, that slim "may" have a 14 nm SoC lithography, but Sony will no badge it Neo and they will be very clear with publishers that the extra power is not to be obvious if the system is not sending 4K signal. No Neo breaidng, no Neo games, and no Neo for VR is my firm bet.

There are a lot of Sony R&D projects and functional prototypes on the shelf. There are likely A LOT of PS4 designs that were made fully functional prototypes. Yet, making prototypes and even investigating what it would really cost to do something is not a 100% verification they will show up. I think the overall reaction to Neo and Scorpio has been negative, and I think Sony will steer clear of that mess given how well they are doing. Two years ago Neo was a smart line of inquiry, but in 2016 Neo is not needed.


As much as Microsoft might want to set that adgenda for consoles I think they needed Sony to jump with them. I think if Sony stands with ist 40 million unit install base taht will be 50 million + next year.

Their conference was pretty different than previous years. It had less talking and a larger emphasis on just showing games.

There's wasn't much room to slide in a 5-10 minute discussion of the Neo. Not to mention they needed time to sell another piece of hardware, PSVR.

The fact that they showed Days Gone TWICE and it was the end stinger I do have a feeling something else was supposed to be the end bit, maybe Neo? And wasn't the conference a little bit shorter than usual?

I'm sure there are millions of reasons for justification why they didn't show it.

Because Sony has always, ALWAYS for as long as they have been in this business have terrible marketing strategies and ways to inform their customers of their plans.

The PS4 is so successful only really because of how badly Microsoft fucked up.

I might be wrong, but i believe that the best thing Sony could do at this point is revise their plans entirely for the Neo and let Microsoft take the gamble on a faster iteration of hardware. Taking a step back and saying that they would focus on making the strongest first party lineup for PS4 and PSVR would send a message to consumers that they look after their own. Coming off the back of that hardware focused Microsoft conference, it would surely turn some heads. Naturally, the people who search for the best hardware would either replace or add to the PS4 with the Scorpio, but I think that makes up a fraction of the market really.

I think this is them taking the same approach that won them this generation. Let Microsoft make the bold moves here. If it blows up in their face it is a giant win for playstation, and if it happens to work out they can just quickly scoot on in there.

@nilazz: Rumors was that that might of been the next game from Rockstar, who pulled out cause of recent events, but I can see it being the slot for Neo at one point.

@nilazz: Exactly this - it seemed super lean clocking in just over an hour. I expected another 30 minutes or so.

They will announce Slim and Neo at TGS

Uncharacteristically short press conference and showing lengthy demo of Days Gone twice. Almost seems like they had intended on filling up that time with something else. I think they felt compelled to have the Neo at E3 once its existance leaked, then when MS announced the Scorpio specs Sony decided to pump the brakes on that.

I think Jeff has it right: they simply don't want to complicate their messaging. Microsoft can gush about Scorpio because the Xbox One has no momentum, but the PS4 has healthy sales that you don't want to affect.

I think it's mostly because they aren't ready to talk about the Neo and had no intention of talking about it for a while. The leaks forced their hand into confirming its existence but otherwise I think they're going to stick with the schedule they had already established.