Sony PS4 Not Far Away

[dvdpunk]

Sony PS4 Not Far Away

David Richards - Thursday, 3 May 2007

A new Playstation 4 could be less than 18 months away according to a Sony insider. The device will include the same chipset as the current PS3 but where it will differ from the current model is in the drive bay and in the attachment area. It will also include an extensive software suite for the managing of content being streamed to a TV or Hi Fi source.
In addition Sony is working on improving the output experience so that the device can become a true home entertainment centre eliminating the need for a media centre. "We have even looked at a Sony home server based on Playstation technology. This would allow consumers to connect home automation devices to the Sony server while also delivering online gaming and access to an extensive movie and music library" said one Sony source.

Ken Kutaragi, the retiring chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment said in an interview last week that he clearly understands how the PlayStation game consoles should evolve in the next three generations, or fifteen to twenty years from now. He also said that in future it will be possible to create fully Internet-based game consoles.

"As a matter of course, I have the vision of PlayStation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network," Mr. Kutaragi said. Earlier this year when Kazuo Hirai became the second president of SCEI and chief operating officer, some analysts said that Sony may not launch yet another game console and the PlayStation 3 may become the last one. On this Mr. Kutaragi, who is also known as "the father of PlayStation", says that future consoles may be network-based, which automatically reduces the cost to build such machines.

"The design concept of the Cell processor is the network processor," Mr. Kutaragi said. "When the PS3 was introduced last year, the network environment was not ready for a net-based game console. Now it has become possible, so why not enter?"

The outgoing leader has faced a lot of criticism from observers for the PlayStation 3, the latest game console by Sony Group, as the machine is expensive to manufacture despite of the fact that initial batch of games are unlikely to become bestsellers. At the same time, technical advantages of the arch-rival – Microsoft Xbox 360 – and difficulty to develop games for the Cell processor used in the PlayStation 3 have resulted in losing exclusive titles with game developers.

Kazuo Hirai, who is believed to have better relations with game developers than Ken Kutaragi may fit very well into the Internet-based game console strategy, as technical capabilities of game consoles may play much less significant role going forward. http://www.electronista.com/articles...edia.revision/

[calgarymarc]

Interesting, does that mean that future consoles will be cheaper, as they will be more online (network) driven?

[nobody]

Sounds exciting...but I don't want to get dupe out of $300, $400 or $500. Unless, it's extremely worth it(like way more than a fresh coat of paint).

[Unkn0wn47]

That sounds very cool!

[Ascended_Saiyan]

I don't think we'll see the Blu-ray drive disappear from the PlayStation 'til the PS5. I don't believe network access speeds will be fast as an optical drive for the PS4, so streaming would be out of the question. And, think about how long it would take to download a complete game of around 25GB or so. Before that happens, I believe a network speed of at least 50 - 100Mbps would need to be the majority of internet connections. I think the PS4 will feature a much faster Blu-ray drive (10x or better), an improved version of the cell processor (or two cell processors ), and of course a much faster/beefier graphics card. I think we will start to hear real specs start to leak out around 2011 or 2012.

[Forresttheman]

why so soon? why would sony need to realese a new console so soon?

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Originally Posted by Forresttheman

why so soon? why would sony need to realese a new console so soon?

Sony usually releases new consoles about every 6 years and supports the older console for another 4 years (so 10 years total console life). I can almost guarantee you will not see a new console released from Sony before then.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by Forresttheman

why so soon? why would sony need to realese a new console so soon?

More likely disinformation coming from the FUD brigade.

[Zaphod]

Yeah I doubt this will be a "new" console, but rather a refresh of the current PS3. Sony would not be dumb enough with all the money they have spent, and lost, to rebrand the Playstation 3 as another console. I'm sure is will be kind of like the Xbox 360 when it releases with the IPTV functionality, it will still be the same Xbox 360 with added functionality. It could possibly be called something else, but I'm sure it would not be something entirely different as to imply that this is the next generation of Xbox. Changing PS3 to PS4 would seem to be a next generation step for the console, as was the Playsation to the PS2, and now on to the PS3. I think it would do more harm than good.

[juha]

Sigh.... its the main problem with internet and bloggers these days... a new Playstation MODEL does not mean a new Playstation GENERATION

Otherwise we'd be on Playstation20 by now


Look at it as a PSX (which I might add was announced for $2000 to $2500 pricetag months ago), different wiring, new faster drive bay, maybe that bigger hard drive and some minimal changes, to make it less console-like and more media hub (think AppleTV with added blu-ray and gaming) capacities.

Sadly, the state of game "reporting" these days is all "Lets grab attention and have more visitors" - the blogs have become tabloids for the gaming industry.

Much like many posts on this and other forums.

Playstation 4 around the corner? Ive got a better chance of waking up as Brad Pitt tomorrow morning



J.

