Im opening this thread to discuss the future gaming consoles.
Multiple sources had predicted that next gen console will be coming in 2012.


http://ps3.ign.com/articles/101/1014376p1.html


http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/games...es-in-two-years


http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/23/ubisoft-...rdware-in-2012/


http://www.fudzilla.com/graphics/item/2074...et-tessellation

Im predicting PS4 will be announced in Q4 2011 together with the release of PSP2
Its still far away, but as David Reeves said, they need to prepare for this and set a date, and 2012 seems like the most probable year
3D enabled, native tessalation, dx11/dx12 API, dynamic physics, multiple monitor supports, even APU like the Llano is possible.
Nintendo is still enigmatic, will they release a powerful console to match the graphical prowess of its competitor, or will they settle with "last gen graphics" as they did with the wii.


And then theres the question, whether m$ and sony will incorporate and integrate their new controllers into their new systems.

My biggest hope ever is Nintendo will match the two giants in terms of graphic, and its next console iteration wont be left behind.
I mean, I wish that the only thing that separates the 3 consoles are exclusive games, cos wii is currently left behind cos it cant handle the graphic for games like Enslaved, for example.

The best thing about the next console cycle is, split screen games will rise again.
Not lame split screen like RE5 where the screen got resized cos hardware limitations, but full split screen and still maintaining the hd.

This post has been edited by nightshade_nova: Jan 6 2012, 09:26 PM

sony and microsot has no reason to release a new console anytime soon. they already released move/kinects, so there is no reason to release a newer console. the industry has learnt that releasing an upgrade of the previous console version won't work anymore. . when consoles are released, there must be some radical change in the way we game. nintendo knows this very well, and have already mentioned wii 2 won't be like the wii. sony and microsoft is taking that hint very seriously too.

if you read from the David Reeves interview quoted in the 1st post, the console refresh should come in 5 years, but both m$ and sony stopped that from happening with their new controllers,
which should add about 1-2 years to the consoles lifespan

its not that they wont release new consoles cos they got new controllers,
they made the new controllers so they have more time to prepare their new consoles
sony especially have no problems introducing a new console.
just look at ps2 now, its a great budget console with lots of great games.
ps3 will also slowly make its transition and take ps2's place when ps4 come out.

new technology means they wanted to test the market, gauge it,
just like how pspgo was, a meter for interest for psp phone, how many ppl would want their game as download only.

move and kinect imo, they wanted to know how well it would work, if its successful, they will integrate them to their new systems
if its below expectations, they might make it as just add ons as they are now

fyi, wii is also extending its lifespan with its wii motion plus, they wanted to test whether ppl are as interested in their brand of motion controller if it were more accurate.

from what I read, when interviewed, Iwata implied that wii cant just match its competitor's specs, ie, hd.

from m$ and sony pov, they need to steal the casual gamer market with move and kinect.
while from nintendo pov, they wanted to appeal to hardcore gamers with their next console

this is just a wild guess, but I think next wii will cater to fps gamers, the largest player base for online gaming.
it will probably be a new controller, or maybe old technology...say...a keyboard+mouse enabled gaming console! perfect for fps...haha
theres also a high chance they will make an exclusive mmorpg, Im thinking maybe a pokemon mmorpg

from MS or Sony maybe not...but from nintendo, probably. The only thing that can make MS n Sony more restless is if nintendo suddenly came up with a Wii HD update.

If they can rake up more developer after their recent announcement of the 3DS, just imagine if the next one will be the Wii HD. Most ppl have been saying Wii is for kids based on their graphics n simplistic games library but face it, this very same ppl are waggling their tounge out for games similar to what the wii hv been offering when the move n kinect came out.

Ramz, meet Uncle Ben

The next wii is most likely released in 2012. That's how I see it.

i have met uncle ben. its all about money that i don't think sony/ms will release a new console soon. u don't want to confuse the market after a move/kinect release. don't think like a malaysian for awhile. getting a new console for better graphics and better processing power doesn't work anymore! in malaysia yes it works, but we talking about worldwide maarket.

p.s. my prediction wii 2 will release fall 2011. kyo, let's bet who wins. winner get to keep his pants.

This post has been edited by ramz: Nov 8 2010, 03:15 PM

It doesn't work like that anymore. It's all about how hardcore you are, the more hardcore the more graphic b****ing you are.

