Sony to start producing PS4 this year, say Taiwan manufacturers

[Matthew DeCarlo]

With Nintendo unveiling its next-generation "Wii U" console during E3 this year, it seems reasonable that Microsoft and Sony are preparing their counterassault. We've seen scatter rumors about the third-generation Xbox being unveiled at next year's E3, while fresh reports indicate that Sony is already preparing to mass produce the next iteration of its PlayStation console.

Citing unnamed Taiwanese component manufacturers, DigiTimes reports that production of the PlayStation 4 will begin at the end of 2011. Foxconn and Pegatron have been contracted for assembly of the PS4 (both are also involved in PS3 assembly). Assuming everything goes as planned, Sony expects to launch the PS4 in 2012, shipping "at least" 20 million units during the year.

On the surface, this seems to contradict Sony's satements about the PS3's lifecycle, repeatedly claiming that the device will remain relevant for ten years. However, there's no reason the company couldn't launch its PS4 while continuing to sell the PS3. PS2 sales were strong after the PS3's arrival, shipping 150m units as of January 31, 2011 -- up from 100m on November 29, 2005).

"We launched a device that is very, very powerful, that has a whole range of possibilities and that's at the very least a ten-year lifecycle. I know I'm guilty of repeating myself but I think it's always worth pointing out we're still selling PlayStation 2 in its millions around the world, 11 years after it was launched," SCE Europe boss Andrew House told CVG after E3 last month.

Meanwhile, Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCE America, said Sony isn't threatened by Nintendo's Wii U because it's just playing catch-up. "PlayStation 3 is really just hitting its stride. And technologically, I don't think it's possible to provide any advancement beyond what we have…What we've seen from the competition is trying to add features that already exist in PlayStation 3."

"We invested heavily in that, we rolled a very heavy rock up a steep hill, through the launch period. But now I think that all pays off, and we’ve got a long run way behind it. So, I wouldn't look for any discussion of a next generation PlayStation for quite some time," Tretton continued. Is Sony just playing coy for the maximum shock factor, or is the PS4 really five years away?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/44555-sony-to-start-producing-ps4-this-year-say-taiwan-manufacturers.html

 

[TomSEA]

"We launched a device that is very, very powerful, that has a whole range of possibilities and that's at the very least a ten-year lifecycle."

Yeah, you keep thinking that pal and you're going to get absolutely buried by MS and Nintendo.

 

[Raswan]

TomSEA said:
"We launched a device that is very, very powerful, that has a whole range of possibilities and that's at the very least a ten-year lifecycle."

Yeah, you keep thinking that pal and you're going to get absolutely buried by MS and Nintendo.

I hope he does, and they do. Suck it Sony.

 

[Guest]

Are you saying that the PS3 doesn't have a ton of possibilities and features and can't last ten years?
The PS2 is still alive after 11 years.
That does not mean that they aren't going to make another console.

 

[EXCellR8]

lol nobody is going to be dethroned by Nintendo... who are going to be hanging out with Sega in the software dept in the next few years if they keep releasing stupid crap like the Wii U. they have plenty of throw away money at the moment but nobody wants to play more mario and sports club games on a handheld the size of an iPad.

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I have mixed feelings about PS4. I loved the PS3, is it to soon? Perhaps. I believe Sony is trying to remain competitive. 360 launched a whole year before them and it really hurt Sony. Even with a 98% failure rate, people still bought 360's. I think this time there going to release with everyone else. I just hope it isn't expensive. Then again, if I have to pay for online i'll do the same thing i did with xbox...
Which is l-m-a-o and go play PC with better graphics and free online.

 

[treetops]

They still make console's? Thought they stopped making em 6 years ago.

 

[Wendig0]

After the trouble they've had this year, and their stance that the customer doesn't really own the hardware they purchased, I doubt it will take off like they're hoping.

Here's to hoping Sony falls flat on their face with this one.

 

[EXCellR8]

Well they just launched the PS Vita project and it wasn't too long ago when they stated that "it will be awhile before PS4" so i don't even see any truth to this. I'll believe it when I see something official from Sony themselves.