[Filterlab]

Originally Posted by juha

...Playstation20...

Man, how cool will that be when it hits the markets?!

I'm waiting for the Playstation to come with an all over body sensor suit, virtual reality glasses and a copy of Playboy Mansion.

[juha]

If the generation gap continues as a 4 to 6 year timeline, we'll be too busy with tropical diseases and rising ocean levels, not to mention finding a way to live without oil and moving hundreds of millions of people and emptying entire cities (like Venice or Shangai) - that is, if the republican president on the white house doesn't decide to blow us all up by promoting a nuclear war with Korea / Iran


Playstation20? I don't think it will happen


J.

[POOPonYOU]

This is not a new a Playstation. We'll call it a Playstation 3 ELITE. I read about Sony wanting to release a beefed up Playstation 3 prior to launch in some magazine (sorry can't remember which one). It was going to be a Home Media Playstation 3 with a huge HDD and a stabilizer for the Blu-Ray player. The downside was that it was going to be well north of $1000 (as high as $3500).

Sony doesn't make new consoles everytime the competition out does them. I mean look at the past for the facts. With a 4 year life cycle I think it's safe to replace the word Playstation with XBOX in that article.

[Blackraven]

Go to the console technology section at Beyond3D.com and you'll see plenty topics on this.

To answer the question:

Since Sony releases new models of its game consoles every 5-6 years, then we can expect this thing to be out by the year 2012 (or 2013).

The timeframe of CELL next-gen (or CELL 2.0) is:
-that a 45nm version would be released (which would be placed in the PS3 manufactured within Q1-Q2 of 2009)
-a super-enhanced version containing 32 SPE processors & 2 PPE processors would be released by late 2010. (versus 8 SPE & 1 PPE of the current CELL up to 2009).

Most likely, if Sony is looking for something to power the PS4 in the next decade, the MOST OBVIOUS choice is to go with a next-gen version of CELL (more like a CELL 2.0 or something). Thus, the super-enhanced version comes into mind.

Possible size of the unit??? I'm guessing that it would either be 32 nanometers (or possibly 22 nanometers if IBM wants to compete with Intel on die-shrink size).

So what to expect (most probably):
-Next-gen version of CELL broadband engine with 32 SPE processors and 2 PPE processors (versus 8 SPE-1 PPE of the CELL in the PS3)
-It could probably be a 6-6.4 Gigahertz (twice the CPU frequency over the current one in the PS3) OR MORE
-It would use the 32 nanometer process (or 22 nm if they want to race with Intel in the die-shrink competition).

That's what you can most likely expect though.

As for video card, you can expect a better one this time (unlike the RSX which was a rush-job last minute install)

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by POOPonYOU

This is not a new a Playstation. We'll call it a Playstation 3 ELITE. I read about Sony wanting to release a beefed up Playstation 3 prior to launch in some magazine (sorry can't remember which one). It was going to be a Home Media Playstation 3 with a huge HDD and a stabilizer for the Blu-Ray player. The downside was that it was going to be well north of $1000 (as high as $3500).

Sony doesn't make new consoles everytime the competition out does them. I mean look at the past for the facts. With a 4 year life cycle I think it's safe to replace the word Playstation with XBOX in that article.

That's what I was thinking. Ken Kutaragi had mentioned a home media version was planned.

It's possible it would be an HDPVR and have a Blu-ray burner. For the Japanese market, such an all-in-one would probably be VERY successful.

Gary

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

2 things:

1) Sony will NOT release a new generation before at least 5 years. It's just bad business and would be prohibitively expensive in terms of branding.

2) This whole broadband dream is way further away than techies want to believe. I've been hearing this about movies, music and games for over 10 years now and it's barely making a dent. Music has made the biggest strides and ventures like iTunes are quite successful but it's still a drop in the bucket, the quality still blows (very low bitrate) and the file size is tiny compared to games or movies. We're more than 10 years away from this being important. This first consoles that try it in a big way will suck balls.

[Coltboy]

PS4? i remember when you were the most popular person on the block and college dorm when you had a PS2.

[Blu Tiger]

Nah, this can't be true. The PS3 hasn't even taken off yet.

[Blue]

Because something is posted on the Internet does not mean it's true. Anyone for lots of cheap HD-DVD players at Wal Mart. The PS3 is designed as a games console and can also do some other pretty neat things as a bonus / bribe - call it what you will. If it was the do everything machine why would Sony bother to make Blu-ray players? Sony will most certainly jump into the media centre market and other inovations, but I think it will be a long time before Sony releases a black box that does it all. Maybe this is just another move to slow PS3 sales down. I wouldn't get to excited yet over an unsubstantiated report from an anonymous "inside" source, as we all know what happens when we do. The answer is no longer 42, but closer to 2,000,000...

[JTK]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_bl...newstop;more;7

Bunk.