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Sony expected to beef up PlayStation 4 to keep consoles in the game

Bloomberg

Sony Corp., trying to reverse a two-year decline in PlayStation sales, is prepping a powerful new version of the home console to deliver more realistic games and entertainment features, an analyst said.

Sony “is 100 percent certain to announce the PlayStation 4″ at a Feb. 20 event, Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said Friday, citing his checks with game developers and retailers.

The company last week invited journalists and analysts to a PlayStation meeting in New York, without providing details of the agenda. Dan Race, a Sony spokesman, did not respond to phone calls and email messages seeking comment. A year ago, Tokyo-based Sony introduced the PlayStation Vita portable game console in Japan.

“They’ll be able to put a lot more characters on the screen and allow for hyperrealistic games,” Pachter said.

Sony’s new console will feature graphics chips developed by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and processors capable of rendering games at 240 frames per second, Pachter said. Current-generation games typically render at 30 or 60 frames per second. As with past model changes, Sony will continue to produce and sell the almost 7-year-old PlayStation 3.

  • Nicholas Gatewood

    Ha, yeah, it’s capable of 240 FPS… so’s the PS3, games just don’t run at those framerates because developers would rather use that extra hardware power for things like anti-aliasing and higher-quality textures. I’m sure PS4 games will max out at around 60 FPS, and that not all PS4 titles will run at that framerate. It’ll still be an awesome console that gives a massive boost in performance over the PS3, that’s for sure.

    • Shaun Bayview

      He also addresses this in the article, “…Current-generation games typically render at 30 or 60 frames per second. As with past model changes…”

    • http://twitter.com/Sikthehedgehog Sik

      Somebody mixed up frames per second and maximum refresh rate.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Rukiafan-Rukiachan/100003666247908 Rukiafan Rukiachan

    Poor semi-famous guy needs attention..lol Anyway,There is a simple solution to this troll. If there is one thing we learned
    from video games it should be this. What do we do when we run into
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  • Someone Else

    Whoever thinks that the PS4 will be a massive leap above PS3 should keep in mind that Sony as a whole is struggling and cannot afford to sell a console at massive loss or release a way too expensive system that people won’t buy due to the price.
    Will the PS4 be stronger than Wii U? Yes, that is very likely. Will it be much? Probably not.

    • Mista Ruki

      Oh please you obviously dont know anything about corporations. Sony has a massive massive coffer about 13 trillion yen or i think 160 billion usd. It has been running at negative operating income since a few years before the ps3. It can stil crank out a big console without making a dent in its financial position. To speculate about financial woes is idiotic, when there are none. And I think they just recently announced making a profit the last two quarters, so its reversed.

  • Shaun Bayview

    The PS3 was capable of reaching a max fps of 120. Additionally, the writer stated in his article that current gen games render at 30-60. I don’t expect next gen games to run at 30-60. I also don’t expect them to run at 240. I expect no less than 60-120. As both video and audio tech improve in the next couple years (next gen console release will spur this.) increased fps will be the norm as processing power increases.

  • Matt Clarmont

    THe human eye/brain can only perceive at 60fps. Anything higher is technically unnecessary. THe ABILITY to render at 240fps is nice in the sense that it leaves plenty of horsepower for other bells and whistles, or hopefully frame slowdown only DROPS to 60 in high demand situations.

  • bucky1965

    Michael Pachter is as bright as a 1 watt light bulb. 240 fps? LOL It will look worse than the PS3. you can’t get that on a PC with a 7990 in crossfire and have decent graphics.

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