 

[Guest]

Sony is number 1 and always will be number 1. I have owned and loved the PS1, PS2, and PS3. I love my PS3 and cannot wait until the PS4 comes out!

 

[Guest]

I disagree. even sony and microsoft themselves mentioned that they aren't worried about the wii u.
it is on par with the current gen consoles. I honestly cant see a new console released until late 2013 or 2014. I am happy to use my ps3 for a few more years. kinect and PS Move were just released almost a year ago. They spent a bunch of money on them. Why would they dump the whole thing within a year of spending a millions of dollars. it just doesn't make any sence. I bet we wont see any new console other then the wii u until 2014 at the earliest.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383914,00.asp

 

[Guest]

"I disagree. even sony and microsoft themselves mentioned that they aren't worried about the wii u.
it is on par with the current gen consoles"

Wishful thinking bud. Wii U has R700 level of GPU. The slowest R700 GPU is the HD4250 which has 80 Shader processors which is almost double what the Xbox360 has. The fastest derivative of the R700 was the HD4890 with 800 SPs. Even if Wii U has an HD4670 style GPU, that has 400 SPs which mops the floor with PS3 and Xbox360's GPUs. Granted, the next version of PS and Xbox will be more powerful but Wii U is MANY times more powerful than current gen of consoles. Put it this way, an HD4870 is at least 4-5x faster than a 7900GT in the PS3.

 

[Guest]

"PlayStation 3 is really just hitting its stride. And technologically, I don't think it's possible to provide any advancement beyond what we have"

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!

Where do these guys come from, and do they really believe this nonsense they spew out of their mouths?

There's a lot of games on PS3 that aren't even able to run in 720p HD like GTA4, as an example. It's a very weak system that produces poor graphics, both in terms of texture quality and resolution, and really has almost nothing going for it aside from being a BD player. There are a few titles for the system that great, like Motorstorm and LBP, but overall the quality of the games is pretty bad. Their online sucks too. I sold my PS3 years ago and am very glad I did.

 

[Mindwraith]

PS2 only lasted so long because it kept getting ports of Wii games.
PS3 wont last nearly as long without Nintendo's help.

 

[yRaz]

Guest said:
"PlayStation 3 is really just hitting its stride. And technologically, I don't think it's possible to provide any advancement beyond what we have"

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!

Where do these guys come from, and do they really believe this nonsense they spew out of their mouths?

Consoles are a joke anyway. Technologically I think these guys still use beepers if that is what they feel about they tech in the PS3.

 

[Guest]

There's a lot of games on PS3 that aren't even able to run in 720p HD like GTA4, as an example. It's a very weak system that produces poor graphics, both in terms of texture quality and resolution, and really has almost nothing going for it aside from being a BD player. There are a few titles for the system that great, like Motorstorm and LBP, but overall the quality of the games is pretty bad. Their online sucks too. I sold my PS3 years ago and am very glad I did.

^ clueless fanboi.

They are myriads of graphics comparison between Xbox 360 and PS3 all over the net for the past years. Most of them agree that the PS3 graphic system has slightly more depth than the 360.

And GT4 can't run on 720p, are you kidding me!? Technically, GTA4 supports 1080p if you let PS3 forced it. I run GTA4 on 1080p and hardly get any hiccups until you get to 20+ exploding cars in the screen.

 

[yRaz]

Guest said:

There's a lot of games on PS3 that aren't even able to run in 720p HD like GTA4, as an example. It's a very weak system that produces poor graphics, both in terms of texture quality and resolution, and really has almost nothing going for it aside from being a BD player. There are a few titles for the system that great, like Motorstorm and LBP, but overall the quality of the games is pretty bad. Their online sucks too. I sold my PS3 years ago and am very glad I did.

^ clueless fanboi.

They are myriads of graphics comparison between Xbox 360 and PS3 all over the net for the past years. Most of them agree that the PS3 graphic system has slightly more depth than the 360.

