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[Biker19]

The new architecture is scalable, no? What if they go the iPhone/iPad route and release a slightly better one every year?

Ummm, no, just no.

iPhones sell insanely better at way higher margins than game consoles do, I doubt the industry could support yearly iterations like that.

ALL of the hell no!! That defies the very purpose behind consoles. Get a PC for that. Why would you want to spend several hundreds of dollars every year?!

Besides, if Sony & Microsoft were to upgrade the architectures, specs, etc. of their next gen consoles each year, then we won't be able to play our older PS4/Xbox One games that we bought for the systems on the newer models, nor play any new PS4/Xbox One games on the older models.

It would be suicide for either company to do so; that's splitting up your userbases.

 

[Aliand]

Imagine how much is spent to develop an AAA game, through 2 to 3 years. Now imagine if each year they had to readjust the target due to the specs changing...

That's unrealistic.

However, for the sake of AAA and long development studio (Rockstar), they will probably leave it to 5/6 years, which is fine IMO.
The PS3 had a really long cyle with an exotic hardware. I would not expect the developers this time around to have as rough a time as they had mastering the previous system.

 

[Some Nobody]

I could care less about games like GTA5.

Neither could I, but why shit on other people's parades? Plus while I don't like GTA5, I loved Sleeping Dogs and to be honest open world games on that scale set in other areas would probably end up on my shelf more often than not.

Hell I liked this gen. What's with you 5 years guys anyway? There's no reason to do that unless the buying trend slows to a crawl, you want these things to be massively adopted, the more there are out there, the more games they get. I don't enjoy plopping down several hundreds of dollars just for new hardware, hell, if I wanted to do that I'd just buy a PC. I buy consoles because they are a very long and worthwhile investment. Slow down and let things run their course. Devs won't be constrained by technology often or if ever for a long long time. And if they need power, resolution dumps baby.

You're kidding, right? Dude, as much as I like the idea of a long gen, it's not technologically realistic. You want to buy a PC? Good luck having to upgrade every two fucking years. 6 years to me is a sweet spot. You don't HAVE to be at the cusp of technology all the time--Sony probably won't stop supporting the PS4 until 2022 or so at the latest. Pick one up when it's $300 or so, by then its games library will be nuts.

 

[ProfessorMoran]

Good. PS3 lasted too long. Puppeteer should have been a PS4 title, it would have got much more limelight being a launch title and it's so fucking good. Honestly I think if Puppeteer had launched with the PS4 there wouldn't be a discussion as to the weakness of the launch line up.

I would like to see PS5 in 2018/19 please Sony!

Had TLOU been a PS4 title, the lineup would have been unbeatable.

 

[coolasj19]

You're kidding, right? Dude, as much as I like the idea of a long gen, it's not technologically realistic. You want to buy a PC? Good luck having to upgrade every two fucking years. 6 years to me is a sweet spot. You don't HAVE to be at the cusp of technology all the time--Sony probably won't stop supporting the PS4 until 2022 or so at the latest. Pick one up when it's $300 or so, by then its games library will be nuts.

I have no idea where you're disagreeing with me. I own a PS4 already. I want a 6 year console span. I don't buy PC's because there will always be someone with better hardware that me and I don't internalize that well.

 

[Louis Cyphre]

As long as backward compatibility is a sure thing, I wouldn't mind shorter cycles.

Games will probably be developed for multiple platforms at any given time, engines being highly scalable.

I'm hoping all of our games can be linked to our accounts from now on like Steam or buying songs on iTunes. This could also be the last time both Sony and MS offer disc drives.

 

[Azric]

This is pretty good news. I think 5-6 years is long enough before a new one is released. That doesn't mean halt the games.. More of a PS2 -> PS3 transition. Was a near exact 6 years for PS3 to release. PS2 was still supported.

 

[Dire]

4K is starting now, so it only makes sense that the life cycle will last as long as it takes for the gaming hardware to become affordable to consistently create that experience.

I've been wondering how the consoles were going to deal with this. I don't think it's crazy to suggest that 80" 4k television is in 5 years may be what 50" 1080p is today. With that sort of jump 720p stuff is going to start looking like DVD vs VHS. On the other hand I think the companies themselves are the ones creating this technological pressure on themselves by a decade of focusing on graphics. Perhaps they may try to change the public perception on this topic?

 

[Dr.Acula]

Wii was so strong last gen, and XBox360 and PS3 were close enough in terms of performance. This gen, either Nintendo or MS is gonna have to pull the trigger and try again with new hardware, and Sony is going to have to reply in kind.

