Xbox 720 and PS4 Unvealed!? Is... is it because of the leak MS and Sony?

[Kyanbu The Legend]

http://www.noshitshurlock.com/official-xbox-720-pictures-and-features-announced/


**UPDATE** Microsoft just confirmed the price: 299$, thats without the Kinect, and the lowest amount of Storage version **UPDATE**

Microsoft released in their new copy from “Xbox World Magazine” pictures and features of the new Xbox 720. According to the magazine, the new Xbox 720 will have ” a CPU with “four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores,” as well as 8GB of RAM. The console’s final name is speculated to simply be “Xbox” and is set to include Kinect 2.0, directional audio, a TV output and input and is said to use Blu-ray discs and the GPU it will be akin to the Radeon HD 6670, which offers support for DirectX11, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output ( The chip currently has a market price of upwards of $79.99) ”. Microsoft also mentioned they want to bring the reality closer to the player by improving sound and finger tracking on the Kinect. In the magazine there are 2 pictures of the console, one on the cover of the magazine and another one showing off the console and its parts.

The full console picture




So... yeah... It's not ugly but I'm not really wowed by it's appearance. Also PS4 was unveiled too.

http://www.noshitshurlock.com/sony-officially-announces-the-playstation-4/


Rumors have been going around that there will be new Playstation 4 news coming soon, and the rumors were true. The website Digital Foundry, a technical site, has given full details of the consoles specs, graphics, design and more.



Here are the official Specs of the Playstation 4


CPU: Eight-core AMD processor running at 1.6GHz
Graphics core: Radeon HD hardware, 18 compute units at 800MHz
Additional hardware: GPU-like Compute module, some resources reserved by the OS
System-on-chip codename: Liverpool
Memory: 4GB GDDR5, 512MB reserved by the OS



Here is a video demonstrating the graphics capabilities of the new Playstation 4 (This video is made of a Alienware lapton, they use the same graphic card as the new Playstation 4 will)



This is the info we have so far on the Playstation 4: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-orbis-unmasked-what-to-expect-from-next-gen-console



Both the next generation PlayStation – and its Xbox competitor – feature eight-core CPUs clocked at 1.6GHz according to sources trusted by Digital Foundry. The main processor architecture driving both consoles is said to be derived the new “Jaguar” technologycurrently in development by Intel’s arch-rival, AMD. These are low-power processor cores designed for the entry-level laptop and tablet market, offering an excellent ratio between power consumption and performance. The PC Jaguar products are set to ship later this year in a quad-core configuration – next-gen consoles see the core count double with some customisations added to the overall design.

Married to the eight-core processor, Orbis also features Radeon HD graphics hardware. We’ve previously suggested that AMD’s mobile “Pitcairn” design – the Radeon 7970M – could be a strong basis for a next-gen console graphics core in terms of power consumption and die-size. Running at 850MHz and featuring 20 of AMD’s “Graphics Core Next” compute units, our information suggests that Orbis shaves off 10 per cent of that number, offering up 18 CUs in total, and sees a mild downclock to 800MHz. Incorporated into a design dedicated to cutting-edge visuals and gameplay, this hardware has some serious potential.



It is perhaps more than coincidence that these specs offer up the 1.84 teraflops metric for the Orbis GPU that was mooted yesterday, assuming that the figure is calculated in the same way that it is for AMD’s current “Graphics Core Next” range of products. At this time we cannot confirm the make-up of the Durango graphics hardware – rumours have circulated for quite some time that it is some way behind Orbis, but equally there has been the suggestion that the GPU itself is supplemented by additional task-specific hardware. We could not confirm this, but an ex-Microsoft staffer with a prior relationship with the Xbox team says that two of these modules are graphics-related.





Bearing in mind that the 7970M draws just 75W and that Orbis cuts out a couple of compute units in combination with a drop of around six per cent reduction in clock speed, we can easily envisage the unit drawing no more than 150W from the mains overall once we factor in RAM, CPU and storage power draw. This compares favourably to consumption that sailed perilously close to 200W on the original versions of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and should reduce the dangers of another RROD/YLOD debacle.

We also have hard data on Orbis’s memory set-up. It features 4GB of GDDR5 – the ultra-fast RAM that typically ships with the latest PC graphics cards – with 512MB reserved for the operating system. This is in stark contrast to the much slower DDR3 that Durango will almost certainly ship with. Microsoft looks set to be using an offshoot of eDRAM technology connected to the graphics core to offset the bandwidth issues the use of DDR3 incurs. Volume of RAM is the key element in Durango’s favour – there’ll be 8GB in total, with a significant amount (two sources we’ve spoken to suggest 3GB in total) reserved for the OS.



There’ll be a relatively high CPU overhead too, with potentially two cores reserved for the customisable apps Microsoft wants to run in parallel with gameplay. Orbis has no such ambitions and may power past the new Xbox simply because it focuses its resources on out-and-out games power. There’s always the possibility that Microsoft has looked at the prior success of Nintendo and its own Kinect and come to the conclusion that chasing after the maximum in raw horsepower isn’t the way to win the next console war.

“The next-gen Xbox refines DirectX 11 for a fixed hardware gaming platform while Orbis sees a revised version of the LibGCM API used on PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.”