And GT4 can't run on 720p, are you kidding me!? Technically, GTA4 supports 1080p if you let PS3 forced it. I run GTA4 on 1080p and hardly get any hiccups until you get to 20+ exploding cars in the screen.

^clueless fanboi.

I'd buy a PC before I'd do a graphics comparison on consoles. If graphics matter AT ALL you'd drop the console and get a PC. How about view distance on consoles just to name one? I hate how things don't pop into view until you're very close to them. This becomes increasingly apparent with you increase the resolution. 1080p on consoles??? lol, what a joke. Just makes it' easier to see what you're missing. Then of course there are the low res textures, very low AA and AF filtering and DX9.

Running a console on an HDTV is like buying high end audio equipment just to play low bit rate MP3's.

Doesn't slow down until 20+ exploding cars... that statement speaks for itself. Sony knows it's equipment is outdated but their PR is trying very hard to keep the fools fooled.

 

[mattfrompa]

People are heated after a holiday weekend! I bought my new 120GB PS3 for $200 because I had never bought or traded anything PS3 related at Gamestop. This got me a $100 coupon via email. Now I have blu-ray, MGS4 and GOW 1-3 to play and uncharted series next. Graphics are good enough for me on my projector and I like the capabilities of the PS3, even after the retractions. Also there is more than enough for me to play given the time that I have to do so. Worthwhile for me, but luckily there are plenty of options for those who would disagree.

 

[Guest]

10 year lifecycle? doubtful. what they mean is that they can keep on upscaling games to 1080p on the ps3 and make them "playable" at 60fps. the gpu and processor were outdated even when it came out. but then again. it mops the floor with the 360 and wii. wii 2 will be much more powerful and knowing nintendo, theyd put the money into the game development{the main reason why there oftem isnt a significant difference in graphics between the 360 and ps3 even though the ps3 has overal far superior hardware} and woo the world with games which look far better than both consoles.

still, technically, the 4700 ati gpus are COMPLETELY obselete, compared to the current caymen architecture 6000 series. ofcourse so much of what consoles have going for them is standardised optimisation of code, so im expecting nintendo to do some wonders with grahics. and honestly, gaming pc's despite their VASTLY superior graphics/processing/memory etc are still over 1500$ a piece to get a console stomping machine{again because of flexibility in gpu and optimisation issues of code} and unless they can break the sub 500$ mark for the same performance, obselete hardware of consoles will remain king. so yeah, wii2 is gonna be significantly superior to 360 n ps3, nothing fanboyish about it, just look at the hardware and the fact that nintendo lives off exclusives, exclusives that dont have to work on other consoles and can therefore take full advantage of the cpu-gpu combo on the wii. mix in the average man's perception of the "fun" element in the motion and 2nd screen of wii plus actual 1080p rendering of all games natively{sumthing neither the ps3 nor 360 have, n research that before saying sumthing silly like"ps3 has 1080p mode and works on my full HD tv"}, n releif from the current wii's interlacing issue, n u can see how this is a winner for nintendo.

 

[Guest]

"And GT4 can't run on 720p, are you kidding me!? Technically, GTA4 supports 1080p if you let PS3 forced it."

Dice confirmed that BF3 will only run in DX9 @ 720p at only 30 FPS on PS3/360. That tells me that current consoles are completely maxed out. Sure, you can probably squeeze another 10% out of them but it won't make much difference.

As far as HD4700 series being obsolete compared to HD6000 series, that is true. However, there is still a chance that Wii U may include HD4870 GPU. HD4870 is only 2x slower than the HD6970 (which is only 10-15% faster than the 5870). It wouldn't be realistic from a heat/power consumption perspective to put a 250 Watt GPU such as the 6970 inside the Wii U. Not to mention, the 6970 costs $300 USD at the moment. Since games are coded directly to hardware on consoles (i.e., there is no API overhead), consoles don't need top of the line GPUs to have decent graphics.

Personally, I think it's insane to purchase a $300 PS3 considering the console is almost 5 years old!

