Playstation 4 Officially Confirmed As In Development By Sony

[Robin]

Originally after the PS3 launched there had been talk that it was likely to be Sony's last console because of how badly it did initially and the huge investment in its development.

Now that a few years have passed and the PS3 had gotten into its stride the mood has changed and there had been rumors floating around that Sony would give it another shot.

As Nintendo is very close to releasing their new console and Microsoft is doing something behind the scenes Sony finally confirmed that the next generation gaming console is in development.

Sony's Masaru Kato said (it has been translated),

For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life, But this is a platform business, so for the future platform – when we'll be introducing what product, I cannot discuss – but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there. It is no longer thinkable to have a huge initial financial investment like that of the PS3."

So it seems the next one will be much more cost effective in its development, I don't know how this will affect how ambitious it is but at least we now know the gaming console division will still continue.

Thoughts?

Robin.

 

[Starfirebird]

I still believe it is too early to be working on a new console.

PSMove came out not too long ago(Which i Enjoy).They still only have a handful of games out and i could see the PSMove getting better once they tap into it more.

I've noticed some of the newer games look better and play better so they are still doing pretty well on the PS3.

I think everything is fine on the PS3.I enjoy it how it is.

One thing to add.If they are really thinking about making a new PS4 or whatever it may be called the PS3 games better be backwards compatible with the new console.

 

[occasionalracer]

It will be interesting to watch how this next Gen consoles will be entering the market. I don't think Nintendo will have as many sales this time around, and I would love to see how Microsoft and Sony deal with the timing of the new console release. I think Sony will release the Playstation about a year later again, but will not loose out on the market share, simply because of their good reputation has earned them the time to wait out for their product release. I also wonder how many years the PS3 life will go on while PS4 is out. Probably another good 5 years from now.

 

[FoolKiller]

Originally after the PS3 launched there had been talk that it was likely to be Sony's last console because of how badly it did initially and the huge investment in its development.

Now that a few years have passed and the PS3 had gotten into its stride the mood has changed and there had been rumors floating around that Sony would give it another shot.

Rumors and speculation from financial journalists, based on a structure change, that no one in the gaming industry took serious. In fact, Kotaku had an article reporting on the Financial Times speculation and Michael McWhertor finished it by saying he was so confident a PS4 would be coming that he would put $50 down on a preorder at that moment.

As soon as there was a new PSP model out it should have been obvious that the PS4 would be out. I am always amazed at the so called industry analysts. If I bet against them every time they predicted something I would be a rich man by now.

As Nintendo is very close to releasing their new console and Microsoft is doing something behind the scenes Sony finally confirmed that the next generation gaming console is in development.


[/I]
So it seems the next one will be much more cost effective in its development, I don't know how this will affect how ambitious it is but at least we now know the gaming console division will still continue.

Thoughts?

Unless they show a nearly complete model at E3 next month I am predicting a prototype design next year with expected specs, a finalized test model available at the 2013 E3, and then on sale in fall 2013 or spring 2014.

So, I am guessing 2-3 years before we get our hands on it.

I have three major requests: built-in wifi, Blu-Ray included still, and backward compatibility with all previous home Playstation consoles.

 

[Luminis]

Well, if it's confirmed as being in production as of now, that doesn't say much about when it will be released, so it's all just speculation, really.
Personally, I think the whole 'generation' thing will start to get less noticible. the next Nintendo will be out quite a bit before the next Xbox, which, in turn, is probably going to be released a lot sooner than the PS4. All just speculation, but I think it does sound plausible.

Anyways, after the PSN accident, I think Sony will be in a, well, not so comfortable position, to be honest. They've probably gotten a lot of bad reputation over this, which, alongsie the bad start of the PS3, is somewhat reflected when they were talking about not investing as much as they did for the PS3 at the beginning.
With BluRay being available far cheaper, this shouldn't be that big of an issue, though.

Either way, I think Sony will have to introduce something truly stunning if they want to get a leg up on MS, especially if they're releasing their console early again.

 

[Robin]

Whats happened is that Nintendo has forced everyone's hand basically midway through a 'lifecycle'. With them saying they are going back into the 'hardcore' market its a real threat for Sony and MS because people could flock to the new console right away like what happened with the PS2 leaving the Dreamcast in the dust.