2012 end of the world already.....

Fall 2011 eh ramz? Ok, mari kita lihat.

itu semua konspirasi M$ n Sony so that u buy all the thing they came out with b4 d-day

This is exactly the reason why they will not be releasing a new console.
Developing the technology needed for a new console takes up a lot of money compared to giving it extra upgrades like kinect and move. More often than not, more money is loss because they're releasing a new console immaturely.

personally for me, I am not ready for a new console. PSP and DS have aged gracefully, so the red carpet goes to them. But not the current gen consoles. Why did 360 released so early? Yeah, bigger chunk of market share. And its us who suffered, YLOD, 3ROD .. you name it. all the product of immature engineering AND failed QC. I wish, the companies will at least, extend the ccurrent console life to at least seven to eight years more. But that only happens in My Little Pony land. Not here. They are here to make money.



Sights like this = kachiiing to MS, Sony and Nintendo.

I am hoping PS3 could last longer, at least before the hype of newer generation

malaysia knows hardcore more then anyone. that is y sony sells very well here. sony=hardcore=malaysia. the rest of the world know nothing about hardcore. that is y the rest of the world buys wii.

yup
its going to be console wars all over again come q4 2011, where m$ sony and nintendo will announce their new consoles,
so the release window is likely in q3 2012

wrong...
just see how hasty m$ is, cos they are the most greedy bastards out of the three,
cos they know, early birds get the worms.
they lost quite a lot early, but it was worth long term wise cos they got the headstart and hence, larger user base.

developers are spending a lot of money to be the first
this time around, I bet sony is going to be first.

and dont worry about consoles dying ever again, with industry's newest 28nm processing techs

dont worry la...see how sony still support ps2 after a long time, ps3 also will get the same treatment.

I'm expecting Nintendo to announce something year end of 2011. The console (revised date) will then be released in 2013.

The reason why end of 2011 is because 3DS just got off hot of the heels. They need a new tech to show something really good coming from Nintendo again. We've got Motion Controllers. Heck, the best they could do now, bundle in Wiinect.

you might lose your pants dude...
with wii remote plus, that itself adds 1-2years to wii lifespan.
the remote is slated for release November 11 for japan
being pessimistic and all, that the remote plus only extends the wii for a year, that would already make winter 2011 to be earliest

but enough predictions about dates la...and more about our hopes for next gen.
my top 3:

1.wii for the hardcore, so I can play my mario AND the next COD on the same console
2.more split screen games
3.mouse+kb with my consoles!

actually i'm kind of surprise why there's no real kb n mouse support for console games until now

yeah motion control can be fun but for fps, nothing beats the traditional mouse n kb...motion control can really leave ur arm and shoulder sore and it's not really that easy to aim after a while.

actually there is
unreal tournament 3 can use kb+mouse on console, but thats on game developers side
console companies frown on m+kb

reasons:
1.if consumers are given kb+m, later they want more, and theyd have to please the consumers demand.next gen console is pretty much a pc with custom os.
and later will give room to hackers, etc.then ppl will question, if console can act like a pc, why make console at all?pc cant handle console games?
then pc market will increase, and console will die.

2.they think mouse and kb will impede their joypad sales, in a sense that if mouse is useable on console,
theyd be indirectly helping mouse manufacturer, and they dont have any share on that.


what I think would happen in the future is m$, sony and nintendo WILL implement a mouse+navi controller, like the fragfx and fragnstein.
nintendo, especially, wanted to expand their market to mmo and fps players (hardcore gamers market), so I guess they would jump the gun first
that way, ppl would forget about keyboard (and hopefully about how a console is actually a pc) and still get their share on the fps controller market.

dont worry.. new consoles will come.. just a matter of time..
i just hope there arent any other new company introducing new consoles and alluring titles..

new consoles come nvm, the first 2 years of the console life is boring, coming up with crap games.

i just hope there are no region and no platform limitation crap..

even more so with the delay delay delay of hyped games then still come out not so awesome as expected

just hoping that the next gen wan has backward compatibility with the current gen...

Wii 2 speculations:

http://wii.ign.com/articles/113/1135489p1.html

More speculations...

next gen consoles will feature ray tracing

this has been recently taken down, theres only a webcache

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/sear...n&ct=clnk&gl=my



"PC card" would be GPU, could be for PC, could be for consoles.

