backtop

Print 54 comment(s) - last by Unspoken Thoug.. on Feb 23 at 1:23 AM
New console will reportedly let you use your smartphone as a remote control

Tonight Sony Corp. (TYO:6758) is expected to announce details about its much-anticipated successor to the PlayStation 3, code-named Orbis.  Launched in 2006, the PS3 has had a rocky road, generally being third in sales, behind Nintendo Comp., Ltd. (TYO:7974) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).  But the seventh generation console did succeed in pushing Sony's Blu-Ray technology as the next generation optical media of choice.

Ahead of the official announcements, Kotaku is reporting potentially leaked details of the eighth generation follow-up, which is expected to launch in time for the holidays this year.  The site writes:

Our source—the same reliable source who back in early 2012 told us the codename for Sony's next console and the codename for Microsoft's next console—tells us that there are two models planned for the new machine, and that pricing won't be announced until later this year, possibly around E3. The current plan, our source says, is to release them at $429 and $529, but that could change.

Those prices would be significantly cheaper than the PS3, which launched starting at $499 USD for a 20 GB console.

The console will reportedly get a new controller with a smaller touchpad in the center, and possibly a special button on the controller to share content.  The source also indicates that you'll be able to use your tablet or smartphone as a remote control/controller for the console.  And you'll be able to run client apps on popular tablets/smartphones to schedule games to download or to chat with your PlayStation Network buddies.

Playstation 4 Controller
The supposed "leaked" PS4 controller [Image Source: Kotaku]

The new PlayStation will locally network via Vita, and will feature a new service called PlayStation Eye (not to be confused with the Eye Toy) which allows you to watch streams of your friends' playing games (if they allow it).  PlayStation Plus will be replaced by PlayStation World; most of the networked services will be only available via this premium option (Microsoft is going a similar route with Xbox Live).

Are these details fact or fiction?  We likely will find out tonight.

Source: Kotaku


Comments     Threshold


Times have changed?
By ChronoReverse on 2/20/2013 3:10:15 PM , Rating: 5
I don't know if it's just me but somehow this new generation of consoles no longer holds the excitement the previous ones did.

Not only do we actually know what the likely power of these consoles are (and it's not impressive at that), I'm not even eagerly anticipating the new games for the systems and am instead pessimistically waiting for how the companies will find new ways to make the experience inconvenient and annoying.




RE: Times have changed?
By luv2liv on 2/20/2013 3:18:48 PM , Rating: 4
i feel the same way, or maybe because we are getting old. i havent touched my PS3 in awhile. except when the nephews come over and visit. and thats all


RE: Times have changed?
By NellyFromMA on 2/20/2013 4:30:07 PM , Rating: 5
I vote for the age aspect. Additionally, consider how new 'gaming' was when Nintendo 8-bit came out with SNES after it.

Gaming is so mainstream now, of course it doesn't feel the same.

Feature for feature though, there's just no way anyone could EVER say NES > xbox or ps.

The only time that arguement could (IMO is) true is when you evaluate the CONTENT / games. Something did FEEL more fun about the earlier generations, but its not because of a superior / inferior system...

Just my two.


RE: Times have changed?
By someguy123 on 2/20/2013 4:41:37 PM , Rating: 3
In the past costs were much lower for developers so people weren't sure what to expect. These days it's by the book sequels and excessive focus on cinematic "feeling". People aren't as excited because they've sucked a lot of the fun out of video games in favor of something closer to interactive movies.

Only things really improved are mp integration and multimedia.


RE: Times have changed?
By MrBlastman on 2/21/2013 11:09:26 AM , Rating: 2
Unless you play Dark Souls or Demon Souls. They are exceptions to the rule with amazingly deep gameplay and very little in lengthy, annoying dialogue laden interactions.

Don't get me wrong--dialogue is great, but when you saturate the experience like say Mass Effect 2 did with the obscene amount of talking and the vignettes of gameplay (salted in hour to two hour increments) it gets... annoying.

I just upgraded my PC. I have no interest in another console. Star Citizen is coming. What's that, console kids? Oh, sorry, you don't get to play it. :P


RE: Times have changed?
By LordanSS on 2/21/2013 4:16:55 PM , Rating: 2
Oh gosh, can't wait for Star Citizen... I will most certainly buy a next-gen card to run it next year.