Don’t miss out on our post about the Xbox 720 pictures and specs, read all about it here



Check out our post on the new Playstation 4 controller here



This is the first official info we have about the playstation 4. After seeing the specs of the Xbox 720 and comparing them, which one would you choose? What makes the one you choose better then the other one? Let us know!




I'm so hyped I'm calm.

[Aerozord]

Xbox has about the same specs as my PC, and its no lightweight.

Decently priced too.

Part of me likes that the hardwares aren't directly competing. Looks like the PS4 is focusing on raw speed while xbox is more about just front loading. Now I'm no expert on these things but it looks like optimizing between the two would be done differently. Meaning cross-platform releases will be more expensive. Hoping they lowball the software instead. I'll take zero load times over fancy graphics any day

[Magus]

I have the feeling the leap in graphics is not going to be particularly amazing this time around...just a feeling.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Am I supposed to be able to tell the difference between those 2 screens in that video or... what?

Other than that, don't really care yet, I'm still quite happy with this gen, do we really need to move on to the next already?

[Magus]

Am I supposed to be able to tell the difference between those 2 screens in that video or... what?

Other than that, don't really care yet, I'm still quite happy with this gen, do we really need to move on to the next already?

Again, I'm feeling that we're going to be underwhelmed by the difference there.

I'd almost wonder if they'd just go ahead and make PS4 games PS3 compatible, but that would undoubtedly kill their sales (depending on how cheap these PS4s are) and I don't think they'll risk it.

[Aerozord]

Am I supposed to be able to tell the difference between those 2 screens in that video or... what?

Other than that, don't really care yet, I'm still quite happy with this gen, do we really need to move on to the next already?

I completely agree but saying "already" is abit odd. Its been about six years since this generation came out. Normally its only around 4 or 5 years between releases.

If we are talking just time than its been a reasonable amount. I'm hoping they use this new processing power to add in more complex systems and lessen load times. Doubt it though.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Again, I'm feeling that we're going to be underwhelmed by the difference there.
I'd almost wonder if they'd just go ahead and make PS4 games PS3 compatible, but that would undoubtedly kill their sales (depending on how cheap these PS4s are) and I don't think they'll risk it.

Ha, yeah, as if that'll ever happen. They wouldn't even let us play our old games on the new console, it sure ain't gonna happen in reverse.

They're gona have to do something seriousy impressive to make me upgrade from ps3 with this.

I completely agree but saying "already" is abit odd. Its been about six years since this generation came out. Normally its only around 4 or 5 years between releases.
If we are talking just time than its been a reasonable amount. I'm hoping they use this new processing power to add in more complex systems and lessen load times. Doubt it though.

I've never bought a console within the first year of release, so it's been 5 years for me. My ps2 lasted me 7 years, and the ps3 was, according to Sony, supposed to last longer than this.

[Aerozord]

I've never bought a console within the first year of release, so it's been 5 years for me. My ps2 lasted me 7 years, and the ps3 was, according to Sony, supposed to last longer than this.

maybe they meant how long they'd continue to make them? I mean the PS2 only recently stopped being produced. Besides I'm not certain the new gen will replace the current one. People are reluctant to jump into new hardware now.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I have the feeling the leap in graphics is not going to be particularly amazing this time around...just a feeling.

Yup. Wii to WiiU was the last big jump. Everything past this point will be rather small.


As for PS4 BC, Apparantly Sony patient a box containing a cell processor and PS3 BIOS that will help the PS4 run PS3 games (which are built to use the Cell processor).

Have yet to find anything confirming this but most rumors point to Sony having an answer about that by E3 2013.

[synkr0nized]

They put the PS1 processor in as a math coprocessor in the PS2 and, as a result, had hardware built-in for playing PS1 games natively. It would be terrific if they did that again.

I mean, half of the games I bought when I bought a PS2 were for the first console, since I had gone the N64 route instead. Maybe with a PS4 I'd finally play some PS3 titles.

[Kim]

I am really happy with how indifferent I am to this.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

They put the PS1 processor in as a math coprocessor in the PS2 and, as a result, had hardware built-in for playing PS1 games natively. It would be terrific if they did that again.
I mean, half of the games I bought when I bought a PS2 were for the first console, since I had gone the N64 route instead. Maybe with a PS4 I'd finally play some PS3 titles.

I doubt they'd do that ever again though, not now they have the psn and they can get people to buy their games all over again. Sorry, I'm being really cynical in this thread aren't I.

It's wierd, I always used to get really excited for the next gen consoles (even though I could never afford them upon release), but I'm just so... unenthusiastic about this next one. Maybe I've just gotten jaded as I got older.

[Ramary]

The Xbox article is dated freaking November. Am I the only one who checked that?

And you do not "announce" this stuff in January. Dis be fake yo (also the internet would be ablaze if we had official announcements). But it is pretty much all but confirmed that we will learn everything come E3, since both Microsoft and Sony are teasing it. Also PC gamer, therefore don't care.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Yeah it's looking like Ramary might be right. PA would be in an uproar, and gamefaqs would be even worse then normal.

Neither of these things have happened yet.


I'm not going to roll this out as BS. Mostly because the specs are the real deal thanks to the AMD thieft incident. And seeing as both systems are launching this year/early next, it's too late to change the specs without pushing back the systems. And the touch screen controller is confirmed from sony to be the PS4 controller.