As for the Move it hasn't been a successful as Sony had anticipated, its almost like they jumped on the motion wand ship just as it was sinking. To the casual gamer (where the money is) the move is no different to the Wii controller and they are bored of the waggle mini game stuff. Also the developers have yet to come up with anything significant other than tacked on functionality or casual games. Some of the press have been calling it the new Sixaxis and Sony have to stop it from going that way.

Kinect seems to be getting more attention because you don't hold anything and the sales speak from themselves outselling move 5-1. Even so these 'console life extending' gimmicks don't look to carry both of them for another 5 years.

The reality is that the traditional concept of lifecycles doesn't really exist anymore, the days of tech even lasting a few years are over because the pace at which everything is changing to too fast. Just look at how the iPad decimated the netbook market overnight and now all manufacturers are making rivals.

Rumors and speculation from financial journalists, based on a structure change, that no one in the gaming industry took serious. In fact, Kotaku had an article reporting on the Financial Times speculation and Michael McWhertor finished it by saying he was so confident a PS4 would be coming that he would put $50 down on a preorder at that moment.

I'm sorry but I'd personally listen to someone like the Financial Times over Kotaku! Besides the sacking of Ken Kutaragi and the massive debt said it all anyway. I'm pretty sure Sony where thinking it at the time even if they weren't saying it.

Unless they show a nearly complete model at E3 next month I am predicting a prototype design next year with expected specs, a finalized test model available at the 2013 E3, and then on sale in fall 2013 or spring 2014.

I agree, it will be around then when it will likely get release but info will trickle in over the next few E3's, it also fits in with the rumored next gen Xbox drop in 2012-2013 although MS are saying 2015 which I think will be too late. This also fits in with the NGP dropping around 2012.

Robin.

 

[Moot]

I still believe it is too early to be working on a new console.

PSMove came out not too long ago(Which i Enjoy).They still only have a handful of games out and i could see the PSMove getting better once they tap into it more.

I've noticed some of the newer games look better and play better so they are still doing pretty well on the PS3.

I think everything is fine on the PS3.I enjoy it how it is.

One thing to add.If they are really thinking about making a new PS4 or whatever it may be called the PS3 games better be backwards compatible with the new console.

If PSMove is doing well it will be a feature of PS4, PSMove on PS4 will have better quality games than PSmove on PS3, one could just as much argue than the success of PSMove will make the success of PS4 more likely if PSMove owners can see how it can be used on a more poweful machine.. but anyway i think it is not much of a factor.
GT5 is a fine example of PS3 not being good enough the graphics are broken, screen tearing, low quality textures etc. So much more detail could be added to GT5 graphics but the PS3 can't do it.

 

[Spagetti69]

That's a Moot point ^

 

[LaBounti]

I still believe it is too early to be working on a new console.

It's never too early to start "development".

GT5 is a fine example of PS3 not being good enough the graphics are broken, screen tearing, low quality textures etc. So much more detail could be added to GT5 graphics but the PS3 can't do it.

I may be exaggerating but GT5 is a terrible example. And none of those things would make GT5 a better game. No other game developer even tries to do 1280x1080p60 in racing games. Its in the game design, sacrifices are made to keep a frame rate up. The same could be said about any game that runs at 30fps...... It could be 60 if there was more power.

On topic: Ken Kutaragi is no longer designing the hardware so PS4 will be more developer friendly this time around. NGP is the first non Ken Kutaragi designed hardware and the platform shows.

 

[Tornado]

Whats happened is that Nintendo has forced everyone's hand basically midway through a 'lifecycle'. With them saying they are going back into the 'hardcore' market its a real threat for Sony and MS because people could flock to the new console right away like what happened with the PS2 leaving the Dreamcast in the dust.

You do realize that you just undermined your point, don't you?

The reality is that the traditional concept of lifecycles doesn't really exist anymore, the days of tech even lasting a few years are over because the pace at which everything is changing to too fast.

The 360 has been on the market for 6 years now, and it still has a couple more years left. Don't confuse "Nintendo is doing something different" with "The entire industry is going to start doing something different."

Nintendo is not Apple, and their reasons for operating the way each does are completely different even if the end result occasionally is similar.