And notice that they expect a bump in earnings for Q1 2013
meaning? if theres a next gen console with ray tracing, using this tech, it would be out before q1 2013

It seems that the news been taken down cos ppl speculated that the new tech would be incorporated in next gen consoles.
Could be that they dont want ppl to inquire about something they have nothing to do with, or could be they dont want ppl to get know too much about the future PS4/xbox720/WiiHD

but still..that is just cosmetic only as in more realistic graphics..nothing really WOW for the gameplay part.

ray tracing is not even in pc yet
if the rumors true, then its a new milestone for console

like i said..just for cosmetic purpose only. it doesn't really contribute to new way of gameplay

although i think graphic whores will be pleased

This post has been edited by greyshadow: Dec 21 2010, 09:06 AM

After reading all your comment.

I will say that they wont releases a new console for M$ and Sony.Y? Because it take game producers abt 2-3 year to make a good game. So why should they make a new console when the current one still work perfectly and sony's Blue Ray is let say a good market till hackers find some way to duplicate it cheaply.

Microsoft upgrade soon? Maybe Sony upgrade soon? No Wii upgrade soon. Yes(they really need to up their system as game developer say the system is not enough.)

Console will not subside if there is no game producer who is willing to jump ship.

yep, for sony's part i agree, the PS3 only just started to come into glory. if they release another console in like 2012... much of the ps3 capabilities would be left unexploited.
as for MS and nintendo hardware, most probably will be outdated faster
Wii needs better graphics
Xbox needs to stop pulling back the games' potential in cross platform games Such as graphics(comparing ff 13)

i believe Sony will not be releasing a new console in the near future. Too early for them to taste the sweet profit out of their current PS3.

This post has been edited by emy_xvidia: Dec 28 2010, 12:41 AM

2013. That is the earliest date possible for new consoles to come out. this date only possible if Kinect and Move fail miserably. If they are successful, new consoles will be delayed.

hm....any chances to see PSP 2 in 2011?

As if psp2,yeah,with the new 3ds launch,i dont think sony will still fight 3ds with their current psp.There are even psp2 prototype pic in the web.And rumours are the psp2 dev kits have been released to the game developer.So yeah,end of 2011 or early 2012.

I dont fency the new psp2(Rumors have it it will look like psp go just with extra stuff... I dont like the keypad... I still prefer my psp fat

This post has been edited by Urban: Jan 3 2011, 10:24 PM

sony, the number 2 greedy *******(no1 would be m$), still have some tricks up their sleeves.Just take example how they wanted to hold on to PS2 for as long as they can, they even "merged" it with Bravia.
itd be no problem to make PS4 to be PS3 compatible.
you dont question how well a company gonna milk their product til the last drop, cos they will do it, and will do it rigorously


And considering the recent private signing key fiasco, I expect Geohot will be courted by Sony any day now to work on PS4.(just follow him on twitter, would be easier to keep track)
The current PS3 has been compromised so badly, its not even funny.

I do not wish that the next gen console going to release soon... as newer generations of consoles and games are getting more expensive.

http://www.kitguru.net/software/gaming/jul...i-for-xbox-720/

More hints pointed towards 2012 release window for next gen consoles.

If you follow pc graphic cards, Krishna hits the sweet spot, and will raise the mainstream bar a little closer to high end. it'd be interesting if it enters both pc and console gaming,
your laptops/desktop will be have same graphical and computational prowess as your consoles.
Meaning, now ppl can buy pc without worrying about upgrading, cos the gpu and cpu are the same, multiplatform games should look better/as good as the console counterpart.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/display...ence_to_PC.html

Krishna and Sandy Bridge would make pc more console-like experience,
but they'd also make consoles more pc-like.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/portal-2...tiplayer-and-a/

Portal 2 would be the first game cross-platform gaming(pc and ps3), and Im sure more games will come.

This is so true the reasons y there is no keyboard and mouse support for consoles.It defeats the purpose to play using keyboard and mouse when u can do that with your pc.When u think of consoles,u think of controllers

Hmm...i still hope that Sony dont release Ps4 so early..i juz plan to buy Ps3 next month...later they make Final Fantasy XV for Ps4,then i cannot play adi

But i do believe they wont release any new consoles this year,for both Sony and Microsoft.Their Ps3 and Xbox 360 is doing fine now and now developers r trying to make more games for the consoles.They wanted to squeeze more profit from their most popular console before moving on.Plus,to make a new console,it must be better and different than the current one.For that,i think they might need more time to develop it and therefore they released Kinect and etc.

