It isn't hard to guess what's likely to be in the next version of the PlayStation when Sony moves on to generation four in a few years' time, so the news that we appear to have a leak of sorts isn't exactly Earth-shattering.
According to Japanese site PC Watch, Sony discussions with software developers suggest that the PS4 will still be based on the Cell Broadband Engine processor, but that it will be twice as powerful as the PS3.
Cell all the way
Whether that's to be achieved through some sort of co-processor or by optimising the Cell, we can only speculate – we'd say the latter.
More significantly, the scuttlebutt that apparently comes from somewhere inside Sony Computer Entertainment holds that the PS4 will have to be cheap to build and, therefore, to buy.
Lastly, we have a likely launch pinned some time during 2011 and the earnest hope that Sony's next console will beat the third Xbox to market, unlike last time, when the Xbox 360 had a lead over the PS3 of almost a full year.
Your comments (10) Click to add a new comment
tiron
October 15th
10. I think that sony are a good make and there consoles are great there ps4 shuold be the best so far with the economical stuff going on and the design should look cool the energy use of the ps4 should be low and the grapics should be better than HD quality the hard drive should be bigger and should be able to buy any amount of GB.
the controlers should stay the same of be even more de-tailed and a better look, the ps3 controlers are better because they have just turned wireless and easy to use.
the ps4 has got to be looking siffrent to all the rest of the sony consoles the only thing that sony need to worry about is if they can make it cheap enoth so younger buyers can get it not just get it when the ps5 or the next console comes.
pluss sony need to get income from this but havent done that so far but they hope to get profit from there design they havent chosen there final design yet i dont think but that is somethink i would like to know and not just guess
Alert a moderator
bjin96
September 18th
9. i think that Sony has done a great job with the ps3.ps4 should have same controller design ,u know blutooth motion sensitive or six-axis .but u should be able to buy hardisks for ps4 in whatever size u want in the right format.blu-ray is great ps1-at least 2 compatibility .it'll be nice to be at lest 3 times more powerful than the ps3.Matt metal (removable) cover would be great too.more online features and psn service in all of Europe i live in Iceland so that's s**t!able to write notes ,same xmb interface and a browser where u can play all flash vids and games . and be able to view all email websites .dvd ripper would be great.what would be great personally is is to create a partition on the hard-disk to put linux or windows on .not for free but a ps3's power has that advantage.AND of course a new disk format.
Alert a moderator
harrybauer
May 30th
8. For the next generation Playstation, the Cell needs to increase the LS memory for each SPU by another 256KB. Maybe increase additional coprocessors (PPU/SPU). However, the current Cell is still very capable for next generation physic calculations and other vector (SIMD) based equations; what the next Playstation needs is an improved graphics processor and possibly improve/better power management i.e. less power use or intelligent power management system (software controlled).
Alert a moderator
psfour
October 13th 2008
7. Ive done research into the cell which should be used in PS4. Can find the information here.
www.psfour.info/cpu.php
Alert a moderator
weezer
October 3rd 2008
6. Iggy - okay, sorry about that, I would have edited it had TR's forum had let me!
On pure numbers, the Nvidia RSX in the PS3 is - technically- not as powerful as the ATI Xenos GPU in 360. It's a close call, but the Xenos edges it - mainly due to memory bandwidth issues and the way the RSX is tied to the Cell. It's way more complicated than my brain can cope with (all to do with pixel shaders and triangles per second) but go to Anandtech for more details.
I meant that the card and architecture aren't up to the task in terms of what Sony was promising - full 60fps at 1080. It's rubbish; a lot of games are 720p and some are even lower res and upscaled.
Wipeout HD is gorgeous , for example, but it's one of those games that flatters to deceive - the world is limited to the course so you can really optimise these kinds of games.
Clearly for this generation, the PS3 is adequate - there are a lot of lovely games out there, but improving the Cell processor is not the only answer: make the graphics card twice as powerful and make the architecture more memory/speed efficient and the machine would be easier to code for and you WOULD notice a difference, visually.
(Also, I think the next-gen machines should have dedicated physics processors not just faster general-purpose chipsets).
I don't believe the 360's three-core Xenon can crunch more numbers than the 7-SPE Cell, but it's a more elegant unified system and the proof of the pudding seems to be that in A-B comparisons, 360 is either equal to or beats the PS3 graphically in every single test (Eurogamer).
Honestly, I'm not after an argument - I own all three consoles and they all have games worth playing. I just think the PS3 is the one that has overpromised and underdelivered.
Alert a moderator
iggy82
October 2nd 2008
5. @ Weezer
Don't appreciate the 'way too precious love' comment. Also think your statement is a very bold - "you can't really argue that the graphics card and architecture are up to the task"
Can you explain why you think this is true? Is this something you have read spec-wise or do you really think the 360 can out-perform the cell?
Alert a moderator
Tell us what you think
You need to Log in or register to post comments