Kutaragi to pilot PlayStation development?

Whether Ken 'Father of the PlayStation' Kutaragi will get to work on the PlayStation 4 remains to be seen, but he's certainly talking like he is. And the PS5. And the PS6. Speaking to electronics industry site EETimes, Kutaragi said: "As a matter of course, I have the vision of Playstation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into …

[Steve Barnes]

Bigger and better yes, but..

It's annoying because: "As before, but bigger and better" wouldn't and SHOULDN'T be a problem - I have no desire for a motion-sensing wii controller etc (although I can see why others like it) - the main problem with the PS3 is, for all it's power, all it's multi-functioning beefed-up capabilities, it STILL has almost no games! I love PlayStation, I still own my original launch PSX, a PSOne, and 2 PS2's (one original UK and one US Slimline) AND even a PSP, and really want to find a reason to get a PS3, but I can't!

Resistence: Fall of Man looks good, definitely, but it looks like of the few games confirmed for PS3, a lot are FPS. Virtua Tennis had it's online capabilities stripped (why?! - ah yes, we all love Xbox live, heaven forbid any other console have a thriving online community), MotorStorm has no split-screen 2 player, Warhawk has been in development for yonks and has now been announced as an online only game; what the hell Sony? Come on!

If / when I get my PS3, yes, I will have Linux installed, yes, I will check my email on it, yes I will put videos and music on it, but will it matter if I can't play any decent games on it? NO!

It's the same thing with the PSP...

[Highlander]

PS4, PS3 and PSP

Steven Barnes - no, it's not the same thing with the PSP. The only point of merit you make is that Warhawk has been in development too long, it has.

PS4. With Kuturagi moving onwards and outwards(?) and Kaz moving in to the top spot a concentration on software can't be a bad thing. With regard to the PS4 and Cell and all the other stuff, perhaps people should bear this in mind.

Cell BE is a component of an architecture that is modular. Not only can the Cell itself have more cores on chip, but Cell BEs can work together in parallel. PS4 need not be a radical departure from PS3, PS4 could up the ante by incorporating a Cell with more cores and/or putting more than on Cell to work. I also wonder whether the RSX like other Nvidia GPUs is designed to incorporate some level of SLI like functionality, so again multiples seem a possibility.

The next generation of gaming systems will have to do more than simply offer more pixels. The number of pixels is likely to remain the same for this and the next generation. The next big thing could be real time ray tracing in games. Cell is perfectly placed for that. The sheer cost of developing a new game system is so high that Sony may see the sense in taking an evolutionary approach for PS4 instead of the revolutionary approach chosen for the PS3.

[Steve Barnes]

errm... no

I don't believe that my comment on Warhawk was my only point of merit. The lack of decent PS3 games has been widely documented and whilst I am certainly not jumping to point the PS3 as a failure (I'll be getting one in October) I am simply pointing out what many other already have - extras and bonuses are wonderful; thoroughly enjoyable, but they are useless if you don't have the games to go with them. Who cares about a beautiful cell processor if you have to choose between remodelled 360 & PS2 games?

My only point of similarity for the PSP was that it has loads of great extra functions (which I make use of) but in terms of games, my DS Lite (I own both, and generally do have every console each generation) gets a LOT more playing time.

There is of course a lot to still look forward to, such as FFXIII and MGS4 (honestly can't wait). But Sony could do with focusing more on their software department for a little while. PSX outlived the 64-bit N64 and even the 128-bit Dreamcast not because of it's technical capabilities but because of it's wonderful game library. That's what's always mattered when it comes to games consoles.