How Will Coronavirus Impact PS5 and Xbox Series X — and Gran Turismo's World Tour?

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

How Will Coronavirus Impact PS5 and Xbox Series X — and Gran Turismo's World Tour?

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on March 9th, 2020 in the Gaming category.

 

[LR-MR-Cole]

Now its becoming real, when it starts to effect A- my family or B my passions aka motorsports and racing

 

[Arado_Blitz]

Sony hasn't provided details for the PS5, because they probably aren't ready to do so yet. If they were, they could always go the Nvidia way and host the event as an online presentation, just like GTC. Both real and online events would create enough hype either way.

 

[redhed17]

As a whole, new cases of COVID-19 are still increasing but at a much smaller rate than before. That could suggest that the virus has run out of steam — much like the initial two-month explosion with SARS in 2002 — and life will return to normal soon.

I hope, but I fear as more countries start more widespread testing, the number could start to rise dramatically. Added to all the denials and misinformation in some countries, and the size of this thing may not be known for awhile.

Because production of many things are made in China, the affects of this could be felt for years. As far as these games consoles are concerned, it only takes a few key components to be not available for an unspecified time for any planned release to be scuppered.

 

[Famine]

I hope, but I fear as more countries start more widespread testing, the number could start to rise dramatically. Added to all the denials and misinformation in some countries, and the size of this thing may not be known for awhile.

Yup.

Generally speaking, we're seeing the same infection rate patterns outside of Wuhan as we did back in December/January. That had a massive increase - almost exponential - over the course of three weeks, before starting to level off. New infections are close to 0.5% per day now, compared to 15% at its peak - possibly related to the long asymptomatic phase. That initial inflation is being repeated elsewhere, but as a whole, the rate of increase in the rest of the world cases are also starting to decline.

It's fairly typical of coronavirus family infections. SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV did it too, albeit at considerably slower rates. As a whole, it could be on the wane, though in individual countries that may not be the case.

Because production of many things are made in China, the affects of this could be felt for years. As far as these games consoles are concerned, it only takes a few key components to be not available for an unspecified time for any planned release to be scuppered.

There is some chatter than Microsoft and Sony are both looking to move production to Vietnam - it's slightly more expensive, but actual assembly of the console isn't that complex so it's easy to move like that. Other companies, like Apple, will suffer much, much more.

 

[NoonenF1]

Wow GTPlanet jumping on the fear-mongering train too. Are we serious?

 

[Famine]

Wow GTPlanet jumping on the fear-mongering train too. Are we serious?

Fear-mongering? Have you actually read the article?

 

[Joey D]

Wow GTPlanet jumping on the fear-mongering train too. Are we serious?

There's nothing fearmongering in the article, in fact, it's the complete opposite if you read the last paragraph. It poses a genuine question given the state of the travel restrictions, cancellation of events, and the economy.

 

[GT235]

I would like to leave a perception of mine on this subject

If you think that in one day more people die from snakebites, heart attacks and H1N1, that is the least of the problems.

On average more than one hundred thousand people die from the H1N1 virus, and those people who died from COVID-19 are elderly, or people who have chronic health problems. The fear factor is what causes this new pandemic because it is new.

Always follow the guidelines suggested by your health agencies in your country, such as: Wash your hands frequently, if you can't afford it, buy and use an alcohol, avoid contact with infected people, use the simple surgical masks won't do because they don't help to to prevent the disease, only those infected should use it to prevent the virus from proliferating.

This is a very bad thing for the world economy and seeing how countries are dependent on China.

Sorry the text and my opinion to be so true.

 

[Bloodytears]

It's better to overreact, than be careless in this situation. No one will die if doesn't see a new console or GT sport event this year, but from virus they actually could.

 

[juanffy18]

I would like to leave a perception of mine on this subject

If you think that in one day more people die from snakebites, heart attacks and H1N1, that is the least of the problems.

On average more than one hundred thousand people die from the H1N1 virus, and those people who died from COVID-19 are elderly, or people who have chronic health problems. The fear factor is what causes this new pandemic because it is new.

