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

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.