Well the PS4 rumor last year was it would launch within 18 months. Meaning the console would he on the market by March 2013. Within 18 months was speculated that a winter 2012 launch was plausible though personally I don't share that sentiment. However I do not think Sony will give Nintendo or MS a year on the market unchallenged.

As for next box running Unreal4 it is possible but I find it to be a 50/50 chance. The new engine requires a minimum of 10x the power of 360. To put that into perspective WiiU is said to be between 2-5x the power and the first leaks regarding next boxes power indicate it will he 6x the power.
Why won't next box be 10x the power in all likely hood? Simply put the Kinetic 2.0 is rumored to be the original Kinetic Microsoft downgraded the initial Kinect because

Your OP is good you just need to scale down the pictures and you'll be fine! ^_^

PS4 doesn't need 6gigs of ram lmfao. Unless its going to be running some version of Windows....

Dualshock R2/L2 should be redesigned. I hate the R2/L2 on my DS3.

this is debateable

i can easily say that Nintendo didn't have anything going for it coming off of last gen and look what happened

so the same can be said about Nintendo coming off of last gen AND the gen before that ;)

The first camera was rumored to cost a couple hundred. Microsoft couldn't sell such an expensive camera at the time. However with the new Xbox the camera should now be cheaper. Lets say the new Kinetic camera costs about 100$ to manufacture. Well keep in mind rumors have emerged that the next box controller will feature a touch screen similar to Vita. That controller will Costa Microsoft a good 40+$ to manufacture over their cheap 360 controller. Now keep in mind Microsoft is already said to have more power under the hood then Nintendo. How expensive would that hardware need to be to take a reasonable loss?

The WiiU is expected to cost around 400$ and barely break even. That's with less graphical power and a tablet controller cheaper then Kinect 2.0 and a Vita controller combined. The Next Box with the current specs rumored would likely cost 500$ and break even or even profit a small amount. But if you want it to he 10x the power were talking a 600$ price tag likely breaking even or a slight profit. Of course by using Cloud instead of an hard drive Microsoft could shed money off. A 500$ launch of such a console would be at a loss.

Now Sony without a tablet or camera. Could release a 10x more powerful console then 360 for a very reasonable price. Maybe 400$ this would leave Microsoft in the dog house with its Kinect and Vita controller console retailing around 450$ with less power. Nintendo would be at a slight disadvantage too graphic lovers would take the PS4 over WiiU.

But no I think Epic went to far. Crytek has released their next generation engine and it will run on all next generation consoles as has Square. Epic is shooting way to high with Unreal4 heck most power PC's couldn't even handle it.

Microsoft is smart they will put profits and a successful hardware launch ahead of keeping Epics loyalty. Sony on the other hand has a chance to get Epics support by launching a cheap enough console with Unreal4 support.

Selling at a loss is no longer a viable option for Sony. They have been bleeding money for years and the launch of a piece of hardware sold at a loss would not help that one bit. Based on the rumors I suspect Microsoft and Nintendo will both launch this winter with final kits available at E3. Sony will launch early kits to developers by E3 if they have not already done so. Sony will continue to week the hardware right up until its release in early 2012. Sony will have very little to hide at this E3. I suspect no tablet or camera just a kick ass new Dual Shock and mind blowing graphics. Also with Nintendo launching this winter for sure and Microsoft likely they will have shown their hand at E3. Sony will have a few months to adjust their final hardware.

Sony will show PS4 at E3. The question is how much they will show?

Well the ps4 needs cross game chat, a better XMB, and custom sound tracks to name a few things.

I actually cant believe most of you guys here are suggesting sony release a beefed up ps3 as the ps4. Make no mistake, they will exit the console industry if they do this.

no they wont, all they have to do i make sure that they dont invest a crap load in the system and they will be fine

Sony needs to come up with a wildcard a X factor if you will, something that differentiates themselves from the competition and hopefully pushes them above them.

pretty much nothing. They are going to have to compete head to head with everything the competition has(Kinect and the Tablets)

I must admit they are in a tight spot. Financially it doesnt really make sense to be innovative and risky but on the other hand...settling for mediocrity and playing it safe will pave the way for a slow death and a hostile loss to aggressive competition.

yes, and this is why sony said that they are not going to invest a crap load into the system like we've seen on ps3

To make things worse the competition has bucket loads of money (talking mostly MS here) .

yea they ALWAYS had bucket loads of money and M$ isnt going to do anything too crazy

it's almost a given that NO game company wants to explore investments in their systems like we seen with ps3 because the loss's from the consoles will wipe there bank out just as quick as it was earned

and the rumours are already stating that 720 wont be anything too crazy so i see them aiming for a low price and keeping the loss's as small as possible while delivering a console powerful enough to run the Samaritan Demo

I dont see how its debateable? After the ps2 era sony had everything to lose.

What is debatable would be the extent to which having a huge install base on your prev gen console, and having an amazingly strong brand, effect your next gen console release.

Surely we can agree that sony would rather be in the position they were in after the strong performance of the ps2...than they are now with the ps3. Not saying ps3 is doing bad...but its not doing as well as the ps2 and the brand "playstation" as well as "Sony" as a whole has lost some of its selling power over these last 4 - 5 years.

I agree with Enditall except for next box running Samaritan. Unreal4 will require far to powerful hardware for Microsoft to support if they have Kinect 2.0 bundled and especially if they have a touch screen controller. Microsoft won't do anything stupid and 10x the power would be far to expensive if the console launches in 2012 or 2013.

Sony will have their x factor by not doing anything at all. While Microsoft scrambles to out do Nintendo and Nintendo continues to innovate Sony has a niche a classic hardcore graphical super power. All Sony has to do is meet the bare minimum requirements of Samaritan and they are set.

I have to say Sony would not just be playing it safe they would be carving out a market for themselves by not competing. Look what good Move did? An upgraded Dual Shock is all they need. Maybe give it voice command software. Sony will get no where throwing money at PS4 or trying to out innovate Nintendo like Microsoft is trying.

Jesus Christ, that post went on forever!

Personally I don't really care about the PS4... I'm holding out for the PS9.