Both ps3 and xbox360 still have much to catch up on it's platform. Many classic games are still in the process of remade to work on ps3 and xbox360. Wii will probably come up with something new due to it's incapability to cope with high end graphics and also piracy.

PS3 for sure wont be moving on to 4 in this year or even next year. They might announced 4 next year but it'll be 2-3yrs time to develope after announcement. They have been hammering on alot of firmware updates to deal with jailbreaks recently. If they wants to upgrade to 4, they might just stop dealing with jailbreak totally and leave it as it is like ps2.

Actually nowadays , most company wont take the initiative to release their product first. What they did is wait for the other side to release first and review heavily on their opponent's product. After that just provide a few features that other opponent doesnt have and release it . The rest will leave to their loyal fans to spread words for them and advertise their product. It's free , effortless and best of all save them money to advertise lol..

Lol...Wii U will release April 2012.
Already told you, wii motion plus adds to the lifespan abit.
Someone bet their pants, no?

It looking more likely that m$ and sony will release their next gen console sometime around q1 2013, announcement will likely be end of this year/next year E3.

the train of process is sandy bridge/ivy bridge + Llano/Krishna/Trinity adoption makes PC graphics = console graphics, then cross platform gaming should be the new fad.
word has it from the rumormill that Razer and Valve is in it together with sony for more cross platforming, with Steam+Razer Hydra.
we'll just wait and see.

Im still holding on to these, though.
http://www.imgtec.com/corporate/newsdetail.asp?NewsID=602

theres 50% chance its PC only, 50% chance its PC AND console.I dont mind waiting.Ray tracing console FTW
But the news translate to: 2012, they sell the SDK to develop softwares/games, 2013 their hardware is on the market.

theres also one more possibility,
but Id die if ray tracing wont be use in games but for simulations and high end research purposes only T_T
heres hoping mainstream = us gamers in the news.

Seriously, i think M$ and Sony wont be releasing next gen console so soon..
M$ just recently release Kinect and Xbox 360 S... And it is using HD DVD format for game... Almost same quality as Blueray disc...It will take billions of dollars for R&D a console... Why release new console when the existing one can still gives best graphic quality and gaming experiences?
Like Windows 7, it only came out when Vista failed to meet the expectation.
And MS Vista only came out after 6-7 years of XP life span... And now world wide still using Windows XP till now.. Same goes to PS1 & PS2 console. And Xboxs console.

Mang how old are you?

You guess?

err... dude MS didn't use HD DVD for games, they use standard DVD9 la..
or not they won't be any playbox games for Xbox 360 if they release it with HD DVD

fan of playbox?

wtv dude
but I'm not the one that bought RM80 for video game insurance
paid extra RM80 just for insurance for 1 game

i thought HD DVD is dead already? cant fight with bluray

Quality almost the same... But BR still wins...

Latest news on console wars.

PS4 is set to be revealed together with NewBox this coming June at E3 later this year.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-...-e3-2012-reveal

Also, ray tracing is expected to finally and formally break through the mainstream market this year.
Its interesting considering PowerVR is unrivaled in the ultra portable market, but they have yet to enter the fray against ATi and Nvidia.
Though they DID have their console debut iirc with the defunct Sega Dreamcast.
Ppl have been speculating that ATi or Nvidia is gonna buy them out, but we'll see soon enough.


http://futuremark.yougamers.com/forum/show...ad.php?t=159528

Going through these latest facts, ray tracing is still at a more earlier stage than previously speculated.
Though I doubt that ray tracing is gonna make it in time for consoles, this is just a heads up for console gamers, what graphical prowess could you drool over the next time around.

Theres a few things to note too.This is just pure speculation on my side, but bear with me.
The Last of Us, the latest recently announced exclusive from Sony, although set to be a PS3 release, could be a cross gen game.

What I mean is the game could be playable on the PS3 AND the future PS4, with the game being able to scale better graphically when played on the PS4.
This wont be all too surprising considering pc utilized even more scaleable graphics since forever, a measly 2 levels of scaleable graphics arent so far fetched.
If Sony ever use this cross gen strategy, they could further expand the longevity of ps3, and have considerably strong launch titles.

