Is the Playstation 4 About to be announced??

[billcosby]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

---

Yeah, I'm curious about that as well. I don't see why Sony would not make the PS4 backwards compatible. That'd be extremely foolish.

Were I a bean counter at Sony, I'd be thinking.... "should we let all our customers (moneybags) play their old favorites with their old discs that we no longer profit from or... squeeze them for 10$ per retro title, at no discernible effort on our part."

They are thinking and that makes me while the commentary on console supercorporations is simply .

I no wanna play anymore. Back to PC gaming, as others suggested. I'm quite looking forward to building one. It's been a long time.

[Bob The Skutter]

At this point I have the Wii U, Xbox 360 and PS3. I won't be able to afford to pick up the new ones and from the rumoured specs they're looking much of a muchness in terms of what they'll do. What does interest me is the SteamBox but who knows when that'll come and how much it'll be.

Think I'll be seeing what comes of that before I look at any of them but no doubt I'll be watching the announcements and wanting each and every one of them before the end of the year.

[Kelthaz]

Bob The Skutter wrote:

---

Think I'll be seeing what comes of that before I look at any of them but no doubt I'll be watching the announcements and wanting each and every one of them before the end of the year.

Yup. It'll take some time for the good games to come out, but eventually all three next-gen consoles will be awesome. I'll probably start the generation off with the Wii U since it's had more time to build up a decent library, it's most likely going to be the cheapest of the three consoles, and I can't live without Nintendo's glorious franchises.

So I take it the assumption is that the Xbox 720 (or whatever it's called) and the PS4 will be announced at E3?

[Bob The Skutter]

Kelthaz wrote:

---

Yup. It'll take some time for the good games to come out, but eventually all three next-gen consoles will be awesome. I'll probably start the generation off with the Wii U since it's had more time to build up a decent library, it's most likely going to be the cheapest of the three consoles, and I can't live without Nintendo's glorious franchises.

So I take it the assumption is that the Xbox 720 (or whatever it's called) and the PS4 will be announced at E3?

I've got the Wii U only because of a pricing mistake and I got it £100 cheaper than it should have been. But I've been wanting a load of the games they announced recently. As well as ZombiU.

It's looking like Sony will announce soon and MS will announce at E3.

[RoJoHen]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

---

I bought it at the right time that it wasn't much more than a blu-ray player (which I didn't have) to get a PS3 which is also a more compatible player than those early ones (even has 3D patched in). It's since been my Netflix player and I use it to watch .mp4/divx files I've downloaded/converted. And eventually I got around to enjoying some games on it.

No buyers remorse whatsoever with that purchase.

Indeed. I've had mine for about 5 years at this point, so it's one of the original fatty models. My DVD player broke, so I figured I might as well upgrade to Blu-Ray, and at the time standalone Blu-Ray players were still upwards of $300 and didn't yet have WiFi connections, so I figured I may as well get the PS3, which did way more things for exactly the same price.

But that's also why I'm nervous about the PS4. Blu-Ray was the feature that made me buy the PS3, and I already have it. Since Blu-Ray isn't going away any time soon, I'm not sure what PS4 could offer that would make it a "must have," aside from certain newer games that will only be released on that platform (which, for me, likely include the next Batman and Uncharted games).

[MacLeod]

What sells consoles is games, I'm not expecting to see these new consoles to Q4 2014 at the earliest.

For the new Xbox, I would expect Halo 5 to be a launch title. Might as well come out with your big gun.

I would also if I were designing it go with at least a 1Tb Hard drive, more space to make money from DLC. Espically if you want it to become a home hub.

[FordSVT]

billcosby wrote:

---

Oh I fully realize that, just throwing my opinion in the ring. I know the glory days of gaming, the golden age is long behind us and now we have mindless, cheap apps and shallow MMORPGs. Everything is geared towards "social interaction" which is truly a contradiction since everyone is sequestered in their basements as they play (anyone remember local area connection sessions? Or even "two player mode?")