Always follow the guidelines suggested by your health agencies in your country, such as: Wash your hands frequently, if you can't afford it, buy and use an alcohol, avoid contact with infected people, use the simple surgical masks won't do because they don't help to to prevent the disease, only those infected should use it to prevent the virus from proliferating.

This is a very bad thing for the world economy and seeing how countries are dependent on China.

Sorry the text and my opinion to be so true.

I think the same.
And for me, it is all about in majority disinformation and collective panic.

 

[RaceFuchs]

Its a very difficult situation and at this point im not so sure if we will see the launch of the new consoles this year. One question is how the supply situation is in the next couple of months. Second question, how Corona will impact world economy and ultimately peoples wallets. Third question: who wants to launch - or announce - the newest shiny piece of joyful tech in such times with so much negativity around and more serious problems dominating news all over the world. Timing is pretty bad, i think. So it might be an option to push the new consoles back to 2021. Although that would be quite sad.

 

[evldave333]

More importantly what is this virus doing to the sales of corona beer?

 

[davidt33]

Its a very difficult situation and at this point im not so sure if we will see the launch of the new consoles this year. One question is how the supply situation is in the next couple of months. Second question, how Corona will impact world economy and ultimately peoples wallets. Third question: who wants to launch - or announce - the newest shiny piece of joyful tech in such times with so much negativity around and more serious problems dominating news all over the world. Timing is pretty bad, i think. So it might be an option to push the new consoles back to 2021. Although that would be quite sad.

Ditto. It's why after having issues with my old PS4 Standard, while I was intending to wait for the release of PS5 I bit the bullet and went ahead to purchase a new PS4 Slim just yesterday to at least be able to continue my racing fix until such time as the PS5 might be eventually released...who knows when.

 

[redhed17]

There is some chatter than Microsoft and Sony are both looking to move production to Vietnam - it's slightly more expensive, but actual assembly of the console isn't that complex so it's easy to move like that. Other companies, like Apple, will suffer much, much more.

Assembling the things is only part of a solution if a lot of the components are also coming from China, or any other country that may use the lock down method of large areas of the country to stop/slow down the spread, like Italy.

Nikon have had to put back the release of their D6 DLSR because "‘As a result of delays in the procurement of parts and components from a third-party cooperating company due to measures implemented in response to the spread of COVID-19.’ Their aim was to get the camera into Pro Photographers hands ahead of the Olympics. Then again, the Olympics...

 

[Famine]

Assembling the things is only part of a solution if a lot of the components are also coming from China, or any other country that may use the lock down method of large areas of the country to stop/slow down the spread, like Italy.

Yep, that's in the piece. The only place AMD makes the 7nm chips for both consoles is TSMC in Taiwan and the political peculiarities of Taiwan means it's lumped in with China. This includes the WHO's classification as "very high risk", and travel bans. Bizarrely it wasn't even allowed to access information from or share information with the WHO on the virus and disease, because it's not a full member of the UN...

 

[Eggstor]

More importantly what is this virus doing to the sales of corona beer?

Given a recent "survey" by a PR firm that claimed 37% wouldn't drink Corona beer because of the coronavirus (or at least that's how it was reported),....

 

[xxy98cn]

As a Chinese, I can tell you that most provinces outside Hubei have gradually come back to the track. The whole society and production stopped for more than one month, as the outbreak happened just before our Spring Festival (Jan. 24th this year) when people tend to go back to their hometown and all kinds of production should stop for one week or so to celebrate the holiday. But this time it's much longer, and it really suffers as people need all kinds of things to support Hubei and themselves. As a result, the central government (consider it as federal with more power if you're American) requires industries to come back to work gradually, and most people, especially those in coastal provinces, have come back to work with caution.

Right now I have a much longer winter break, with online sessions provided by my university, and other 'unnecessary' business similarly postponed their schedule to return to work. Hubei has one of the main car manufacturers in China, so production and sales are both greatly affected. But as far as I know, console and other things you may care about are not produced in Hubei, and my conclusion is that there will be a difference but it's limited.

But the epidemic in China seems to end before April, what I'm nervous about is that in Japan, Europe and USA. It's something more dangerous than SARS and MERS: it's less lethal but much easier to spread. I can see Trump and other people describe it as a new flu, and what I'm thinking is they can't see what we did and suffered in Wuhan.