I'm sorry but I'd personally listen to someone like the Financial Times over Kotaku! Besides the sacking of Ken Kutaragi and the massive debt said it all anyway. I'm pretty sure Sony where thinking it at the time even if they weren't saying it.

There was never any chance that the PS3 would be Sony's last console. Never. Sony lost all that money on the PS3 on purpose, and the fact that a financial newspaper didn't know that is the only shocking thing.

 

[Robin]

You do realize that you just undermined your point, don't you?

Enlighten me...

If your referring to the 'lifecycle' bit that's the reason why its in inverted commas because its a myth that there even is one these days.

Don't confuse "Nintendo is doing something different" with "The entire industry is going to start doing something different."

Nintendo is not Apple, and their reasons for operating the way each does are completely different even if the end result occasionally is similar.

Nintendo + Wii = Revolution in the gaming world which lead to Move and Kinect. Nintendo was EXACTLY like Apple in that instance and everyone DID start doing things differently releasing casual games and jumping on the motion bandwagon. Nintendo could do something major once again.

There was never any chance that the PS3 would be Sony's last console. Never. Sony lost all that money on the PS3 on purpose, and the fact that a financial newspaper didn't know that is the only shocking thing.

Why are you so sure?, look at all the companies who have exited from the console business, Atari, Sega... I'm sure many people thought those names were going to stick around forever!

It wasn't that Sony lost the money (that's a given with most console development), it was the fact that they felt they might never brake even on the initial investment 10 years down the line unlike the PS2 which went into profit quite quickly. How would they know that the PS3 would pick up? They had to take drastic measures to make it work (re brand & slim).

Robin.

 

[FoolKiller]

Whats happened is that Nintendo has forced everyone's hand basically midway through a 'lifecycle'. With them saying they are going back into the 'hardcore' market its a real threat for Sony and MS because people could flock to the new console right away like what happened with the PS2 leaving the Dreamcast in the dust.

Huh? PS1 launched 1994. PS2 launched in 2000, PS3 launched in 2006. Six years for each. PS4 announced in 2011, likely see it in 2012 at the very earliest. Also six years. It's actually could be longer than past trends. Xbox already is. No clue what you are talking about here. If Nintendo forced any hands it was just to keep the trend as is.

The reality is that the traditional concept of lifecycles doesn't really exist anymore, the days of tech even lasting a few years are over because the pace at which everything is changing to too fast. Just look at how the iPad decimated the netbook market overnight and now all manufacturers are making rivals.

Again I point you to the past trends.

I'm sorry but I'd personally listen to someone like the Financial Times over Kotaku!

Why? They are regularly wrong. Or do I need to recall Michael (I swear Wii HD is coming) Pachter's track record? Every game show it seems he predicted a Wii with HD graphics and Motion Plus buil-in. He also predicted that if Best Buy price matched Gamestop their entire business would fail. Why would I listen to an analyst that covered one gaming related story when the guy that analyzes the industry for a living is more wrong than right?

Besides the sacking of Ken Kutaragi and the massive debt said it all anyway. I'm pretty sure Sony where thinking it at the time even if they weren't saying it.

The last original member of the XBox team is leaving and they had huge debt before the 360. Think the XBox is dead next? My company is on their third CEO since I started here. I still have a job. Consoles take a loss at launch, the Wii is the only exception, and executives get jiggered around all the time, usually for non-business reasons. Office politics is a treacherous game.

How would they know that the PS3 would pick up? They had to take drastic measures to make it work (re brand & slim).

So did the PS2 and PSP, and the 360. It is just a smart hardware move whether it is losing money or making money. No matter what rebranding and redesigning will reinvigorate sales and make production cheaper, while allowing you to make it sound like you gave them a new product without a price increase.

 

[Tornado]

Enlighten me...

For starters, acting as if there is even a chance that Project Cafe is going to be the PS2 to the PS360's Dreamcast shows a fundamental misunderstanding of basically everything about what happened to the Dreamcast. By which I mean using such a comparison in the way you did is basically the opposite of what really happened.

If your referring to the 'lifecycle' bit that's the reason why its in inverted commas because its a myth that there even is one these days.