I've been playing video game since the 70s and I can't begin to state how much I disagree with this.

[MacLeod]

I player co-op mode with a friend a couple of times a month (on the same machine).

[AlphaMan]

Kelthaz wrote:

---

Yup, it seems about that time. Let's hope Sony learned their painful, multi-billion dollar lesson from the PS3 and refrains from releasing yet another overpriced supercomputer. Of course, given the Vita, that seems unlikely.

"Painful Multi-billion dollar lesson?"

I think you may have overstated things a little here. Global marketshare between the Xbox 360 and PS3 are more or less equal with several analyst predicting the PS3 to pull ahead in 2013. Considering that the 360 had a year head start and at least $50-100 cheaper than the PS3, I'd call that quite impressive.

While Sony has had a tough time financially over the last few years, the Playstation division is the division bringing Sony out of the cellar.

If Sony should take anything away from $599-gate, I hope that it is that in addition to putting out the Caddilac of game consoles, you'll also need a more sensible entry level model to maintain marketshare. The launch 360 was pretty much barebones and didn't do half the things the launch PS3 could do without being nickeled and dimed to death with peripherals. The PS3 was wi-fi ready out the box, rechargeable controllers, Bluetooth and Blu-ray compatible, large hard drive and free online service. Comparing Microsofts initial offering side by side, $599 didn't sound nearly as absurd in 2006. This is why I choose to get the PS3 first.

One feature I'd like to see on the PS4 is a DVR of some sorts with a quick connection to You Tube, Twitter and Facebook. I'd love to record my gameplay footage and quickly share my experiences.

I'd also like to see more TV services like HBOGo and more make its way to PSN. I know XBox has it, but why would I pay Microsoft $60/year just to pay HBO another $20/month when I could just flip inputs and watch it on cable?

Any more predictions/wishes for PS4?

[Kelthaz]

AlphaMan wrote:

---

"Painful Multi-billion dollar lesson?"

While Sony has had a tough time financially over the last few years, the Playstation division is the division bringing Sony out of the cellar.

As of February 2011, Sony had lost $4.7 billion dollars on the Playstation 3.

Yes, this article is two years old, but the PS3 has not made $5 billion profit over the last two years to even things out. The Playstation 3 (and the Xbox 360) did not make money. They lost billions.

And here's an article from last month. Sony has lost $4.951 billion on the PS3 and Microsoft has lost $2.996 billion. Yes, both these systems had a fantastic library of games for us gamers, but from a financial point of view they were complete bombs. The hardware issues from the 360 (RROD's) and the overpriced, supercomputer that was the PS3 led to massive losses.

[AlphaMan]

JarodRussell wrote:

---

I'm going to leave consoles behind and return to PC gaming. The PS4 doesn't even support PS3 games. Didn't bother me back then with PS2 games since I didn't own any. Now I do, and backwards compatibility should be a given.

So, out I am.

And I probably shouldn't have compared the PC and PS3 graphics of games like Crysis 2, GTA IV or the Assassin's Creed games.

Well, this is obviously speculation at this point... We don't know If the PS4 will be backwards compatible or not. I think there are 2 trains of thought on the matter... The PS3 wasn't PS2 compatible, so why would we expect the PS4 to be PS3 compatible?

On second thought, I totally expect my PSN profile to carry over to the PS4 since the PSN will operate over both PS3 & PS4 consoles. The PSN keeps track of my purchases and I can download them as I need to.

I don't know if disc based PS3 games will work on PS4, but I'll bet that PSN downloads will work on PS4. Now, I've downloaded full retail games over the PSN like Playstation All Stars and DMC... If those work on my PS4, I'll be so happy... but I think that's a long shot.

[FPAlpha]

Beyond Antares wrote:

---

I think online connections have a utilitarian use because videogames can now be updated/fixed whereas you could only do that with computer games in the old days.

As opposed to the good 'ole days where game producers actually had to test their games to death because they knew that once released they couldn't go back and fix things so it should work perfectly right out the box.

