February 20th is just eight days away. That means it is just a little over a week before Sony teases us with the Orbis i.e. the Playstation 4 with a LIVE press event from NYC. I have mentioned many, many times before that the PS3 is my go to console even though I have both a Wii and a dust collecting Xbox 360. Now for those of us not on the East Coast, we will be able to tune into the event online to watch Sony’s unveiling. I’m sure that there will be a fair amount of leakage over specs and what not within the weeks time so lets take a moment to crystal ball the announcement.
1) There will be no mention of price
Now in comparison to the next XBOX the rumors suggest that Sony will actually have a faster console…1.84 terflops of computing power to the new Xbox’s 1.23. However, Microsoft’s console will have double the memory (8GB) compared to Sony’s. Both systems are rumored to run eight-core processors and support Blu-ray playback. When the PS3 dropped back in 2006 with a price point of six hundred dollars. I can’t see them making that mistake again. I’m expecting there to be two SKUs. One will be $399 and the other will be $449. Personally, I don’t really care if one console tests slightly “faster” than the other…it’s about which one has good games. Also, the one that everyone is playing wins out, not the one with the faster RAM.
2) There will be no mention of a release date
Latest rumors suggest that the PS4 will launch in time for Holiday 2013, though everyone involved is remaining quiet on the issue. One thing’s for sure: Sony is currently losing money every year and badly needs the cash power up that would come from a new console. I’m sure they want to get a head start on the MS 720? as well. Mid-November it is.
3) There will be at least one launch title shown but no breakdown or sizzle reel
‘Uncharted 4’ anyone? On top of that I predict they announce a new subscription based game distribution model. Something like twenty dollars a month grants you access to the entire Playstation catalog or at least the ones already available on the PSN store, including PS one through three titles. This combats used game sales, rentals, piracy, the need for backwards compatibility, all while guaranteeing a continuous revenue stream for Sony.
It’s going to be a hardware race to the finish. Both Sony and MS (Where ya at Nintendo?) will one-up each other until the last minute, but I think the “console that has the most to offer” will be more based on company theology. With Sony more focused on first party games and MS concentrating on what they attach to…ergo (Kinect obsessed!). If you are currently a MS fan, you will probably still be one next gen, regardless of the hardware offerings, as it will be the SOFTWARE that will make you a satisfied customer.
-Dagobot
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