Comments on: Community Poll: Will the PS4 have an optical disk drive?

By: PS4

PS4 — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:39:08 +0000

I’m not too sure if it will be getting an optical disk drive. I’ve heard rumors it may not, but at this point it is all still up in the air.

By: PS4 to Get New Disk Format?

PS4 to Get New Disk Format? — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:37:36 +0000

[...] have mentioned in the past that Sony could consider dropping optical drives on their next generation Sony Playstation 4 when launched, although Sony have more recently indicated that they are not yet ready to abandon [...]

By: Mike Seguin

Mike Seguin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 02:36:55 +0000

Personally, I think that physical means of storage for consoles will never truly phase out. Mind you, they may shift from optical storage to other means; but the companies have to keep in mind that not everyone has/wants an internet connection, no matter how commonplace it has become (much like how nowadays some people don’t even have phone lines).

Not to mention that with the global downturn of the economy, the flow of digital information may receive a growth shortage until it stabilizes itself; not to mention that because of the sheer volume of data being transferred nowadays, ISPs have had to place caps on bandwidth useage. Having to download games will severely damage that limit, and being able to purchase via a hard copy will prove useful.

That being said, I think the PS4 might try and make the jump to holographic disc medium, a la the HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc).

By: Azu

Azu — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:42:53 +0000

Even on an 8 meg connection, a 15 gigabyte game would only take half an hour to download. What’s the big deal? It would probably take longer to go to the store and back..

By: a

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:04:30 +0000

I voted yes. I beleive though that the PS4 will be the last Sony console to carry one.
A factor people tend to underestimate is the extent to which Sony build to the Japanese market. Japan has much better broadband than here. My friends there talk about multi gigabit lines like I’d talk about an 8 meg connection. Because of this there was originaly talk of offloading proccessing from the PS3 to sony servers.

But, the truth is that in most of the world, needing a fast internet connection to use the console just isnt sellable. Even where users have a fast connection, they might be sharing it with the rest of the house and not want to use it pulling games over the network. And SD cards are just to frikin small.

For one more generation, the PS4 needs an optical drive, until the rest of the developed worlds internet catches up with asia.