And I would still like to see proof of this. Nintendo not doing it is not proof, by the way, because Nintendo doesn't do an awful lot of things that everyone else does, mostly because of how arrogant they are as a company. Not because they are setting trends.

Nintendo + Wii = Revolution in the gaming world which lead to Move and Kinect. Nintendo was EXACTLY like Apple in that instance and everyone DID start doing things differently releasing casual games and jumping on the motion bandwagon. Nintendo could do something major once again.

Nintendo dug themselves into a massive hole going into 2006. A massive, massive hole.

The Wii was a complete shot in the dark that had the potential to pay off big, but had the potential to be ignored. And, other than exiting the console business entirely, the Wii was the only way Nintendo could dig out of the hole they had jumped into after the way they conducted themselves while the Gamecube was on sale. And it certainly worked for them, but don't confuse desperation with innovation.


Going into 2012? Lightning will not strike twice. The market of 2012 is completely different from that of 2006. The demographic that the Wii struck a cord with does not exist anymore. And Nintendo can no longer afford to act like Nintendo. That arrogance that they have carried with them since the NES days has to stop, or this system will fail like the Gamecube did, for the same reason that the Gamecube did.

Why are you so sure?, look at all the companies who have exited from the console business, Atari, Sega... I'm sure many people thought those names were going to stick around forever!

You really need to research the things you are making comparisons to more if you want to use them as proof of anything.

Atari exited the industry after nearly a decade and a half of terrible business decisions, ultimately culminating in the abortion known as the Atari Jaguar.
Sega exited the industry after 7 years of the Japanese branch of the company doing nothing but intentionally undermining/sabotaging everything that the American branch was doing, and about a year of running around with their heads cut off.

Nothing either of those companies did is anything like the "situation" Sony is facing at the moment.

It wasn't that Sony lost the money (that's a given with most console development), it was the fact that they felt they might never brake even on the initial investment 10 years down the line unlike the PS2 which went into profit quite quickly.

And, again, Sony knew this from the start. They knew the PS3 would be a massive money loser. They knew they probably would never break even on the system. That is why they were initially selling the system for $300 less than it cost in parts alone, let alone the piles of money it must have cost to develop. That was why they put so much importance on Blu-Ray winning the format war. That massive write-off was the only reason the PS3 exists as it is today. It wasn't until Sony's gamble paid off, and Blu-Ray had decisively won the format war, that they started rebranding and redesigning the system to try to boost its appeal as a console.

So what is your point?

 

[Robin]

The overriding reason why the PS2 eclipsed the Dreamcast was that it had a DVD player built in. That made it logical to buy because at the time DVD players were very expensive. If I misunderstand what happened to the Dreamcast please educate me on it, what really happened then..

don't confuse desperation with innovation.

Whether something good comes from desperation or innovation the outcome is still the same, a winning product. Many of the things in the world that are successful today have come from sheer desperation so how you get to 'the end' is really quite irrelevant.

As for lighting striking twice who's saying Nintendo are going after the same crowd again or even with the same technology, there's no set way of 'acting like Nintendo' they could come up with something absolutely crazy and it could be amazing or a disaster but there's is no guarantee that is going to be something bad like you seem to be pushing.

Regarding Atari and Sega, the exit reasons are not the point, its the fact they went and they were established successful brands which people enjoyed and still talk about today. You viewpoints on those two seem slightly extreme but its your opinion. The main point is there's no guarantee that any business good and bad will be around forever. Just look at the PSN disaster, it had the potential to bring down SCE if they hadn't reigned it in.

There is no way that the PS3 was intentionally created as a permanent loss product... no way at all. Of course in the beginning its was meant to be a loss and secure the format war but it was always the plan that one day the machine would go into profit. They are there to make money, they are not a charity and it will have to make a profit even if its 10-20 years down the line.

I don't even see how all this matters to the topic?

On topic: Ken Kutaragi is no longer designing the hardware so PS4 will be more developer friendly this time around. NGP is the first non Ken Kutaragi designed hardware and the platform shows.

I also hope its developer friendly because the last thing Sony want again is all those dev's moaning its too hard to code for. Maybe the architecture next time will be more like a PC and less super ambitious.

Robin.