Also, this myth of a $1500 PC that trumps consoles needs to die already. Most people who play PC games reuse the power supply, monitor, case, dvd-rom, hard drives. So essentially, all you need to do is upgrade the CPU/Motherboard/RAM and GPU. If you resell your hardware and upgrade, the PC isn't that expensive to own. You don't have to pay $50 annual fee to play online and you'll make up the cost difference QUICKLY if you buy games on STEAM. I picked up a ton of good games for $2.50-10 on Steam over the years. Consoles games just don't fall that low.

Once you add the cost of software, the cost of consoles skyrockets. I never understand why console owners never consider how they are paying $40-60 for console games while we can get the exact same game for $10 6 months after release on Steam. The difference comes down more to the types of games you enjoy playing and if you enjoy playing games in a group of friends. The cost difference between PC gaming and console gaming actually favours the PC once you take into account the software costs.

 

[yRaz]

Guest said:
and unless they can break the sub 500$ mark for the same performance, obselete hardware of consoles will remain king.

I built a $550 gaming computer(monitor/keyboard/mouse included) for a friend based around a 6670. It can play crysis maxed @1440X900 at ~40FPS. If you consider how cheaply PC games can be had you quickly make up the difference. That's not even considering the free access to online gaming, quality of graphics, and versatility of system itself.

Congrats, there is a blu-ray player that can play video games. For everything else there's PC

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...

OT:

humm, always same, countless anti-sony vs sony fanboys comments, each time the word PS or SONY is stated .. come on people ... it's pathetic & lacks imagination ...yet funny each time.

you all know i'm not a fanboy right ... yeah! lol!

ok, the usual my thingy is bigger than yours is outdated & always sound like a damaged tape or scratched CD ...

there's nothing to argue, the PC will & always will be the far superior machine.

anything dedicated will do good their job but faces limitations sooner.

Even PCs do go this way, you often need to change this & that to make it on par with actual requirements, so it's not an argument.

the real thing is G.A.M.I.N.G !!! ... if you love gaming, each & every platform has a good reason to be.
I can buy the latest high end PC but i play City of Heroes more often so who cares about HD or Super HD GFX, when you want to have fun. Already said so, it depends on what you play.

i have same fun when i play Diablo II in low or high res, CoH in Ultra or std res, minesweeper, flash games, sudoku, Uncharted 2, Crysis in max res, crash commando, etc ...

sorry for this, but a gamer who claims having fun only if it's higher than 1080p isn't really one, cut it out people, it makes no sense.

BOT:

I agree it's too early for a PS4, the PS3 can still be good for some time, like did all the other consoles. but doesn't imply the death of the latter like proven with former systems & even the PCs.
Who doesn't play older games on their actual PCs ? (best gaming platform for GFX / Sound / backward compatibility. best platform for everything else yet less easy to handle for 'la masse populace')

i would love them to work on a new version when they have a technology leap not just to be 1st or be on par with other systems that what made the PS3 a great console for a lot of things but it's a dedicated machine so don't compare to anything else, it's pointless & somewhat waste of time & not intelligent.

The WII U is a good attempt to get back some hardcore gamers on Nintendo side, it won't be hard for them for it's the most successful console manufacturer to date yet the others aren't that bad.

Business is not easy, it always look like corporates want to make more money on 'us' but it's reality, we do same somehow. We don't go to work to please others but to make money, big corporates are just higher level & using/abusing 'us' to reach higher level goals & 'we' fuel their path of success or failure by working for or with them or by buying their goods (or bads lol!) ...

I really wish to have more time to do all i want, but for now, don't really need a new console with newer exclusive games to push me spend more, but someday will want to, so yes go for a great development & give us another great console & work also on new / fresh IPs, i hate having a lot of trilogy collections.

cheers!

