Update: please see this post.
Big news if this turns out to be accurate. A report has gone up on a Japanese website which seems to state that Sony have shelved their plans for their next generation of home consoles. Following a translation offered on the Beyond3D forums we’re led to believe that the development of a new console will be deferred for a period of time so that Sony can focus on keeping the PlayStation 3 as up to date and relevant as possible.
This will probably be welcome news to developers who, as the translation points out, can barely afford more than a few high quality franchises in development on current hardware, never mind trying to upscale everything for a more advanced and powerful (we would assume) machine.
The most concise quote from the translation is possibly this one, which seems to indicate that the report shows a stunning confidence in the NGP:
Hiroshige Goto says SCEI suspended PS4 development. They were working on a PowerPC based system at IBM Rochester after the Larrabee fall out, then shelved it. They are betting the farm on PSP2 as they expect handhelds to displace consoles.
Of course, Sony haven’t officially announced their next home console yet but it is safe to assume that research and development work was well underway and this report seems to back up that assumption.
What does this mean for the future of home consoles? We’ll have to wait and see when more information comes to light. It’s conceivable that this is just one track of research being sidelined and there will be other routes in the future but for the time being, if this translation can be trusted, it seems that Sony might be tuning the PlayStation 3 and putting their faith in their handhelds rather than producing a PlayStation 4.
Of course, we’re trusting some rough translation for this one so we strongly advise a healthy pinch of salt. This might all stem from a stock Sony response that they know nothing of a “PS4”, which is healthy business practice. We’re trying to dig a little deeper and see what we can find out.
double-o-dave
Maybe its like a clever reverse psychology ploy for the media and public as if certain people were aware a PS4 was in development it may stop them from purchasing a PS3 in the near future even though its still got years in it. A bit like if I didn’t have an iPhone 4 already, would I buy one tomorrow or wait ’til June/July for the iPhone 5. Just a theory anyway… or conspiracy!
cc_star
The longer this gen goes on, the more likely a cheap, dumb client will take hold, whether it’s OnLive or Sony’s own is in development
UK-aside broadband is ever-improving
Saying that, an OnLive style game streaming ‘App’ could be launched for the PS3, meaning the PS3 is the last console we ever own, one that is capable of 1080p60 streamed games (broadband permitting, which will be better in the future) & the 720p30 AAA blockbusters that form the bulk of the PS3’s Blu-ray catalogue
JesseDeya
I must admit I haven’t looked into the online thing much, but surely controller input lag and display lag is a massive issue with streamed games?
When digital foundary does comparisons and is concerned over the difference between a 50ms and 66ms controller response time, it make me wonder how you could EVER play a 1080p action or driving game online. There are certain laws of physics that mean latency over distance cannot be overcome.
I don’t want Kinect like trickery to make me forget about latency issues either, I like my games snappy and responsive, particularly shooters and driving games.
On topic: Glad they delayed the PS4 – quite happy with the current gen for the next few years.
cc_star
Did they test broadband in Japan, US & mainland Europe in 2015/whenever, or last year’s UK broadband
The two thing will be very different.
I’ve played OnLive regularly (even racers which are supposed to highlight lag more than any other genre) and didn’t notice any difference whatsoever to a game running on my PC or PS3 locally. I live in a rural area with a top speed of 4mbps, usually 3mbps, so can’t can’t wit for a UK launch & an even more reliable service.
I can’t see how this won’t be the future, particularly as its probably the only system which can be piracy proof
JesseDeya
I’m sure Japan already has the infrastructure to support something like that, but a large portion of the world won’t, not even in 5 years time. I can’t see alienating such a large proportion of the user base would make sense.
Yes, on demand gaming will definitely become more popular, but I doubt it will replace consoles as we know them today – at least not until I become too old to care :)
Latency due to distance isn’t really something that has improved that much over the past 5 years, I still have 35ms – 50ms latency to most places around the country (Australia) – which would be barely tolerable, and that is assuming these services will have a host in every country. As soon as I need to cross the pond to get to the US or Japan my latency increases to ~185ms and ~365ms respectively.
Now consider I’m on a very good 30mbps connection already you can see how this might be a limiting factor for a lot of people. For this to work, servers would need to be everywhere in order to keep latency at a reasonable level and I imagine the overhead would be enormous.
As for beating piracy, how about all the unauthorised WoW servers… unfortunately I can’t see the pirates being beaten be this either.
Foxhound_Solid
The PS3 is nothing short of amazing.
NGP/PSP2 is a day one. No brainer really.
PS4 is defintely under development, I would be surprised if they didnt already have one running already. I heard that tech of all sorts development wise is normally around ten years ahead of what is available at Market.
PS4 is postponed is a smoke screen, but I like it.
I cant comprehend how anything could be better than a PS3, but hey when I was an ‘ickle tyke’ I thought that about my SNES ;-)
hazzarules
I expect that they are testing the water with the NGP to see if devs will flock back to a solid piece of hardware with a conventional processor. Losing the cell could well be the start ofa new era of dominance.
TURRICAN-808
thts true, i remember reading an article a few months back whereby Sony claimed that the PS4 will be easier to develop for.
kivi95
I would like too have a announcement at E3 2012 and a release in 2013.
Raider197
Okay Sony, but this creates the problem that if Microsoft release a next-gen system while you’re focusing on PS3/NGP, any hopes of having a successful PS4 launch down the road are destroyed.
SpikeyMikey23
Good times, Hope they and Microsoft keep hold of this generation for a while yet, With the pedigree of game that is being released right now, it’s only going to get better. The above comment says 2013 release, I think that is still to early for me.
arodmell
Its gonna be a long while before the developers reach the limits of the PS3 I bet. Plenty of time yet for a PS4 to be developed
SilverCider
I think there will be a PS4 eventually but I think postponing it is a clever marketing strategy really as they wont want the PS4 and NGP coming out too close together. No, they wont compare in terms of performance but Sony might be wanting to give the NGP room to dig into the crowd given its estimated price bracket as to boost the number of units sold.
StevenHibs
Although it’s kinda disappointing, I can’t wait to see what PS4 is made of !