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Sony: No PS4 discussion for quite some time

Written by James Delahunty @ 23 Jun 2011 10:46 User comments (16)

Sony: No PS4 discussion for quite some time Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), addresses PlayStation 4 (PS4) in Forbes interview.
There has already been hints that Sony is working on the development of the next generation PlayStation home console, generally referred to as the PS4. The PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been on the market since 2006, and Sony promised a ten year life-cycle for the system at the time.

The PS3 has had a mixed experience on the market so far, with early supply and cost problems, increased competition from Nintendo and Microsoft for home consoles and other notable problems such as the PSN breach. Still, Tretton thinks that the PS3 is just getting started and has warned not to get your hopes up if you are looking for a PS4 anytime soon.

"PlayStation 3 is really just hitting its stride. And technologically, I don't think it's possible to provide any advancement beyond what we have. What we've seen from the competition is trying to add features that already exist in PlayStation 3," Tretton said. "We invested heavily in that, we rolled a very heavy rock up a steep hill, through the launch period. But now I think that all pays off, and we've got a long run way behind it. So, I wouldn't look for any discussion of a next generation PlayStation for quite some time."



Tretton comments that there was nothing in Nintendo's E3 announcement of a new console that made Sony think, "Oh, we'd better get working on rolling out a new PlayStation here pretty soon."

You can read the rest of the interview, where he discusses Vita, competition from Android and iOS, E3 and more at Forbes.com.

Tags: Sony PS4
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16 user comments

123.6.2011 10:56

Quote:
Still, Tretton thinks that the PS3 is just getting started and has warned not to get your hopes up if you are looking for a PS4 anytime soon.
It's been "just getting started" for quite a few years now, and I'm sure he'll "think it's just getting started" until it's EOL.

223.6.2011 11:22

I think what they really mean is that Sony have only recently started making a (small) profit on each PS3 sold.

They have several years of (huge) investment & individual losses made on the majority of the millions of PS3s sold to make up and the last thing they need is to start selling a wholly new console.

It's for this reason that I expect PS4 when it does emerge to be a fairly uneventful warmed over PS3.
They will be helped by the 1080p res limit imposed by household TVs but it would not surprise me to see something similar to the processing power/ability of the new Wii U.
More RAM and the obligatory larger hard drive & that might be about it.
If they can do everything the current PS3 can do but to a standard 'full' 1080 @60fps on everything that might well be all they want to aim at next time.

It's going to be interesting to see how and when they jump.

Will Microsoft's next box end up being the most technically advanced?

323.6.2011 11:55

Honestly I don't think there is any need for any newer system from either Sony or Microsoft right now.

423.6.2011 13:19

Companies always under play their dividends. First quarter earnings always report low so plebes don't take anything away from the top tiered share holders; tis the game.

As for the development of a new system, there will always be 'development'. They're just not serious about putting anything out. It's when this system starts to seriously tank and top tiered share holders start pulling out that they slip release information of a new system. Kind of like the old euphemism, "if it isn't broke..." Which all of a sudden sounds self defeating.

Otherwise, it's just speculation of what could be offered to actually improve over the current model. 3D, 120Hz, larger HDD and a facelift? The rest is downloadable content & scary stuff already scrutinized by folks all over the world at the moment.

Nah, there is truth in what is being said by Jack Tretton, but I would call it a shade there of.

523.6.2011 13:38

Hope they aren't gonna wait till they have something unhackable again...lol

623.6.2011 16:41

Originally posted by biglo30:
Honestly I don't think there is any need for any newer system from either Sony or Microsoft right now.
Now the Wii on the other hand has been lacking since... well, the Wii. Hence, the Wii U.

723.6.2011 17:21

wii u is better than ps3 (PS3)that allows psp to use as a controller , what now sony?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 23 Jun 2011 @ 5:22

823.6.2011 19:46

Er why? The PS3 and even 360 is good enough, the PS2 did well with the Xbox and Gamecube being out so MS dose not have to go nuts and put out another low qaulity system(build qaulity that is)...


I mean I am not ready for the next gen, I can barely stand current gen as is.....

Originally posted by xaznboitx:
wii u is better than ps3 (PS3)that allows psp to use as a controller , what now sony?
You do realize the WII U is a 10 year old 50$ flash game playing joke right? I still do not get why they are jumping on the Ipad bandwagon.....
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 23 Jun 2011 @ 7:50

923.6.2011 21:13

What I got out of this was "Technologically, we're as good as it gets. There's no possible way we could be any better than what we are now. We just have an arrogant way of saying everything and our stride of awesomeness is gonna keep being awesome for longer than we can go without being hacked."

