Sony to launch PlayStation 4 in 2012, say moles

Sony will begin producing the PlayStation 4 -equipped with Kinect-style movement control tech - by the end of this year, and will launch it in 2012, it has been claimed. The rumours come from sources within Taiwan's component production world, who told Digitimes that Sony is readying a surprise launch of a new console, with a …

[Alex Walsh]

Unlikely

Unless it's a new version of the PS3 with motion control, I doubt that Sony could actually afford to develop and release a new console at the moment. They've taken a massive hammering financially recently and it's always been the perceived wisdom that the way for MS to beat them at the console game would be to accelerate the life cycle.

[Citizen Kaned]

i can see the point.

surely no console should be expected to live for 10 years like they quote?

this new version NEEDS to have all games running in 1080p and trueHD for audio. they also need to incorporate mouse and keyboard somehow. FPS with pads is just so lame compared to mouse + keys.

how much will consumer confidence be hammered by the outage recently?

me? i just dropped £350 on a new gfx card so im happy with pc gaming for a while longer. ps3 doesnt get used much these days, maybe not until new tombraider or drake game

[MJI]

Keyboards? Try Killzone 3 with Move

FPS with pads not great

FPS with mouse - pretty good, keyboard - I do not like

Got KZ3 and it plays brilliantly with Move - the navigation controller is for moving the character and the Move IS the gun.

And it is a lot of fun

[Citizen Kaned]

got one already!

i have. i also have the sharpshooter. sharpshooter was lots of fun but silly button placement hindered it, as did geurilla not allowing us to config the buttons LIKE THEY PROMISED!

i would still be better with a mouse, plus it doesnt make your arm ache with a mouse. the pointers still need to you aim physically at the center, while with a mouse you just dont move the mouse, if you get what i mean?

[MJI]

Sit on settee

Wrists on little table, take time getting the calibration just right and then have fun.

Cannot be bothered to stand even if the gun looks cool.

[Citizen Kaned]

i do that.

well, i rest on my knees. but its still not as good as a mouse. i hate the deadzone thing that they implemented. its better but still nowhere near as good as a mouse. plus FPS mice always have thumb buttons which are invaluable, are they supported?

all games need to let you assign all the buttons how you want. most are far too restrictive.

[MJI]

Mice

No issue with them but I suck at keyboards for FPSs.

Found this with various Valve games such as HL2 and Portal

As to Move - I do find start and select a PITA but T is great.

Resting the arm is key as is turning up sensitiity

It is hot I need a drink!

[Anonymous Coward]

"this new version NEEDS to have all games running in 1080p"

to make it last another 10 years, it will need to be able to run games at 2160p. Have the HDMI port capable of such speed, then release a software update once the standard is out. Plus keep the "wireless HD TV" support.

[Zilla]

Lies....

Mouse and keyboard works just fine on the PS3. I've played Unreal Tournament on the PS3 with a mouse and keyboard no problem.

[Citizen Kaned]

but

most games dont support it properly.

[Fibbles]

Most games don't support it properly

That'd be because console FPS's have all sorts of helpers to make aiming actually possible with an analogue stick. If you play the same game on a console with a mouse and keyboard you're not only going to get the benefit of those helpers but also that added accuracy of the mouse. In short it'd make online play incredibly unbalanced.

[MJI]

Doesn't appear to be any with KZ3 and Move

There is in single player and it makes it MORE difficult.

I didn't go online until most of the way through playing on hard - with no aim assists.

Sorry to keep on about it but it is the only thing as good as a mouse but feels like fun rather than work!

<--- Glowing red eyes what else?

[Arnold Lieberman]

Backwards compatibility

Not a Sony strong point.

[SteveBalmer]

Confused

as to why you think that...

My PS3 plays PS1 games perfectly (infact better than the originals, as it upscales them). My PSP plays PSone games just great too.

Sony are about to launch PSP Compatability for the PS3 very soon, and I'm guessing it will fit in with PS Vita too.

