PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

[Takelli]

Analyst Suggests PS4 To Launch In 2013, Xbox 720 In 2014

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While many gamers feel the Xbox 360 and PS3 have a lot of life left in them, many publishers have played it safe this gen with cash-in quality titles, while developers continually complained about limited hardware specs. Hence, a lot of the talk around the gaming industry town has been about the next gen consoles: when they’ll arrive, what their specs will be and what the possibilities are of the games.

Well, a speculative report from an analyst suggests that the PlayStation 4 will more than likely launch first before the Xbox 720/Next/etc., and that Microsoft’s next-gen console will follow thereafter, a year later.

According to Industry Gamers, RW Baird analyst Colin Sebastian commented that…

"I doubt they will be ready for launch in 2013. Between Sony and Microsoft, we expect Sony to be first to market perhaps as early as 2013, but more likely in 2014. There is still a lot of investment for both companies to recoup in the current generation,"…

Several studios are already hard at work on next-gen games, including THQ’s Homefront 2 and Avalanche Studios’ untitled next-gen project, which prompts many industry insiders to believe that either the PS4 or Xbox 720 will launch in 2013 or possibly in 2014, as Colin Sebastian stated.

According to Develop there are several first-party studios already hard at work on launch titles for the PS4, and doing so since earlier this year. That would put their release sometime in 213 or again…2014. Hints from FoxConn and Pegatron Technologies, Sony components manufacturers suggested, however, that they were starting production for a Sony device that would be launched in 2012. Although, most people have passed it off as a translation error or perhaps the company was referring to the PSV.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter chimed in a response to Industry Gamers about the possibilities of the next-gen console launch, speaking a lot of sense this time around with the following statements…

"Clearly, a new console will impact sales of all existing consoles. I suppose we have to guess what Sony will do (my bet is that they launch at holiday 2014 as well, so they might hold their own) and what Nintendo will do. Pricing and specs really make all the difference, so it's impossible to say what the impact will be. If the Xbox 720 is only a modest upgrade and costs $1000, it won't have much impact. If it's a tenfold increase in processing power and graphics and costs $99, it will take 100% share. The answer is probably somewhere in between."

A holiday 2014 release is a brutal launch date and gives us three more years of the PS3 and Xbox 360, which in my opinion is really wearing out welcome. If developers are already maxing out the PS3 and Xbox 360 by limiting features in games out now that are possible only on the PC (i.e., Frostbite 2.0 destructibility, Unreal Engine 3 graphics, CryEngine 3 lighting) then it’s going to be a deadly stretch squeezing more out of the console hardware throughout 2012, 2013 and the early half of 2014 without badly crippling the innovation in a lot of newer games.

One thing is for sure: we’re definitely going to be hearing something official about new consoles sometime between 2012’s E3 and 2013.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

You really think they're going to let Nintendo have a three year head start? It's possible, but it would surprise me if we didn't see one or both of them announce something next year for release in late 2013, maybe 2014 at the latest.

Icemage called it.

EDIT: Never mind, the article in question is pure speculation. So, Icemage agrees with it.

[Aeni]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

This is all speculation considering most people don't even know how the economy is going to look even 6 months from now. A lot of you seem to conveniently forget that Sony is having a very bad time in comparison to Microsoft due to the exchange rate. Sony is not going to come out first unless they want to hang themselves in front of Nintendo and Microsoft.

Nintendo is the only one of the three with nothing to lose since all they're doing is releasing a new console "leaps ahead" of their own Wii. It's still going to be a lackluster underpowered console to whatever Microsoft and Sony puts out a few years from now.

[Kailea]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

This is all speculation considering most people don't even know how the economy is going to look even 6 months from now. A lot of you seem to conveniently forget that Sony is having a very bad time in comparison to Microsoft due to the exchange rate. Sony is not going to come out first unless they want to hang themselves in front of Nintendo and Microsoft.

Nintendo is the only one of the three with nothing to lose since all they're doing is releasing a new console "leaps ahead" of their own Wii. It's still going to be a lackluster underpowered console to whatever Microsoft and Sony puts out a few years from now.