I also happen to have a reliable source that God of War 4 would see a March 2013 release, and this could add to the cross gen possibility even more.

Think about it.You have some strong titles coming out on ps3, and you want to have strong launch titles for ps4 too.Having these strong titles to be cross gen would kill two birds with one stone.

Nice update. We all know about Wii U and now this speculation for PS4. If the cross gen is true, then Sony may still satisfy old gamers but whats to give them the impetus to get new sales for the new console. Are we hitting a brick wall where its gonna be like the PC market where same thing just more powerful? What's next after motion sensing?

How bout the other consoles? Though am a Sony fan, still like to keep up to date with the Wiis & Xers

Agreed. I doubt the cross gen concept will be for long term. Either way SONY has to cannibalize PS3 with PS4, just like any other company.

From what I understood, when PS2 first released, backward compatibility was achievable, that meant that games could be released on PS2 and have it play better on PS3. Just like the nightshade_nova suggested, this time with greater scaled graphics.

Game developers however, denied SONY of it's plans to have this backward compatibility run on long term. Whilst some still develop games for PS2, most moved on to PS3 as they understand that when PS3 blooms, their revenue and R&D will be recovered much faster than sticking with PS2. Bluray technology that guaranteed* anti-piracy was also a major factor. With PS2 game prices crashing down (and piracy digging a hole for the already falling meteor), PS3 that is constantly being developed and guaranteed* no piracy became legit. Also, don't forget the fact that PS3 has better online features that opens up a fresh new market.

With the history of PS3's launch, the idea that kept SONY running (latest technology hardware style), the recent launch of PS Vita that promises cross platform gaming with PS3, and the fact that PS3 just reached maturity in it's life cycle. (Plus the fact that sales of PS Vita being trashed by 3DS during Christmas week) I highly doubt that PS4 will be out anytime soon. IMHO, 1.5 years later.

However, do take note that PS4 release is highly affected by M$ as SONY has already learnt it's lesson. They won't dare to play the "I release late with better technology" card anymore. A next gen console is still a next gen console, plus you release PS3 so late, how to expect ppl tahan gatal looking at 360's next gen graphics?

Better technology yes, but not later or anything far behind XBOX64012802560512010240

Regarding the technology, the idea behind PC's upgrading trend (slightly powerful but it's the same technology) is due to the fact that their R&D and the actual technology is advancing much faster than the current product life cycles. Meaning to say, I have product ABC in the market, but XYZ is already developed. I know for the fact that if I release XYZ, ABC will be cannibalized. But ABC can still earn me loads of money and the R&D for ABC ain't recovered fully yet. So what I do is, hold the production of XYZ, innovate ABC and prolong the life cycle.

Same goes with cars. Do you see solar powered cars or totally emission free and totally non-petrol cars around? The technology is already there, but all you see is hybrid cars that was founded more than half a decade ago. (And the same old Vios for close to a decade now, even the face lift was 5 years ago)

SONY and M$ will utilize whatever they have upon first sight, due to the fact that they are in a different battlefield, where timing and season plays a major role. You're talking about customers with heart of youth and curiosity that killed billions of cats. Example, we heard nothing about bluray till PS3 come about, M$ is willing to release faulty buggy systems and have updates to fix it, Wii made motion sensors and everyone tries to take a stand coming out with motion sensors to infiltrate the market, even Bethesda gave a buggy Skyrim and patch it up later just to release in November (although you can't blame Bethesda as sandbox games bugs are really hard to be discovered for a team less than 40)

All in my humble opinion. Just sharing my thoughts Do correct me if I'm wrong

This post has been edited by qisahn: Jan 11 2012, 08:24 AM

Nice piece of info. We're all entitled to our opinions, so I don't think anything you state can be necessarily wrong. I'm sure Sony doesn't want to be late to catch up (1 year after X360 launch before the PS3 came out though they catched up very very fast).

Console life is around 10 year cycle according to them with a new console every 6 - 7 years which means the existing console will last around 3-4 years before the developers stop producing for it. Like you said, the business will actually see them hold back their best technology for the consumer and just milk existing ones as much as they can. Why sell something thats 20% better now where you can sell something 10% better and consumers still pay for it (hence probably why new phones are released every 3-6 months and getting consumers caught up with the endless upgrade cycle or carry more phones in their bags).