Guess we'll find out in march were a rumored and supposted annoucement from Sony is suppose to take place. E3 at the latest.

[synkr0nized]

I doubt they'd do that ever again though, not now they have the psn and they can get people to buy their games all over again. Sorry, I'm being really cynical in this thread aren't I.

It's wierd, I always used to get really excited for the next gen consoles (even though I could never afford them upon release), but I'm just so... unenthusiastic about this next one. Maybe I've just gotten jaded as I got older.

Oh, I don't disagree.
I was just putting out there a hopeful thought.

I won't be running to get either of these, though, anyway.

[Krylo]

It's wierd, I always used to get really excited for the next gen consoles (even though I could never afford them upon release), but I'm just so... unenthusiastic about this next one. Maybe I've just gotten jaded as I got older.

Alternatively:

Atari -> NES. . . uh stick figure things, to 8bit -> SNES/Genesis 16bit -> N64/PS1/Dreamcast models and vectors! -> PS2, which, well, FF7 vs FF10 -> PS3. . . which has been showing us graphics about as well as we can produce.

Like, going up from PS3/360 isn't gonna be very visually distinctive. Might reduce loading times, maaaaybe? But overall performance isn't gonna see much of an increase unless they wait at least another couple of years.

So, yeah, there's just, no reason to even BE excited about it. "Wooo, get to spend another $600 to keep playing games at basically the same quality."

[Kyanbu The Legend]

or just $300, for the most part this seems to be the price point Sony and MS are shooting for with basic models. Well based on what's been confirmed.

Anyway Krylo you forgot the Saturn. Poor Saturn, he tries his best to do 3D you know.

[EVILNess]

I am really happy with how indifferent I am to this.

That's a pretty good description of my feelings as well.

[Azisien]

Fake rumour is fake?

I guess the hardware might be in the neighbourhood, probably a little better. I'll be really surprised if the price is 300 bucks though.

I'll also be surprised if the hardware specs surpass the stuff I was using in 2009. Even so, I'll be happy for the slight push forward.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Basic units won't go for more then $350. The economy is at it's worst in centuries and MS/Sony don't want to re-live the PS3's launch, that much is confirmed.

If Sony made a $600 console in their current state, it would bankrupt them or out right kill the PS brand.

[Flarecobra]

So this was sent to me... (http://o.canada.com/2013/01/23/fake-xbox-720-rumours-gets-reported-by-reputable-gaming-news-outlets/) And I'm inclinded to agree, they are fake.

[Azisien]

Basic units won't go for more then $350. The economy is at it's worst in centuries and MS/Sony don't want to re-live the PS3's launch, that much is confirmed.

If Sony made a $600 console in their current state, it would bankrupt them or out right kill the PS brand.

Could be worse. (http://gamepolitics.com/2012/11/20/report-us-gamer-spending-video-games-grew-one-percent-2012#.UQHiUSfhrH0)

[Kyanbu The Legend]

So this was sent to me... (http://o.canada.com/2013/01/23/fake-xbox-720-rumours-gets-reported-by-reputable-gaming-news-outlets/) And I'm inclinded to agree, they are fake.

whelp this thread can be closed then.

guess we'll never know what these systems truly are until they are in stores. Whenever that happens. Until then, nintendo is running unopposed as the only gen 8 console.

[Magus]

Next time when making threads please doublecheck on Escapist, IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, OR ANY OTHER GAMING SITE that "noshitshurlock.com" exclusive story about the XBOX720 isn't bullshit.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Naw I'm done with gaming news personally. Too much BS all over the place.

[Flarecobra]

Offical announcement (https://us.playstation.com/meeting2013/)

Playstation 4 to be revealed at a launch party on Feb. 20.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I'd take it with a grain of salt. At this point I wouldn't believe anything about these systems until E3 2013.

[Flarecobra]

Well, this is coming from offical channels so...

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I don't really see much saying that this will be about the PS4 aside from 44 secs of shapes floating around a gradiant midnight blue and black background with the Playstation logo at the end. For all we know this could be just annoucements for first party PSvita/PS3 titles and feature upgrades.

Now if it really is the PS4 that they are going to unveal (which I doubt because why now when you can build the hype and cash in at E3). Then awesome, maybe now we can finally know what the damn thing really is, what it can do, and what it looks like.


All I'm saying is after all I've been through, I'm not expecting anything at all about these "make believe" consoles anymore.

At least until E3.

[Flarecobra]

Well, given that Playstation's twitter has said "See the future", on Feb 20th.... Plus sources like the Wall Street Journal have confermed that it is the PS4...

[Arcanum]

E3 is a shell of it's former self. The press conferences are just a joke. It makes perfect sense to reveal the PS4 a decent time before E3, because then the announcement isn't bogged down in any other big reveals that are happening. It also allows them to dedicate more time at E3 to showcasing launch titles.

There could be an announcement for a new Vita model, but that's the only other thing I see happening. But even at that, I doubt they would do this kind of tease and build up for anything but a new console.

[Ramary]

With Sony, any stupid thing is possible.

The future of Playstation could very well be the MoveU.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

E3 is a shell of it's former self. The press conferences are just a joke. It makes perfect sense to reveal the PS4 a decent time before E3, because then the announcement isn't bogged down in any other big reveals that are happening. It also allows them to dedicate more time at E3 to showcasing launch titles.