 

[Elvick]

This isn't even a general statement, they specifically mention 'in markets like the UK'. :/

Good. PS3 lasted too long. Puppeteer should have been a PS4 title, it would have got much more limelight being a launch title and it's so fucking good. Honestly I think if Puppeteer had launched with the PS4 there wouldn't be a discussion as to the weakness of the launch line up.

I would like to see PS5 in 2018/19 please Sony!

Sure there would.

"LOL BUYING NEXT GEN FOR DUMB 2D GAYMZ LOLOLOL FAIL PHONY LOLOL DURRR"

People will find something to act like morons about, no matter what.

Plus reviewers are jaded when it comes to launch titles. "This FPS is too much like a FPS, this is NEXT GEN! It should be something totes new, because that's totally how it works!"

I bet if Puppeteer was on PS4, it'd have been reviewed more harshly just for being next gen. "Nothing about Puppeteer is next gen." Stupid things like that.

 

[Neff]

This console is going to take forever to be significantly profitable from a developer perspective, unless we're bom-fucking-barded with F2P, micros and DLC from day one.

So I think this comment is rather naive and self-defeating, moreso considering that it has a lot yet to prove.

 

[ionicbluebird]

I'd be willing to bet that Microsoft upgrades the Xbone within the next 2-3 years to a fully 1080p, no compromise system (maybe a little more powerful than PS4) say 2.5 TFLOPS... then in another two to three years introduces the Xbone 4k/VR with all games being cross compatible with each version and only the resolution being the difference. So Battlefield 6 would look like this: X1 = 720p30fps, X1v2=1080p60fps, X1v3= 4K60fps.

Now my questions are this... does anybody want that? Do you want to shell out 500 dollars every 2-3 years, or would Microsoft/Sony doing this piss you off as a customer.

And how would Sony respond.. I suppose it would be just as easy.. maybe even easier for them to introduce a PS4KVR backwards compatible with PS4 games.

I'd like to hear what others think about this idea.

 

[efeman]

I'm only 21, and I want as many console cycles in my lifetime as can be. Keep em reasonable pls.

I'd be willing to bet that Microsoft upgrades the Xbone within the next 2-3 years to a fully 1080p, no compromise system (maybe a little more powerful than PS4) say 2.5 TFLOPS... then in another two to three years introduces the Xbone 4k/VR with all games being cross compatible with each version and only the resolution being the difference. So Battlefield 6 would look like this: X1 = 720p30fps, X1v2=1080p60fps, X1v3= 4K60fps.

Now my questions are this... does anybody want that? Do you want to shell out 500 dollars every 2-3 years, or would Microsoft/Sony doing this piss you off as a customer.

And how would Sony respond.. I suppose it would be just as easy.. maybe even easier for them to introduce a PS4KVR backwards compatible with PS4 games.

I'd like to hear what others think about this idea.

That would never, ever happen, no hyperbole intended. Much of the resources gone into the hardware would go to waste; it would piss off consumers, developers, publishers, pretty much everyone, to have an "upgraded" version of a new-ish console in the market. It also defeats the purpose of having a standard platform.

Also, I don't think that even next-gen will see 4K mainstream.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

1-2 years shorter than PS3 would be good imo.

If they go with basically same architecture and can have 100% BC with PS4 I'd be ok with a PS5 releasing even in 4 years if they can launch in 299-349 range. I think that kind of console cycles could work too but it requires affordable hardware and BC and easy transition for developers to do natural cross gen titles with minimal effort.

 

[amardilo]

5 year life cycle sounds good to me it gives me enough time to enjoy my current system and save up for the next system.

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

I think the steam box may force and/or convince them that shorter cycles will be be smart. Especially if they can routinely up the specs, which probably is true.

 

[AmyS]

A 20Tflop 60gb DDR4 huma 3.0 beast.

will it do avatar graphics?

No but maybe Toy Story 1 ?

 

[AmyS]

I'd be willing to bet that Microsoft upgrades the Xbone within the next 2-3 years to a fully 1080p, no compromise system (maybe a little more powerful than PS4) say 2.5 TFLOPS... then in another two to three years introduces the Xbone 4k/VR with all games being cross compatible with each version and only the resolution being the difference. So Battlefield 6 would look like this: X1 = 720p30fps, X1v2=1080p60fps, X1v3= 4K60fps.

Now my questions are this... does anybody want that? Do you want to shell out 500 dollars every 2-3 years, or would Microsoft/Sony doing this piss you off as a customer.

And how would Sony respond.. I suppose it would be just as easy.. maybe even easier for them to introduce a PS4KVR backwards compatible with PS4 games.

I'd like to hear what others think about this idea.

PlayStation and Xbox will never be 'refreshed' every 2-3 years. Doing so would wreck havoc on developers, publishers and make consumers extremely angry.

This is not the iPhone/iPad Apple business model.