 

[redhed17]

Thanks for giving some first hand insight into what has gone on, and the current situation. Thankfully you seem to have come through it healthy.

Trump and other people describe it as a new flu, and what I'm thinking is they can't see what we did and suffered in Wuhan.

Oooh, that's so tempting to reply to, but I'll let it go and wait and see how history show's how and why it has been handled the way it has/was.

 

[danimac]

I think the only option for major events is to have like what F1 have an area which will help to check people for the virus and stuff but only for the workers and participants of said events. Then have no live audiences like Bahrain just have everyone watch it at home and on streaming services. It sucks but it might be the only viable option.

 

[Touring Mars]

Generally speaking, we're seeing the same infection rate patterns outside of Wuhan as we did back in December/January.

Quite - hence why I don't understand the comment in the article that basically says the opposite:

"As a whole, new cases of COVID-19 are still increasing but at a much smaller rate than before"

... this simply isn't true and should be edited IMHO.

Sorry to be picky, but given that it is a main page article on an important subject, I reckon it needs to be clarified.

 

[xxy98cn]

Thanks for giving some first hand insight into what has gone on, and the current situation. Thankfully you seem to have come through it healthy.

Oooh, that's so tempting to reply to, but I'll let it go and wait and see how history show's how and why it has been handled the way it has/was.

Generally the epidemic was limited in Hubei and some closely linked provinces like Zhejiang, where people are famous for doing business home and abroad, especially Italy. My hometown is not so affected. But the disease was spread to other countries, which is not good.

The second question is the main difference between China and some countries like USA. I just don't like people dying when it could have been prevented, while some else don't think so when it costs.

 

[Famine]

Quite - hence why I don't understand the comment in the article that basically says the opposite:

... this simply isn't true and should be edited IMHO.

Sorry to be picky, but given that it is a main page article on an important subject, I reckon it needs to be clarified.

It isn't the opposite - I'm talking about two different things in the article and in the post - and it was true at the time of writing.

The final paragraph of the article deals with the global total's rate of increase in (detected) new infections, which is still increasing, but at a decreasing rate. In fact the growth factor for global new cases in the three days was declining and fell below 1 on Sunday 8th - 1.35, 1.17, 1.11, 0.96. There'd actually been three days from the previous seven where the rate decreased - the longest period of decrease since the beginning of February - though that followed a (very) large increase of 35% on 3rd March (and a drop by 11% the following day; don't know why). It went back up on Monday (I didn't have those figures at the time, because it was still Monday ), making the day-on-day increase broadly similar across the three weeks as a whole, other than big spikes on February 20th and 24th.

The bulk of the first half of the article regards China's supply chain to the console industry, so it's relevant to speak about China's figures as part of the whole, even if they are now a tiny part of the global new case rate - the knock-on effect could be significant as @xxy98cn notes.


What I mention in the post above is the ROW/Outside of China rate of increase (which the second half of the article mainly focuses on), and that is currently tracking the same as the China rate did five weeks ago. In fact new (detected) infections in China are now back down to the levels they were at in January, while the ROW experiences the increase.

Continuing the post (rather than the article) the pattern in ROW compared to China is interesting. China saw an 8-fold increase in new cases from Jan 23-Jan 30, and then not quite double from Jan 31-Feb 5, followed by a period of large daily counts of new cases but at a small and variable rates over 10 days and then a drop back to late-January levels. We can't assume that ROW will follow this, but we saw an 8-fold increase in new cases from Feb 25-Mar 3, but not quite double since then. If they do track, we're in the middle of that period where new cases are at their largest, but the rate of increase is relatively small (and variable) compared to the previous two weeks - but I'm not sure we can enact the same measures in the USA and some of Europe that China could.


The data at Johns Hopkins (which I've found to be the most useful out there) suggests ROW has had a broadly geometric increase (compared to an initial exponential phase in China), which may now be leveling off. It also says 55% of infected have now recovered, leaving around 47k active cases:

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6


I'm happy to change the sentence but the data I looked at while writing the piece and noted above suggested that we've seen the biggest daily increases in new cases that we're going to see, and while there may be worse days, the general trend is more towards a decreasing rate of increase of new cases (not quite a decreasing rate of new cases overall yet, except the odd day). As we're a gaming site rather than a source for coronavirus information, it has to be brief.

