Ben-DutkaIs the PlayStation 3 nearing the end?
No way, says Sony deputy president Kaz Hirai. After talking about the recent PlayStation Network calamity, Hirai told Guardian.co.uk that Sony is sticking by their 10-year model. He also gave no indication as to when the next piece of hardware might arrive, primarily because he believes we don't need it any time soon. Said Hirai:
"One of the things that we always talked about is the 10-year life cycle. When we launched the PS3 back in 2006, one of the questions I kept getting asked was why we were putting so much technology into a piece of equipment that was basically a games console. At the time, I said we were looking at a 10-year life cycle. We wanted to make sure we could adapt as new technology was brought on board. A lot of people at the time said that while it all sounded great, they didn't believe it."
Hirai went on to say the PS3 "has grown with the times" and in fact, "there's still a lot of headroom left." And when all is said and done, he adds that while you'll hear many things about the PS3, the one thing you won't hear is, "it's slipping behind the times." Hey, like we've been saying, we're good with the PS3 for at least a few more years.
Agreed, I think the PS3 has a full tank of gas left, & is nowhere even close to hitting it's stride yet.
if they were to release a ps4 or even say its coming out soon it would negate all the work they have done for the ps3. to spend all this time working to make the ps3 successful and then just move on this early when they have just gotten so many things in place would not be smart. i personally love my ps3 and do not want a new system til this one has been tapped like the ps1 and ps2 were. i simply do not have the money or desire to upgrade to a new system anytime soon. the vita comin out holds all kinds of ideas and functionality that will make things even better. it just keeps getting better and better with sony.
Well played SONY… well played.
Oh and BTW… *Points to WORKING PS2 still next to TV*
I know random, but your self facination model avatar pics constantly changing cracks me up.
I'm not a man who likes to stay stagnant, and I'd like to to think it helps convey who I am in a better way to my fellow PSX Readers and helps get points across. It's not so much me being vain if that's what you were trying to say here. Oh and all these pics are me BTW.
Last edited by JMO_INDY on 6/9/2011 9:41:48 PM
***(in my house)***
Oh and BTW…***Points to both, still WORKING PS-2, & PS-1, next to TV***
Last edited by BikerSaint on 6/10/2011 10:01:36 AM
Daaaamn right!!!
I remember when journalists and even MS directly criticized Hirai for his 10 year claims made back in 2006, and now, it seems the industry in large has finally caught up to understand the position the market was headed. I know Nintendo knew it, as their (and i truly mean this) life saving Wii motion direction kept their console efforts afloat.
It might of been a good effort for the here and now save us efforts, but really the Wii will only hurt them in the long run, especially in the direction the Wii U is pushing towards. AS Ninty has captured the casual market last gen, This gen their trying to play catch up to SONY and MS in terms of hardware and it's going to put a cost damper on the new fans they gathered just a few short years ago. People will go to Ninty to find their casual fix and run into a still casual based system with a higher price and more confusing controls, it will drive people away and hurt Ninty in the long run.
JMO, interesting prediction there. I cant comment on what I think will happen to Nintendo going forward; though, that's not to say I don't think your concerns are valid. I would imagine Nintendo has a well thought out and studied plan to carry themselves with profitability for the coming years and considering the size of their current install base with Wii I think they're in position to make a bold move forward while still maintaining a healthy company.
Personally, I'm quite attracted to this Wii U stuff. If they can get the price right and offer enough compelling software, I might very well be on board with them next year.
As it stands now, my Wii sits around largely as an overpriced Netflix box.
I'm interested in what the Controller gets hacked into >:)
i cant wait til android gets hacked onto that controller lol
Now now Cavan, we all know that while it seems hackers can do everything, they can't program lines of code to form physical objects like thumb sticks, tactile and shoulder buttons =p
@ Temjin001
You use the Wii for Netflix instead of your PS3? That's a lot of HD content you're missing out on. I'm sure there's a reason, but why man, why? hehehe
Bearbobby, I don't watch that awful Netflix stuff. Just the rest of my family does. They couldn't care less if Dora the Explorer was in HD or not =)
Plus, my Ps3 gets enough of a workout as it is doing games and blu ray movies so the Wii has gotta take some of the load, because aside from Tetris Party and the once in a season game of Mario Kart it does nothing else but deceive guests that we like playing Wii with that tell-tale sensor bar that hangs out on the top of the TV
But what exactly do this mean?