Expect the next PlayStation and next Xbox consoles in Nov 2018 or Nov 2019. So before the end of this decade.

*not* in 2015, 2016 or even 2017.

 

[Ulumsk]

It's probably been mentioned, but lifecycle does not equal time passed from launch until it's successor is available on the market.

 

[TacticalFox88]

The sheer fact that people are even entertaining the idea of "refresh" models is so insane and far from reality they shouldn't be taken seriously. That's a fundamental misunderstanding of how the game industry works.

 

[Hindle]

I'm thinking around 2015, MS and Sony will begin preproduction on the next gen.

 

[TacticalFox88]

I'm thinking around 2015, MS and Sony will begin preproduction on the next gen.

I'd say fall of next year for Sony.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

I disagree.

PS3 only shined in the last 2-3 years. The first 4-5 were meh(overall). IMO the long cycle allowed them to go much further with the system, and it became much better value overall. I have a PC for upgrading. I don't need new standards all the damn time. Not until they embrace a one-console-future at least.

 

[NEO0MJ]

I'm sure Nintendo would love for the other two console makers to plan a shorter life-cycle for their current systems, they need a reset badly but doing it mid-gen would be stupid.

 

[Novak]

I am hoping for iPad model of yearly updates/upgrades. Or at least every 2-3 years.

Whichever console adopts it it will become my main gaming platform (even if it is Nintendo )
For Microsoft i don't see reason why they could nit do it:
- they make (small) profit on he from the start
- they isolated HW with virtualization
- directX is already made to support many configs
- they could mandate that every new game must support last few hw configs. So essentially guarantee customers that their console will run all new games for X number of years.
Sony could easily do it to. Only issue i see is that they lose money on hw so they will have to wait a little longer

Come on Sony and MS. No more 8 year hardware! Or Steambox will be my next console!

 

[AmyS]

Just because the next PlayStation and Xbox won't be released until 2018 or 2019. that does not mean they're not going into serious R&D over the next year or so.

Those future consoles would have to have been in the early concept/planning phases before the current PS4/XBone were on store shelves.


That's the way console design has pretty much always worked, next gen goes into some form of planning / early R&D before the current gen reaches the market.

 

[prag16]

Calling it now:

PlayStation 5 ...though most games will be native 4K.

16x the system RAM as PS4

.

I doubt it..

 

[Biker19]

I'd be willing to bet that Microsoft upgrades the Xbone within the next 2-3 years to a fully 1080p, no compromise system (maybe a little more powerful than PS4) say 2.5 TFLOPS... then in another two to three years introduces the Xbone 4k/VR with all games being cross compatible with each version and only the resolution being the difference. So Battlefield 6 would look like this: X1 = 720p30fps, X1v2=1080p60fps, X1v3= 4K60fps.

Now my questions are this... does anybody want that? Do you want to shell out 500 dollars every 2-3 years, or would Microsoft/Sony doing this piss you off as a customer.

And how would Sony respond.. I suppose it would be just as easy.. maybe even easier for them to introduce a PS4KVR backwards compatible with PS4 games.

I'd like to hear what others think about this idea.

Not. Gonna. Happen. Period.

Like I said before, that would be splitting up your userbases. It's suicide in which it'll piss off many consumers, publishers, & developers.

 

[jdmonmou]

Hopefully Sony will do the right thing and make the PS5 backwards compatible if they plan on a 5 year console cycle for PS4.

 

[Biker19]

Eh? so that Sony UK Boss guy basically said "maybe yes, maybe no, dunno LOL!"
and everyone here acts like this is a conformation that we're going back to 16/32bit era-like console cycles?

I would have to agree with him. 7 to 8 years is way, way too long for a console cycle.

Console cycles should be 5 to 6 years, max.

 

[Hermii]

Hire me as system architect, you don't need Cerny.

The specs will be something like a 80 core tablet cpu paired with a 18.4 tflop gpu and 80 gb of GDDR 9. You could make a working prototype right now with todays tech, all you need is 10 ps4s and a shitload of duct tape.

 

[Dark Octave]

I hope so. I'd like the return of a 5-6 year cycle.

Same. Almost a decade is stupid.

 

[Curufinwe]

PS5 in 2018 works for me, especially if it has BC.

 

[wizzbang]

Longer the generation the better, hope it's as long as this one or longer. Diminishing returns on graphics makes longer the way to go.
Further exacerbated by the slowdown in tech improvements.
7 year minimum please.

 

[lemon__fresh]

5 year or less upgrade cycle sounds great... Somehow the mobile platforms can manage it.

Lawl at diminishing returns on graphics. I feel like a major reason why we aren't seeing large graphical leaps right now is due to those outdated as fuck last gen systems.