Perhaps drop the word "much"?

Edit: I originally had this in the article:

What is Coronavirus?
Coronavirus is actually a family of viruses which infect birds and mammals. The name comes from the fact that when viewed under an electron microscope, they have a corona, or crown, pattern around them, like the outer layer of a star. Coronaviruses are known to infect various birds, pigs, cows, ferrets, bats, and even whales.

There's seven known types of coronavirus that causes disease in humans, four of which are responsible for severe colds. Two further coronavirus strains, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, are well known for causing major disease outbreaks this century. The first, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) appeared in 2002, with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) appearing in 2012.

A new, seventh member of human coronaviruses, originally referred to as novel coronavirus or nCoV, caused the current outbreak. This strain is closely related to SARS-CoV, hence its new official name of SARS-CoV-2. Like the other coronaviruses, it causes a disease which affects breathing -- known as COVID-19.

The virus has two particularly nasty aspects. Firstly it has a long 'asymptomatic infectious' phase. This is when someone exposed to, and infected by, the virus has no symptoms but can infect others. On average this is around a week, but in some cases it can be two or more weeks.

In addition, unlike some deadlier and more infectious diseases like measles, there is no vaccine nor vaccination program. That means its spread is not limited by herd immunity and it can infect any population it reaches.

It spreads by contact with infected fluids, such as cough droplets, vomit, and excrement. Other coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for nine days at room temperature, so hand washing is a vital defense. Although face masks are gaining popularity as a physical barrier, they're not sufficient to keep the virus out. Indeed they're counterproductive for healthy people as the virus may survive on the outside of your mask, transferring to your hands when you take it off.

Isolation from others can be effective, but difficult to achieve unless you're a Prepper. Some places, such as Wuhan in China (the first place to identify the disease) and much of northern Italy, are under quarantine to prevent transmission. Many countries are banning large gatherings, which lead to the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show last week, and some large companies are not allowing international travel.

What are the effects of COVID-19?
COVID-19, is pretty similar to a bad cold in the majority of cases, with coughing, fever, fatigue, and excess sputum. However it may progress to a much more serious condition, with more than 5% of cases classed as "serious", and 3.4% resulting in death -- usually from pneumonia.

That's not quite the full story though. The majority of cases and deaths have occurred in China, where the disease was first identified. Outside China, the death rate is just under 2%, although the rate in Italy and the USA is nearer 4%. The real rate may be as little as half that, as people with mild cases may not appear in the numbers. They might not volunteer for testing, due to the disease's similarity to a bad cold, resulting in a much higher true infection rate and much lower death rate.

For the most part deaths are in people aged over 50, and those with existing underlying health conditions. As yet, no-one under the age of 10 has died from complications of COVID-19. Long-term consequences of COVID-19 are unknown at present.

While that all sounds pretty terrifying, even in Wuhan -- ground zero for the virus -- known infections number just 0.5% of the population. The rate of new infections worldwide is slowing, but it remains to be seen if the situation is more controlled.

The last sentence of that might work better.

 

[Corsa]

Just read an article about a quarantined man in Nebraska coming off a cruise with a Yokohama (Tokyo) connection.

His words...

“It was not like a regular cold so there was no sore throat, no stuffy nose, no sneezing, no body aches with a high temperature and other than that dry cough I would have been fine after about ten hours after my fever broke.”

I think the media is just doing what they do, looking for clicks.

I do not think this will impact expected console release dates. Then again I have no crystal ball and there’s no telling what tonight will bring, much less tomorrow in this social media world we live in. Blah.

 

[redhed17]

Just read an article about a quarantined man in Nebraska coming off a cruise with a Yokohama (Tokyo) connection.

His words...

“It was not like a regular cold so there was no sore throat, no stuffy nose, no sneezing, no body aches with a high temperature and other than that dry cough I would have been fine after about ten hours after my fever broke.”

I think the media is just doing what they do, looking for clicks.