I concur that Sony as a business unit will want to ensure they are within MS pace should they make announcement on their next console in the coming trade shows. Both companies probably don't see Wii U as much of a threat now (though Nintendo may surprise us in since I believe they would have done their consumer research homework) and will rely on hardcore gamers to fuel their growth with the advantage that PS systems tend to better integrate media services / entertainment. MS still have the advantage of better network capabilities and not sure how many of their Xbox units sold are akin to pirated products especially in the Asian markets.

Honestly, I don't know what's next for the consoles so am curious to see what what they plan to showcase. Wii U is nothing more than a semi-portable gaming console within the household in my opinion. Plus of course the upgraded specs. Will Sony & MS just push for better tech in their consoles? (bearing in mind 4K tvs are not out yet even though Sony plans to start selling them based on the recent CES) Or is it just another Playstation 3.1 and MS Xbox 480 instead of a full gen upgrade?

sorry kids, spend yer daddy's monies on smartphones instead

Its normal to deny something that might affect the investors, especially some things that the investors themselves wasn't formally informed yet.
Remember the boomerang dual shock? Its design was vehemently denied to be changed by Sony, only to be officially scrapped 6 months after that.

CVG is a very reliable source, and I dont think a senior editor would want to lay down their site's credibility that easily without concrete proof, so I strongly think that PS4 still will be unveiled this year, at E3.
From previous interview by Eurogamer, a Sony head stated that it would be "undesirable" for Sony to start late, and not announcing ps4 together with Newbox is the opposite of doing that.(remember, its just unveiling, not launching)
Looking back at E3 '05, Sony's unveiling looks "unprepared" compared to m$, but I doubt this would be the case this time around.

In short, for the PS4 unveiling at E3 this year, it will depend on m$, whether or not they reveal Newbox.
Its less likely for Sony to not unveil PS4 if m$ revealed Newbox at E3, as the next biggest gaming expo would be Gamescom which dont have as much coverage.

A few points about how I come about the speculation of crossgen gaming.
Its different than backward compatibility in a way that in actuality, they are primarily next gen games, but are also enabled to be played on a previous generation of console.

The transition of a new console has been painful for developers because every time, the developing environment are completely changed, mainly due to security causes.
But this time around, I think that Sony has been more flexible, and has been building PS4 based on current PS3, and the transition would be smoother and would be more of a evolution rather than revolution.We could see this through the developing environment of Vita, which the Unreal team took only 3 weeks to put up their demo on it.The crossplay nature of gaming between Vita and PS3 also strongly suggest the plausibility of a cross gen gaming for PS4.

The idea of crossgen gaming crossed my mind after looking at the possibilities that the date of great ps3 titles that are still coming out might coincide with the launch of PS4.Still pure speculation, though.

Lets just say that a new add-on hardware is introduced as the last resort to extend a console's lifespan.
If the Wii is any indication (barring any "milking theories"), Wii MotionPlus was released on June 2009, and the Wii U was announced June 2011, slated for release this year.
So, theres about 3 years of add-on hardware assisted longevity of a console, with 2 years for any announcement for a new console to come.
Since Move and Kinect is introduced on 2010, new console announcement around this year should be just about right.

new play station 4 will get quad-core as PS Vita?

This post has been edited by leoyew: Jan 13 2012, 11:11 AM

wii U is a good concept

ps4 n new xbox not confirmed yet, dat mean we can expect leaked pic this year

Not necessarily true.

Imagination Technologies (ImgTec) is the maker of PowerVR. Second and third largest shareholder of it happens to be Intel and Apple (the first one's not really tech-related). So it's mostly unlikely that ATi and Nvidia will be able to snatch PowerVR from ImgTec for the obvious reasons.

Ray-tracing hardware and software dev Caustic Graphics was mostly ex-Apple. And they are bought by ImgTec after Apple ups their stake. So this obviously means that they want to keep their tech really close to themselves.

Btw, it's always possible for ImgTec to license their tech to other companies, just like how Sony is using PowerVR core for its PSVita. But acquisition of either the company or the IP's won't happen anytime soon.

I also happen to remember that how ppl said that 3dfx Interactives' demise and Nvidia acquisition of Ageia Physx was never gonna happen, and how rumors of AMD splitting into GlobalFoundries is an impossibility.
Its the age of capitalism.Im not saying its gonna happen or not, just pointing that there still are possibilities.
Capitalism makes for strange bedfellows.You never know.