 

[SuperShouden]

I don't see Nintendo releasing a second Wii console for a while. Most of the people who bought are non-gamers i.e. people who don't spend a ton of money on games and who probably won't be rushing out to buy Wii-2 unless the there first Wii died, and even then, probably most of them will just buy another Wii 'cause it's cheaper. So...to say, as sales of the first Wii are dropping off, "Let's make a second Wii" wouldn't be very smart on Nintendo's part. What they need to do is target the casual gamer again, and the "Cafe" name suggests that they're gonna be doing just that.

As for Sony...PS4 has been in the planning stages since before PS3 launched. However, it seems like Sony MIGHT be scrambling to get something together for E3, but don't expect to see anything running on except maybe another "Vision Gran Turismo" tech demo. And the ONLY reason we might see something this year is because Nintendo and Microsoft will most likely be unveiling their new systems. (BTW, I expect a demo of Forza 5 to be running on MS's new system.) So, it's logical that Sony would want to show of something, and it seems like they're gonna try, but don't expect to see the PS4 on display.

PS3 has a ton of life left in it since no one's used up all 50GB on the disc. (although GT5 came close.) But we'll see in...about two weeks.

 

[Lambob]

ATARI needs to make a major comeback into the home console adult entertainment market, and blow all of Nintendo, MS, Sony out of the water.

We all grew up with Pacman, it's time for history to repeat itself, Atari, are you listening? Your time is now to make a successful comeback. You had 30 years to see where this all went. I would so welcome a new Atari console. But bleeding edge technology, indie game development, and convergence with ALL mobile, home, PC, devices.

and even a special dongle for original Atari joystick support.

don't get me wrong, I am very excited for the future Sony playstation, but this Asian methodology and policies are going to unfortunately, destroy themselves in the near future. (lack of game peripheral support, lengthly product support, strict selection of developers that can create for their platform, it's all too limited, for the excellent hardware they have, it's a pity.)

things I would insist on seeing in near future consoles:
Native 720p+ HDMI
SSD flash based OS and game install, with extra HDD only for large non-writeable data files, ie movies, cutscenes.
Smell emitting technology, to add to the immersion. radiate smells of oil, heat, sun, to enhance the experience.
Mobile technology, to keep our games in play on the road.
instant Save state. Turn it back on exactly where we left off.
User programmable app. we can customise macros, mods, our even write our own games and share them.
Live internet Radio.
Larger design, for better heat dissipation. I don't care if it is bigger than my first VHS, it will still rock!
Ability to earn real cash awards, redeemable points, for all players.
just to name a few.

 

[Northstar]

ATARI needs to make a major comeback into the home console adult entertainment market, and blow all of Nintendo, MS, Sony out of the water.

We all grew up with Pacman, it's time for history to repeat itself, Atari, are you listening? Your time is now to make a successful comeback. You had 30 years to see where this all went. I would so welcome a new Atari console. But bleeding edge technology, indie game development, and convergence with ALL mobile, home, PC, devices.

and even a special dongle for original Atari joystick support.

They are struggling just to sell games, plus, the Atari today has nothing in common with the 80's Atari apart from the name and logo.

 

[Moot]

things I would insist on seeing in near future consoles:
Native 720p+ HDMI
.

Why would a next generation console be worse than a PS3?
I might have misunderstood what you mean.

 

[Terronium-12]

I don't see Nintendo releasing a second Wii console for a while. Most of the people who bought are non-gamers i.e. people who don't spend a ton of money on games and who probably won't be rushing out to buy Wii-2 unless the there first Wii died, and even then, probably most of them will just buy another Wii 'cause it's cheaper. So...to say, as sales of the first Wii are dropping off, "Let's make a second Wii" wouldn't be very smart on Nintendo's part. What they need to do is target the casual gamer again, and the "Cafe" name suggests that they're gonna be doing just that.

As for Sony...PS4 has been in the planning stages since before PS3 launched. However, it seems like Sony MIGHT be scrambling to get something together for E3, but don't expect to see anything running on except maybe another "Vision Gran Turismo" tech demo. And the ONLY reason we might see something this year is because Nintendo and Microsoft will most likely be unveiling their new systems. (BTW, I expect a demo of Forza 5 to be running on MS's new system.) So, it's logical that Sony would want to show of something, and it seems like they're gonna try, but don't expect to see the PS4 on display.

