PC Watch Impress, a Japanese tech news site, heard a few tidbits concerning Sony’s plans for the PlayStation 4. Supposedly. Here’s the breakdown (translated by IGN and GameCyte)
- Will use the same Cell Processor that the PS3 uses.
- Will probably stick to a similar number of cores (around 10)
- Will use standard JEDEC memory instead of XDR. (Most likely DDR3)
- Overall hardware change will be similar to the GameCube to Wii transition.
So these are the plans and according to their source, this is being sent to developers for feedback. Well, I’m not a developer, but I’ll provide my feedback anyways.
Sounds like a pretty good idea!
Don’t be so shocked. Yes, it would be nice to have a box that will be four times as powerful compared to current generation systems, but what about the cost of it all? Are gamers willing to shell out $599.99 CAD for their consoles again? Are publishers willing to spend even more money developing new tools and learning a new architecture? I’m not willing to and I doubt the developers are either.
I bought my PS3 on the basis of it being my new PS2, Blu-ray player and a high definition gaming machine. Unless the PS4 is offering another higher definition format (highly unlikely), I’m not spending that kind of money again.
I’m quite happy with these systems being able output visuals beyond 480p and to me that’s more than enough. It would be nice to have every single game at 1080p, but that doesn’t require a huge overhaul of the architecture or a necessity. Having a gentle bump in hardware specs for the next generation system would not be such a bad idea. Especially if you can pick up that new box at $299.99 CAD or less on launch day.
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