That Sony now more or less guarantee that there will be no ps4 until 2016? Or that they just will "support" ps3 (whatever that means) until 2016 but the ps4 may be launched in the meantime?
2012 is already shaping up to be on this years level when it comes to quality releases and I sure would love this to keep going a few more years!
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/9/2011 11:20:38 AM
It's nice that everything its set up now so bring out the games. I was looking forward to new exclusive game announcements at E3.
As confident as I am in the PS3's hardware, a new console will be required by 2013/2014. I think Kaz is "keeping Sony's poweder dry" by not talking about it. If Sony were to start talking up the PS4 now, 2+ years before launch, it would hurt PS3 sales. Kaz also keeps any possibility that there is a PS4 waiting in the wings deliberately vague, so that the competition don't know when it will arrive.
That said, he's clearly signalling – not yet.
I don't believe that the hardware actually has 10 years in it as the primary product. Like the PS1 and PS2 before it, I think it will live a long life as a secondary product. However I do think that it will go 6-7 years as the primary product. Think about it though, 7 years is several processor, GPU and memory technological generations. The CellBE processor was well ahead of it's time when launched. So much so that even 5 years after launch, the CellBE can still turn in very respectable performance benchmarks. But, time catches up eventually. the PS3's main memory looks increasingly limited, the GPU is three generations behind nVidia's latest, and the Cell itself has been eclipsed by other Cell products and Power 7. Even PC CPUs have finally caught up. So although I wouldn't say the PS3 is out of date, it is definitely showing it's maturity.
Thanks to the design, there is still head room for games to get better. There are still things that Sony can do to enhance the functionality. But those opportunities are now far more limited than they once were.
I think we'll see PS3 run through next E3 with no further mention of PS4. I don't think that either Microsoft or Sony will announce a new console longer than a year ahead of launch. I also think that both Sony and Microsoft will want to distract as much as possible from the WiiU launch. So I think that either at E3 2012, or the TGS 2012, both Sony and Microsoft will each announce their new console, for sale 12 months later.
Around about the time of TGS 2012 Nintendo's WiiU will be readying for launch. Microsoft and Sony making announcements about their new consoles at the same time will really distract the media attention from Nintendo. I could be wrong, both MS and Sony could wait longer. MS could break earlier than Sony, but I doubt it. Both Sony and MS have a common foe – Nintendo. And by design or coincidence, I think that they will individually put pressure on Nintendo forming a kind of pincer attack. It would benefit both to see Nintendo's wings clipped a little.
All that said, it's entirely possible that both will try to wait out another year, and drop their new consoles in 2014. but to be honest, both 360 and PS3 will really be long in the tooth by then. I'm not sure it's viable to wait that long. Good grief with Vita arriving this year, in three more years handheld technology could actually be quick enough to withstand a meaningful and direct comparison against the full blooded PS3 performance.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/9/2011 11:28:42 AM
I often wonder if MS and Sony even give a damn about Nintendo. Clearly motion controls made a splash and they both ran to try and keep up or, at the very least, cash in on the craze. But I don't know, when it comes to software, I really don't think they're nervous about Nintendo.
Rather, isn't it Nintendo that's now trying to get the PS3 and 360 games more easily ported to their new "HD system?" I wonder… is this really a hardware race, or is software the real system seller?
My money is on software.
Software sells systems, which to me is a great illustration of why first party exclusives matter more now rather than less.
I don't think Microsoft or Sony specifically care much about Nintendo, but they saw 70-odd million consumers care, and so they will do whatever they can to recapture those 70-million consumers.
That's the truth. It's a shame really. Where Nintendo is pretending to have a system for both casual and hard core, the other two are just trying to keep everyone happy. It'll be interesting to see where this ends up because there is clearly a market for both Assassin's Creed and Just Dance. Know what I mean?
Yhea… talking about handheld power… you guys should do yourselves a favour and have a look at ShadowGun, now being shown off at E3. I saw the video on Engadget…running on iPhone, iPad and Android phones/tablets… based on nVidia Terga2 – well, what can I say… it looks like Gears in the palm of your hands…
As i said previously in my posts, and Ben mentioned in an earlier article… things are changing much quicker in the mobile space than we can imagine… and the manufacturers like Apple, HTC and the like know it.