But more importantly, need to buy a new kit of Joystick/Throttle for a HOTAS setup. My new dog chewed on my CH Pro Throttle USB's cable last year. =(

Thinking about something from Thrustmaster or maybe even Saitek....

Oh, the stars! How I missed thee! =)


RE: Times have changed?
By FITCamaro on 2/22/2013 7:30:39 AM , Rating: 2
I rather enjoy my "interactive movies". I want a good story. Not 20 hours of mindless blasting with ever more ridiculous weaponry.

My gaming time is limited so I play just the quality titles.

Also waiting for Star Citizen though. I plan to run my own private server for me and my friends. A quad core and 8GB of RAM on a 20Mbps down/15 Mbps up connection should suffice for the server and good ping times for all.


RE: Times have changed?
By NellyFromMA on 2/21/2013 1:12:24 PM , Rating: 2
Great point. Production / development costs back then were miniscule compared to today. It takes an extremely large amount of money to produce a game of acceptable quality these days for various reasons, legit and otherwise.


RE: Times have changed?
By BZDTemp on 2/21/2013 5:36:27 PM , Rating: 1
You need to wake up from your nostalgia trip.

Game play has improved in all sorts of ways since the old days and games are much more imersive and engaging. But don't take my word for it grab one of those amazing games from a couple of decades back and you'll quickly find the game play to be limited and repetitive.

It's not that I don't love the old games be it Galaga, Fort Apocalypse, Manic Miner, Stunt Car Racer, Pole Position, Donkey Kong, Wolfenstein 3D, Zork... but the reality is that when I load them up they are only of limited fun and it's more about the memories.


RE: Times have changed?
By Argon18 on 2/20/2013 5:10:02 PM , Rating: 4
IMO the game play of the earlier consoles like NES, SNES, and Genesis trumps most current games out there today. Modern games rely too heavily on graphics and multi-player, and don't focus enough on game play and plot.

Without the benefit of modern 3D rendering or high speed internet multiplayer, the old game systems had to rely almost exclusively on a fantastic game play experience to attract customers and keep them hooked.


RE: Times have changed?
By DiscoWade on 2/20/2013 5:36:26 PM , Rating: 2
Every once is a while I will pull out my old Sega Dreamcast and TurboGraphix 16 and play a game. I don't what it is about Bonk, but I love that old game! And for my money, NFL 2K is still better than the current Madden game. And let us not forget about the old DOS games. Go abandonware! I agree with you, old games were about the plot, new games are about overwhelming your senses. Much like movies now. Just because you can does not mean you should.


RE: Times have changed?
By MrBlastman on 2/21/2013 11:15:04 AM , Rating: 2
Those old DOS games had character, too. I still play through Thexder 2: Firehawk periodically as well as System Shock 1. Heck, I'm playing Hero's Quest 1 right now. I love the pre-VGA art from the 1986-1989 era of PC games. It had style and depth to it while containing a unique texture and taste to it. You could see the love the artists put into the games to make them look good (the ones that were done well at least). Take Space Quest 1 EGA/PC Jr. The main town ooozes with original personality.

This is something that is rarely replicated these days, even with all the fancy rendering and powerful hardware.

It is easy to DOS game, too. Just hop on Ebay and pick up a few Roland modules (MT-32, SC-55) and load up Dosbox for the Adlib/Soundblaster emulation. That's all you need. Well, until you get a vintage PC running. Then you're really having fun!


RE: Times have changed?
By NellyFromMA on 2/21/2013 1:14:02 PM , Rating: 2
Can't argue that. However, to pose an analogy, that's like saying Linus is more secure because it is such a fragmented and smaller share of the overall compute demographic.

Can't vote in favor of weaker tech because its misused less, but you're absolutely right.


RE: Times have changed?
By Totally on 2/20/2013 6:20:51 PM , Rating: 2
I have to also add before things went mainstream video games were like pieces of art no to pieces were a like and they could be appreciated, nowadays they are just another product on a store shelf.


RE: Times have changed?
By Chaser on 2/20/2013 3:26:07 PM , Rating: 3
I think the PS3 was riding off the thrill wave of the PS2.
I have a PS3 but I have found that sitting in front of the TV only to play a game is too limiting when I can game and do many more things in front of a PC. And yes I also think its because I am older too :)


RE: Times have changed?
By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/2013 3:54:43 PM , Rating: 3
The PS3 was riding high off Blu-Ray. If it's sales were based on the game catalog and the online experience, it would have been a dud.