 

[Guest]

"And GT4 can't run on 720p, are you kidding me!? Technically, GTA4 supports 1080p if you let PS3 forced it. I run GTA4 on 1080p and hardly get any hiccups until you get to 20+ exploding cars in the screen. "

You should probably research stuff before posting.

http://kotaku.com/385237/gta-iv-runs-at-630p-on-playstation-3-so-whats-that-mean

It CAN be upscaled to 720/1080p but that's upscaled, it's not true HD, and for "such a powerful console" to not be able to run in proper HD (and GTA4 isn't the only game that isn't HD on PS3) well that's pretty bad in this day and age.

Your 1080p GTA4 on PS3 is really 1280 * 630 upscaled to 1080p.

 

[Zecias]

Guest said:
"And GT4 can't run on 720p, are you kidding me!? Technically, GTA4 supports 1080p if you let PS3 forced it."

Dice confirmed that BF3 will only run in DX9 @ 720p at only 30 FPS on PS3/360. That tells me that current consoles are completely maxed out. Sure, you can probably squeeze another 10% out of them but it won't make much difference.

As far as HD4700 series being obsolete compared to HD6000 series, that is true. However, there is still a chance that Wii U may include HD4870 GPU. HD4870 is only 2x slower than the HD6970 (which is only 10-15% faster than the 5870). It wouldn't be realistic from a heat/power consumption perspective to put a 250 Watt GPU such as the 6970 inside the Wii U. Not to mention, the 6970 costs $300 USD at the moment. Since games are coded directly to hardware on consoles (i.e., there is no API overhead), consoles don't need top of the line GPUs to have decent graphics.

Personally, I think it's insane to purchase a $300 PS3 considering the console is almost 5 years old!

Also, this myth of a $1500 PC that trumps consoles needs to die already. Most people who play PC games reuse the power supply, monitor, case, dvd-rom, hard drives. So essentially, all you need to do is upgrade the CPU/Motherboard/RAM and GPU. If you resell your hardware and upgrade, the PC isn't that expensive to own. You don't have to pay $50 annual fee to play online and you'll make up the cost difference QUICKLY if you buy games on STEAM. I picked up a ton of good games for $2.50-10 on Steam over the years. Consoles games just don't fall that low.

Once you add the cost of software, the cost of consoles skyrockets. I never understand why console owners never consider how they are paying $40-60 for console games while we can get the exact same game for $10 6 months after release on Steam. The difference comes down more to the types of games you enjoy playing and if you enjoy playing games in a group of friends. The cost difference between PC gaming and console gaming actually favours the PC once you take into account the software costs.

not to mention that the components don't actually cost up to $1500. it costs around $500-900 for a computer that is graphically(hardware is superior, but consoles have the advantage of optimization) equivalent to a console.
Ex:
$50 case
$60 1TB HDD
$70 600W PS
$80 8gb DDR3
$50 Win 7
$100 mobo
$150 6850
$100 AMD 3 GHz X4 cpu
$170 1900x1080 monitor
$830 this is at standard prices too, at a discount.....

$20 case
$60 2 TB HDD
$30 600W PS
$24 8GB DDR3
$30 win 7(buy a family pack and split with people)
$100 6850
$100 1900x1080 monitor
$100 AMD 3 GHz X4 CPU(never find discounted CPUs for some strange reason)
$100 Mobo (also never find discounts)
$564 This computer would be stronger than a console by a decent amount
and when you compare it to the price of a console...
$250 PS3
$300 30" 1080p LCD TV
$550 normally
$200 ps3
$200 30' 1080p LCD TV
$400 at a discount
so.... $564 vs $400
it seems that computers aren't much more expensive than consoles.
when you factor in the resale of your computer components, discounted games from steam, and graphical superiority, you might say that PCs are just a better deal overall.

 

[SilverCider]

I would just like to point something out to those of you comparing the GPUs in consoles to those we use in PCs. The console developers get full hardware access to the GPUs whereas on PC they only get software level access, via DX or opengl. This makes quite a large difference between them as the software level implementation introduces bottlenecks. So it is highly likely that if the consoles released with the last generation of GPUs available to us PC users, the performance you could get out of them would easily match that of the current and possibly next gen GPUs available.

I hope this makes some sense to you.