September 29, 2012 by

Alright, here we go again. I already did a similar blog for the Wii U, and wound up being almost exactly on the mark. So here we go, I'm going to make an educated guess as to what we can expect in Sony's next system. I'll probably do an updated version when we have a more solid idea of what to expect in the PS4, or when Sony makes an official announcement (Or a very believe-able leak, a la the next Xbox documents).

But before we get all techy, I'm going to throw out my guess on the release date and price;

Mid February (I'll come up with an exact date later), 2014

$399 for main model, and possibly a budget model at $299

Alright, I'll explain my reasoning with this more later on, but for now, that's what I'm estimating. Here goes for the specs;



A BDXL drive running at 6x speed


Because Sony has already made their own BDXL drives, suited for this speed, and is already selling them. Obviously Sony will want to put it to good use in their next console.

what this means

Basically, it gives game developers a little more headroom for what they can do with the games, just like every medium advancement that Sony has put forth. What BDXL's implications are for media as a whole is still unknown. Will people be willing to buy new home theatre systems for a new generation of movies on disc? Highly unlikely, especially considering Blu-ray's slow adoption, and the era of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. What we do know, is that if the PS4 implements the exact drive that I'm describing, then games could consist of up to twice as much data as some PS3 exclusives (Or PC for that matter, via digital distribution), and would have noticeably faster load times over what they currently have on PS3 - which are pretty obnoxious in most cases. It should please developers and the gamers, so I'm all for it. No, I don't expect it to bump up the price of the system that much, especially since I'm 90% convinced that Sony will release their next system last (Of the big three at least - who knows how the next generation will shape up overall) and technology prices decay over time.

The same, but different - we all know Sony and their new optical mediums



2 GB of 1333 MHz RAM


Sony has never been known to put an extraordinary amount of memory in their systems - usually half as much as the leading system in that alley (Slight spoilers for my Xbox 720 predictions), and just enough to run all of the games on each platform. That's why they'll probably just follow suit with the Wii U here. I won't rule out the possibility of 4 GB of 1333 MHz RAM in the system, or 2 GB at 1600 MHz, but both of these are unlikely knowing Sony's track record. And honestly, does Sony need to put more in? When third party games are already up and running on the Wii U as it is?

what this means

Basically, the PS4 will be just as good of a multitasker as the Wii U, and should be able to run the same games, though how it will handle the lack of a Gamepad is yet to be seen (Vita combo? Pro controller adaptation? Or maybe a blatant rip off of the Gamepad? - I honestly can't rule it out). Point is, that it will be able to run them, user interface notwithstanding.

Lord knows what Sony will try - if not this, then another blatant rip off peripheral a la PS Move



A 500 GB, 7200 rpm 2.5 inch mechanical HDD - main model

32 GB flash memory - "budget" model


I have this baby in my PS3 right now and I can say first hand that it is just the right fit for the system. Sony would definitely be wise to go with it next generation. The performance improvements are already noticeable on the PS3, which was built for 5400 rpm HDDs, and I can only imagine the difference when the PS4 lands. The extra space is also a plus for the avid downloader and it gives Sony the opportunity to push digital distribution, which they clearly want to do.

The flash memory option will also make interfaces and load times more rapid and fluid on the budget model, and I am sure that Sony will allow upgrading it later, seeing how the PS3's hard drive can be swapped out for any 2.5 inch hard drive - though this time around, 7200 rpm will probably be the minimum accepted speed.

what this means

Now, there is a chance that that "budget" model I mentioned would not ship with a hard drive, but instead a small amount of internal memory (Probably 32 GB, to compete with the Wii U Deluxe Bundle). First of all, it allows Sony to cut back the expenses a little, while leaving the choice for memory expansion in the user's hands. Second of all, with the Gaikai streaming deal, Sony really wouldn't need the user to have a lot of available space on the system in order to stream - just a portal application, which should fit just fine on the system memory.

As for the main model, which would have the hard drive, I can say that this is pretty good news for the system if it turns out to be true. First of all, the faster, standard transfer rate would mean that installed and/or downloaded games will run much more smoothly and load faster. Second of all, the UI should load up faster (I already saw the difference when I switched mine out - the infinitely spinning circles were cut to like a second and a half instead of 4-6 seconds). Thirdly, it may open up some gates for some new multitasking possibilities, but I'm not going to speculate as to what exactly those are, nor do I expect them to be anything that the Wii U couldn't accomplish in some form.

Sony's coming for you, Nintendo...



Probably a 1 gbps ethernet port and 802.11 b/g/n wi-fi card


This is standard stuff nowadays, nothing surprising. The ethernet option is nice to still have, which the Wii U lacks, as did the Wii. Wired connections will be slightly more stable than wireless, but the bridge is closing.

what this means

Basically, it'll be just as plausible to hook up the PS4 as the PS3 - either wired or wireless. Everyone's happy. I don't expect a huge variation in accessibility or download speeds over the Wii U, but we'll see how that goes. Knowing Sony, I'd recommend not hold your breath.



AMD A8-3850 Quad-Core APU


What I will say is that Sony's consoles have always bragged about their CPU performance (As did SEGA back in the day). This is an accelerated processing unit as opposed to a traditional central processing unit. What this will mean for console gaming remains to be seen, but what we do know, is that it will be Sony's main bragging point with the PS4.

what this means

This is the only place where Wii U ports may get a little tricky, but it shouldn't be a problem in the end. That being said, this APU's architecture is vastly different from the Cell Engine, so don't expect PS3 backwards compatibility if any backwards compatibility at all. Basically, this baby will be put to work on next generation's equivalent of The Last of Us, but it won't be compatible with past consoles and may or may not have compatibility issues with the other current consoles - certainly not as bad as the Cell Engine did.



An AMD Radeon HD 7750


Well, here we go. The supposed Wii U-killer GPU, is new enough and has a great feature set, but in terms of raw clock speeds and bandwidth, is only a modest enough leap. See the comparison yourself, here;

Faster clock speeds, slightly faster bandwidth... it will definitely be noticeable and more than capable enough of upscaling 4k resolution (There is NO chance that the games will be rendered in native 4k), but... yeah, I have the feeling that Sony won't commit suicide here. They'll want to minimize losses, so they won't go bleeding edge this time around, trust me (The Wii U's GPU is priced around $80+, while this one is around $110+).

Nothing to sneeze at, but... THIS is supposed to kill the Wii U?

what this means

4k upscaling all the way, baby. Games won't look drastically better on your current HD TVs (Still noticeably better) but Sony is obviously going to push their 4k line of televisions and their console brand will help them do so. There is no way that the PS4 will render games in native 4k, but the upscaling capability will be introduced, trust me.


So.. the PS4 probably will the most impressive console next generation in terms of raw visual fidelity, but there is obviously still a lot of room for improvement here. Sony will try to compete head to head with Nintendo and MS, offering a "luxury" alternative that is priced slightly higher and brings with it slight benefits. I stand by what I've already been saying - that we really need to curve our expectation the hell down for the next generation of consoles. If you're expecting those Avatar like graphics, then you're deluded. That being said, it will still be tough not to be impressed sitting back and playing this thing on a 4K TV. What we'll see is exactly what we'll see with every PlayStation system - headline grabbing astronomical supposed specs and features, but down to Earth and realistic performance.

So in other words... Sony will just be Sony again.

Anyway, next up with the next Xbox. Don't worry, I'll try to be unbiased. For now, I'm taking a break. Sound off in the comments below with your thoughts.

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