PS3 has a ton of life left in it since no one's used up all 50GB on the disc. (although GT5 came close.) But we'll see in...about two weeks.

You realize Project Cafe is being released sometime next year, don't you? And how in the world does it's internal codename suggest or even infer they're targeting anyone? ATI/AMD's internal codename for the 6900-series is Cayman, does that mean they're actually targeting people west of the Caribbean? Of course not.

Also, no one waits for any particular storage/optical medium to become saturated before moving forward, if that were the case SSD's wouldn't be around until, well, never. As for the PS4, I wonder how they're going to streamline CBE; perhaps a 32 or 22nm fab process, slightly higher clocks and an increase in cache sizes?

 

[Tornado]

The overriding reason why the PS2 eclipsed the Dreamcast was that it had a DVD player built in.

The overriding reason the PS2 eclipsed the Dreamcast was because it was the PS2 and the Dreamcast wasn't. This is why the Dreamcast was basically dead in the water by mid-2000 even though the PS2 wasn't even out yet anywhere but Japan.

Whether something good comes from desperation or innovation the outcome is still the same, a winning product. Many of the things in the world that are successful today have come from sheer desperation so how you get to 'the end' is really quite irrelevant.

No it isn't. If you innovate because that is what your company has been built around (like Apple does), your product portfolio when you are successful will still tend to be innovative. If you innovate only out of desperation (like Nintendo did with the Wii), when you have amassed those huge piles of money you likely won't take risks with it. We've already seen them do just that with the 3DS.
Especially when the only reason you even had to innovate is because you refused to come to terms with the mistakes that made you desperate in the first place.

As for lighting striking twice who's saying Nintendo are going after the same crowd again or even with the same technology,

We already know they aren't, so what are you talking about?

and it could be amazing or a disaster but there's is no guarantee that is going to be something bad like you seem to be pushing.

No, but there is a guarantee that what happened with the Wii won't happen again.

Regarding Atari and Sega, the exit reasons are not the point, its the fact they went and they were established successful brands which people enjoyed and still talk about today.

The thing is that they weren't established successful brands. Atari hadn't been an established successful brand in the console market for ten years before the Jaguar came out (and they only came out with the Jaguar because their PC business was failing), and Sega went into the Dreamcast with a hideous public perception and a huge shadow of doubt cast over them.

You viewpoints on those two seem slightly extreme but its your opinion.

No, that's exactly what happened. Only a fool would think that Atari knew what they were doing with their game consoles after 1983 (and Jack Tremiel made it well-known that he didn't really care anyways), and the turmoil between SoJ and SoA is directly what lead to the death of the Genesis and the Saturn.

There is no way that the PS3 was intentionally created as a permanent loss product... no way at all. Of course in the beginning its was meant to be a loss and secure the format war but it was always the plan that one day the machine would go into profit. They are there to make money, they are not a charity and it will have to make a profit even if its 10-20 years down the line.

You seem to think that the benefits Sony will continue to get for years now that Blu-Ray has become the standard are less than the benefits that the PS3 could have ever made in profits. Long-term profit for the company as a whole is far more important than the short-term profits of one of the divisions.
Sony was selling millions of PS3s for an MSRP that was several hundred dollars lower than the mere parts cost. Why would they do that if they didn't have a plan that benefited Sony as a whole?

I don't even see how all this matters to the topic?

That's odd, because you brought it up in the first place. In the OP.

Why would a next generation console be worse than a PS3?
I might have misunderstood what you mean.

Native 720p @ 60FPS would be quite a bit better than the average PS360 game.

 

[Terronium-12]

Know what I'd like to see next generation?

Dual GPUs. Why? Simple:

- We all know when it comes to overhead consoles usually stretch the limits far beyond what we'd see in a PC with the exact same hardware, using the same API, and the same game. The major difference is there's no OS interference and no heavy reliance upon driver compatibility and scalability. When was the last the last time you saw a game like Halo 3 for example look as good in Direct3D 9 with the equivalent of an X1900? Never, that's when.

