Rumor: Sony to Start PS4 Production at End of 2011

[viewtonic]

Buying the PS3 was a mistake. Never again Sony...

[Prince Valiant]

I would imagine the PS4 would be using a SSD for performance reasons, although maybe not since they are significantly more expensive per GB than a HDD. But maybe in a few years, when the PS4 is ready to release, SSD's will be much cheaper. Worst case scenario is that it will be fully SSD-capable, meaning it has TRIM and all that other stuff to reduce the wear on the drive in case somebody wants to use a SSD. Cause while you can use a SSD in the PS3, I don't think it has TRIM capabilities (maybe it does, anybody know?)

One thing we can count on is that the PS4 will no doubt will be touch-technology ready, because that seems to be the way things are going nowadays (like with PSVita and Windows 8 for example). Not something I want to see happen, but that is the demand. I would also think that the PS4 will have to think ahead and up the maximum resolution beyond 1080p, because we are reaching the time now where 1080p isn't good enough for home HDTV's, and pretty soon we will start to see HDTV's that will go much higher than 1080p.

Either way it seems like the PS3 is finally starting to get up to speed and it still seems like developers haven't quite yet gotten all they can out of the PS3's power yet, plus it just feels too early for another one. Maybe in 2-3 years, but 2012? No way! In order to make something significantly better than the PS3 (which is what each new generation console aims to accomplish), the price tag would be enormous. In 2-3 years that technology will have dropped in price drastically and would be more reasonable. But not as early as 2012.

Solid state drives are still very expensive, a drive of sufficient size would drive the price up significantly. I also disagree on the resolution, most of the games on the PS3 are 1280x720 rather than 1920x1080. The only way I see support for a touch screen, is allowing the Vita to be used as a controller. I fail to see how 1920x1080 isn't a sufficient resolution for TV or games; unless you've got your face stuck to a 50"+ TV :P. Supporting higher resolutions would only cause whatever graphics processor they use to be more expensive, to support such resolutions without sacrificing quality. In 2013/14 prices might be a little more reasonable, like you said, certainly not next year though.

Buying the PS3 was a mistake. Never again Sony...

There are plenty of games for it?

[barrybarryk]

Backing storage generally has little impact on a games performance. There's no point in having a super fast HDD or SSD installed if you're games are going to be distributed on discs, unless you have to install them all in which case an SSD wouldn't be ideal since you'd be prioritising capacity over speed if each game is 10GB+. They'd be far better off just massively increasing the RAM capacity so loading sections are fewer and further between.

I think higher res than 1080p is also very unlikely since there's no demand for a greater resolution TV like 4k (Blu Ray spec wont change and TV broadcasters have barely even gotten into HD yet) and people have just bought their HD tv's.

[technodon]

cant wait until geohot gets one

[tonybologna]

It it was to come out before the end of 2012 (unlikely), all I can say is LOOK OUT eBay! This place will be swamped with buyers!

[TheShroomster]

cant wait until geohot gets one

I doubt he will do much with it being his settlement agreement with sony.

[leukotic]

I also disagree on the resolution, most of the games on the PS3 are 1280x720 rather than 1920x1080. The only way I see support for a touch screen, is allowing the Vita to be used as a controller. I fail to see how 1920x1080 isn't a sufficient resolution for TV or games; unless you've got your face stuck to a 50"+ TV :P. Supporting higher resolutions would only cause whatever graphics processor they use to be more expensive, to support such resolutions without sacrificing quality. In 2013/14 prices might be a little more reasonable, like you said, certainly not next year though.

I am not saying 1080p wouldn't be good enough, because as you pointed out most PS3 games aren't even doing native 720p, I was simply estimating the future need for higher res games. PC gamers have been enjoying beyond (way beyond) 1080p gaming for quite some time now, and it makes logical sense that as technology grows, 1080p will be looked upon as the red-headed step child in the HD world. PC gamers have already been laughing at us HDTV owners because we think 1080p is so great, while they have been playing games on their beyond 1080p monitors for some time now.

