Sony not expecting this gen to last as long as the last one

[jbepp]

I think it's true because even if the companies want to keep the current for a long time, the PC market keeps evolving and it becomes more and more appealing. You can buy a PC for a bit more than a console and it will have better or the same specs than a console. Not only that but the games are cheaper, the game library is bigger, it has better graphics, etc.

 

[desarijulian]

True. It really does depend on what they hope to accomplish. Could we see another Playstation in 5 years? Sure but I doubt it, Sony needs to balance themselves out before they push another console out. First let them make money on the PS3 and PS4 and then I'll consider a PS5.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I can see another PlayStation announced in 5 years and out in 6 at the softest and announced in 6 out in 7 at the hardest.

 

[Derri]

I think this generation will last as long as the previous generation for one good reason.

MONEY/COST

It does cost quite a considerable amount to construct new hardware and while the twilight years of this generation won't be as pretty as PC you'll find it will last a good 7/8 years, maybe even longer.

 

[Oberon]

Honestly,7 years is a long time,a little too long for last gen.
I hope this time its 5 or 6 maximum. 5 would be good.
If you bought a console at launch or the first year 5 years is plenty but ofcourse I realise if you buy a new console say 2 or 3 years after launch you wouldnt be happy to have another console 2 years later but thats not Sony's or technology fault. Technology doesnt wait.

They defo stretched last gen out a little long,Hopefully Im not alone here in saying 5 years this time is better. 6 at the absolute most.

 

[Derri]

Honestly,7 years is a long time,a little too long for last gen.
I hope this time its 5 or 6 maximum. 5 would be good.
If you bought a console at launch or the first year 5 years is plenty but ofcourse I realise if you buy a new console say 2 or 3 years after launch you wouldnt be happy to have another console 2 years later but thats not Sony's or technology fault. Technology doesnt wait.

They defo stretched last gen out a little long,Hopefully Im not alone here in saying 5 years this time is better. 6 at the absolute most.

I'd have to disagree with you on one of your comments about the last gen lasting too long. If you think about it within the last year or so that games were really pushing the PS3 and I actually think the Xbox held back the PS3 because it was only very recently that you saw the Xbox struggling compared to the PS3.

I dunno, but the way I saw it, it was only within the last year that the PS3 games were really pushing the console to its limits.

 

[Oberon]

Yeah,you have a point. But then maybe they could have pushed it harder if they would have waited another 2 years? See what I mean.
And dont forget,the PS4 is supposed to be easier to develop for this time round,so hopefully we will get those few top tier AAA titles much quicker than 7 years.

 

[Derri]

Yeah,you have a point. But then maybe they could have pushed it harder if they would have waited another 2 years? See what I mean.
And dont forget,the PS4 is supposed to be easier to develop for this time round,so hopefully we will get those few top tier AAA titles much quicker than 7 years.

The PS3 handled games like The Last of Us well (not easily but well) however when it came to Call of Duty Ghosts you could tell the system had reached its maximum limits, same with Grand Theft Auto V.

The problem isn't with development as such its all about optimisation. The Devs will figure out ways to optimize the PS4 and Xbox. Sure optimization can only go so far but you'll find as soon as the devs see how to optimize the PS4 to its best potential that is when the lifespan of a console is determined. The Devs found ways to manage the PS3 and Xbox 360 and that's why the consoles did so well and were able to last until now. Even most of the PS4 games being released in 2014 come out for the PS3 as well

Plus consoles aren't constructed to be on the same skill level as PC. If so then Sony would have to offer 16GB of RAM instead of 8 which we know probably isn't wise.

Plus we had games that were stunning such as The Last of Us which ran on PS3 with less than 300kb of RAM. So I guess 8GB will go a long way.

 

[thebigtank]

Playstation still supports PS2's. It will be a long time in gaming years for there to be a PS5

I hope that this cycle lasts for a long time, I would hate to see Sony go the route of other tech companies that release a product every year, which is a copy of last year's product with a shinier package.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I've been rethinking the generation thing, this particular discussion is a good one because it focuses on the actual console definition of "generation", not eyeballing and saying "This is next gen." The thing is that the generation will last longer than 6 or 7 years only because there is generally some generation spill over.

You could even look at decades as we interpret them and relate that to "next gen." The early 80s was technically still the late 70s until the a few years into the decade, the early 90s was still the late 80s until a bit into the decade when it came to television, film, (in some cases) music, fashion, and gaming.

The thing here is that 1. 7th generation will spill over into 8th generation while still running along it, 2. The console's life cycle doesn't really end until support ends and in the case of online play, most of the official online servers are ended. Now specific consoles could continue beyond that--the DC still had and will probably see more games put out by independent developers, 3. It's typically be PlayStation that extends a generation.

It's usually thought "Oh new console, time to completely abandon the last one and sell all your stuff from the previous. Two or three more years left for the last generation." In reality, this generation will last for along as whichever of the big three continues making games for their console. Once Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo says "Okay, pencils down. Turn in your paper and prepare to use the 9th generation Scantron." Then that generation is officially done.

 

[baracksyndel]

I agree with Space Tiger. I mean how do we define a new generation and when is the 'old' generation done? I would think that the old generation would be finished when the BIG three stop having games made for their old consoles. I mean we can officially say that the Wii is done and that the Wii U is the next-generation of Nintendo consoles because they aren't making games for the Wii anymore. I mean we can techinically argue that the last gen of PS3 and Xbox 360 isn't done because games are still being made.

 

[Stuck_X_Button]

I've always felt the generations were easy to define. You have a fourth generation PS, third generation Xbox, and a sixth generation Nintendo game console all of which happen to fall in the eight generation of game consoles overall. The seventh generation is still active mainly because of 360 and PS3 and will be for awhile. Even after the ninth generation is announced, the eight continue past the five and six year mark some are predicting.

A new generation won't kick off until the next console in one of the big three's own lineage of consoles is announced. This is not taking into account the Sega Clause.

 

[Legendoflore]

It really does depend on how one defines a generation. Personally, I agree with Stuck X, when a new piece of hardware comes out then you have the next-generation. Graphics and power don't define next-gen instead it's when a hardware company release their next piece of hardware. Just because the previous generation lasts longer doesn't mean that the next generation hasn't begun.