Hasta La Gadget!

It’s funny what can happen in a single week as last week gamers were probably not considering Sony could announce the PlayStation 4 this year, let alone release it sometime in 2013. And this week, we’re being flooded with speculation due to Sony’s teaser that was released yesterday. It looks as though the speculation won’t end until February 20th, although we might know a little bit about the PlayStation 4 before it’s announced.

According to development sources with knowledge of both the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox, it looks like the PlayStation 4 is being considered the more powerful console. The specs of the PlayStation 4 are rumored to have 8GB of RAM that include GDDR5, which is capable of data speeds of 176GB per second.

Those who were skeptical of the PlayStation 4′s controller having some kind of touch-based controls should know the PS4 is rumored to have a small touchpad where the Select, Start and PS button are located on DualShock controllers. A Share button will also be introduced with the controller that will allow players to take screenshots and video clips of their game to be published online. The PlayStation 4 will be capable of recording up to 15 minutes of the most recent onscreen gameplay.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New Sonic Game Rumored For Announcement Next Month, PS4 To Run On Eight-Core AMD CPU; Includes Touchscreen Controller [Rumor],

Sony is gearing up for a big announcement on February 20, according to invitations it sent out to the media on Thursday. The smart money was already on a next-generation PlayStation console being the topic of discussion, but the Wall Street Journal came out and blatantly declared that’s what we’d be getting. But while we have a good idea of what, generally, Sony will be talking about, it’s the specifics that matter most for Sony’s long-term success.

Sony said that we’d “see the future” at the special February event, and the WSJ’s sources say it’s definitely going to be a next-gen console, debuted ahead of a similar evolution of Xbox from Microsoft. The console will actually make it to retail by the holidays in 2013, just in time to compete with Microsoft’s offering, which is also rumored for release around that time. But video game and console sales aren’t at their best right now, with gaming-related device sales experiencing considerable dips ahead of last year’s holiday sales season.

Rumors about what the console will actually look like so far include retaining an optical disc drive, said to be a concession made to ensuring that large-sized games are still convenient for customers to actually obtain and play, and a move from the Cell chip that powers the current PS3 to an AMD-based design, which might complicate things in terms of backwards compatibility with current games. That will annoy existing customers, but alienating those customers isn’t even Sony’s biggest issue with fielding a next-gen device; it’s attracting new users from a young gamer population that has grown up on mobile.

Current console gamers have a hard time seeing how mobile could ever truly replace a home console gaming experience, especially when a next-generation console promises to improve considerably on the 10-year old tech found in the PS3 and really push the envelope in terms of graphics, performance and realism. But the spec race isn’t the key battleground in gaming anymore, like it or not. Apple famously shifted focus away from what was under the hood in computers and mobile devices and onto the end-user experience, and that had repercussions beyond its own primary industry. Gaming became a much more broadly defined category, one that includes teen and twenty-something males sitting in front of a TV with a controller in hand, but no longer one defined by that demographic.

People underestimate the effect of mobile gaming on the industry at large I think, especially when you consider that an entire new generation of gamers is experiencing gaming first on touchscreen devices, with instant availability, downloadable titles and much shorter average gaming sessions. Those experiences will breed different expectations, resulting in consumers in key growth demographics who might not be all that excited to see what kind of ultra-realistic water effects a next-gen console can reproduce, even as those of us who grew up dreaming of in-game fog you could virtually feel on your skin eat up whatever Sony wants to sell us.

After enjoying the PlayStation 3 for over six years, we’re completely ready for the PlayStation 4 to enter our homes and dominate every free time we have. We’ve been keeping a close eye on its progress, even though we know Sony won’t announce it before Microsoft announces the next Xbox. It looks as though we may not need to wait for their announcement as a report was released today highlight much of what we can expect from the PlayStation 4.

According to a report published on Kotaku, the PlayStation 4 is rumored to have an eight-core AMD64 CPU and an AMD R10XX GPU, although these are currently available in the PS4 developer kits and could change by the time its released to retail.

Other features expected in the PlayStation 4 are improved user accounts which allow multiple Sony Entertainment Network accounts to be signed in simultaneously in order for multiple users to unlock trophies and possibly access multiple cloud saves. The controller is also said to resemble the DualShock, but includes a capacitive touchpad, which we heard rumors about just last week.

Until Sony makes their official announcement, the information Kotaku provides should be taken with a grain of salt as Sony could decide to make changes to the PS4 at any time before it’s officially unveiled.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New Sonic Game Rumored For Announcement Next Month, PlayStation 4 Controller Expected To Have Touchscreen Similar To Wii U GamePad [Rumor],

PayPal is becoming more widely accepted lately as you can purchase many goods using your PayPal account, including Starbucks coffee. You can even purchase digital goods from your Xbox 360 as they’ve been accepting PayPal for months now, and it looks like PlayStation 3 and PS Vita owners will finally be able to use the service to purchase their digital goods now.

The process isn’t as easy as it is on the Xbox 360 as you could input your PayPal information from the dashboard in order to access it when needed. Instead of being able to input your PayPal information in your account settings on either your PS3 or PS Vita, you’ll need to visit the Sony Entertainment Network site, enter your account information, and then access your wallet to then add funds through PayPal.

Supporting PayPal is certainly a step in the right direction, but Sony needs to mainstream this process by supporting it within the PlayStation 3′s XMB or on the PS Vita. I’m sure there are many of you out there, who like me, couldn’t be bothered visiting the Sony Entertainment Network site and will probably not link your PayPal account to your PSN account until it’s available directly on the PS3 and PS Vita. Until then, thanks for the thought, Sony.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Next-gen Xbox Architecture Details Leaked , Minecraft Xbox 360 To Get Update 8 Soon,

We’re counting down the days until E3 to possibly learn more about the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles, but did you ever consider just how much the new consoles may cost as they promise to deliver next-gen gaming experiences? We saw how the gaming community wasn’t “pleasantly surprised“ by the price point of the Wii U, and Nintendo’s console isn’t any more powerful than the Xbox 360 or the PS3. So how much should we expect the next PlayStation and Xbox to cost?

Baird Equity Research spent their time at CES last week meeting “with a number of companies involved in video game development and distribution,” and they’re suggesting both consoles should retail around $350 – $400. That price point will seem familiar for Xbox 360 owners as it launched at $399 for its 20GB model back in 2005, but PlayStation 3 owners will be pleased by that price range as their console went on sale for $599 in 2006.

We’re sure both Microsoft and Sony saw how gamers reacted to the Wii U’s price point of $299 and $349 for its consoles. We’re hopeful both companies will try their best to keep the price point of their next-generation consoles low.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BioShock Infinite PC Specifications Released, Disney Infinity Launching This June As A Sandbox Game With Real-Life Toys,