That is one of the things about Nintendo I like, they don't care what Sony or MS are doing, they just look at their past system and go "ok lets make this better"

[Raydeus]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

It's not that they don't care, but that they actually know and acknowledge they can't compete. Which is better imo.

Also, Nintendo looks at gaming as a toy. Which I think coincides with the view of a big portion of the current market.

[Malacite]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

I still think we'll actually hear about the new consoles at E3 2013 and see their launch in 2014. It's still just a smidge early, and PS3 has only just recently really hit it's stride as of last year. As for Xbox, look no further than Halo 4. It's a confirmed 360 game, and won't be out until probably late 2012/early 2013, and I seriously doubt MS would put out their new console in the same year as that title.

Of course this also probably means that Halo 5 won't be ready until maybe a 6 months~1year after the new console is out but oh well

[Icemage]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

That is one of the things about Nintendo I like, they don't care what Sony or MS are doing, they just look at their past system and go "ok lets make this better"

While this is true, this is ALSO what I dislike about Nintendo, because their attitude hurts them terribly when it comes to adapting to the reality of a population that is connected via the Internet. Their online policies and services are the laughingstock of the industry, and they don't even seem to care.

If the Wii U fails to recapture the hardcore market, I would point at this as the primary reason. Nintendo simply doesn't understand that the people who buy a lot of games have come to expect not just adequate service - but excellent service. Their constant blunders in the online arena would be comical if it weren't so sad to watch. Friend codes. No unified logins to tie your online purchases to. Extremely late launch of the 3DS eShop. It's almost like Iwata just told his staff "Well, we said it would be online, make sure we fulfill that bullet point", without understanding the fundamental concept that having an online-connected device means that you are building a community, and not just a digital storefront.


Icemage

[Kailea]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

While this is true, this is ALSO what I dislike about Nintendo, because their attitude hurts them terribly when it comes to adapting to the reality of a population that is connected via the Internet. Their online policies and services are the laughingstock of the industry, and they don't even seem to care.

If the Wii U fails to recapture the hardcore market, I would point at this as the primary reason. Nintendo simply doesn't understand that the people who buy a lot of games have come to expect not just adequate service - but excellent service. Their constant blunders in the online arena would be comical if it weren't so sad to watch. Friend codes. No unified logins to tie your online purchases to. Extremely late launch of the 3DS eShop. It's almost like Iwata just told his staff "Well, we said it would be online, make sure we fulfill that bullet point", without understanding the fundamental concept that having an online-connected device means that you are building a community, and not just a digital storefront.


Icemage

oh yeah I agree as well.... I am getting the WII: U when it comes out, as I do every Nintendo system....but I swear if it's online is not on par with PS3/360..... well *sigh* I dont know anymore -.-

[Armando]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

It's still going to be a lackluster underpowered console to whatever Microsoft and Sony puts out a few years from now.

Implying that being underpowered in the graphics department makes it lackluster automatically?

[Kailea]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

Nintendo is the only one of the three with nothing to lose since all they're doing is releasing a new console "leaps ahead" of their own Wii. It's still going to be a lackluster underpowered console to whatever Microsoft and Sony puts out a few years from now.

you know, many others that think graphics mean everything think this as well, but I always laugh when I get a customer, and I mention a new Wii game coming out (I always try and mention 1 from each console to reserve) and the first words out of their mouth are "ha Wii is for kids" or "Wii looks like crap"

They fail to realize that the system has some really fun games, and some of them look really good (in 1080p as well)

When the Wii U comes out, play some Wii games upscaled to 1080p and you will see what I mean, mainly Nintendo's first/second party games.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

Implying that being underpowered in the graphics department makes it lackluster automatically?

Strictly speaking, that would, in fact, mean that it lacks "luster."

Would that make it any less fun, however? While "fun" is generally in the eye of the beholder, I'm pretty sure that it's safe to say that sheer graphic power isn't even a factor at this point.

