Playstation 4 Inbound!

[Formalhaut]

Given that the PS4 is reportedly switching over to an AMD chipset, backwards compatibility with the PS3 is almost impossible without putting the guts of a PS3 inside it as well, and I doubt Sony would do that after how poorly that went with the early models of the PS2.

I'm not getting my hopes up either. They might have some PS3 games on their version of the PSN network, like how you can get classics on every other console.

[Ouch!]

Given that the PS4 is reportedly switching over to an AMD chipset, backwards compatibility with the PS3 is almost impossible without putting the guts of a PS3 inside it as well, and I doubt Sony would do that after how poorly that went with the early models of the PS2.

I'm not getting my hopes up either. They might have some PS3 games on their version of the PSN network, like how you can get classics on every other console.

That'll mean a pretty big HDD.

[Loony BoB]

You can already buy complete games from the PS Store, unless I have what you guys are suggesting confused.

[Bolivar]

Congratulations on missing the point. Not arguing that Kotaku isn't trout, just that they're not much worse than any other gaming "journalism" site. But you know what? Never mind. I'll let you all get back to your circle jerk.

Dude, the Hideki Kamiya stuff was pretty bad. I frequent the big game sites and none of them sink quite this low. Yes, their name comes from Otaku culture and they report on it quite a bit, but haven't you noticed this massive xenophobic anti-Japan campaign they've been conducting for... well, pretty much this whole generation? They make sweeping negative generalizations about an entire country and its people about once a week.

[nirojan]

Dev Kit specs (probably not what the final product has, but will be pretty close):

-System Memory: 8GB
-Video Memory: 2.2 GB
-CPU: 4x Dual-Core AMD64 "Bulldozer" (so, 8x cores)
-GPU: AMD R10xx
-Ports: 4x USB 3.0, 2x Ethernet
-Drive: Blu-Ray
-HDD: 160GB
-Audio Output: HDMI & Optical, 2.0, 5.1 & 7.1 channels

[Pete for President]

Given that the PS4 is reportedly switching over to an AMD chipset, backwards compatibility with the PS3 is almost impossible without putting the guts of a PS3 inside it as well, and I doubt Sony would do that after how poorly that went with the early models of the PS2.

I'm not getting my hopes up either. They might have some PS3 games on their version of the PSN network, like how you can get classics on every other console.

Even then they better not make us buy another copy of games we already own. Not too sure how that would work though.

[Bolivar]

I'm fairly happy with those specs. In the end, the specs don't matter as much as how well developers have been optimizing their games. The PS3 can run multiplatform games better than a PC which does have those PS4 specs.

I'm glad there's still an optical audio jack! I wasn't expecting them to cut it, but it's good to know this thing will also have a great audio experience. It's Sony.

[Loony BoB]

The PS3 can run multiplatform games better than a PC which does have those PS4 specs.

That's weird, because SE - known as fantastic people at pushing consoles to their limits - have often stated that the PC version of FFXIV has been limited/restricted by the PS3 cross-platform functionality.

[nirojan]

The PS3 can run multiplatform games better than a PC which does have those PS4 specs.

That's weird, because SE - known as fantastic people at pushing consoles to their limits - have often stated that the PC version of FFXIV has been limited/restricted by the PS3 cross-platform functionality.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure he's referring to Multi-platform games ala Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, etc. Which are optimized for the 360 and PS3. One could also argue that SE is not a fantastic developer (at least anymore) :P

[Mirage]

I don't believe for a second that the PS4 will have 8 GB of RAM. Calling bulltrout on this.

The PS3 can run multiplatform games better than a PC which does have those PS4 specs.

Oh really now. Examples, please. Also, define "better".

[Slothy]

I don't believe for a second that the PS4 will have 8 GB of RAM. Calling bulltrout on this.

I don't think it would necessarily be that far fetched. RAM is damn cheap to be honest. I would say 4GB is far more likely though.

[nirojan]

I don't believe for a second that the PS4 will have 8 GB of RAM. Calling bulltrout on this.

My computer has 16 GB of RAM. The Edge report (that came out today) for the next Xbox also says the system will have 8 GB of DDR3 RAM. That's pretty low-to-mid-end tbh.

EDIT: I actually have 12GB of RAM :P

[Slothy]

My computer has 16 GB of RAM.

Same here. I put 2 8GB DDR3 RAM sticks in my PC just four or five months ago for under $100. In fact, the RAM was probably one of the single cheapest things I put in my PC when I upgraded.

If I, as a consumer, can put 8GB of RAM in a PC for less than $50, I'd be kind of surprised if Sony doesn't build that much into a new console. It's not like it's a major contributor to their manufacturing costs to be honest.

[Mirage]

Consoles typically have 1/4th of mid-end PCs of the time. 6-8GB is mid end, really. The fact that you guys have 16 doesn't really mean most people have nearly that much.

RAM was cheap when the PS3 and 360 were released too, but they still ended up with a measly 512MB split between system and video RAM. At the time, 2-ish GB was around mid-end.

I expect the next gen to have 2-3 GB split between system and video RAM. We might see 4 GB, but that's pushing it.

[nirojan]

Consoles typically have 1/4th of mid-end PCs of the time. 6-8GB is mid end, really. The fact that you guys have 16 doesn't really mean most people have nearly that much.

RAM was cheap when the PS3 and 360 were released too, but they still ended up with a measly 512MB split between system and video RAM. At the time, 2-ish GB was around mid-end.

I expect the next gen to have 2-3 GB split between system and video RAM. We might see 4 GB, but that's pushing it.

You Mirage, will be a very surprised man when the PS4 and 720 roll around

EDIT: I should explain. All the reports and rumors (and I stress RUMORS) indicate that both next-gen systems will have 8 GB of RAM and the PS4 will have about 2 GB of VRAM (Xbox intel didn't report on this yet).

The reason why I tend to believe this is because the biggest developer constraint near the end of this gen was the RAM. More than the processing power, more than online capabilities, developers were tied down to either 2x256 MB or 512 MB. The consoles are not going to be just for 2013, they have to look to the next 5-8 years of reasonable use. Within 5-10 years we'll probably see 4K take off and we don't even know what else will probably arise (think how quickly 3D blew up after 2009 release of "Avatar").

I know "PC RAM" is not the equivalent of console RAM, but it's much cheaper than it sounds to put 8GB on the new consoles, because they're not using PC RAM. They'll be designing their own unique RAM internally (design & manufacturing), which will cut cost because they dont have to peddle conventional companies like Kensington to make it for them.