RE: Times have changed?
By tng on 2/20/2013 4:00:03 PM , Rating: 2
I got a PS3 last year and have found that I had to buy the dedicated remote since running a BD movie from the game controller was such a pain. Nothing that they did was intuitive IMO.

I use a X360 as a DVD player and running the movie from the game controller is simple and intuitive.

I also never understood why the PS3 game controllers had to be recharged via the console, a standard USB should be OK, but no, it has to be plugged into the console and the console has to be ON to recharge. Am I the only one to think that someone at Sony has lost touch with reality?


RE: Times have changed?
By nikon133 on 2/20/2013 5:07:33 PM , Rating: 2
Well... you can get a few stand-alone chargers for them. At additional cost, of course.


RE: Times have changed?
By tng on 2/20/2013 5:31:21 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
At additional cost, of course.
Yeah, I know, depressing though. I like the rechargeables that I put into my 360 controllers. Being literally tied to the console seems insane.


RE: Times have changed?
By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/2013 7:26:04 PM , Rating: 2
If you have the PS3 controller set to sleep when inactive, the battery lasts a really long time. Being tied to the console does suck, but I fixed that with a big ass USB extension cable lol.


RE: Times have changed?
By ChronoReverse on 2/20/2013 7:25:09 PM , Rating: 2
Sort of ruins the point of wireless controller though. The 360 at least had this part right with detachable battery packs.


RE: Times have changed?
By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/2013 7:31:31 PM , Rating: 2
Not arguing with ya, just saying, we can get by if we have to :)


RE: Times have changed?
By tamalero on 2/20/2013 9:31:17 PM , Rating: 2
each console as their pros and cons..
you have to pay for online gaming in the xbox 360... for example


RE: Times have changed?
By Manch on 2/21/2013 10:07:24 AM , Rating: 2
You get what you pay for though. The online experience with the 360 is superior to the PS3 as it should be since you're paying. The PS3 is not bad, but it's not as good. Some of my PC only friends don't understand it, even give me crap about it and then turn around an pay money to rent a server for BF3...da fuq is that about?!


RE: Times have changed?
By espaghetti on 2/22/2013 1:29:22 PM , Rating: 2
If you want to make a server that has a limit how many snipers there are on each team, you can.
If you want to change the length of a round, you can.
If you want to keep the game private among just your friends, you can.
There is a laundry list of options at your disposal.
If you value the ability to make a game the way you want it played, it is worth it.

That's du fuq it's about.


RE: Times have changed?
By Totally on 2/20/2013 9:24:54 PM , Rating: 2
since when? I charge my ps3 remote from my pc all the time


RE: Times have changed?
By tallcool1 on 2/22/2013 12:18:30 PM , Rating: 2
That dude is just making stuff up, xbox fanboy. I have charged my PS3 controllers from any USB port, or a USB wall charger/cable. Hell I have even used the USB port on my cable box to charge the PS3 controller.


RE: Times have changed?
By thesavvymage on 2/20/2013 4:01:48 PM , Rating: 2
So true. When we got our hdtv years ago, we were in the market for a bluray player. most were about 250, or a ps3 was 300. Easy choice... plus the ps3 was the only bluray player with a faster reading drive so it made loading the movies much faster.

To this day, I have only bought one ps3 game. Use it only for bluray


RE: Times have changed?
By NellyFromMA on 2/21/2013 1:19:12 PM , Rating: 2
Sony just failed repetedly with the PS3 from beginning to end. They squandered so badly the momentum the PS2 had, it's really ashame in that respect.


RE: Times have changed?
By Milliamp on 2/20/2013 4:03:10 PM , Rating: 2
I think most my lack of enthusiasm comes from the fact that graphics are already mostly "good enough".

New consoles used to mean a huge difference in graphics now with games like Crysis 3 already running on the last gen stuff it doesn't seem like there is that much demand for significantly better graphics.

Sure there is some room for improvement, there always is but it probably wont be as significant as the difference between PS1 to PS2, or PS2 to PS3.


RE: Times have changed?
By Phoque on 2/20/2013 5:00:05 PM , Rating: 2
I'm personally excited about what this generation will offer and how it will compare to bleeding edge PC (I think it won't match, but it'll be interesting nonetheless). I think I'll buy one, to replace my noisy PS3 and to play the PS4 exclusives.


RE: Times have changed?
By retrospooty on 2/20/2013 5:53:44 PM , Rating: 2
" pessimistically waiting for how the companies will find new ways to make the experience inconvenient and annoying."

