And today it’s the turn of PSM3 magazine, Future’s print mag that will see its latest issue on the shelves shortly as the publisher moves to reduce the number of magazines and focus on its formidable online portfolio.
It’s going out with a bang, though, as GameFront.de reports the latest issue is primed with a big pile of PlayStation 4 rumours.
The first one being that it’s not going to be called the PlayStation 4, due to the number 4’s superstitious connotations in Japan. 4 is considered unlucky, and has an alternative pronunciation related to death.
Other aspects from the report say that the rumoured 4K resolution won’t be for games, just for movies. Good, if the next gen aims for 1080p at a decent frame rate that’ll be absolutely fine.
What else is in there? Sony will show demos at E3 next year, they’ll look like Watch Dogs and Star Wars 1313 did on PC this year, and everyone will be rather excited. Except those that like used games, because the rumour is that games will be registered with a PSN account and it won’t be easy to play pre-owned titles. Remember this is just speculation, there’s no confirmation that any of this will actually happen.
Onwards? How about between 4GB and 8GB of RAM? No backwards compatibility with PS3 and PS2, oddly, although that’s likely to be covered by the Gaikai deal as we’ve said in the past. The mag points to Move being important (and possibly bundled) although that’s again just guesswork and most likely not going to end up the case.
The price? 400€-500€. We’ll see.
The PS4 – or whatever it’ll end up being called – is heavily rumoured to be coming next year. We’ve written plenty about it, including this discussion piece which picks up on most of the consolidated chat and technical guesswork.
hazelam
i’ve been thinking, the PS4, or whatever they call it, though i’d imagine they’ll stick with convention outside Japan, might come out before the next xbox..
i mean, sony can’t afford to wait a year again.
and ms aren’t likely to wanna rush their machine out either, considering the repair bill for the last one was a couple of billion.
Porcupine_I
tying the ability to play used games to a PS+ membership could be a major selling point for that service while keeping online play free
Dazbobaby
Sony could actually take a small cut of the proceeds, say 10% for the resale of digital items.
Plus the money doesn’t have to be transferable back to your bank account, so it could just stay on PSN.
Bilbo_bobbins
I never see the point in backwards compatibility personally. If I want to play old games, then I will do it on the PS3, but normally if you buy a new console, you want to play games suited to that, otherwise its pointless buying it in the first place.
I do hope Sony sort out their problems at SCEE before releasing anything, because that has put me off massively.
bunimomike
I’d normally agree but there are a few gems on the PS3 that simply won’t be superseded on the PS4 any time soon. Journey being one of them.
Workshed
I really don’t know why people moan about BC so much – you’ve already got a PS3! Just don’t sell it!
cc_star
Not everyone can keep a pile of consoles under their TV in the lounge… and selling it is a key way to get in at launch prices and not wait for an improved 2nd SKU and price-cut.
hazelam
i know i wouldn’t have room for another console, not without crowding one of the shelves on my tv unit and restricting the airflow for cooling.
or removing one.
and my tv isn’t even on the stand anymore, i fixed it to the wall.
Workshed
But Sony having to jam parts of the last console in to the new console is also another way of making the console launch at a higher price.
All I’m saying is that if playing last gen games is of such massive importance to people then they should keep their last gen console.
cc_star
You’re right, you can do just that.
Shame that Sony force you to choose though whereas if you had a Nintendo or Xbox you just sell your machine, keep whatever games you want and buy the new console and you’ve got your favourites to play on it, whilst the release calendar is sparse… or when you fancy a quick dabble.
Sony’s decision to choose ‘weird’ architecture could really bite them on the ass, unless they smooth the upgrade procedure which is where things like PS+ and Gaikai could come in.
Workshed
Except the 360 isn’t fully compatible with original Xbox games – that kind of territory gets a bit messy!
This whole BC never used to even be a feature – don’t think it started until Sony brought out the PS2.
No one ever bought a SNES and moaned that they couldn’t play their NES games on it. No one ever bought an Amiga and moaned they couldn’t play their C64 games on it.
bunimomike
Agreed. It’s just that we’re getting into a world of digital delivery more than ever and the likes of Steam means we can return to whatever game we feel like any time we fancy. The comparison smarts a bit.
Dazbobaby
Also please Sony for pity sake, GIVE US A DAMN GOOD MUSIC VISUALISER.
Use milkdrop!
hazelam
i always use that earth visualiser thing, i know it doesn’t react to the music, but it’s a cool image to have on screen while listening to music.
Dazbobaby
+1 it’s a lot better than the other efforts, and the PS2 had such a good one too.
Bodachi
PS3 had the same rumours of no pre-owned games so I’m not gonna believe that.
cc_star
4K gaming, in a console’s form factor & importantly budget? Zero chance… maybe vector graphics like Pixel-Junk style stuff, but not 3D game-worlds.
Backwards compatibility was never going to happen without the same architecture, however if that architecture was carried over it would inconvenience 3rd parties… and games budgets will increase enough as it is without extra time investment needed for a non-PC architecture.
As mentioned above I’d be loathe to leave my PSN collection behind… and if Sony aren’t going to hook me back in to make use of my existing investment then I can’t see a reason for choosing them next time around. Gaikai may help there, but we only have to see how sluggish PSOne Classics were arriving on the store & PS2 situation outside of a couple of Sony’s top selling titles is even worse… I don’t trust Sony to get it right.
mrfodder
I think emulating the cell processor in software will be just too hard, so they can’t actually do BC without a massive price cost.
Sympozium
How the hell will i buy Fifa 15 then in 10 years??? they can’t do that, its just plain wrong and makes me want to be a crazy old gamer sticking to the last known phat PS2 and a Wii… (with Gamecube playback)
JBoo
It would be good if the PS4 could play everything that is on PSN now & future PSN content? (i.e the PSN games, PS1 games, PS2 games, PS3 full games, demos etc etc) How cool would that be. That should be the future of PS4;)