The PS6 price is currently as buried as a worm, but terrible rumors and predictions around it keep wriggling around in the form of a $999 standard console. This idea terrifies me more than the confirmed reality of the ribbon worm parasite I recently learned has multiple "temporary" gonads, and it seems former Sony Interactive CEO Shawn Layden is pretty freaked, too.
Layden tells Kotaku that most people "should be afraid of the thousand-dollar console," as it threatens to sap up consumers' bank accounts and stall sales for retailers. "That's a whole lot of money."
And if a whole lot of money is what Sony demands, Layden struggles to imagine what would make a PS5 player – who's at peace with the fact that they spent $500 six years ago, and is currently playing Uncharted – make the jump to a new machine. With $1,000, you could have bought six Nintendo DS handhelds in 2004, or, like, pay your rent.
Then there's the fact that "when a new console launches, you’re not going to have a lot of games for it," Layden reasons. "You can have anywhere from maybe six to 12 that'll be out there in that launch window. And if you put a four-digit price tag on the hardware against that, I think you really slow the adoption curve tremendously."
"I mean really, how much more ray tracing can you put in there?" Layden quips. To answer, I'm guessing not that much more.
Layden continues, "Will my eyes actually see 120 frames per second?" I doubt it.
But even if we existed in an incredible reality where Sony was capable of packing $1,000 worth of ray tracing into their latest console, the human eye could perceive infinite frames per second, and the PS6 launched with Elden Ring 2 through 4, I question whether people would want to invest in the reputation Sony is currently creating.
In the last two weeks alone, the company has decided to abandon physical game discs and guide subsidiary Crunchyroll into creating a ridiculous subscription-gated online store. By the time the PS6 launches – probably in 2028, or later – I don't know that Sony will have done much to assure fans that it respects their quaint desire to feel like they're real people rather than leaking bags of money. Actually, I expect companies to only further devalue the average person's sense of ownership as they continue to foist fewer, yet more expensive options with Klarna payment plans upon us.
And, no, I would not love PlayStation if it were a worm.
Layden tells Kotaku that the industry sentiment for a long time was, "You can't sell a game machine unless it's $399." Ultimately, $1,000 doesn't have the same ring to it.
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