So true... It kind of sucks. I am looking forward to the next gen consoles, but not to how they will make it inconvenient and annoying.


RE: Times have changed?
By Roffles on 2/20/2013 6:03:40 PM , Rating: 2
i agree on all points. when i think about the next generation consoles, all i picture in my head is a giant black hole trying to suck my money in. and by the time this console makes it to market towards the end of the year, haswell will be available for consumers and high performance, low power, gaming htpcs are going to look much more attractive.

i may as well confess that i'm still kinda pissed off about losing secondary OS and the implementation of cinavia on my ps3. and i don't like how mini-advertisements play themselves as i accidently scroll over the tiles while navigating the incredibly unintuitive inerface of my xbox dashboard.

actually, now that i'm thinking about it, i would have to be a COMPLETE SUCKER to actually buy the ps4 after getting screwed by multiple firmware updates to my ps3. sony is going to have to show me something truly amazing, and not some typical consumer fodder, for me to even give it a second thought.


RE: Times have changed?
By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/2013 6:16:47 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
i may as well confess that i'm still kinda pissed off about losing secondary OS and the implementation of cinavia on my ps3


Maybe I shouldn't say this in public, but oh well it's on others sites so fuk it. If you bitstream your audio (DTS works best), it bypasses Cinavia on the PS3.

Cinavia is just evil and damn everyone to hell whoever came up with it :)


RE: Times have changed?
By darkpuppet on 2/21/2013 10:56:13 AM , Rating: 2
Times have indeed changed.... I too, have been getting tired at how Sony has tried to limit my PS3 user experience by removing half of the functionality I bought it for, and limiting what I can do in my own integrated home media system.

That being said, I'm actually kind of excited for this next generation... the Knack looks compelling enough to play, and a driving game that lives up to Gran Tourismo 5's hype would be nice.

Another thing it looks like they're fixing is that you can actually just sit down and play games on this thing. My biggest beef with the PS3 is the fact that every time I wanted to play a game, I would sit down and be forced to do a 40 minute update.

So out comes the Vita, which is a lesser pain in the butt for updating. -- or my iphone or android tablet.

The thing is that Sony made the PS3 so bloody hard for everyone to enjoy that it just becomes less enjoyable to game and get excited about the next gen.

Maybe this will fix it... I'm looking for some really new gaming experiences (sorry FPSes, keep trying).


Price?
By hpglow on 2/20/2013 2:43:13 PM , Rating: 1
Low end PC components for $430. True that they won't have the bloat of a PC OS so it will stretch farther but I can't see this as being quite cutting edge. Sony better have some cutting edge games and features in the works or I just can't see the consumer shelling out that amout of coin. I haven't priced a new PC together in a year or so but I think even if I had to buy a windows license a PC with simular components would cost less.




RE: Price?
By tng on 2/20/2013 3:53:37 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Low end PC components for $430
To be fair, Sony has always followed the marketing idea of if you price it above what the competition sells for people will perceive it as "better". This used to work three decades ago when most of the time Sony was a better product. Apples attracts victims... eh..., customers this way now.

Now Sony products are really no better than most and they still cost more.


RE: Price?
By NellyFromMA on 2/20/2013 4:31:04 PM , Rating: 2
This gets said every time a console comes out. No one will buy it. Except, they do.

Then, prices go down.

Not new.


RE: Price?
By hpglow on 2/20/2013 4:47:39 PM , Rating: 2
Well yes there will be sales. But there is always a price point where they will sell more, and the further they deviate from that point the less will sell. The PS3 never really took off until you could get a new unit for around $300, the same thing with the launch price of the 3DS. My point is that the price is way out of line for what they are selling. I think Sony is trying on Nintendo's model of making money on the hardware and in Sony's case they don't innovate enough to make that work. The PS4 (or Orbis) should be sooting right for the Wii U's price point, go for the jugular, make it better and the same price. Sony delivers a standard controler + TV experience. My PS3 spends most of it's time playing Blu Ray and streaming off my media server. I don't think I will be spending that kind of money for just a media consumption device twice.


RE: Price?
By tng on 2/20/2013 4:58:06 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
To this day, I have only bought one ps3 game. Use it only for bluray

quote:
My PS3 spends most of it's time playing Blu Ray

Seems to be the same for allot of us. I also only use it for BD and the one game that I have has never been played.