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/06/30/sony-announces-psp-engine-for-ps3

And the originals had perfect PS2 emulation, until everyone started whinging about the price of the PS3, so it was the first bit of hardware to get culled.

If you really wanted PS2 emulation in your PS3, then perhaps you should have been careful for what you wished for (a cheaper PS3), as it came true....

Idiot.

[Anonymous Coward]

Quite right

I've got a first gen PS3 - have I EVER used backward compatibility? well yes - once - just to try it for 5 minutes :D Theres probably a few thousand people worldwide who actually really wanted it and didn't still own their PS2 - it hardly made sense to saddle 20 million people with extra hardware costs just to keep them happy. PS2's are also free on ebay!

[Anonymous Coward]

meh

I mean to say almost free.

[David Austin]

Title

I'm calling this one out.

launching a console in this glitzy next gen world is expensive. In previous generations, a console would last 3-5 years before being replaced.

With PS3 and xbox 360, it's just too disruptive and expensive to get the console costs down to generate a profit on that lifespan.

That's what Kinect and Move was all about - They're mid-life updates to add new features and re-invigorate the player base, in lieu of new consoles.

I'd be surprised to see either Xbox 720 or Playstation 4 before 2013, more probably 2014.

[DrXym]

That depends

Assuming rumours to be true (and they're often not), if Sony are talking up 3D, VR etc. then what they really need is something with a bit more kick to it, but at the same time they don't want to dump the existing install base

So a PS4 could really be a PS3+ - faster GPU, CPU, more memory, other bells and whistles but essentially an iteration of the PS3. Games could detect they're running on the faster machine and act accordingly. Perhaps it means they boost their framerate and go 1080p, that kind of thing so the experience is tangibly better without breaking backwards compatibility.

[SteveBalmer]

LOL

Utter bullshit. The PS3 is just getting into it's stride. I'm guessing this news actually stemmed from Microsoft's PR department, keen to ensure they can stem the flow of PS3's into homes...

[MJI]

I reckon they mean the Vita.

The hand held - due in the new year - so what do you think?

[Anonymous Coward]

misinformation

"equipped with Kinect-style movement control tech"

kinect borrows heavily from sony's eyetoy

[Raggs]

Glad you got your title apt to your content.

Eyetoy is a webcam. Kinect uses a laser and detection system, plus a large amount of software to accurately detect a bodys position in 3D space, added with an amazing microphone array also cabaple of accurate detection including it's own voice recognition software, along with a webcam. The most major part of Kinect (3d detection) is nothing like the eyetoy, the next most major part (audio) also has nothing to do with the eyetoy, the last part yes, it also has a webcam.

As to the topic, it could be sony wants to get a jump in at the same time as the Wii, but I don't see it happening mysel.f

[Anonymous Coward]

Fap fap.

The Move is far more responsive and accurate than kinect which is kinda handy for gaming. Move uses the eyetoy in a fairly similar way to kinect, though I suppose you're impressed by it using frikkin lazors. They also both have "an amazing microphone array also cabaple of accurate detection including it's own voice recognition software"

[irish donkey]

Surprise Launch?

looks like they are still leaking data all over the internet.

The a surprise is nobody knows its coming.

[Southern]

Hmm...

I seem to recall Sony Execs at the PS3 launch claiming that the PS3 was going to be around for at least 10 years. Some plan that worked out to be, but in the five odd years it's been out, they've got a solid product there.

I'm all one for innovation though, so I'm glad to hear that something new will be out soon.

[SteveBalmer]

To be fair

Unlike Microsoft who are keen to dump support for the old console the day the new one is released, Sony overlap their console support by 4+ years, so whilst the PS3 has been out 6 years, it will be supported with game easily for another 4 years.

That said, this "news" is bullshit.

[JeeBee]

Not exactly unexpected..

It's Sony's standard practice - release a new console but keep the old one going as the cheap option.

PS1 was the cheap option for a few years after the PS2 came out.

The PS2 was the cheap option for a few years after the PS3 came out.

