Next Xbox, PlayStation launching in 2014

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Originally Posted by CNet

If you're hoping for the Xbox 720 or the PlayStation 4 to arrive anytime soon, prepare to be disappointed.
Citing "industry sources," video game blog Kotaku reported yesterday that Microsoft and Sony aren't planning to release follow-ups to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 until 2014. One of the blog's sources said that Microsoft hasn't even decided which components its next console will offer when it eventually launches.

If both Microsoft and Sony wait until 2014 to release new machines, it would mark a dramatic shift in the way console makers have structured launch schedules.
Historically, most console companies release new devices an average of every five years. Microsoft, for example, launched the original Xbox in 2001 and followed that up with the Xbox 360 in 2005. Sony's PlayStation 2 launched in 2000 and its follow-up console hit store shelves in 2006. A 2014 launch would leave the Xbox 360 on store shelves for nine years, and the PlayStation 3 for eight years, without a successor in place.
Cashing in on a console until the bitter end is something that Sony has never taken issue with. The company has said on numerous occasions that it follows a "10-year life cycle" for consoles. In fact, the company is still selling thousands of PlayStation 2s every month, even though the PlayStation 3 is available. But this time around, things could be different, since there wouldn't be a newer console in place to help boost sales over the long haul.
Speaking to CNET last year for a story outlining the death of the five-year console lifecycle, Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment, seemed nonplussed by the shift. He made it clear that Sony has always believed that its consoles can hold up over a 10-year period.
"We at PlayStation have never subscribed to the concept that a console should last only five years," he said. "Both the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 had life cycles of more than 10 years, and PlayStation 3 will as well. The 10-year life cycle is a commitment we've made with every PlayStation consumer to date, and it's part of our philosophy that we provide hardware that will stand the test of time providing that fun experience you get from day one for the next decade."

The PlayStation 3 might be around for a very long time.
(Credit: Sony)
Microsoft's senior director of Xbox product management, David Hufford, indicated last year at the Consumer Electronics Show that his company is on the same page as Sony. And with the release of Microsoft's motion-gaming peripheral Kinect in November, the company was potentially able to extend the life of its console.
"I think it's important to say that the Xbox 360 is the console of the long future for us," Hufford said before an audience at CES. "There is no need to launch a new console because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades like Project Natal. The Xbox 360 was designed for a long life, and I don't even know if we're at the midpoint yet."
Such a statement seemingly makes perfect sense to game maker Electronic Arts. Last year, EA CFO Eric Brown said there isn't much room for improvement in the console market and there simply isn't a compelling reason for either Sony or Microsoft to release a new hardware platform in the near future.
"Today we have two of the three consoles that operate in full high-definition and are running games at 60 frames per second," Brown said. "If you step back and say if it's a multibillion capital dollar investment for the next generation, the question I would ask is 'if you were to produce that then what would you display it on?' There's really nothing in terms of broadly available consumer viewing technology other than 1080p flat panel televisions. And so you could upgrade in theory, but you wouldn't get the obvious graphical benefit that we saw really drove the sharp transitions in the prior cycle."
Even so, Microsoft is seemingly looking toward the future. Last month, a job notice was posted on the company's Web site, seeking a hardware engineer for its Interactive Entertainment Business division. The job would require the person to be "responsible for defining and delivering next-generation console architectures from conception through implementation." The notice led some to suspect that this future employee will be working on the next version of the Xbox.
What about the Wii?
Although Kotaku's sources didn't mention the Wii, many industry watchers believe that Nintendo will be launching a successor to its motion console later this year. Nintendo hasn't said a word about what its next console will offer or even when it might hit store shelves.
Not everyone is convinced that a new Wii would even sell all that well if it did hit store shelves in 2011. In an interview with IndustryGamers earlier this year, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that the chances of the Wii 2 succeeding after a late 2011 launch would be slim. One of the key additions would be HD suppport, which the Xbox 360 and PS3 have had since launch. Pachter sees Nintendo as jumping aboard that train much, much too late.
"I just think Nintendo's blown it; I think by the time they launch [their next console] if it's Christmas 2011, it's two years too late, and for sure one year too late," Pachter said in the interview. "So it's over--I don't think they can ever recover. Wii sales will continue to decline and I think Wii 2 will not sell well."
Sony and Nintendo declined CNET's request for comment. Microsoft did not immediately respond.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20...#ixzz1KBscaslu

[tHegeRm]

Not surprised.

[Crimson92]

theres no reason to yet, theres still plently left to do with the hardware.

[KingOfJericho]

I'm not surprised at all by this. The current systems are quite robust and very easy to update and upgrade via the net. The old systems were only as current as the day they were purchased but with the technology and connectivity we have today that is no longer the case.

[carve]

Great- I like getting long life out of my hardware. This should make the consumer happy. It's amazing what they've done with the xbox360. Hopefully, Kinect will be standard on the next one. It won't see a ton of applications until everyone has one.

I imagine the next gen will also have all hard drive-based storage, maybe without a disc drive. Blu Ray drives will be cheap enough by then that they might be included though. If it had one, this and a receiver would be the only two boxes you'd need next to your TV.

