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PS4 to get Boost Mode, external drive support March 9

Thursday's the day the "Sasuke" update will arrive, says Sony.

Headshot of Edward Moyer
Headshot of Edward Moyer
Edward Moyer Former Senior Editor
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  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
PS4 Pro controller

Sony says Boost Mode will speed up some titles that launched before the PS4 Pro hit the market.

 Sarah Tew/CNET

Been itchin' to rev up those older games on your PlayStation 4 Pro with the "Sasuke" software update and Boost Mode? Thursday's the day.

In a blog post Wednesday, Sony pegged March 9 as the date its gaming console will get the version 4.50 system-software update, which carries the Sasuke code name.

The included Boost Mode promises to speed up the frame rates and possibly load times on some titles that launched before the PS4 Pro and thus weren't designed to take advantage of the console's faster chips. You'll turn on Boost Mode by going to Settings/System.

Sasuke also includes support for up to 8TB on an external storage drive (connected over USB 3.0). That means you can keep more games loaded up and ready for play.

In its Wednesday post, Sony called out some additional features of the 4.50 update, including voice chat for remote play. You can read the post here.