SonyPlayStation4.org

Thinking about the next PlayStation, the PS4, it’s almost presumed that the games will be packaged and sold as Blu-Ray disks. But does this really make sense versus the transformation that is taking place in the way intellectual property like books, motion pictures, music, software, television programs, and video games are packaged, stored and delivered? No longer does content need to be bound in a physical form and sold as a tangible item. Instead, it is transmitted as packets of pure information via a high-speed connection. This transformation from physical to ethereal media is ultimately limited only by bandwidth. In short digital distribution is the future.

Consider the fact that Atlantic Records, a division of Warner Music Group, reported in November 2008 that a majority of its music sales are now from digital downloads.  Consider a recent report by Forrester Research which projects that digitally downloaded music will surpass physical CD sales in 2012. People are just plain tired of having to leave their homes to purchase or rent clunky physical storage containers like CD’s and DVD’s just to access digital content that could be downloaded from the convenience of their own homes via a broadband connection.  So what parallels to this can be found in the video gaming industry? And what effect, if any, will this transformation have on the next generation of video gaming systems?

Quite simply, future gaming systems will likely be browser-based; maybe not the PlayStation 4 (PS4), but almost certainly the PS5.  David Lau-Kee, co-founder of Renderware developer Criterion, ex-Electronic Arts VP and the current executive for Kerb Games and Unity has recently went so far as to predict that the “PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 are going to be browsers.”  This is a pretty bold prediction from someone who is understandably biased toward web-based gaming.

Whether or not this turns out to be true for the PS4, the PS5 will almost certainly be a browser-based, all-purpose entertainment system with specialized video gaming capabilities. The demand is there. But will the bandwidth be there soon enough? We’ll have to wait and see.

Impress Watch, a Japanese news website, issued a report stating that the PlayStation 4 CELL processor architecture may bear a striking resemblance to that of the PS3. According to the report, feedback from developers is being sought by Sony before making a commitment either way. Considering the development of the PS3 set Sony back a tidy $3 billion, such a move would allow development of the PS4 to proceed as an extension, or continuation, of the PS3 rather than a departure.

Was this Sony’s plan since the inception of the PS3? This makes sense when viewed in the larger context of Sony’s efforts to revamp itself into a leaner, more competitive player in the consumer electronics market. By continuing on the road that was paved by the PS3 Sony could be all but assured of a smooth transition to the next generation platform. This becomes particularly important for timing the release to coincide with that of Microsoft’s Xbox 720 (or whatever it will be called) and Nintendo’s Wii. This approach would also eliminate a big question mark for game developers who need to know the hardware configuration before than can commence writing games for the PS4.

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Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and MLG Gamebattles recently announced the Killzone 2 Online Championships. Only U.S. residents 10 years of age and older will be eligible to register for what promises to be an intense online battle as well as a chance to win more than 60,000 worth of prizes, including Helghast uniforms valued roughly at $8,000 (USD) StA 52 Helghast assault rifle replicas and more.

Unfortunately, registrations closed as of June 21, 2009. Competitors will assemble 4-man teams which will compete starting July 1, 2009.

When Sony Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer recently announced that Sony intends to beef up the budget for its gaming division many people wondered how this would make sense, especially in while in the midst of one of the worst global economic recessions in decades.

While Sony has repeatedly insisted that the PlayStation 3 will have a lifespan of (roughly) 10 years, recent reports that Crytek has admitted to having begun developing games for the PS4 lead one to question how set-in-stone this 10-year mark really is. This view is consistent with comments made Crytek president and CEO, Cevat Yerli, at the Games Developers Conference in Leipzig concerning a possible release around 2011 – 2012. Stated Yerli, “The PlayStation 4 and Xbox ‘720′ will arrive in 2011 or 2012, we think.” He later added that the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) under which Crytek is bound precludes making public any information about an exact release date, even it were known for sure.

One thing we can say for sure is that Sony will be hard pressed to not keep a close eye on Microsoft. Losing even more market share to the Xbox is not something that would sit well with shareholders who have seen Sony suffer unprecedented loses in recent years. This is not to mention the growing popularity of Nintendo’s Wii.

In the end, we’ll just have to wait and see.

While gamers, for the moment, are content with their PS3’s it’s hard to resist the temptation to speculate as to the next iteration of the Sony PlayStation, the PS4. The concept shown in this image recently surfaced amid rumors that Crytek has already begun developing games for the next generation PlayStation.