I'd also be interested to see new ways of rendering graphics more efficiently than drawing polygons and texturing them. I read a year or two ago about a prototype graphics system the worked like a search engine. The world was all mapped out in fine detail with voxels (basically, tiny pixels), and based on your perspective at that moment all the correct pieces of the scene would be pulled down and displayed. So, you have tons of little pixels, but just display the ones necessary to make the image, rather than having to re-render all these tiny polygons for every frame.

http://unlimiteddetail.wikia.com/wik...etail_in_Wired


Oh yeah- I see 3D being big for the next-gen consoles. This is where the real killer application of 3D will be- gaming...not movies. By 2014 it'll be a fairly small price increase to add 3D to a TV. Can't wait to get my 60" Flatscreen 3d LED for $1k.

[.:bHd:.]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

theres no reason to yet, theres still plently left to do with the hardware.

are you kidding? Both consoles are dated as fawk. My iPad2 has the same amount of ram as a ps3.

[Crimson92]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

are you kidding? Both consoles are dated as fawk. My iPad2 has the same amount of ram as a ps3.

you should really look at the hardware and capabilities of both consoles before you pass judgement.


your ipad cant do 1/100 of what a 360 or ps3 can do

[tHegeRm]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

you should really look at the hardware and capabilities of both consoles before you pass judgement.


your ipad cant do 1/100 of what a 360 or ps3 can do

Unless you count Angry Birds then all three can compete!

[Wakka]

its about time honestly. The hardware in the xbox is like 6 years old now?

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

you should really look at the hardware and capabilities of both consoles before you pass judgement.


your ipad cant do 1/100 of what a 360 or ps3 can do

Right but the gap is widening between PC and consoles (for example GPU [AA, AF], RAM even though the consoles use the RAM much more efficiently, they're still going to hit that wall first).

That being said, it's amazing what the PS3 can do considering how long ago it was designed.

[Crimson92]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

Right but the gap is widening between PC and consoles (for example GPU [AA, AF], RAM even though the consoles use the RAM much more efficiently, they're still going to hit that wall first).

That being said, it's amazing what the PS3 can do considering how long ago it was designed.

true but pc is an unfair comparison since hardware and be swapped on the fly.

[ryan970]

xbox 360 is good enough. we dont need a upgrade yet.

[abisson]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

are you kidding? Both consoles are dated as fawk. My iPad2 has the same amount of ram as a ps3.

Casual Gamer spotted.

[yakev724]

Only thing that surprises is the quality of gaming we're getting out of 6yo consoles. When released, the x360 was surprisingly cheap for what it offered hardware wise, and still keeps amazing even though it's relatively weak today.

If apple ever enters the gaming game, I guarantee they'll release new hardware every 1 or 2 years, and make bank off idiots who upgrade their devices every year.

[ideliver]

Too bad they make consoles with inadequate cooling that cook themselves in 2 or 3 years.

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Originally Posted by yakev724

Only thing that surprises is the quality of gaming we're getting out of 6yo consoles. When released, the x360 was surprisingly cheap for what it offered hardware wise, and still keeps amazing even though it's relatively weak today.

If apple ever enters the gaming game, I guarantee they'll release new hardware every 1 or 2 years, and make bank off idiots who upgrade their devices every year.

Apple makes bank off of idiots who buy the iPhone every year,and the iPod,and the iPad... A realistic smart person would keep the product for at least 2 years before upgrading.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by yakev724

Only thing that surprises is the quality of gaming we're getting out of 6yo consoles. When released, the x360 was surprisingly cheap for what it offered hardware wise, and still keeps amazing even though it's relatively weak today.

People can say what they want about the console hardware limitations b/c of GPU/RAM, but the processing power and dedicated focus of these systems is awesome to say the least.

Six years ago, your ultimate gaming computer is for sure what now would be considered shit.

You can still develop great games for consoles although their age is showing. For the money, it's amazing what the console developers did. I'm a PC gamer at heart, but that's just makes it all the more real exactly how monumental it was what they accomplished with this last gen of consoles. Credit is given where credit is due.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by ideliver

Too bad they make consoles with inadequate cooling that cook themselves in 2 or 3 years.

My PS3 has been fine. Don't bury it in a '70s shag carpet and make sure you keep the airways clear.

[.:bHd:.]

Originally Posted by Crimson92

you should really look at the hardware and capabilities of both consoles before you pass judgement.


your ipad cant do 1/100 of what a 360 or ps3 can do

Dude the xbox360 can only output 720p for games. PS3 graphics card only has 250mb of ram and runs at 700mhz. Almost every piece of hardware on both consoles is old

what are you talking about

[yakev724]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

Dude the xbox360 can only output 720p for games.

Nope, 1080i for many and 1080p for some (native, not upscaled)

Granted, 720p is what current gen consoles target and that's just due to their hardware limitations. As mentioned above, software dev still has developments improving graphics in other ways.

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

Dude the xbox360 can only output 720p for games. PS3 graphics card only has 250mb of ram and runs at 700mhz. Almost every piece of hardware on both consoles is old

what are you talking about

But the xbox can upscale to 1080i, I believe.

[.:bHd:.]

It can't natively do 1080p. It renders in 720p and upscales to 1080.

Well the last time I read about it anyways, they might have updated the firmware or something