I don't see why the PS3 won't continue to be sold for a few more years even if the PS4 comes out next year. So the PS3 will have its ten year lifespan. But it was never expected to be the only Sony console offering for all of that time.

[sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD]

If true, I'd like to know...

... what's ticking inside...

[louis walsh's toilet]

and the most bollox rumour goes to....

this one.

there is not one chance that a PS4 will arrive in 2012. yet again, these 'insiders' will turn out to be some 15 year old kid on twitter who had half an idea......move on....

[MJI]

It's the Vita

Everything points to it.

[Filippo]

not implausible

PS1 is from 1994, PS2 is from 2000, PS3 is from 2006. A PS4 in 2012 makes sense. If the past is any indicator, the PS3 will keep getting new games for years, thus confirming the "10 years lifespan".

I wonder, on the other hand, if Microsoft will piss off everyone by stopping all releases for the 360 the second they release the 720, like they did for the original Xbox.

On the new & improved motion-based control system - good, awesome! I don't get how people can say that they're copying Kinect as if it was a bad thing. Improvement on the competition is how customers get progress.

[Citizen Kaned]

actually....

sony beat nintendo to it by a good few years, let alone M$

[Stuart Archer]

Sense

This comment makes none! The guy doesn't even refer to Nintendo in his original post!

[Citizen Kaned]

really?

"On the new & improved motion-based control system - good, awesome! I don't get how people can say that they're copying Kinect as if it was a bad thing. Improvement on the competition is how customers get progress"

i replied:

"sony beat nintendo to it by a good few years, let alone M$"

that was just reinforcing what he said about people saying that sony are copying MS.

if you cant see the correlation you need to go and check out the cbeebies website, it might be more at your level

[Anonymous Coward]

Well actually ...

... SEGA got there before that with the motion sensing SEGA Activator peripheral for the Mega Drive / Genesis in 1993.

[Filippo]

correct

Everyone copies everyone else - and that's a good thing. For innovation, evolution is every bit as important as revolution.

[Dirk Vandenheuvel]

PS3 1.5

If true.. expect a slightly upgraded machine.... especially if they really wanne ship 20m since that would point to a replacement PS3.

[alexh2o]

Kinect patents...

Would Sony be able to release a Kinect style controller given MS must have Kinect locked down like crazy with patents!? And no EyeToy =/= Kinect!

[MJI]

Do they need to?

Sony saw the preNatal as well as Nintendo, before MS.

Why did both skip it?

I have read rumours that Sony were working on similar ideas but binned them.

Anyway the consoles do not have to all be the same, differences give a reason to buy.

There is the Halo and camera console.

There is the Drake and accurate pointer console.

There is the Mario and fitness console.

[Anonymous Coward]

Title goes here.

Knowing Sony, they'll prolly remove backwards compatability for the PlayStation 3...

[Simon Preston]

2 things.

The 10 year life span most definitely is still in place - there are Playstation 2 games still being released today, so a new machine will not mean the end of PS3 games or it's lifespan.

Secondly, I totally agree with previous comments that the PS4 should be based on the PS3 hardware with upgraded components. Updating the Cell, Geforce graphics chip and memory would surely save heaps on R&D. It would also mean that the hardware is already familiar with developers, which means getting some top quality games out quickly rather than having to struggle with new specifications.

This should also mean that backwards compatibility should be an absolute doddle to implement as opposed to previous (The Emotion Engine in the PS2 is still a very tricky implementation to emulate) .

Or this strategy far too sensible?

[Matthew 17]

there won't be consoles in 10 years time

They'll just stream the game via the thin-client technology built into your TV/monitor.

Plugging a box into your screen is so last decade.

[MJI]

What about lag?

Also a lot of us want to own shiney discs ect

[Anonymous Coward]

O rly?

Interestingly people was saying that 10 years ago. Its not going to happen until at least 75% of the developed world population has access to Hi-speed broadband/fibre. ie a lot longer than 10 years!

Also many developing countries are only just leaving 56k modems or getting phone lines fitted! But their combined populations still have quite a lot of rich people who buy consoles.