They can smell the money is in games and you are going to have an onslaught of hardware upgrades between now and the launch of the PS4. The Vita will be challenged in time as well…
No matter how much us hardcore gamers want "dedicated" gaming hardware platforms to succeed… with commoditisation of mobile and tablet hardware becoming more apparent as the months roll on and the overall dropping off the entry level price, i think bricks sitting at the bottom of your TV will be something from the ancient world 5 to 10 years from now…
There is still time… maybe for one more next generation hardware cycle…
Mark my words… and remember them…
It is and will be a mobile world… everything will be in the palm of your hands… and there is nothing more two it…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 6/9/2011 7:23:41 PM
Like I said Qubex, the line between the console and the handheld is blurring and will disappear. The fundamental limits in terms of gaming are the display on the handheld and the TV at home. At some point the hardware will be more than good enough and no amount of additional hardware will enable much improvement.
I think that we will arrive at a point where the amount of bandwidth around will be sufficient to stream software to your handheld from your home console. It would run locally on the handheld because the things are going to be powerful enough to do it, and then when you get home you transfer back to the main unit for increased resolution on the large screen at home. Seemless.
I think that handheld will ultimately have phone capabilities, but it will not be a cellphone. I think that the cell operators will have to become wireless Internet providers because Data is king, and VOIP isn't going away. Cellphones and cellphone technology is an anachronism when every handheld device has the capability to run a VOIP client. Instead of Cellphones, tablets handheld game consoles and smartphones, there will simply be a category of multi-purpose handhelds. The consumer will have the choice of platform, and capability – a small sleek phone, a smartphone, a sub-tablet or a gaming device. They'll all have similar capabilities and there will be no meaningful functional difference. These devices will all integrate with the main system at home via the ubiquitous wireless Internet. The things that will differentiate are services and exclusive software. Every hardware maker can make a sexy, hand held that can do all of this, but unless it has the services that people want, it'll be no good.
Sony is going in that direction. PS4 will integrate further, development environments will facilitate easy movement between console and hand held, and the level of integration will increase. Whatever follows the Vita from Sony will probably be the first of these multi-purpose devices that can manage that totally end to end integration on the move. PSN will become the backbone to this as the main service that Sony customers will want. Exclusive games will continue to drive things for those that want the games.
All that said, it's gonna be a bloody battle. This upcoming shift encompasses cellphones, tablet devices, PCs, network services and software. Microsoft as a software company is well placed for some of this. Sony has it's hands in most of the areas concerned from cellphones to PCs to game consoles to home entertainment. As a CE manufacturer they know about making hardware, and although they are not a business software giant like Microsoft, their software expertize resides in the living room and on the handhelds. Nintendo is least well placed for all of this as they are the most dependent on pure gaming.
I think we will still have a 'console' in the home, but it will be that central entertainment system in the home that we've been told for years we're moving towards. The handhelds will be hugely capable and be tethered via the wireless Internet to the home console. Users will have access to everything anywhere as the 'console' will simply scale and stream whatever content that's required. The handhelds will be phones, but they'll be VOIP based.
Well I seem to have gone off on a flight of fancy again. But, that's where I see things going…
It's gonna be an interesting ride.
I'm still wondering why Ninty only showed the Wii-U at E3 & not the new console that it's going to attached(& detached) to?
Especially since I read today that you won't be able to buy the Wii-U controller by itself, as it will only be bundled with the console.
They don't have a console to show. It's the emperor's new clothes all over again. They didn't have 3rd party video of *anything* running on WiiU hardware. Even their own Zelda stuff was little more than tech demos, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was running on a Wii in 720 mode and then scaled up.
They showed the controller because it's easier to mock up, but it only ran two tech demos, neither of which will be future games, so in essence Nintendo showed *nothing*. It was actually a masterful performance because they fooled much of the gaming media and nearly all the Nintendo fanbase into thinking they were seeing something that literally was not there. The 3rd party game footage was PS3 and 360 sourced, and their own stuff wasn't run live and could have been pre-rendered on a test rig, or a development Wii.
Nintendo showed *nothing* and people lauded them for it.
