[PS3] Next-next-gen

It looks like Sony are going to announce the PS4 next week:

YouTube Video

So what is everyone expecting or hoping for from this?

I personally don't see the point. A new console means higher specs and for deelopers to realy make the best of this means higher development costs, all this at a time when games companies are going bust all over the shop. Who apart from EA is likely to chuck huge amounts of money at a new console? Do we really need shinier versions of FIFA and NBA games? Yes it would be nice to have more than 16 a side in Battlefield style games but that's as much to do with people's internet connections as it is the processor on the console. I'm planning on upgrading to fiberoptic briadband once it becomes available in my street in the next few months bumping me up to 50-70 odd mbps download speeds but that's far from the norm these days.

With Freemium gaming being increasingly popular with developers, what kind of games are we likely to see on a new console? I'm guessing more MMO efforts. Sony have realy lacked any must-have console specific titles in recent years and although there are the odd things like Little Big Planet and just recently, Nino No Kuni, nobody's going to fork out a few hundred quid to play an updated LBP. What could potentially be a big boost is if the delay to GTA V is in some part due to it getting ready for release on PS4. If they managed to orchestrate that then Sony could sell a lot of consoles to GTA fans, probably me included.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't think connections speed is the issue for BF games considering on PCs there's been 64 person servers since forever.

How ya doing, buddy?

Not in games with dedicated servers, true, but not that many console games have dedicated servers. Frontlines had 32 a side on the 360 but that was pretty painful.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Other than a small increase in hardware power I'm not hoping for much from the PS4. I feel like they need something huge to really win the console wars next generation, I think everyone is in trouble against the Steambox.

Here's how their last two systems have fared with me:

I didn't buy a PS3 until the exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4 was released. My PS3 library has grown quite a bit in the last year due to buying some PS2 HD game collections, but it's still less than the Wii or 360. I'm even looking to trade some of my PS3 games in because they've been bought on the 360.

Then there's the Vita...I still haven't bought one because there hasn't been a game that interests me enough to do so. I think it has some potential since it looks to be a pretty powerful handheld, though.

I'm running out of reasons to get a Sony console especially since they've lost Metal Gear as an exclusive. Right now there's only about one or two series that'll help me consider buying this console, but if this is going to end up being more than $599 then it won't be enough.

I am curious to see how they're going to do their touchscreen controller or integration with tablets. I'd be surprised if they didn't do it seeing how they jumped into the whole motion controller schtick with the Sixaxis and then the Move.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Not expecting too much about it since the PS3 is still around and kicking. It'll be more of the same, only this time it'll be shinier. Doesn't mean it'll be good, however.

Overall, not overly impressed.

I was speaking idiomatically.

How is it that after almost 20 years the PlayStation brand still has no trade dress more compelling than "these are the buttons on the controller".

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Everyone chimes in about larger drives, more downloadability, larger multiplayer integration, multiple concurrent accounts (OMG THE FUTURE IS HERE), even more edges on the polygons (and naturally more bloom), and expanding libraries to include legacy products.


Dear Sony,

Don't sell me a $400 gaming computer. I already have a gaming computer that does all of the above and probably more than your new hardware will. Please improve what you have now as an admitted half step and just fine-tune hardware and promising to deliver software title quality. Don't slowly remove features from your product this time around. Don't make something just because you feel Nintendo pressured you into pushing forward your schedule. Make the Vita worthwhile, please. Give me games for it or software that sells the damn thing.

Don't try to invent something. Your company has had a ton of financial woes and trying to put media on Red-Ray discs or pushing 3D as some sort of capsule I slink into and waffle and hump my way into high scores will just scare me away. If you want to mimic the Surface or the WiiU tablet or replicate your competitors with PS All-Stars, do it right. Don't do it just to put it on the resumé so it looks like you've got the same product.

tldr; make shit like Japanese know how to

FELIPE NO

I feel like the only reason they're doing it is because the current gen has outlived the typical gen life cycle already, but is still doing fine, and is rather strong despite being under powered compared to gaming rigs you could make yourself. It's not like they make money from selling consoles. All the money they make are from the games.

Reeegardless, since the Wii U has been spat out by Nintendo, both Sony and Microsoft now -have- to respond to it with their own new consoles. Naturally.