RE: Price?
By nikon133 on 2/20/2013 5:14:29 PM , Rating: 2
Looking at some of the games running on PS3 - which, by all standards, is really old hardware (does anyone still have 7800GTX in their PC..?) - I am confident that exclusives (at least) will look great on PS4, regardless of hardware performance compared to high-end PC.

Having exactly one tightly defined configuration to develop for surely gives developers capability to optimize code to the max, something developing on PC cannot do with.


RE: Price?
By superflex on 2/21/2013 8:33:28 AM , Rating: 2
I still have a X800 GTO flash modded to a X800 PE in my desktop. No need to keep up with the Kardashians as it still works just fine.


RE: Price?
By tayb on 2/20/2013 7:12:27 PM , Rating: 2
Specs per Anandtech...
8-core AMD x86 CPU
~7850/7870 GPU
8GB GDDR5 memory

You couldn't even buy the parts alone for $430.


RE: Price?
By ChronoReverse on 2/20/2013 7:19:18 PM , Rating: 3
It's not unified memory but $430 can buy you a combo FX8120+7870+16GB of RAM. The CPU will be beefier than the A10 derivative in the PS4.

Obviously there's are much more than that to a PC so it'll cost more than the PS4 in the end but the PC will be a PC as well.


RE: Price?
By tallcool1 on 2/22/2013 12:33:35 PM , Rating: 2
Lets tally up actual cost comparison.
OS = ~$100
Case = $50-$150
Power Supply = $50-$100
Keyboard, Mouse = $30-$130
Blu-Ray drive = $50
Hard Drive = $60+

FX8120 = $160
7870 = $200
16GB DDR3 = $100

Total = $800-$1050

The cost is not even close, so people saying that they are overcharging for the PS3 hardware vs what you could buy/build are incorrect.


Pricing
By btc909 on 2/20/2013 4:11:16 PM , Rating: 2
$429 wow that pricing model worked oh so well for the Wii U i'm sure it'll work just as well for the PS4.




RE: Pricing
By hpglow on 2/20/2013 4:54:56 PM , Rating: 2
Where is the Wii U $429? I got a delux off the shelf of a store a week after launch for its suggested MSRP of $350. Which is about $80 cheaper.

The price of the Wii U isn't holding it up. The lack of quality games it. Aside from New Super Mario there is nothing worth playing that isn't a rehash or something I can get cheaper on sale for other systems or the PC. The other flaws are the horrid patch times and long load times of much of the software. Nintendo should have had more titles ready for launch and more on the way. Right now all we have is promises of more mario and more zelda. No dates and what if the player dosn't like mario or zelda games? I get a real impression that third party devs weren't given a development console far enough in advance.


PS4 vs Xbox 720 price
By FITCamaro on 2/20/2013 4:55:19 PM , Rating: 2
Given that rumors of the 720s price being around $300, if it launched at that price, Microsoft would destroy them.




RE: PS4 vs Xbox 720 price
By Unspoken Thought on 2/23/2013 1:23:49 AM , Rating: 2
With the way companies price fix their products today, I'd be more inclined to believe the "720" will be released closer to $400, but you never know.


PS4
By ezinner on 2/20/2013 2:32:52 PM , Rating: 2
I am glad we are getting a refresh, but I hope they can release it before this Fall!




HTPC/dual boot - given x86 cpus
By XZerg on 2/20/2013 3:30:31 PM , Rating: 2
I wonder how long before someone hacks this thing to a point that you can install a custom OS (windows, linux, xmbc, ...) and use it as a HTPC rather than a console.

or even provide a means to do a dual boot or boot from external storage.




By Belard on 2/20/2013 6:24:04 PM , Rating: 2
Thought in NY - the PS4 or something was to be announced?

Also the rumor of having a 20GB drive(?) seems silly and fake. First, the costs difference between a 180GB<>250GB<>500GB is about $20 retail.

If its flash memory for the "cheap" model, then memory size would be 16/32/64GB... with 32GB starting at about $15.

OOPs... looks like the event is starting.




By cyberguyz on 2/21/2013 6:22:41 AM , Rating: 2
Did anyone notice? They plan to launch this in November.

That gives them a whopping 9 months to hype the crap outta this thing.

Too bad they were a little stingy on the details.




$530?
By Nortel on 2/20/13, Rating: 0
"This is from the DailyTech.com. It's a science website." -- Rush Limbaugh











botimage
Copyright 2013 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki