Sony's Shuhei Yoshida says the PlayStation Neo will not shorten the life cycle of the PlayStation 4 as it is still part of the current console generation.

One of the biggest topics of conversation coming out of this year's E3 is Sony and Microsoft's plan to release upgraded versions of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, called the PlayStation Neo and Project Scorpio, respectively. While some gamers are excited about the benefits these more powerful consoles will provide, there has been some concern that the industry is moving on to more powerful hardware less than 4 years after the current consoles hit the market.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer attempted to allay the fears of Xbox fans last week when he said that Project Scorpio would not shorten the life cycle of the Xbox One. Now, Shuhei Yoshida, president of worldwide studios at Sony Interactive Entertainment, has spoken out to confirm that Sony has the same point of view about the PlayStation Neo and PlayStation 4.

"The PlayStation 4 is the PlayStation 4," Yoshida told German website Gameswelt.TV, and the "new high-end PS4 is still PS4, so the life cycle is not going to be shorter."

It's not surprising that Yoshida was unwilling to give any further details on the Neo but he did add that he was surprised that Microsoft made its upgraded console an official announcement at this year's E3. "I was not expecting them to talk about [Project Scorpio,]" he said. "It's very very super interesting what they are doing."

Sony took the opposite approach with the Neo ahead of this year's E3, putting out a statement before the show began that the console would not be present at Sony's press conference. Most in the gaming press praised this as a solid move, as it allowed Sony to focus on the games.  Despite its absence, there are still some PlayStation Neo rumors circulating in the last few days that Sony plans to release the Neo in 2016. Such a move would be unexpected but it would mean that Sony would beat Microsoft's Project Scorpio to market, possibly by as much as a year in advance of that console's expected Fall 2017 release.

An early PlayStation Neo release would also make sense given that Sony is releasing the PlayStation VR this October. Virtual reality is one of the leading reasons why both Sony and Microsoft decided to begin work on upgraded consoles in the first place, as the tech requires more powerful specs to run smoothly. With major upcoming games like Resident Evil 7 planning on a full VR experience, releasing the Neo sooner rather than later would give gamers a higher quality experience.

Source: Gameswelt