As a member of the used video game industry I really...really hope they do away with the idea of disposable discs (aka you can't buy or sell them used, one use only), or DL only games. That's -not- what the consumer wants. And doing exactly the opposite of what the consumer wants only leaves you with a PSP go, and no one wants any of that shit. It's especially discerning when they're trying to spit right in the face of the people who practically keep their companies and interest in the industry afloat. Unless they can successfully rip off Steam for their console, including the crazy ass sales Steam does, they aren't going to be even remotely successful in the next gen.

TL;DR: Seriously, Sony, stop being a fucktard. Make shit backwards compatible, keep discs, and please dear god, don't try to shove a boomerang controller at us again.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I'm waiting for them to suggest using their streaming service to introduce that as their media delivery format.

They're on the right track trying to be Steam in accessing your games anywhere you can get your account online....but streaming content is not yet viable. Just like Microsoft reports about them forcing online to use the system.

The bandwidth can't be supported by enough customers. Many people don't have/don't want their system online. These guys are shooting themselves in the foot by trying to force it if they do.

LET ME SIT IN MY CAVE WITH THE LIGHTS OFF. GIVE ME MY CHEETOS AND ONE CONTROLLER. LEAVE ME ALONE.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I just hope they drop the "no used games" mess. It already sucks that there probably won't be Backward Compatibility but if they go through the used game bullshit, then how the hell are people supposed to know a game is a complete pile of shit? IGN "reviews"? lol. What a joke.

Sure, I get that they are mad at places like Gamestop charging full price (oh excuse me $5 off full price) for used "new" games, but this will kill off places like Gamefly too. I'm not gonna toss $60 (or however much they're going to charge) for every game that looks interesting, only for it to end up being a pile of shit and no way to resell it.

The always online for the 720 is gonna shoot themselves in the foot. If I wanted to always be connected, I'd play on PC. Sometimes I just like not being signed on the PSN (or Live if I had that) and play by myself.

I dunno what'll happen on Wed, but it better be something fantastic for me to drop money on a new system. :\

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Lukage

I'm waiting for them to suggest using their streaming service to introduce that as their media delivery format.

Sure is going to be fun having input lag on EVERYTHING.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It'll just be another browser game

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Originally Posted by Decoy Goat

It'll just be another browser game

Yep.



I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm half expecting them to push the 4k UHD display experience with this thing. Via streaming of course but the double capacity blu-ray discs the PS4 is expected to have could probably manage it too. Now, that's only really for potential media of course. The PS3 was promised to do upwards to 2k for gaming when it was announced and pushing things to multiple displays and such but that didn't really pan out at all. I wouldn't expect 4k gaming at all unless it was 1080p up-scaled to 4k which could work I guess with enough AA. Really, if they can even manage a pure 1080p environment at 60 fps with this machine with the rumored hardware specs I'll be surprised.

I hope whatever they show off on the 20th is significant. They'll probably end up holding most of their cards until E3 but Sony really has a lot riding on this and I hope they don't screw it up. I've actually enjoyed the PS3 quite a bit as of late and personally I think both Sony and Microsoft are jumping the gun. They could easily wait another 2 years to release better systems that don't cost them nearly as much and actually deliver a better punch in capability.

I think they're worried about Nintendo having a head start which they really shouldn't since while I love Nintendo they've really only played catch up and re-introduced and re-polished gameplay that wasn't successful on the GameCube by packaging a tool developers know the consumer will have by default. I believe Sony may have learned something from that by if pictures of the PS4 controller are true then bundling the Move tech into the controller. Similarly Microsoft will be pushing Kinect 2 onto people with it's next console as well if they have any intelligence. Differentiating yourself through exclusives and gameplay is basically the only thing these guys can do to keep themselves afloat in terms of gaming. Well at its core anyway. The extra stuff helps too I guess.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I've read some stuff saying that the PS4 will suport 3d. One wonders where these websites get their info from, given that you can already get 3d games on the PS3.

I've actually been using my PS Vita a lot more recently, although granted it's been mainly playing FFIX and a couple of PS Minis. Ridge Racer is pretty decent on it and it was only a tenner for the complete package as part of the one year anniversary sale.

I agree that a download only market would be a terrible idea, especially if Sony haven't worked out why Live is so much better than PSN yet (Let me decide if I want the latest update Sony, don't hang my PS3 for 20 minutes downloading it whether I like it or not). Also one use only discs can fuck off too.