[Kailea]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

I honestly want to see what the next gen from Sony and MS hold, because the graphic power now is.... well excellent ;p

its going to get to the point where it wont even matter anymore, all the systems will run/look the same

[Icemage]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

I honestly want to see what the next gen from Sony and MS hold, because the graphic power now is.... well excellent ;p

As far as resolution goes, I agree with you - console games can't really get "that" much prettier in terms of image quality. Sure, we might get better polygon counts, better shader effects and more common implementation of 1080p, etc, but the best looking games (Gears 3, Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3, Gran Turismo 5, Forza 4, MLB The Show, and a handful of others) are so close to photorealistic that you'd only get a modest incremental increase in visual appeal.

Where I think there's still a lot of room for improvement is frame rate (a lot of games struggle to maintain 30 frames per second, let alone do a solid 60 fps), screen tearing (the devil!!!) and environmental physics (someone please for the love of god make something standard that is better than ragdoll physics). If there is a staggering difference in processing power between consoles in the next generation - something that is likely with Xbox 720 / PS4 vs. Wii U - it's likely we will see the difference not so much in graphic resolution, but in frame rate.

Even so, it's not going to be quite as lopsided and obvious as it is right now with Wii vs. PS360. When the best looking Wii games (from a tech standpoint) like The Conduit 2 can't even hold their own graphically with even mid-tier PS360 games, you know the hardware is woefully underpowered compared to its competition. I doubt we'll see that sort of disparity with the Wii U no matter how powerful the next consoles are from Microsoft or Sony.

its going to get to the point where it wont even matter anymore, all the systems will run/look the same

In one sense, Nintendo benefits from the fact that Sony and Microsoft don't really have a lot of room to improve in terms of image quality. But I get the feeling that they're still going to get steamrolled in a couple of years once Microsoft and Sony introduce new hardware, because the games are just going to run just that tiny bit better and smoother, and will have better online connectivity features. Unless they have a VAST install base advantage, multi-console owners will pretty much always pick the version that runs best - unless all their friends are playing the game on a specific platform. I have this impression that Nintendo's management thinks that simply making a box that "can" output 1080p is all they need to keep up, and if so, they're wrong, because they're going to lose the "runs best" comparison, and they're definitely going to lose the "all the friends are playing" comparison because of their terrible online service.


Icemage

[Raydeus]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

I think in a way graphics technology won't only grow vertically but also horizontally. If you see current systems they have almost gotten to the "cap" on VFX and resolution*, so I think it is the amount of detail and models in a single scene what will increase in the following generations instead.

Take a look at Tessallation. Right now, it's pretty pointless... because they are only using it to make better looking walls and slightly more detailed soft shadows and models. But, if you combine that technology with better engines and fully tessallated characters and environments on screen you have to potential of having full detail everywhere.

Visual effects wont really change much as things like occlusion and depth of field are gimmicky at best right now, but if you combine them with tessallation and way more characters and objects on screen (all generated procedurally and affected by physics) you get scenes that could make current console games look like Echochrome.

And just like Icemage I'm expecting the most noticeable improvements to be on framerates, V-sync and amount of memory for the most part in the short term.


*Current 1080p resolution that is, don't forget super HD displays like the one I posted about some time ago and the horse power that will be required to run games at that resolution.

[Malacite]

Re: PS4 to Launch in 2013, Xbox 720 to launch in 2014

Well, one thing they can do is make the next gen consoles have freaking SSDs.

Yes, I'm aware that this will likely drive up the price but when you consider how much more efficient SSD is over HDD, it's totally worth it IMO. Who really needs the massive hard drives they're coming out with now anyway for gaming consoles? That's what a PC or external HDD is for (movies/music).

I just want enough space on my SSD to install the games and greatly reduce read & write times. Unless I'm mistaken, this should drastically improve online performance as well in terms of perceived lag.

Which brings me to my 2nd sticking point - As IM pointed out, graphics will keep getting better, but not at an OMGWTFBBQ level like the jump from last generation was. If they can get anywhere near equal to what PC's can do with SLI/Crossfire with high end cards, that's more than enough. Rather I'd like to see a more serious focus on improving the online aspects.

This means getting rid of, or making better attempts to minimize host lag. Seriously, I'm beyond sick of this shit. SONY needs to step up their interface as well to at least match that of XBL. We still don't have cross-game chat, can't really export our profiles via a memory card, and the XMB is still a bit intrusive/slow.