There are many rumors about the release of Playstation 4. When talking about technological rumors, more often than note the rumors are true. Rumors about this latest version of Sony’s Playstation product have been running around for a long time and fruition of the rumors are still in the works. Early claims by Sony that it was not working on any deliberations on a PS4 or any next generation console were thwarted by the announcement of the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Masaru Kato that Sony was indeed working on a PS4.

Even though earlier this year there were rumors that a research project done by Sony and IBM to come up with a power PC chip for a newer Playstation had failed, Sony continued its work with creating a multi-core and advanced cell processor. The specifications and features expected to be in the Playstation 4 include easy back-reference compatibility to the PS3 and a familiar console environment for play. It will also have, many people speculate, a sizable cell processor and may team up with Google to use Android on Xperia play.

Sony is keeping the public on edge in regards to the expected release date for the Playstation 4. It is envisioned by many that the future of this much loved gaming console lies in its ability to be played while on the move as well as its adaptability to be plugged into the television set. The originating company Sony has claimed that the current PS3 gaming console has a ten-year play lifecycle. This has been interpreted that the next Playstation will therefore be launched at the end of the year 2016.

As people speculate about the next generation Playstation, many others are enjoying the games offered by the earlier versions especially the Playstation 3. With the fiercely developing and advancing technological field, it is hard to predict how the PS4 will be like. Many experts are giving varied opinions about this new console and its relation to other partnering online entities and companies. The Playstation 4 will come, but it can only be released for public enjoyment when it is working properly and all entities involved in its creation have given their best in creating a gaming product that works to the best of its abilities.

Senior director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment, Patrick Seybold, stated that he believes its latest consoles can last over a ten-year span, refuting the traditional 5-year lifecycle for consoles.

Similar to Sony, Microsoft also hinted in the same direction for the new 10-year life span of its latest game console. Senior director for Microsoft, David Hufford, indicated that the Xbox 360 would have a longer life shelf than its predecessor. Upgrades to the Xbox 360 through software and hardware tweeks, such as the add-on Project Natal, have helped Xbox’s longevity.

Electronic Arts’ CFO Eric Brown also agrees that there is not much room for improvements in the current console market. He believes there is no reason for Microsoft or Sony to release a new version anytime soon.  A multibillion-dollar investment in a next generation console would have to be a huge game changer compared to the current platform.

Nintendo, on the other hand, is taking on a different direction on its Wii console. It is believed the next generation Wii2 will be out sooner, sometime this year or the next in 2012. However, not everyone believes the new generation Wii will become a major hit. Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush, stated that the chances of Wii 2 having much success beyond a launch date of 2011 would be minimal. One of the reasons is HD support, which Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 have already been implemented into their consoles. Nintendo is way behind the game and Pachter does not see them recovering in the near future.

What do you think, will Nintendo’s Wii 2 have strong sales because of their earlier launch date ? Should the new Xbox 720 and PS4 come out earlier, or do you think the current generation of consoles can still run it fine ?

Speaking of the future on Xbox games and console gaming in general, there could be a possibility that the new Microsoft Xbox 720 or Sony Playstation 4 could be based off of an OnLive cloud gaming platform. What do you think of a similar gaming system on Xbox 720 using an OnLive protocol?

According to the latest news in the latest issue of Xbox World magazine, game developers Turn 10 and Lionhead are working on software for Microsoft’s next generation console. This is not unexpected news because these two developers have been churning out consistent game titles for the current Xbox 360. It is not a surprise that Turn 10 and Lionhead are spearheading the development of future games for the Xbox 720.

Turn 10 could be working on the future title Forza Motorsport 5, one of the popular Xbox game titles. It could be ready for the new Xbox 720 in due time in part because Forza 3 launched on October of 2009, followed by Forza 4 this month. A 2-year gap would allow Forza 5 to finish in time if the Xbox 720 was to be launched sometime in 2013.

Will Forza Motorsport 4 be the last version for the current Xbox 360?  Turn 10’s Dan Greenawalt hinted that there could still be a future title in the Forza series for the Xbox 360 due to possible improvements in graphics not related to better hardware. Plus, the current platform of the Xbox 360 that has been several years out already. It would make it easier to implement a newer better version without the need for extra RAM or more advanced hardware.