- Games could be specifically programmed to tax both cores equally and utilize the entirety (or near the entirety) of the available bandwidth. Whereas with PCs you're more than likely playing a game that's tailored to the absolute lowest performance denominator, with SLI and Crossfire X being a mere afterthought; you also have the problem of games being programmed with a specific series of GPU in mind, like Crysis - it favors nVidia.

- You could run games with full tessellation, 4, 8, or 12x aniso filtering, and MS, FS, SS, or even "normal" anti-aliasing in excess of 6 samples per with little to no loss in performance.

- It's also entirely possible to dedicate either of the two available units to a specific task leaving the other enough headroom to render full scenes in 1920 x 1080 while the other handles the above mentioned filtering and physics calculations.

- Of course this introduces a price premium (and excess heat build-up) but if utilized as I'm imagining it, how would it not be worth that premium?

 

[Tornado]

I'd have to imagine that a twin card setup would allow greater flexibility in power draw (and therefore, heat production) as well.

 

[FoolKiller]

I don't see Nintendo releasing a second Wii console for a while. Most of the people who bought are non-gamers i.e. people who don't spend a ton of money on games and who probably won't be rushing out to buy Wii-2 unless the there first Wii died, and even then, probably most of them will just buy another Wii 'cause it's cheaper. So...to say, as sales of the first Wii are dropping off, "Let's make a second Wii" wouldn't be very smart on Nintendo's part. What they need to do is target the casual gamer again, and the "Cafe" name suggests that they're gonna be doing just that.

Shhhhh. You're about to embarrass yourself.

From April.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/25/nintendo-confirms-next-wii-in-2012-will-preview-it-at-e3/

Nintendo confirms next Wii coming in 2012, will preview it at E3

By Vlad Savov posted Apr 25th 2011 3:35AM
Breaking News

Nintendo has just announced it plans to introduce a successor to its Wii console next year, a "playable model" of which will be shown off at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles coming up on June 7th. No details are available as to how the next Wii will improve on the first one, though we imagine Nintendo will be happy if it simply matches the success of its current-gen home entertainer -- the brief note publicizing the new roadmap also comes with a total of Wii sales accumulated between its launch in '06 and the end of last month: 86.01 million. That's said to be on a "consolidated shipment basis," so maybe Nintendo is mixing its definitions of sales and shipments the way Sony likes to, but it's a mighty big number either way. Bring on E3, we say!

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/04/25/iwata_on_wii_2/

Iwata Discusses Wii 2 at Earnings Briefing

3D not a focus for the system, says CEO. System being released because developers having hard time delivering surprises on Wii.

Posted on 04.25.2011 at 23:14, by Anoop Gantayat

In a past newspaper interview, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo would only consider a successor to the Wii once developers could no longer offer surprises with the Wii.

It looks like that has happened! Following today's announcement of Wii's successor, Nintendo held a press conference in Osaka. Kyodo News reports that as reason for the followup system's release, Iwata said "It became difficult for developers to surprise customers with the current Wii."

Covering the same press conference, Bloomberg reports that Iwata insisted "We will offer something new for home game systems."

Whatever surprises Nintendo has in store for the system, 3D may not be one of them. Iwata also said that considering that 3D televisions have yet to spread widely, making 3D into a central point of the system would be difficult.

In its announcement earlier today, Nintendo stated that it had not included sales of the Wii successor in its earnings forecasts for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2012. You might have guessed that this means a release for the system after that date. This is the case, Iwata confirmed during the press conference. The Wii 2 will not arrive until after April 2012.

PS3 has a ton of life left in it since no one's used up all 50GB on the disc. (although GT5 came close.)

What does the storage medium have to do with it?

 

[Terronium-12]

I'd have to imagine that a twin card setup would allow greater flexibility in power draw (and therefore, heat production) as well.

Well I know that, but the 360 (for comparison's sake) already has a power brick, so beef it up.

Now that I think about it, they should keep to that design (imagine how much faster the first release batch would have RROD'd if the PSU was internal) and use improved cooling for crying out loud. Stop sharing a single heatsink between the CPU and GPU; that's just asking for trouble.