Nowadays it seems that producers think "Oh well.. we can patch it later. Just release the damn thing so we can make some money!". Online capability and hard drives to store data on has become a crutch in game development when it comes to technical aspects of the games and i can't shake the feeling that some producers are willingly risking some bad reviews and a tarnished reputation to a degree just so they can finally release a game and make some profits because they now have the option to fix the game later on.

On the plus side it allows them to balance a game further after players around the world get their hands on and give a far better review/feedback and you now have the option to get some additional content such as new game modes, maps, equipment etc. available without actually having to release a physical medium with the updates through retailers (that can be reserved for major expansions).

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

---

Yeah, I'm curious about that as well. I don't see why Sony would not make the PS4 backwards compatible. That'd be extremely foolish.

Actually it's not from Sony's perspective. Once a game is sold Sony doesn't make any money off it apart from in game micro payments and stuff like that. Sony (and the game producers) want you to buy new games from the stores and they want to push the new console with their shinier graphics so old games are of no use to them to promote the PS4 so they will make sure everyone focuses on the PS4 instead of the older model.

In their infinite grace and gamer friendliness they may release some very popular PS3 titles and label them as Classic games or something like that because.. you know.. they understand gamers and stuff and empathize with them (and there's the thing with making money.. again.. off some old games where they just did some graphics remodelling to make it look a little better)

Personally i only own a 360 with i bought last year (yeah.. i'm totally up to date with my gaming ) but i'm ready to see what the new generation has to offer.

I still need to buy a BR player and since it's pretty sure the PS4 will have one i'm waiting to see the specs and above all the price.
If they think they can do a PS3 release again with 600+ Euro just because they are Sony and their console is supposed to be the second coming of Christ i'll most likely pass and buy a normal BR player and wait until the successor to the 360 is released to make a comparison and decide who'll provide next generation video gaming.

Maybe Sony will learn something from their mistakes.. it sure cost them a lot with the absolute disaster that was the PS3 release. The only thing that prevented their total annihilation was fanboys who play Playstation out of conviction/habit and the massive technical RROD problems of the earlier 360s.

If they hold back on the price a bit (likely as BR are cheap nowadays) and have good games for the release it might actually be really tempting this time to be an early adopter.. especially if they really announce it in a few weeks and release it sometime this year. Especially if they get a 6 month to 1 year lead over MS's next console which would let people save up some money to buy the 720 (or whatever it will be called).

[MacLeod]

^I suspect that the console manufactures expect to make a lose on the console itself, and make a profit from the games. The trick is to minimise that lose.

Is there also areas which favour one console over another as a proportion of overall sales.

[AlphaMan]

Kelthaz wrote:

---

And here's an article from last month. Sony has lost $4.951 billion on the PS3 and Microsoft has lost $2.996 billion. Yes, both these systems had a fantastic library of games for us gamers, but from a financial point of view they were complete bombs. The hardware issues from the 360 (RROD's) and the overpriced, supercomputer that was the PS3 led to massive losses.

Hmmmm..... Not good indeed.

More than likely, this will be the last generation for home consoles the way we know it.

I'd like to see Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo actually get together, establish a standard and license game players to a number of different manufacturers, much the same way there are different manufacturers of DVD and Blu-Ray players. This game player would play all games regardless of studio and connect to an online service like XBL or PSN.

Pretty much what Steam is doing.

[Robert Maxwell]

MacLeod wrote:

---

^I suspect that the console manufactures expect to make a lose on the console itself, and make a profit from the games. The trick is to minimise that lose.

Is there also areas which favour one console over another as a proportion of overall sales.

Selling consoles at a loss, if it is done at all, is generally only expected for the first year or two of the console's lifespan. Beyond that, they do expect there to be a profit on each unit, as the manufacturing becomes more streamlined and components become cheaper.

The PS3 itself began making a profit after 4 years--a bit longer than usual. But I think you can primarily blame that on the initial sluggish sales, and the extra expenses of the proprietary architecture and BR player.