There could be an announcement for a new Vita model, but that's the only other thing I see happening. But even at that, I doubt they would do this kind of tease and build up for anything but a new console.

I don't know, annoucing a new console at E3 will over shadow everything not pretaining to said console. If anything Nintendo would be a small whisper under the countless fans screaming "OMG! PS4! XBOX 720!".

I don't see Sony getting overshadowed by anyone that's not Microsoft (or Valve if they decide to unveil SteamBox there) at E3. No offense to Nintendo.

[Arcanum]

annoucing a new console at E3 will over shadow everything not pretaining to said console.

countless fans screaming "OMG! PS4! XBOX 720!".

I don't see Sony getting overshadowed by anyone that's not Microsoft

.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

My point is, it could go either way if both are unveiled at E3.

[Sifright]

My point is, it could go either way if both are unveiled at E3.

that isn't much of a point.

like I could flip a coin. It could be either heads or tails.

[Arcanum]

And my point is them unveiling it ahead of time at their own event means it gets more news coverage, instead of sharing that coverage with everything else at E3. They then use E3 to showcase launch titles and tech demos while Microsoft will have to split their time between that and hardware.

If they can avoid sharing the limelight with the 720, why would they then opt to share the limelight?

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Yeah, I can see how that will work in their favor.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Update:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/ps4-xbox-720-announcements-in-march-6402358


Fucking FINALLY! Now we can put an end to the BS rumors.


As with all gaming news, this is BS until proven otherwise. Hopefully it's not BS, because the sooner we can kill off the stupid rumors, the better.

[Flarecobra]

*Points out the date of the story*

Some of that is out of date with other stories, I note.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Yes, I noticed. It's why it could be BS.

Why post it? Well MS is doing something during the Game Developers Conference. There could be an announcement then.

[Arcanum]

How does that rumor kill off the other rumors? Unless you mean that the official announcement will kill off the other rumors? But we already know that, because that's what official announcements do, and we don't need a rumor to tell us that.

As for "Microsoft is planning something for GDC" well, obviously. Everyone does something for GDC. But if that something is a console unveiling, well that's based entirely on an outdated and unsubstantiated rumor.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

How does that rumor kill off the other rumors? Unless you mean that the official announcement will kill off the other rumors? But we already know that, because that's what official announcements do, and we don't need a rumor to tell us that.

As for "Microsoft is planning something for GDC" well, obviously. Everyone does something for GDC. But if that something is a console unveiling, well that's based entirely on an outdated and unsubstantiated rumor.

This, I meant that if the consoles are unvealed this year, (would be great if it happens during the next few months). We could finally put an end to a lot of these rumors and start getting actual info on these consoles that people can't seem to shut up about.

[Arcanum]

I originally edited this into my previous post, but then Kyanbu ninja'd me while I was making the edit, so here it is in its own post:

Now if you want ridiculous rumors: (**Warning, Kotaku link, I know a lot of people think Kotaku is Satan's Dick but I just skimmed the article and don't feel like quoting everything so you get this warning instead)Have at ye! (http://kotaku.com/5982986/we-know-all-about-the-next-xbox-from-someone-who-says-theyve-got-one)

I hope the part about how you can't play unless the included Kinect is plugged in and turned on is true, because the resulting shitstorm will be glorious.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I read this rumor on a few other places too. And yes that's going to be one hell of a shit storm.

Ah I can see the rage quit threads from angry X-Box fans now.

[Flarecobra]

Well, today at 6PM Eastern is when we find out what the fuck they're plotting there.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

And the event as begone and we finally have confirmed info about the system!!

Some of the tweets before the event from Sony.

http://www.sony.com/SCA/company-news/social-media.shtml



PlayStation: Immediacy was a key focus in developing PS4. Case in point: Press the power button to immediately resume your game’s progress. 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite


PlayStation: Our first PS4 game, Knack, is designed by Cerny himself. Looks like a gorgeous action platformer with a healthy dose of humor. 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite


PlayStation: Unreal 4 real-time demo from @EpicGames on PS4. Phenomenal particle effects, huge-scale environment transformation. Looks…epic! 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite


PlayStation: DualShock 4 revealed: Improved analog sticks, enhanced rumble, lower latency, touchpad, headphone jack, Share button bit.ly/11Lo7WS3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite


PlayStation: PS4's supercharged architecture: X86 CPU, enhanced GPU, 8GB of high-speed RAM, and local HDD. #playstation20133 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite


PlayStation: Cerny PS4 developed based on the wishes of game designers and gamers. "By game creators, for game creators." 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

[Kim]

this is bullshiiiiiiit

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I almost forgot, here's the live stream.

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/games/watch-it-live-sonys-ps4-announcement/

[Flarecobra]

http://news.yahoo.com/sony-unveils-playstation-4-evolution-gaming-232018859.html

For those who missed/don't see the livestream.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

it is still on going on my end.

Although they already showed off the games (which looked amazing). Right now they are just talking about what the system will be able to do software wise.

Okay so they are really going to do alot with Move.


EDIT: Okay now I F***ing want a PS4 and WiiU!


EDIT2: And it seems they are showing off some more games. And Square is showing off a tech demo for the PS4

EDIT3: Seems Watch Dogs has been moved to the PS4.

