Release Date:
Sony: Although not exactly sure about a “release date,” Sony has teased us and kept our interest by announcing the PS4 to release in “Holiday 2013”. Again, not exactly a release date, but it is enough to keep our attention and something to look forward too.
Microsoft: “Xbox, oh Xbox, where art thou, Xbox?” Ok, so it’s not exactly an original but it fits! Many industry experts predicted that we would finally get some hard info this year, but Microsoft has confirmed to TechRadar, one of the leading gaming informants, that this is definitely not the case. However, we will most likely have a bespoke event in April/May, then to receive more launch excitement in E3. Taking into account that we’re currently in April, we can expect an announcement event sometime in May. Why May? Well leading analyst, Colin Sebastian, wrote in a note that apart from some obvious stock changes, the time would allow them to see any changes or reactions from Sony. Plus, this will allow them to not lose any customer interest against other splashes, if they were to announce it during E3.
Specs:
Sony: The upcoming PS4 is provided with and AMD chip that is somewhere along the line of a Radeon 7850. For those non-techy people, it basically means it is really good. The hardware however has its flaws. The chip itself is a few years old and was made originally for PC. Although the graphics will be great after a few years, PC graphic chips will be upgraded and will most likely surpass the graphics of the consoles at that time. The PS4 will also included 8GB unified GDDR5 memory, which is combined for both graphics and system memory use.
Microsoft: The upcoming console will be armed with an AMD jaguar-based CPU that is virtually the same to the PS4, which will help with developers to make cross-platform games. Graphic-wise, rumors are indicating that the console will have the new revision of AMD’s 7000 series graphic card. It will also have the AMD Radeon 7790 chip, which means less cost, and cheaper bits. On the other hand, however, the 720 will come with 8GB memory for the system AND extra memory separate graphic memory. Over all, the Xbox may not be as powerful as the PS4 gaming-wise, but will be better in other tasks outside of gaming.
Controllers:
Sony: For the upcoming PS4, it will include the newly announced DualShock 4 controller. What’s so special about it? Well to start it out, it has a new touch screen in the middle of it. A newly developed motion control, and a “light bar” for identification, it also includes a new share button for streaming in-game gameplay; a nice feature for competitive gamers. Design layout, overall, is traditional. The analogs are located in the same place; with some indents for better grip and the buttons seem a little more smooth and slick compared to other models. Overall, it seems like a traditional controller with some interesting new features.
Microsoft:Rumors indicate that the se
cond version of the Kinect is going to be the heart of the Xbox experience, and it’s a good decision. Consoles, built around motion detecting, show a lot of promise and seem highly likely that this is the direction Microsoft will take, given the current way they’re treating Kinect software and hardware. Be assured, however that the analog controller will still exist. Microsoft’s design of the analog controller is a wild success with many Xbox and PC gamers, Microsoft won’t be able to just take it away. Also, Microsoft recently filed a patent relating to projecting 3d images to the walls. The project is currently being known as Project: Fortaleza, which means faith in English. It’s supposed to work in unison with the Fortaleza glasses, which are very similar with the upcoming Google Glass.
One last rumor to finish it all off, Xbox recently snatched a lot of Xbox related URL’s one which caught interest, www.xbox8.com. It could mean that the Xbox could be called Xbox Infinite. But it’s pure speculation right now.
There are plenty more rumors, but that’s enough for now. As time passes both companies will certainly release more information, so expect more soon.
