Next gen gaming consoles

[Scuba_Steve]

Well seems PC's might be about to take the back seat in GFX again for awhile if the WSJ (wall street journal) is to be believed. They reckon Sony's big announcement Feb 20th is the PS4, & it's to be released this year (expect xmas season). Other rumours also suggest MS is planning a xmas season release of their next console too

Is it true? guess we'll find out Feb 20th till then feel free to speculate

latest dev specs for the machine show
4x AMD64 dual-core CPU
ATI/AMD R10xx
8GB sys mem
2.2GB vid mem
Blu-ray
160GB HDD
4x USB 3.0
2x Etherweb
WLAN
HDMI
Optical
Uses PS3 controllers but will come with an upgraded PS4 controller with touchpad
There was apparently talk of removing the blu-ray drive & going digital only, but then they remembered the PSP-Go

As for the Xbox dev kit
AMD64 8core CPU
custom DX11.1 AMD/ATI GPU (supposedly less powerful then PS4's, at-least at dev kit level)
8GB sys mem
unknown vid mem (prob similar to PS4)
Blu-Ray
USB 3.0 (# of ports unknown)
1x etherweb
WLAN
Kinect
HDMI output & input
HDD (suggested 500GB on consumer models)

Being a Dev unit means specs can change wildly from release to consumer models, also means HDD is likely to be much bigger on consumer models & sys ram around half of that in Dev kit

[YellowDog]

It's the only way they can start getting profit out of tin.

Works for Apple, so why not

[steve_t]

Did they suggest an RRP?

[imdying]

It seems a bit more marginal this time... I already have a PC that exceeds those specs. Ok, that cost about $1600 to build (ok lies, $1800 including Windows), but I'm pretty sure my PS3 cost me $1000! Of course that ignores the fact that every PS4 will have the same specs, and the (positive) effect that has on development, but on the flip side they have always released PC games that choke systems far higher spec'd than my own. Give them 2 years to take the sting out of the pricing, and for the development houses to utilise the power, and we'll be cooking!

I do have some questions though.... Rockstar's announcement this week to push GTA5 back to September... related? If there's a PS4 version, I'll pay the horrific new adopter price for the PS4 no questions asked. What's the maximum texture size going to be... 4096 x 4096?

[bogan]

Have PCs ever taken the back seat performance wise?

Or do you mean per dollars? I used to think PS3 was expensive gaming, until I build a top teir gaming PC

I do wonder what the extra power is going to get though, consoles are generally only hooked up to fullHD display, so uber GFX isn't needed with current gen games, unless they start making next gen games which use them for uber physics...

[SMOKEU]

More crappy console ports to look forward to.

[bogan]

More crappy console ports to look forward to.

That's what you get for not paying for PC games

[steve_t]

Have PCs ever taken the back seat performance wise?

Or do you mean per dollars? I used to think PS3 was expensive gaming, until I build a top teir gaming PC

I do wonder what the extra power is going to get though, consoles are generally only hooked up to fullHD display, so uber GFX isn't needed with current gen games, unless they start making next gen games which use them for uber physics...

If the lifespan of PS3 is anything to go by, they'll be future-proofing for 4K/UltraHD and perhaps beyond

[bogan]

If the lifespan of PS3 is anything to go by, they'll be future-proofing for 4K/UltraHD and perhaps beyond

True, guess its a chicken egg scenario too, no point developing next gen games without next gen consoles.

[SMOKEU]

That's what you get for not paying for PC games

No, it's due to the increasing demand for consoles so the devs can't be fucked/won't release a proper PC version. Take a look at the NFS games, just as an example. The PC versions look horrible due to the shitty made for console graphics.

[bogan]

No, it's due to the increasing demand for consoles so the devs can't be fucked/won't release a proper PC version. Take a look at the NFS games, just as an example. The PC versions look horrible due to the shitty made for console graphics.

And demand is measured by what? Downloads of pirated copies? or game sales?

[steve_t]

True, guess its a chicken egg scenario too, no point developing next gen games without next gen consoles.

Oh, and how cool is the Sony SimulView?! No more splitscreen This is the only adaptation of 3D that I feel has any worth

[bogan]

Oh, and how cool is the Sony SimulView?! No more splitscreen This is the only adaptation of 3D that I feel has any worth

That is neat, hadn't heard of it before, but it makes perfect sense.

[SMOKEU]

And demand is measured by what? Downloads of pirated copies? or game sales?

Both. BTW, I do actually pay for some games since it's not always possible to play pirated games online without a genuine key.

[bogan]

Both. BTW, I do actually pay for some games since it's not always possible to play pirated games online without a genuine key.

No, not both, the devs measure demand by what they get paid for something (excluding some of the indie stuff of course). This is the reason crackers say if you like the game, buy it.