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Added on January 19, 2012, 7:08 pmXBox Next/Xbox 720 chips in production



This is an article following last year's joint venture of IBM with GlobalFoundries newly opened Fab 8 factory which went into producing 32nm chips.
So far the most substantial rumor on the net about NewBox.

Im betting Ubisoft & Crytek to be one of the first to showcase their next gen games at E3 2012.

This post has been edited by nightshade_nova: Jan 19 2012, 07:10 PM

Guess that 0.0001% chance is still a possibility anyway.

Actually the situation of PhysX getting acquired by nvidia is more akin to how ImgTec bought Caustic Graphics. And nope u don't see any other company buying out PhysX from nvidia, so that should be the same to ImgTec-Caustic situation or at least its IP.

Globalfoundries spinoff is more about AMD and other companies are dealing with tough economy situation. That wont be an issue for ImgTec since they are fab-less company.

Albeit raytracing itself is nothing new, realtime raytracing technology implemented by Caustic is nothing short of groundbreaking. So I don't see any logic of ImgTec letting it go while they are just starting to integrate that into their products. But there's no stopping for them to license it, in fact they are an IP licensing company after all.

Also they got sustainable piles of cash for years to come. There are already got big players as their licensee, including chip designers ST Ericsson, Qualcomm, TI and lots of others. Qualcomm and TI, including Apple, makes up a very large pie of the mobile platform market, so ImgTec wont have any problem to stay afloat. Even Intel's using PowerVR on their integrated graphics core since years ago, so that alone should suffice.

And remember, ImgTec is not a new company. In fact, it's much older than the demised 3dfx. And ImgTec (formerly VideoLogic) already learned their lessons as they were previously losing with Neon and Kyro. Guess what, they are still standing today.

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Added on January 19, 2012, 10:18 pmThat's interesting. If it's still based on the same POWER architecture than we can hope for a backward-compatible console.

I'd say Epic and Activision will get early access, since they sort of having special relationship with MS. for Epic it's no brainer since they got the engine powering lots of AAA titles on DirectX, not to say about their exclusive franchise.



This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Jan 19 2012, 10:20 PM

Wow...0.0001%...you really dont want to open up your mind to possibilities...

Nvidia once said that they wont EVER partner up with Global Foundries, and look what happened.

How old a company is is irrelevant, bigger titans has fallen.Remember Lehman Brothers?
And recently Kodak which introduced the first digital camera filed a bankruptcy because they cant keep up.

Desktop graphics market are much volatile compared to mobile graphics, and you cant expect to depend on other division forever.
Its not so farfetched that ImgTec might give up halfway through, cut their losses and focus on mobile graphics only.

There is such thing as 'sinking ship', and if that happens, big shareholders might bail them out, or they might just let go.
And thats when much of the 'salvaging' comes.

I rest my case.

Agree with you. Anything can happen this days. I remember one time when 3dfx was king and nvidia was nothing but look what happened.

Just 3-4 years ago, everyone saying Blackberry is In-thing with BBchat and all, and guess what, they're gonna be gone soon.

Anyway, whatever the next-gen console may be, let's hope its awesome!

By myself stating 0.0001% there you should already know that I'm completely open to possibilities. It's just that the probability is too damn low.

About Nvidia, they are always a fabless company so they should have no problem having their products processed at any factory, either TSMC or GF. Plus the Nvidia case is also a more interesting one. Remember the ION/ION2 platform plus the previous chipsets made by Nvidia, and how Intel is driving Nvidia out of the IGP market day by day by various ways? The ones' inside Intel's chip is ImgTec's PowerVR. This shouldn't come as a surprise since Intel is the biggest semiconductor-related shareholder of ImgTec. The acquisition of ImgTec by Nvidia is just patently ludicrous since there are so much conflict of interest here (by Intel and Apple, not to say the other shareholders and juggernaut licensees that won't let that pass).

Nvidia's ousted from the chipset market is also the reason why they enter the mobile platform market in the first place. In fact it's only possible as Apple's no longer using PortalPlayer chip in favour to their own brew, and Nvidia bought that company with much of the original Tegra APX chip retain the PortalPlayer APX architecture. Here, Nvidia faced with a very different reality from the desktop market where their chip is not the best in class compared to its competitors, hence rearranging their strategies to pursue lower-priced market with Tegra 3 as revealed on the recent CES.