[Ryong]

It's official: Consoles are dead.
Watch Dogs is probably coming out on PC too.

[Arcanum]

It's official: Consoles are dead.
Watch Dogs is probably coming out on PC too.

Ehhhhhhhh it's being made by Ubisoft. So if it does come out, it'll be months later with arbitrary DRM and it'll force you to use UPlay.

Also, despite how obviously scripted and tech-demo-y the Watch Dogs demo was, I'm still excited for it. I just really really want to see some natural gameplay of it.


I've just been skimming the news, so I don't know if the PS4 is terrible or awesome on the whole, but having a headphone jack on the controller is pretty awesome.

edit- So is there a picture of the console anywhere? Or the console's price?

e2- Also the Playstation Cloud thing sounds really awesome. It just depends on if it'll be a subscription thing and how big their streaming library is.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

One of the news paper sites posted a photo of the console sitting next to it's controller.

While I found this about several hours before the event, I didn't post it because I really didn't want to go through the same embrassment I went through before when I first made this thread.

If the photo was real, and it might be since the controller ended up being real. Then it's basicly a very thin and short computer tower. with the same style disc drive as the PS3 Slim and WiiU. And kinda looks like a black rectangle shaped block.
(only saw the front though and again this is IF the photo was real)


It's official: Consoles are dead.
Watch Dogs is probably coming out on PC too.

Dude Consoles have been dead since Gen 7 started. Still doesn't seem to stop folks from buying them though.

[Magus]

Ehhhhhhhh it's being made by Ubisoft. So if it does come out, it'll be months later with arbitrary DRM and it'll force you to use UPlay.


And glitches. Don't forget glitches. It's not a Ubisoft game without game-breaking glitches.

Anyway, my reaction to PS4: "Oh. Another console I'll have to wait five years to buy before it will be affordable."

Also

"PlayStation 3 games will not be natively supported on the new PlayStation 4."

"Yeah, fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you." That's all I'm hearing in this entire announcement.

[greed]

It's official: Consoles are dead.
Watch Dogs is probably coming out on PC too.

Can we somehow word filter "subject is dead" as "I'm a teenager", cause really the reaction to everything about anything is "whatever" is dead. Except alarmingly when something actually has died at which point the idiots start claiming they're alive due to conspiracies.

Also lack of BC while likely going to stop me from buying for a long time, isn't too surprising given that the PS3 is notoriously hard to program for which I imagine would make emulation a bitch. Now if the Xbox 3 doesn't have it I'm gonna be pissed.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

And glitches. Don't forget glitches. It's not a Ubisoft game without game-breaking glitches.

Anyway, my reaction to PS4: "Oh. Another console I'll have to wait five years to buy before it will be affordable."

Also

"PlayStation 3 games will not be natively supported on the new PlayStation 4."

"Yeah, fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you." That's all I'm hearing in this entire announcement.

In their defense, this is impossible without throwing in $100+ worth of extra parts into an already $400 console. All thanks to the Cell processor. Which is damn near impossible to emulate. It was that bad of a mess. It's also why they dropped the Cell 2.0. Because it was another expense peice of junk compared to most other CPUs.

[Melfice]

Last I heard a price hadn't been confirmed yet.
So maaaaybe not throw around that it'll be $400 as a fact?

I mean, it'll probably will be, but still.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

This is based off of the parts the PS4 is using (what's known so far at least) as well as the fact that we live in an economy where a gaming console over $550+ by itself is doomed to sell poorly. Even the WiiU is struggling at just $299/$349.99.

It's not the final price but it's a good estimate for the basic model.

[Kim]

This livestream was terrible.

Video games are terrible.

They didn't have a single goddamn woman on that stage.

Fuck nerds.

[Arcanum]

This livestream was terrible.
All press conferences like that are terrible, it doesn't have to be limited to E3. I don't even remember the last good video game press conference.

Video games are terrible.
Nah.

They didn't have a single goddamn woman on that stage.
Not gonna take the bait.

Fuck nerds.
Woo pointless hostility!

[Krylo]

(Probably) temporarily closed pending moderator review.

[synkr0nized]

Thread re-opened.

I would like to take this time to remind you all to attempt to discuss topics with one another reasonably. It is highly likely that you will be seeing more 1-2 day bans handed out in general for trolling, baiting, and the like. We've probably been far too lax over the past couple of years, and maybe this will help improve the quality of discourse on NPF.

If you cannot reply to a thread/post without attacking or offending, then the better course of action is to report the post or just hit your "back" button and not reply at all.


Anyway please continue whatever speculation and the like you may have about the next generation of consoles and how much bloom and lensflare rendering will be provided.

[EVILNess]

I am saddened by the loss of any backwards compatibility, even for the PSN games. I was half expecting the no PS3 discs announcement, but the lack of PSN support kind of floored me. Just confirms my personal fears for digital distribution on in a console environment, and has made me very gun shy about buying ANYTHING digital for the rest of my PS3's life cycle.

I was already leery with the fact that the current gen hardware just doesn't hold up to the ravages of time (IE My first PS3 broke after 2 years with absolutely no warning) compared to previous gens (My original PS1 from 1997 still works 'natch, and my PS2 is about 8 years old) and now that I have been told it won't carry over, I think I am done with console digital distribution.