I'm thinking that this person was a healthy person between16 and 60. People like this are more likely to have no significant problems, that is not to say that anyone like that would be 100% safe, and anyone outside of that is 100% in danger, but people are dying from this thing. People who have it can, and are, passing it on to other people who may be more vulnerable to this virus.

Events with large gatherings of people are being cancelled, like the MotoGP and the Italian football league, events are being played with no fans like the F1. Airlines are stopping flights to some countries. Some countries are virtually closing borders to try and contain it. You don't do any of that on a whim following what any media may be saying 'for clicks'. Ffs

I'm glad that this chap came though it without no long term problems, the thing is though you can't speak to those that don't survive it.

At this moment in the UK there are only 373 confirmed cases, but 6 fatalities. Those are not the odds I would like from any infection, when the average death rate for 'seasonal Flu' is 0.13%. It's all click bait though eh!

 

[Corsa]

I'm thinking that this person was a healthy person between16 and 60. People like this are more likely to have no significant problems, that is not to say that anyone like that would be 100% safe, and anyone outside of that is 100% in danger, but people are dying from this thing. People who have it can, and are, passing it on to other people who may be more vulnerable to this virus.

Events with large gatherings of people are being cancelled, like the MotoGP and the Italian football league, events are being played with no fans like the F1. Airlines are stopping flights to some countries. Some countries are virtually closing borders to try and contain it. You don't do any of that on a whim following what any media may be saying 'for clicks'. Ffs

I'm glad that this chap came though it without no long term problems, the thing is though you can't speak to those that don't survive it.

At this moment in the UK there are only 373 confirmed cases, but 6 fatalities. Those are not the odds I would like from any infection, when the average death rate for 'seasonal Flu' is 0.13%. It's all click bait though eh!

67.
Yes, unfortunately Fox News.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/coronavirus-patient-says-its-been-easier-than-having-a-cold

 

[theschledy]

Just read an article about a quarantined man in Nebraska coming off a cruise with a Yokohama (Tokyo) connection.

His words...

“It was not like a regular cold so there was no sore throat, no stuffy nose, no sneezing, no body aches with a high temperature and other than that dry cough I would have been fine after about ten hours after my fever broke.”

I think the media is just doing what they do, looking for clicks.

I do not think this will impact expected console release dates. Then again I have no crystal ball and there’s no telling what tonight will bring, much less tomorrow in this social media world we live in. Blah.

This logic can be applied to pretty much any news story. When hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires happen, are news outlets reporting on those things for clicks too? You're basically saying that some random guy from Nebraska is a more credible source of information than anything else. What's the logic behind that?

67.
Yes, unfortunately Fox News.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/coronavirus-patient-says-its-been-easier-than-having-a-cold

Do you trust all Fox News stories?

 

[Corsa]

Do you trust all Fox News stories?

I don’t trust my brother, my mailman and sometimes question my dog.
Fox, CNN, NBC read the articles and believe whatever you believe.

 

[kjeldsen]

Wow GTPlanet jumping on the fear-mongering train too. Are we serious?

The questions is, are you serious? China had to build extra hospitals, had to bring in extra incinerators to burn dead people and ended up locking down an estimated 700 million people to get things somewhat under control.

In Italy critical patients that are above 65 can not be helped anymore, the resources are used up on younger people.

It is a full on disaster, and the only thing that can make that change is if EVERYBODY understands what is happening, and does their absolute best, and then SOME MORE to help stop/reduce the spreading, that includes people like you... and that... makes me seriously scared...

 

[baldgye]

Listening to the GiantBomb Cast this week, they talk about out sourcing companies based in China (where about 1/3 of all out sourcing is done) is in total meltdown and that this will have a large impact on games due out this year. Not only that but Google has now started to push people to work from home and I can only imagine game studios follow suit soon.


But further to that I think a bigger issue with the new consoles is the economy. If the rest of the major powers in Europe follow Italy’s lead it’ll lead many people to go without a salary for a half a month at worse. The idea of spending £400-500 on a videogame machine might see pretty silly. Not only that but the general impact on the economy and sales of new machines could be massively hit. I wouldn’t be surprised with not only supply chain issues but also economic and game development issues that these systems are pushed back to next year.