 

[kimi123]

Nothing new. But it is not coming in 3-4yrs which is good. PS3 still has lots of games left in it and at least 1 more GT game

 

[Moot]

Nothing new. But it is not coming in 3-4yrs which is good. PS3 still has lots of games left in it and at least 1 more GT game

I would say that is a view not seeing the need for a PS4 sooner rather than later. I think it is coming within 3-4 years, absolutely.

 

[SuperShouden]

Shhhhh. You're about to embarrass yourself.

From April.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/25/nintendo-confirms-next-wii-in-2012-will-preview-it-at-e3/


http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/04/25/iwata_on_wii_2/


What does the storage medium have to do with it?

The Codename is Project Cafe not Wii 2. And remember, the Wii is Gamecube's successor, but they're two very different consoles. And I STILL don't think it'd be smart for Nintendo to release another Wii-type console. But, I fear the Wii might end up being like the DS where there's a new-esque model with a couple more features every year and it costs just as much as it did at the beginning.

Although, Sony is doing to same thing, but at least they're not saying it's a "new console" when they're just adding storage space. Now, I do expect either the PS3 or PS4 to have it's blu-ray laser changed to support quad+ layer discs, but....that's down the road.

If Wii does release a Wii 2, then I expect the console wars to drop back to MS vs. Sony. As it was with the PS2 and Xbox 'cause Nintendo had the GameCube which couldn't compete.

Then again, Nintendo has mentioned that they're not really focused on what the competition is doing, but that's a bunch of bull. The Wii was extremely underpowered compared to the other consoles. But it didn't need to be that powerful.

 

[FoolKiller]

The Codename is Project Cafe not Wii 2. And remember, the Wii is Gamecube's successor, but they're two very different consoles. And I STILL don't think it'd be smart for Nintendo to release another Wii-type console. But, I fear the Wii might end up being like the DS where there's a new-esque model with a couple more features every year and it costs just as much as it did at the beginning.

Yeah, those articles were before the codename was known, so they just said Wii 2 for lack of a better name, same way they said XBox 2 before the 360 monicker was known, or they call its successor the XBox 720 now. Wii 2 was never, ever a literal name. Whatever name they chose, it is still the successor to the Wii. No one is claiming they are making a slightly upgraded version of the Wii (insert two Gamecubes taped together joke here) at this point. But they are making their next home console.

 

[Terronium-12]

The Codename is Project Cafe not Wii 2. And remember, the Wii is Gamecube's successor, but they're two very different consoles. And I STILL don't think it'd be smart for Nintendo to release another Wii-type console. But, I fear the Wii might end up being like the DS where there's a new-esque model with a couple more features every year and it costs just as much as it did at the beginning.

You mean other than the fact that they said they'd release it's successor when developers can no longer delivering anymore surprises - which is what's currently happening? And, please, don't bring up any Gameboy when talking about sales and price ranges; those things sell by the millions in nothing more than a different color, and they have.

Although, Sony is doing to same thing, but at least they're not saying it's a "new console" when they're just adding storage space. Now, I do expect either the PS3 or PS4 to have it's blu-ray laser changed to support quad+ layer discs, but....that's down the road.

What are you on about? Cafe is more than an increase in storage space, it's an entirely new console. And why would the PS3 support anything beyond what's actively on the market? There are no triple or quadruple layered Blu-ray discs, at least not at the moment. An increase in read and write throughput speeds in far more likely than that.

If Wii does release a Wii 2, then I expect the console wars to drop back to MS vs. Sony. As it was with the PS2 and Xbox 'cause Nintendo had the GameCube which couldn't compete.

There's a difference between "couldn't compete" and not having the proper support to compete. Don't confuse the two.

Then again, Nintendo has mentioned that they're not really focused on what the competition is doing, but that's a bunch of bull. The Wii was extremely underpowered compared to the other consoles. But it didn't need to be that powerful.

It's a bunch of bs now. It sure as hell wasn't when the Wii first released and during the first 2, 3 years.

 

[sems4arsenal]

One thing the Next Gen consoles have to deliver for me is reliability.Global warming is getting worse every year and these console will have to deal better with Temprature issues and consumers don't need a Major YLOD RROD type of failures.I think the full potenital of the Now gen Consoles has all but been fulfilled with the blockbuster games.

Roll on E3 .Highly anticipated now