Unless Suikoden II shows up on the PSN for the US store. I would buy that in a heartbeat.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I imagine that they'll transfer everything over to the new network once everything is all set. Complete with a manditory update for the PS3/PSP/Vita.

I doubt they'll screw over millions of customers like that. So far it seems it does have a Bluray disc drive according to the PDF files they have up on their site for the PS4.

[Jagos]

Maybe it's me but I see a massive resurgence of the PC.

I've been paying attention to Valve and I believe that their predictions for the open gaming initiative is far more accurate than any advantage with the PS4 or XBox 720.

[EVILNess]

I imagine that they'll transfer everything over to the new network once everything is all set. Complete with a manditory update for the PS3/PSP/Vita.

I doubt they'll screw over millions of customers like that. So far it seems it does have a Bluray disc drive according to the PDF files they have up on their site for the PS4.

Well, the idea of only some of my games working on some vague "maybe if it doesn't eat up too much memory in emulation" criteria doesn't hold much hope for me.

Especially since the second generation of PS3s had SOFTWARE emulation and they never added it back into the later PS3s for no discernible reason. I would have paid for that to be added into my PS3. DO YOU HEAR THAT SONY?

It seems to me they really just don't want to deal with BC support and seemed to have just dropped the notion. I mean, the Vita can't play UMDs (Which I understand), and can only play some of the PSN titles. Kinda sad since they basically invented the notion of backwards compatible consoles.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Yes but it's more due to the fact that consoles usually have heavily customized and/or completely unique CPUs/GPUs. Which makes backwards compatibility a tricky thing to do unless those consoles are built with this in mind. GameCube, Wii, and WiiU use the same CPU and architecture. Each more upscaled then the last. Reguardless of rather or not this was intended. And each one is BC with the previous console expect the Gamecube which can't in anyway play N64 GamePaks.

The original PS3 actually had the Emotion Engine CPU and Graphics Synthesizer GPU that the PS2 used, built into it along side it's own Cell Microprocessor CPU and NVIDIA RSX 'Reality Synthesizer' GPU. But it did have Open Gel support and a PS1 Emulator, which helped it run PS1 games. So it could do that out of the box so long as it has the software and Bios for it.

They dropped the PS2 parts (meaning no BC with hard copy PS2 titles) to cut the costs of manufacturing the Cell Microprocessor and the bluray drive. And it didn't help much in the long run in terms of turning a profit.

I'm not surprised PS4 is having problems with BC. Heck I didn't expect it to be BC with anything beyond PS1 and Maybe PS2. Since it's using off the self PC parts with a AMD custom APU, 64bit 86x Jaguar based CPU, and Custom AMD Radeon GPU.

[stefan]

I doubt they'll screw over millions of customers like that.

Ha

Also, I have to admit, I am entirely uninterested in these new developments. Its high time for another gaming crash, these companies need to stop relying on having THE BIGGEST BADDEST CONSOLE WITH THE MOST AAA OF GAMES and get back to actually trying to draw people in with clever design.

[synkr0nized]

Maybe it's me but I see a massive resurgence of the PC.

I've been paying attention to Valve and I believe that their predictions for the open gaming initiative is far more accurate than any advantage with the PS4 or XBox 720.

I dunno, I have always seen console and PC gaming as two very similar and overlapping yet separate markets. It's a lot easier to, say, buy your kids a console than keep a gaming computer for them, and then arguably it's easier to share play via consoles (at least for co-located gaming).

Controller support sure has come a long way to make it possible to have console-style control and content on the PC as well, but I would argue that the "console gaming" style isn't going to go anywhere.

But it is neat that Steam has a television-aimed mode available, and perhaps if the PC market starts shitting out console-esque products (i.e. HTPCs that also can game) for the less-savvy then the console companies may have to evaluate the worth of continuing to make customized, niche computers.

[Aldurin]

Response:
0rJDn0jRnUQ

Serious Response:

I'm cautiously optimistic, I doubt it's going to be a day 1 buy for me, but I'm definitely keen to seen just how fuzzy Insomniac can make Ratchet using the new hardware, and how well can Clank's chrome can show that fuzziness in its reflection.

So when do we start screaming "What the fuck is a Sonic?" after SEGA attempts to, once again, rush a console-premiering game by rebooting a franchise with less continuity than Mario?

[Magus]

The following article (http://gameological.com/2013/02/more-more-morehow-do-you-like-it/) I think sums up my feelings on the PS4 announcement.



At Wednesday night’s “unveiling” of the PlayStation 4 in New York, Sony did not show us the PlayStation 4, which makes this the most postmodern unveiling I’ve ever attended. However, the various Sony honchos who took the stage at the Manhattan Center auditorium did describe the heart of the machine. It’s “the gamer,” or maybe it’s the “consumer”—same thing, apparently. The word “social” was used as a noun at many points, as it, too, lies at the core of the PlayStation 4. And then there’s the “supercharged PC architecture.” You want gigabytes? Brother, you can have all the gigabytes you need.

And apparently the world’s game developers need them. One after another, self-respecting game creators took the stage to shake their heads and lament the severe “limitations” they have been forced to endure prior to the advent of the PlayStation 4. If it’s unseemly for representatives of a multi-billion-dollar mass media industry to whine about the constraints on their creativity, that didn’t seem to bother any of the men (there were no women) who regurgitated Sony’s pipe-dream talking points last night.