I guarantee you within the next 2-3 years TV manufacturers will be coming out with higher res TV's, that go well beyond 1080p. Mark my words, that WILL be the next best thing in HDTV technology. They did their motion enhancement 120hz, 240hz, LED back-lighting and 3D stuff... and it is highly likely that next step up on the cutting edge evolutionary chain of HDTV technology will be the implementation of 1080p+ resolutions. Because lets face it, people get bored of stuff very quickly in today's society, and 1080p is old news. And the prices for 1080p HDTV's have gone down so much it is mind boggling. For the price I paid for my 32" 720p Samsung back in 2007, I could get a top of the line 120/240hz, 3D, 1080p, 55", LED HDTV. Higher res is the next big step for HDTV's, and if Sony thinks ahead with the PS4, they will need to prepare for this.

Same goes for touchscreen tech, I personally hate it but people seem to love it. And I wouldn't be surprised if TV's started to come out where there was a sensor on the TV that could identify your hand gestures to move around the TV's settings and menus, basically like a virtual touch screen. Sony will have to identify all the potential future technology and implement it into the PS4, which is also another good reason it won't be coming out any time soon, because too many things are unknown about what future tech may bring.

And if they don't guess right, the PS4 would be obsolete much sooner than expected. Because say if they release with a 1080p limitation, and beyond 1080p TV's get really popular.. well, you get the idea. Gaming is not the only thing the PlayStation is used for, you can't discount blu rays and the whole home theater aspect of owning a PS3 and potential PS4. Cause while games may not go beyond 1080p on a console for the next generation, blu-ray movies and TV's most definitely will.

[GrandpaHomer]

I would also think that the PS4 will have to think ahead and up the maximum resolution beyond 1080p, because we are reaching the time now where 1080p isn't good enough for home HDTV's, and pretty soon we will start to see HDTV's that will go much higher than 1080p.

Not really sure about that, considering that hardly any currnet console game is running at full pontential of 1080p (hell - not even of 720p - most of them are runing internally on lower res and simply upscaling to 720p) ...

[leukotic]

Not really sure about that, considering that hardly any currnet console game is running at full pontential of 1080p (hell - not even of 720p - most of them are runing internally on lower res and simply upscaling to 720p) ...

Exactly, so wouldn't the next logical step in a next-gen console be to significantly outperform what we have now? Think of the major changes that have occurred throughout time with video game consoles, every next-gen console that releases is significantly better than it's predecessor. SNES to N64, PSX to PS2, PS2 to PS3. All have been MASSIVE leaps in graphics technology. And while 1080p is more than twice the resolution of 720p, I don't think it will make enough difference to truly make the PS4 anything special when it comes to graphics. PC games have probably been going beyond 1080p for over a decade now, I think it's about time a console could do that as well.

But perhaps resolution isn't everything, heck even I have argued that point before. But at the very least I think the PS4 will have the capability to do higher than 1080p resolutions, not necessarily for games, but for movies. Because higher res TV's will be releasing, probably much sooner than we would imagine. A blu-ray disk can handle it due to it's capacity which seems to be growing all the time, and we all know that movies recorded on film go well beyond a 1080p resolution. The only limiting factor here is our TV's and the devices used to output the video.

Cause think about it, the TV companies really can't do too much more with the current HDTV's aside from perfecting the tech (perhaps some touchscreen stuff will make an appearance soon). So they will want to introduce the next big thing that they can charge $20,000 for, then as a few years go by that originally priced $20k, beyond 1080p res TV, will be under $1,000, ripe for the hands of the average consumers and just in time for the PS4. Not only do the TV companies benefit from this change, but also companies that make HDMI receivers and blu ray players, as people will need to buy new beyond 1080p receivers/players that can handle/output the higher resolutions.

It's all about money, and while I am perfectly fine with 1080p for my TV, people nowadays are all about the next best thing. And even though 1080p technology for the living room is still a relatively new adoption, it is already 'old news' because technology nowadays moves so insanely fast.