Lionhead, developer for the Xbox game title Fable, could also be planning to be developing a future title Fable 4 in due time for 2013. However, after a poor response to the latest Fable 3, a new mainline series could be underway, as hinted by Peter Molyneux of Lionhead. The next Fable game will be a spin-off of The Journey made for the Kinect onlyl.

News has it that game developer Rare is brainstorming ideas for a new “mature” game to be launched for the next Xbox 720. It might be a surprise that Rare is given this opportunity to be developing games for the future Xbox since they were mainly the focus on Microsoft’s Kinect game titles and Xbox Avatars for years. The only major games they have released since are Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts and Viva Pinata. Perfect Dark Zero is their only major game for the mature gaming audience, and that was a huge disappointment. Rare boss Craig Duncan stated that games should be fun and innovative, not necessarily about the classic genres or characters. What can we expect from Rare? Will they come out with a major game title anytime soon that is not Kinect related? Perhaps the new console will boost Rare’s profile in the gaming industry.

What do you prefer the new Xbox 720 controller design to be like ? Are you more of the old-school gamer with the physical game pad or more of the contemporary new-age gamer with hand motion sensors ? Personally, I’d prefer the old-school game pad, however, we will most likely see a combination of both technology … perhaps a type of a hybrid controller, with both motion sensor and physical game pad play. We can only wait and see what comes out in store for us.

In terms of rumors surrounding what the Xbox 720 would run on, it could be a possibility that the Xbox 720 could run on Windows 8. This is because  Microsoft would want to create a store for apps and games that could work between Windows Phone, Windows OS, and the new Xbox. Windows 8 could provide Microsoft with a competitive edge against Apple’s Application Store. Being how popular apps are, Microsoft would want to cross-platform with its other products to create downloadable games/apps in its own version of the app store. This would allow gamers to purchase apps/games on their Windows Phone, PCs, and game console.

Xbox 720 could possibly have cloud storage, as we move forward into the future, we may give way to physical storage, as we have seen with the success of Steam for PC gamers and for OnLive gaming. Cloud gaming is the future; we could possibly see an incorporation of this technology in the new generation console. The other option we could see is a possibility for Blu-ray, similar to how Sony’s Playstation 3 already has Blu-ray included in its console. However, Microsoft has refused to add it to the current Xbox 360.  Other less likely alternatives for storage could include the outdated flash drives or game cartridges that Nintendo uses. What do you think would be the best alternative for Xbox 720 storage ?

Back in May 2009, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter claimed that the next-gen Xbox game console wouldn’t begin development before 2013 due to the fact that publishers will resist the introduction of new hardware tech that will need extensive overhaul of the software. Publishers have yet to capitalize on the heavy investments already made in an already competitive cycle for the current console.

Senior director of the Xbox product management team, David Hufford, stated in January 2010 that the Xbox 360 still has a long future ahead and that there is no need to launch a new console. The Xbox 360 can still maintain its longevity through software and hardware upgrades similar to Project Natal. He claimed that the Xbox 360 is till in its mid-life cycle and still has a long ways to go before its demise.

A bgr.com source in June 2011 stated that Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division would plan to reveal the new Xbox console at E3 2012, where its pre-E3 press conference coincides on June 11, 2012. It is possible that the Xbox 720 has been in development as early since 2006. A high ranking source from Crytek stated that the upcoming game, TimeSplitters 4 is already being developed for the new Xbox console using Microsoft’s updated DX11 development tool.

ID Software’s lead programmer John Carmack claimed that Microsoft would announce the new Xbox game console at E3 2012 with the system being available in the year 2013. He stated that the new console will be ten times as powerful as the current 8^th generation game console (ie, PS3 Xbox 360, Wii).

Senior executives of the top US retailers told their shareholders on July 2011 that they won’t be expecting the next generation game console (Xbox 720 and Playstation 4) to launch until 2015.