That emperor is naked you know, bare, running around in the buff, unclothed. It is a nude emperor.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/9/2011 11:57:24 AM
Highlander,
Yeah I know, and to top it off Nity showed almost all those game vid footage that were actually taken from either the PS3 or the 360 too, WTF?????………
Fils-Aime admits to using PS3, 360 footage in presser
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has admitted that many of the videos used in the Wii U showreel at E3 consisted of footage from Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the games, but insisted that Wii U games will be comparable.
Speaking in an interview with Game Trailers after the publisher's onstage presentation of its new console, Fils-Aime seemed unabashed that the gameplay videos has been purloined from other platforms, pointing out that expecting footage from a machine still a year from launch is overly optimistic.
"Absolutely," replied Fils-Aime when asked if the footage came from 360 and PS3. "Because we're talking a year away from when this system's going to launch."
Game Trailers' Geoff Keighley then asked Fils-Aime if he expected the Wii U titles to have the same visual fidelity as Sony and Microsoft's machines.
"In terms of how good it looks it's going to be driven by what the individual developers do," he answered. "It's going to be 1080p, it's going to be high definition…
"You're going to see games that take full advantage of a system that has the latest technology and can push out some incredible graphics."
In the same interview, the NOA president also insisted that the Wii U would offer the customer a great value proposition, but would not be drawn on a specific price.
"What I want to focus on is, is it going to offer the consumer a competitive value when it comes out? And the answer is, absolutely."
Fils-Aime drew a distinction between the ideas of value and price, refusing to put even a ballpark figure on the console "You're talking price and I'm talking value," he said.
"What I'm saying is that it's going to have a fantastic value – value defined as what you get, all of these great new experiences for what you pay, is going to be absolutely competitive."
Last edited by BikerSaint on 6/9/2011 12:07:27 PM
..thinks back 6 years…it's almost like hearing a certain someone talking about the PS3…
"It's going to be 1080p, it's going to be high definition…
"You're going to see games that take full advantage of a system that has the latest technology and can push out some incredible graphics."
"What I want to focus on is, is it going to offer the consumer a competitive value when it comes out? And the answer is, absolutely."
Fils-Aime (Kutaragi?) drew a distinction between the ideas of value and price, refusing to put even a ballpark figure on the console "You're talking price and I'm talking value," he said.
"What I'm saying is that it's going to have a fantastic value – value defined as what you get, all of these great new experiences for what you pay, is going to be absolutely competitive."
…spooky.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/9/2011 12:16:48 PM
Wii U does have a console. They just didn't show it.
http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/nintendo-wii-u-console.jpg
That my friend is an empty shell, much like the PS3 cases that were displayed at E3 in 2005. If they had a product to show, they'd have shown it instead of showing PS3 and 360 footage and distributing pictures of an empty case.
"..thinks back 6 years…it's almost like hearing a certain someone talking about the PS3…
"It's going to be 1080p, it's going to be high definition…"
Lol, very true Highlander…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Indeed, the evasion on price reminded me of Ken's explanation of the likely cost of the upcoming (in 2005) PS3.
Of course it does. I seriously doubt any PS fan didn't believe Sony when they said the PS3 had a 10 year life span. I, and probably most of you were never concerned about that.
However..
I am concerned to what impact a certain DVD using machine will have on multiplatform games. Rage is due out soon, at it's shipping on 3 DVDs and one Bluray. To me, this means that every time I see a one DVD game, I am not getting my moneys worth.
As much as I love 3rd party games, in the future, I may not want to purchase them unless I see 3-5 DVD's on the other console. I am not being a "fanboy", but just someone who values where he spends his hard earned money.
Something to think about.
Last edited by maxpontiac on 6/9/2011 11:41:04 AM
I know what you mean. There is mounting evidence that suggests that the 360's continued reliance on DVDs is holding back multi-platform games. However on the other hand Sony is putting more and more emphasis on PS3 exclusives so even if the 360 is holding 3rd party games back it shouldn't be TOO much of a problem.
Microsoft knows there is a problem, and recently updated their firmware for a custom DVD format that is about 1Gb larger. They are trying to give more space with what they have, but it's a stop gap.
Indeed Darth Nihilus.
yea its way too soon for a ps4 console especially now that developers are gettin the hang of honing its power
Anything later than 2013 would be asking for trouble.
It will last 6 or 7 years. The last 2 years will be shared with ps4. Just like ps2 shared its last years with ps3.