To hear these guys talk, the greatness of the heretofore unseen (and still unseen) PlayStation 4 is matched only by the awfulness of the PlayStation 3. Lead System Architect Mark Cerny explained—in a patronizing story-time tone reminiscent of Bobby Jindal’s 2009 star turn—that we have the internet now, and people like to be on the internet all the time, but “there are limitations to the experiences [the PlayStation 3] can provide in this new world.”

A producer from Sony’s Evolution Studios said that he and his colleagues had been sitting on their idea for a global peer-to-peer team-based persistent-connection trophy speed online network synergy car game for a decade. They even trademarked the name, DriveClub. You can see why they’d want to lock that down. The trouble is, they were never able to make it until now—apparently because the PlayStation 3 didn’t have enough social. The Evolution producer then showed us how DriveClub players can challenge online friends to beat their best race times, a feature already present in practically every racing game made in the past two years.
Killzone: Shadow Fall

Killzone: Shadow Fall

It was an evening of cognitive dissonance. For the first half hour, Sony’s people exhausted their buzzword thesaurus telling us how the PlayStation 4’s technology will make “new experiences” possible. “In the past, creators’ visions have been constrained by the limitations of technology,” said executive David Perry, but not anymore.

This proclamation of a new era was followed by a trailer for Killzone: Shadow Fall that was indistinguishable from countless other trailers we’ve seen for first-person shooters in the past. It hit all the standard plot points. The fresh-faced recruit hops off the troop transport. A building blows up. Much loud shooting ensues. (Here’s a rule of thumb. If the title of your game contains a colon, odds are it’s not a “new experience.”) Later, representatives of the Japanese studios Capcom and Square Enix stopped by to show the audience that they planned to make PlayStation 4 games with dragons in them. Sony’s tired thesis, the notion that more technology necessarily produces innovative artistry, was convincingly refuted by the content of its own event. It was like watching the Flat Earth Society unveil the year’s hottest new globes.

Even when the ideas were somewhat fresh, there was no guarantee that they would have any appeal. During a discussion of a new app “ecosystem” that barfs PlayStation all over your phone/tablet or any other device, a breathless Sony flack imagined one fantasy that would soon come true: On your telephone, you will be able to watch video clips of other people playing a fighting game, decide which opponents you would like to fight, and then challenge those people to fight (later, when you’re using the actual PlayStation 4). You can tell we live in a privileged society when we have to work this hard inventing things to desire.

On the other hand, Sony promises to solve plenty of first-world problems that really do exist. The new system will not take so long to start up—you’ll be able to pause, put the system in a sort of sleep mode like a laptop, and then start back up where you left off. The tedious process of downloading games to the PS3 will also be streamlined on the PS4. Not only will you be able to begin playing games before they’re fully downloaded, but the PS4 will also assess your tastes and pre-download portions of games it thinks you will like. It’s a clever idea that would essentially reduce the download time for a game purchase to zero (although it’s probably impractical for players whose internet providers enforce a monthly data cap). On the other hand, there’s a certain creepiness to it—Sony is essentially saying that it will mine your personal information to determine which stuff you’re most likely to buy, advertise only that stuff on your console, and act like it’s doing you a favor.
inFamous: Second Son

inFamous: Second Son

The PS4’s emphasis on a console tailor-made for YOU is the culmination of a recent trend in which Sony has made the PlayStation (or at least the marketing thereof) all about ego reinforcement. The company’s executives flagellate themselves at the altar of The Gamer. “The living room is no longer the center of the PlayStation ecosystem—the gamer is,” said Andrew House, who runs Sony’s game division. He insisted that the PlayStation will “give gamers the experience they want, and frankly that they deserve.” House had a nice line reading here, with a touch of shame on the last bit. It’s as if he were confessing that the last 20 years of Sony game consoles had been a fraud perpetrated on the poor, innocent players who were dumb enough to purchase such inferior machines.

What gamers deserve, according to Sony, is more of the same, made marginally shinier. The man from the Evolution studio breathlessly told the crowd that some of the DriveClub cars featured virtual carbon-fiber exteriors in which the physical response of every thread in the fiber is calculated separately. More than one producer marveled at the increased number of “polygons” he was now able to cram into his latest predictable genre sequel—“polygons” being industry lingo for “size of penis.”

The evening’s one aberration was Braid creator Jonathan Blow, who talked about The Witness, his upcoming open-world puzzle game. Taking the stage after a litany of let’s-blow-stuff-up trailers, he cracked, “I don’t know how I can follow all those explosions.” His segment of the event alternated between a cogent exploration of the lazy design choices that plague many mainstream games and Blow’s own determination to avoid those mistakes in The Witness. A lot of open-world games try to wow you with bigness and include a lot of filler, Blow said—true that—but in The Witness he tried to make the island world as compact and dense as possible, so that every inch of the surroundings was a potential point of interest.

Savvy self-promotion? Sure. But it was refreshing to hear someone argue that smart games require a conceptual shift rather than an injection of supercharged-PC-architecture steroids.
The Witness

The Witness

If Blow was a high point, his follow-up act—Heavy Rain creator David Cage—provided a counterbalance. “When people ask me what feature I want in future consoles, my answer is always the same: emotion,” Cage said. (Never mind that “emotion” was explicitly advertised as a feature of the PlayStation 2—the PlayStation 2 is old, and therefore it is a shitbox of lies.) He then launched into a cretinous analysis of media history. Cage asked us to consider black-and-white silent films. Their images were indistinct, Cage noted, and the actors had to exaggerate their actions. These films struggled to convey emotion because the technology was just too darn limited. Cage argued that until the PS4, video games have been akin to those old worthless silent movies. But because the new box has a super-fast processor, games will finally be able to convey emotion.