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli expects the new console to be released sometime in 2012 or 2013. M2 Senior Analyst Billy Pidgeon expects the Xbox 720 to come before Q4 of 2014 and the Wii 2 by 2012. A 2014 to 2015 release could also be a possibility as Square Enix is planning to open a second Canadian development studio by 2012. Furthermore, a designer that worked with Microsoft implied that a 2015 release date has already been set. This is coming from a source from his online portfolio under the name of Ben Peterson.

It is always fun to speculate when a hyped up product is going to be released, we can only wait and see when the exact date will be announced. Any guesses on when the Xbox 720 will be released? Winner will receive a golden star

The Xbox 720 will also most definitely be backwards compatible with all previous Xbox 360 games. Backwards compatibility could be either software or hardware-based emulation on Xbox 360 games. The current Xbox 360 uses specific coded emulator software to play original Xbox games in order to increase the game’s resolution, however, only few titles are compatible. Hopefully we will see in Xbox 720’s backward compatibility that it could play a wider range of game titles compared to its predecessor.

Intel Larrabee or AMD Chipset ?

Speculation from the Inquirer newspaper in late 2008 reported that Intel is trying to get its latest high performance GPU Larrabee chipset into the latest next-generation Xbox 720. Sources from Inquirer states that Intel has offered Microsoft a deal in exchange for eliminating the use of AMD chip in its latest next-gen console. Intel will provide Microsoft with its own latest high performance chip including designing its thermals and enhancing the Larrabee chipset, allowing Microsoft to subcontract as it wishes. Larabee Two, the latest GPU design will possibly make a big impact in the deciding factor for Microsoft.

The current Xbox 360 is based on a PowerPC-based CPU made from IBM with a GPU designed by ATI. A possible Intel deal would change the landscape, with possible hardware backwards compatibility removed as a result. However, the advantages of a Larrabee chipset regarding its CPU function include an evolving toward throughput computing and are motivated by its energy-efficient performance capabilities. Its GPU component is evolving towards a general-purpose computing and is motivated by higher quality graphics and data-parallel programming.

The latest Xbox 360 Slim currently features a Vejle CPU/GPU combo processor. It is possible that the new Xbox 720 will use a AMD Fusion chip, possibly looking into the DX11-capable Krishna APU due to be released this year 2012.  With AMD’s cutting edge technology, we could see Avatar-level visuals that involved high level CGI and 3D Capturing costing $1 million per every minute of footage. In addition to possible Avatar-level graphics, it will also feature enhanced AI and physics capabilities. An in-character game could take on its own individual AI personality.

What do you think of Xbox 720 potential graphic capability to reach Avator-like visual levels ? If gaming is becoming more realistic every generation, imagine the future it will hold when we will literally be in a virtual reality world of gaming where simulation will be as real as real life.

So since when did rumors on the development of the Xbox 720 first surfaced? Where or if there was even any evidence for the making of this new device? Well, we will look at several sources which would provide some clues that there is indeed, a development of a new-generation gaming console.  Peter Moore of Microsoft’s IEB department stated that the development team is already looking for type of CPUs that will be available on the market in 2011 and 2012. The Xbox 360 will have a lifespan of approximately 6 to 7 years compared to the original Xbox of only 4 years. The launch of the Xbox 360 costs Microsoft a staggering $1.26 billion. They will want to make sure the new system, Xbox 720, will have an even longer lifespan then its predecessor, hopefully, longer than 7 years. The longer the lifespan into its life cycle, the more profit would result as it stops being a loss indicator.

Robbie Bach, the President of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices department, was quoted on June 13^th, 2008:

“Our view is we will be selling Xbox 360 for a long time. We are always working on new technologies. We have people working on those. People ask me how many people I have working on the next generation. On the one hand, it’s everybody. On the other, it’s nobody. People are continuously working on new technology.

We started thinking about the next generation before we shipped the Xbox 360. It doesn’t start with a date. It starts way upstream with silicon development. From that comes a series of data points. You start making early technology choices. It’s an evolving thing. Stuff doesn’t become concrete until you get inside a window of when you have to ship, more than 18 months or so out.”

Evidence from Microsoft’s recent job postings indicates that the Xbox Console Architecture team is looking for new talent to fill in the spots. The new recruits will be responsible for defining and delivering the next generation console architectures from the design to the final developmental process.