I don't doubt that a new console will arrive from both MS and Sony in the next 2-3 years, but something tells me that they won't be touting it as another 10 year plan. You look at the greatest innovations this past generation and it very rarely has anything to do with graphics and hardware.
The grand majority of this generations gaming innovation is software development. Even motion controls would have been dead on arrival if someone hadn't thought to use it for bowling. All new tech requires the right application to make it sell.
Look at something as "simple" as multiplayer. All the devs are jumping on board because gamers love it. But has it been perfected? Nope. Many many games are lacking in both the technical know-how (dropped connections and lag still abound) as well as intelligent design (we STILL have spawn camping and "turn around you're out of bounds" nonsense).
I think the generations to come will be a lot more software driven rather than hardware. Hardware will of course still progress, but it will not be as game defining as it once was.
I think you're right on the nail head there. This is kind of why I think WiiU is a little underwhelming since it essentially catches up with PS3/360 in the HD arena.
Hardware is/was defining because TV resolution was going up. Looking at games from the Atari 2600 through to PS3/360 and you see constant improvement in fidelity. But, it took until the PS2 generation for game hardware to finally hit the full resolution of the TVs of the time. HDTV tops out at 1080p and is still in the middle of consumer adoption. Broadcast TV tops out at 720p/1080i. Considering that the maximum resolution any game requires to render to for now and the next decade at least is 1080p. I've been saying this for years now, the next generation isn't about increasing resolution. All the additional power in the machines might enable 3D or other effects, possibly even ray tracing. But increased resolution past 1080p is not on the agenda. Hardware is no longer an issue. There's some doubt as to whether higher resolution than 1080p is even reasonable in the home setting because of the human eye's ability to distinguish the individual pixels at the viewing range in a typical situation. So, you're right, the hardware is not going to be a determining factor with the next generation of console, the determining factors will be device integration, software and services.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/9/2011 1:58:54 PM
Posts like these make me take a moment to appreciate this community.
Agree with both of you 100%. This is a topic I haven't put a whole lot of thought into yet, but I think you guys got it figured out.
With the PS2 still a good system and the PS3 being even better, I concur, we've got some time before technology gets to the point where we can fully have a next gen system. Nintendo's latest incarnation, Wii U, imho falls way short of being a huge leap forward. That controller, while the concept looks interesting, is a parent's worst nightmare…a remote you can interact with on the floor??! Wouldn't want to be the phone rep for those calls….I used to work for Nintendo so I know how consumers can be 🙁
Note: Just re-decorated my kids room and decided they were old enough to have their own video game console in their room, so I hooked up my old PS2 system and it's working like a charm! If they don't destroy the PS2, I'll actually get my 60gig YLOD PS3 repaired and let them have it for xmas 🙂
I thought the controller on the floor for golf was a bit odd. What added benefit could there be? The person still had a wiimote in their hand.
The Move is my new Playstation. Laugh all you want but I'm the one who's popping heads with the greatest of ease. Well… not right now as I lent it to my cousin and I'm missing it badly, and missing heads even more badly 🙁
As i said before i won't be buying a PS4 for another 4-5 years.
it's really the 512 mb memory that's a problem. 10 yrs is too long to wait for a new console. that's forever in terms of computer technology. the 5 yr console cycle was far closer to my liking.
another thing is 60 fps. hardly any games support that. a game that runs at 60 fps just feels and plays better. i look forward to 1080p 60 fps games with great textures on the next round of consoles. the 1st company that makes a system that can deliver on that i will buy a console from. unless, it's ms. sorry, i can't help it. i dispise them.
OK. now where is my god of war IV ?
Personally, I'm glad sony says we won't see the ps4 "soon".
I'm still very much in love with my ps3, as ive only had it for a little over a year or so.
That's not to say that I won't be excited when the ps4 does get announced. I just hope it'll be bc compatable. Id hate to have to have 2 systems to play all my games, not that its a bad thing though, jut less clutter and less for my son to get into.
I think I may start saving money for the ps4 though. So when it drops ill be ready. Although, I proabably won't get it day, ill wait for all the kinks to be worked out. And buy one when its got its legs.
Looking forward to the next gen, but I can definately wait.
Anyone else notice that they misspelled Kaz's name on the E3 video?
Someone's getting fired.
😉
Kazou instead of Kazuo.