1023.6.2011 21:18

Originally posted by shortybob:
What I got out of this was "Technologically, we're as good as it gets. There's no possible way we could be any better than what we are now. We just have an arrogant way of saying everything and our stride of awesomeness is gonna keep being awesome for longer than we can go without being hacked."
They were the last console out and they did put more tech into it a shame they took some of that tech out like BWC and otherOS but game wise its almost as good as a PC's low end game rig.

The real question is there a need to bring out a new system, hell I even think the WII U is meant to be a pet project/failure as they wait and see what the other guys do so they can do better.

1123.6.2011 21:54

There's really no need for a PS4 or new Xbox anytime within the next couple of year at least. I think the integration of online gaming and DLC that came with this gen, combined with the higher costs of development will keep these current consoles on the market longer than the 5yrs of previous gens.

1224.6.2011 03:57

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Er why? The PS3 and even 360 is good enough, the PS2 did well with the Xbox and Gamecube being out so MS dose not have to go nuts and put out another low qaulity system(build qaulity that is)...
The 360 is certainly showing age...with games getting crippling amounts of compression just to fit onto 4 disks. On top of that, the 360 is holding back the PC and the PS3, as games are written for the lowest common denominator.

Sony is no good at casual gaming...they don't really compete with the Wii, only with the 360 and the PC. With the 360 so overdue for a replacement, Sony needs to think about how they will respond to the 720, or whatever it gets called.

...Or better yet, Sony needs to realize that they have alienated most early adopters and technophiles to the point that they would have to sell the system as cheap as a PS3 to have any chance of adoption.

1324.6.2011 08:38

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Er why? The PS3 and even 360 is good enough, the PS2 did well with the Xbox and Gamecube being out so MS dose not have to go nuts and put out another low qaulity system(build qaulity that is)...
The 360 is certainly showing age...with games getting crippling amounts of compression just to fit onto 4 disks. On top of that, the 360 is holding back the PC and the PS3, as games are written for the lowest common denominator.

Sony is no good at casual gaming...they don't really compete with the Wii, only with the 360 and the PC. With the 360 so overdue for a replacement, Sony needs to think about how they will respond to the 720, or whatever it gets called.

...Or better yet, Sony needs to realize that they have alienated most early adopters and technophiles to the point that they would have to sell the system as cheap as a PS3 to have any chance of adoption.
No doubt the 360 is showing its age but frankly its good enough what we need is more focus on gameplay and less on graphics,ect but even so I doubt they can change thier ways over one system.

The PS3 haz as many issues but it will do for now, even the WII is not so bad a shame they decided not to go into rehab after snorting all those white lines with the money they made off the WII the WII U looks horrible!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 24 Jun 2011 @ 8:40

1424.6.2011 13:38

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Er why? The PS3 and even 360 is good enough, the PS2 did well with the Xbox and Gamecube being out so MS dose not have to go nuts and put out another low qaulity system(build qaulity that is)...
Zippy the days of the RROD Xbox 360 are long gone.
The Falcon mobo (out in fall 2007) cured most issues.
Jasper of fall 2008 ended this nonsense completely.
The latest Valhalla (the slim. Q3 2010 on) is as reliable as anything out there.
Topping it all is a 3yr warranty better than anyone else offers (it still amazes me why some choose this as a point of criticism rather than something that should be adopted across the industry).

Given the high price MS have had to pay due to the original 360's problems I think it's much more likely that they will not repeat the experience.

I expect their next console to be very reliable.

Personally I think the time is right for a new round of consoles, (given that nobody is talking about anything but them being on show at E3 2012 and on sale in 2013) the gap to what a decent PC can now do is ridiculous.
Happily it even looks like they have learned their lessons in terms of pricing - with Wii U said to be instantly competitive with the current gen the days of a vast leap in the price of a brand new console look to be over.
Maybe.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 24 Jun 2011 @ 1:41

1524.6.2011 16:09

To be frank, it is getting to the point that they are in fact actually revamping and packaging... well... computers.

That's basically what we're doing with the things. We watch movies, text, chat, game, surf. With very little exception, name one thing that isn't done on a console that is done on a regular home computer. And don't give me that splitting the human genome either... Oh wait, that's done too...

1624.6.2011 18:06

Of course, denying a new console is right around the corner is a standard practice too. Nintendo claimed HD Wii rumors were totally ridiculous up until the Wii U info was leaked.

Nobody wants to mention a new product until it's just about to be released or consumers may avoid buying the current one. If a PS4 is coming in late 2013-mid 2014, Sony likely won't make ANY mention of it until early 2013 at the earliest.


Unconfirmed main PS4 specs (just for fun)
--------------------------
CPU: Multi-core IBM POWER-based (like Wii U)
Co-Processor: Either SPE 'farm' or updated CellBE (w/ upgraded SPEs)
GPU: unknown ATI Radeon HD-based

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