It will be a loooooong time before I can afford to upgrade from HD to whatever becomes the new industry standard so I don't really care about that, although I will care if games start using text you can only read on an Ultra Def tv the way they started making games you could only read in HD on the last generation.

Pang, to be fair, despite having done almost all my gaming on an Xbox for the last 10 years, I still refer to the buttons on the controller as X, triangle, circle and square and Sony don't really have a lot else going for them in terms of brand identity for their consoles.

I really don't see this as a knee-jerk reaction to Nintendo. Nintendo are now a niche market supplier, they're not competitors to Sony and Microsoft. I see it more as a way of shoring up their share price after announcing massive losses again this year. They really need to ditch the TV division and concentrate on stuff Korea aren't better at.

FELIPE NO

There's not a lot of 4K source material that wouldn't be an awful upscale job. And no, on gaming it would look awful. Even the best scaler couldn't do that much with a 1080p source. It would look like so much horse vomit. Especially not in a 500 dollar middling piece of hardware.

People need to stop with the "they can still wait" stuff. We're using 7 and 8 year old hardware that wasn't cutting edge when it came out. They can't wait. They've already waited too long. Everything coming out these days is a trade off between playability and muddy shit graphics. The hardware is stretched too thin. I don't understand why people want to wait when every game they get renders closer to 480p than 720p. We should have had a successor in 2011.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Besides it's not like 4k uhd tvs won't be upscaling shit themselves anyway.

I guess it has been a while. I guess I was just hoping for beefier hardware than what's rumored is all. It's going to be a rather ho-hum jump in my opinion but I'm willing to be wowed.

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I can't imagine any scaler, especially a built in TV one, being any sort of decent. The one in the 360 is actually pretty fucking fantastic, all things considered. Thankfully your TV doesn't do the scaling in that case; imagine how terrible it'd look! It'd look only slightly better than SD cable broadcasts. Yuck.

I too wish we would have beefier consoles around the corner, but it is what it is. I don't think we'll see any 600+ dollar SKUs either, so right out of the gate they've got to be less powerful comparatively in order to not lose as much money per unit sold.

I hope that, if these rumoured specs are true, what we get is a shortened cycle instead of a longer one. Quintuple in 2018? That'd be nice. (Provided Sony doesn't implode on itself).

It's strange when I'm more excited by gimmicks like Oculus and Shield than I am by Durango and Orbis.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Shake it, Quake it, SPACE KABOOM

It's strange when I'm more excited by gimmicks like Oculus and Shield than I am by Durango and Orbis.

I have no idea what a single one of these things mean. I am now old.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

One is a 3d head tracking device that you wear and the other is essentially a handheld that you can stream your pc for gaming. They're kinda neat.

How ya doing, buddy?

Three dimensional head tracking sounds like shit. I like the sound of the other thing.

I have myriad diverse opinions on things I know very little about.

I was speaking idiomatically.

So if anyone wants to watch this (about 25 minutes away from starting), here are a few links:

https://us.playstation.com/meeting2013/ (US)
PlayStation Meeting 2013 (UK)
PlayStation (Twitch)

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well that was sort of a waste of time. We caught only a glimpse of the controller and its kinect device. We got a lot of yakety yak and not enough actual gameplay of which most of it was derived from PCs or prerendered. No bullet points for important shit like will it take discs, is it download only, is it anti-used games, and what the fuck does the console even look like? They're saving a lot for E3. I'm hoping some really long running PS3 projects get moved to PS4 and actually make it for its launch window: looking at you last guardian. There's a lot of potential and the PS4 seems to be a step in a good direction but the unanswered questions could make or break the console and the same is aimed at Microsoft as well. Right now, I'll probably get one depending on what games are at launch and if the answers I seek are favorable. I hope Sony and Microsoft don't do anything stupid.

FELIPE NO

I remember someone pointed out in chat no mention of backwards compatibility either, which I'd be surprised if Sony did incorporate this time around. If it is indeed discless then the answer is obviously no.

More footage from Watch Dogs, however, was a positive.

How ya doing, buddy?

BC will be streamed, and therefor god damn fucking terrible.

Call me when North America actually has an internet backbone worth a fuck before people try this cloud gaming diarrhea please.

Jam it back in, in the dark.