Nvidia: Next-gen phones will outperform PS3, Xbox 360

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The power of console gaming - coming to your phone soon

Move over Sony and Microsoft - Tony Tamasi, the Senior Vice President of Content and Technology, has said that the next generation of mobile phone graphic processors will be more powerful than the current gen of games consoles.

"The PS3 and Xbox 360 are barely more powerful than mobile devices...The next [wave] of mobile phones will outperform [them]," he told bit-tech, likely referencing the Tegra 4's successor - the Tegra 5.

With the PS4 and Xbox 720 on their way, the current generation is obviously feeling a bit old, so the comment isn't terribly scathing. However, it certainly suggests that mobile gaming is snapping at the heels of console gaming a bit sooner than many might have thought.

Mobile is the future

We know that the Californian is certain happy to voice its opinions on other gaming companies, with Nvidia recently telling us that the PS4 specs are already outdated, comparing it to a "low end CPU".

One thing we can read from Tomasi's comment is that the Tegra 5 will offer more than double the power of the 4. The PS3 and Xbox 360 run at around 200 GFlops, while the Tegra 4 runs at around 80.

The PS4 might be well ahead, capable of reaching 1.8TFlops, but of course mobile gaming has the advantage of being an always-evolving generation. So it's anyone's guess as to whether mobile can catch up during the Playstation 4's lifespan.

We've yet to hear from Microsoft about its next-gen console but, much like Sony, it will be making every effort to ensure that the console is as future-proof as possible. But will it be enough with smartphones hot in pursuit?

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.

Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.