Well, nowadays everybody's spewing out words like "bailing out", "jumping ship", etc etc. But people often forgot that those crisis got reasons in the first place. Lehman Bros? it's just because how the economic bubble affects them, not to say about various other reasons. Kodak? It's about lack of innovation. ImgTec? They are still alive and kicking all these decades, facing various waves of economic turbulence and yet survives. And they are still pumping out innovations that even Qualcomm abandoned their own graphics solution and going for ImgTec's. Plus it will be a very obvious case of conflict-of-interest since the biggest shareholders of ImgTec are the ones putting much pressure onto Nvidia in the first place.

I'd say there will be no problem for ImgTec to license their tech to companies like Nvidia, they are IP licensing company afterall (more like ARM Holdings). Even Sony's got license of PowerVR cores for their products. It's just that baselessly speaking that Nvidia's gonna buy ImgTec is too drastic even in the current economic climate. It's so baseless that ImgTec is having no problem monetarily, since graphics license on Intel's and Apple's chip is more than enough to have ImgTec stays afloat for a very very long time. And let's not forget how conflict-of-interest will play a much bigger role here.

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Added on January 25, 2012, 8:10 pmPlus you should know that ImgTec is much older than both 3dfx and Nvidia. They've learnt their lesson much time ago.

Just look how 3dfx falls apart. ImgTec doesn't replicate the same issue troubling 3dfx at its downfall, more specifically competing with their own OEMs and the declining Glide API. Both DirectX and OpenGL is heavily supported on ImgTec designs, and by ImgTec's also partly owned by Intel that alone should tell you alot. About competing with previous OEMs, that shouldn't be an issue since ImgTec doesn't even have a fab, not to mention that they don't sell their own branded cores. They are just licensing those.

ImgTec had learned their lesson the hard way through Neon and Kyro desktop graphics, and they surely won't go through that same route again.

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Added on January 25, 2012, 11:58 pmI'm not saying about the direct correlation between age and survivability. What I'm implying is that ImgTec already faced with lots of bubbles and waves through decades, mucher than the ones that had its competitors closed shops. Yet ImgTec still turns out okay today.

By using your own logic, everyone can also deduce that Nvidia will certainly fall, and being outright bought by ImgTec. I won't tell everybody that since that's not a very educated guess. Without any basis and logic too. Keep spreading the word "bailing", "jumping ship", etc, but that won't prove anything.

Before a titan fall, cracks showed up first. For 3dfx, you can see that situation. For certain financial institution, you can see that coming too. For Kodak, it's super obvious. For ImgTec? Well, you have to state your case first since you're the person most certain that Nvidia will acquire them. So I expect that you can lay the facts as you're the most knowledgable person around.

Unless it's just some fanboyish ramblings like "If Nvidia bought ImgTec it should be awesome!!! +1" then i wouldn't be much surprised. It's not that Nvidia's the end-all-be-all solution. Plus it's not like Nvidia is totally invincible from any arousing conflicts (by your own logic). Plus like you've already said, "desktop graphics market are much volatile" anyway.

Have a nice day

This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Jan 26 2012, 12:34 AM

I thought production of the Wii U has been postponed

not sure about xbox720 and ps4, but Wii U is CONFIRMED (or promised by Nintendo) to be launching, and ready for shipping globally by the end of this year (:

source: theshadowgamer.com

The problem now is that Wii U will use Nintendo Network :/

Given how Nintendo treated Malaysia users (no Wii Store), this will only make it harder for us to buy games online, given that you must have a Ninty Network account to buy games. Sure a similar situation to those using XBox Live (also not available in Malaysia) will arise, but what about those who cannot use or do not want to use a fake address?

well... there's no xbl for M'sia, but it still doesn't stop us xbl players from buying games on xbl and playing mp online with other players from all around the world
same with psn also, no issue there even before the official MY PSN

so i don't see any issue with the implementation of Ninty Network

But then buying from XBL for some games need VPN router? for me that's already a nightmare.

Sumore, as said before, I accidentally told my mother that I was using my Singapore uncle's address for XBL, and she forced me to close the account.

This post has been edited by RAMChYLD: Jan 31 2012, 12:52 PM