On the big screen behind Cage, he illustrated his points with scenes from Edwin Porter’s 1903 silent film The Great Train Robbery, which is only one of the most important and influential motion pictures ever made. Touring the nation to sellout crowds for years, The Great Train Robbery introduced the concept of cross-cutting—in which the action on screen cuts back and forth between two scenes taking place at the same time, creating remarkable dramatic tension. So, to recap, Porter expanded the cinematic vocabulary in a way that forever affected the way we perceive moving images, and David Cage saw fit to look down his nose at him.

As Cage was wrapping up his lament over the inherent terribleness of early film, the most iconic shot of The Great Train Robbery appeared behind him: A bandit shooting his gun directly at the audience. That image was more arresting than any of the glitzy, high-polygon explosions that Sony shoveled into our eyeballs last night. And it crystallized the deepest fallacy of the whole affair—the idea that creativity needs to be free of limitations.

Creativity thrives under limitations. People who love games understand this implicitly, since the best players find the most creative ways to succeed within the confines of the rules. The Great Train Robbery is a masterpiece not in spite of its limitations but because of them. So if David Cage doesn’t think he can produce an emotional work of art with a PlayStation 3 and an eight-figure budget, maybe he shouldn’t be in the art-making business.

Expanding the technological capabilities of our game machines is not inherently bad, but treating new tech as a magic bullet is a self-destructive delusion (if a familiar one). The reason that so many games suck is not because the technology is too modest. The reason that so many games suck is because so many games suck. Making art is hard. No microchip changes that.

And yet Sony’s developers insist on the myth of “more.” More polygons and more gigabytes because surely this time, they will lead to the promised land of creative expression. In practice, this dogma hasn’t done much to improve games. Quite the opposite. As production budgets balloon and the cost of entry shuts out independent voices, the worship of “more” is likely to be the ruination of console gaming as we know it. The industry’s arms race with itself simply is not sustainable. Yet here’s Sony, blithely promising to build a bigger gun. They’d better watch out—the recoil’s a bitch.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Response:
0rJDn0jRnUQ

Serious Response:

I'm cautiously optimistic, I doubt it's going to be a day 1 buy for me, but I'm definitely keen to seen just how fuzzy Insomniac can make Ratchet using the new hardware, and how well can Clank's chrome can show that fuzziness in its reflection.

So when do we start screaming "What the fuck is a Sonic?" after SEGA attempts to, once again, rush a console-premiering game by rebooting a franchise with less continuity than Mario?

Actually they've been taking their time with it. Sonic Team is even keeping the games small to reduce the number of possible glitches in the final product.

They've been on a roll from Unleashed to Generations with improvements made with each release. The PC version of Generations being arguably the best Sonic game ever made because they made it mod friendly when we have a fan base with some very talented game designers. Sonic 4 ep2 being an exception as it was meant to be released before generations. Even though it was an improvement over ep1 both in controls, level design (only barely IMO), and apperance.

They've also been keeping quite about things. Starting with colors, which came completely out of nowhere during E3 2010. In order to avoid a big hype that would end with Sega execs jumping with glee and demanding the game to be released right away. Glitches and all, complete or not.


Trust me, neigther Sonic Team nor Sega wants another Sonic 06. That was a PR nightmare that nearly killed the blue blur... until generations PC.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

:Update:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2013/feb/22/ps4-shuhei-yoshida-interview





Yes, I can say that. Development on PS3 was very hard because of the unique architecture, so we made the decision use a more popular architectures so developers would be able to use the same tools and engines, and make a seamless move to PS4 – that was a big focus. They also wanted a larger amount of system memory as well!



We're shifting our platform more and more to the digital side – PS4 will be similar to PS Vita in that every game will be available as a digital download, and some will also be available as a disc.


Sony has been criticised for not actually showing the PlayStation 4 at the launch event. Was this because you wanted to save something for E3 or because you still have six different prototypes on your desk and can't decide between them?
[Laughs] We have not finalised the hardware yet and decided not to try to get it finished in time. Also, it's a long time from February to launch, we have to design our communication in phases. Our focus here was to show some games and talk about the key principles – we wanted to save the unveiling of the actual console.

But is the design of the final console important to Sony? Is it a major consideration?

I think if you asked different people within our company that question, you would get different answers! I was criticised when I said, why bother show the case? Who cares? Some said I was disrespecting people's curiosity – I apologise for that. But as a game developer, I'm much more into how the games work, and the controller is crucial for us developers – without the input device we can't make games of the best quality. A box is a box to us! But yes, I appreciate that it's symbolic, people want a games console to look good so they can be proud of owning it and of course our hardware design team are working hard on that.



In a year's time, what will the PS4 gaming experience look like?
In a couple of years I'd like to be playing PS4 games on all my devices, with the main experience on the big screen, and smaller sections on mobile screens … It will all be connected.



Well that explains a couple of things...