On Wednesday at the 2,800-seater Hammerstein venue in New York,Sony is expected to kickstart the next generation of video game consoles. The company has not officially confirmed anything, but pundits are certain this is where the world will get its first glimpse of the long-awaited PlayStation 4.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is working on the sequel to its Xbox 360 console, expected to be unveiled at this summer's E3 exhibition in Los Angeles.

New games platforms are usually welcomed with excitement by tech fans, but this time things are a little different. Since PlayStation 2 dominated the world of gaming in the early 2000s, the industry has been transformed by the arrival of smartphones and tablets.

These devices offer cheap, convenient gaming experiences to a new demographic of players who do not necessarily want to pay £40 for a game and then sit in front of their TVs for hours to play it.

"Why would I want another noisy black box sitting under my TV when the phone or tablet I have can do almost everything such a console can?" says the games analyst Oscar Clark.

"In a couple of years that console will be out of date compared with my other devices. At the same time, my relationship with my TV is changing. It is no longer the first screen, it's just the shared screen where I consume content with the other members of my household. My primary screen is my tablet or mobile, so where does the console hardware fit?"

Retail sales of games are falling around the world. In the US, according to the market analysts NPD Group, sales of physical games fell 22% in 2012, to $13.26bn; in the UK the market was down 17% to £1.59bn. Demand for hardware is also falling: console sales were down 37% in 2012, NPD said, and newcomers such as Nintendo's Wii U and the handheld PlayStation Vita have so far fared poorly.

Of course, decline is natural at the end of a console cycle, but this time the market lethargy could cost Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft dearly because there are new challengers on the horizon. The US games developer Valve plans to launch its own console, Steam Box, a cheap, tiny PC that plugs into the TV and offers hundreds of downloadable games. This year will also see the launch of at least two new sub-$100 consoles based on Google's Android technology. Ouya and GameStick are both open platforms, which means anyone can make games for them without authorisation from the manufacturer, an appealing prospect to developers.

Hovering in the background are Apple and Google, both of which have online app stores and TV services. Apple is rumoured to be working on a new version of its Apple TV set-top box, or even a dedicated Apple television set, that will give access to thousands of cheap games via the App Store, without the need for a dedicated console.

But Sony and Microsoft may have a few new weapons to bring to the battle. Both are creating cross-platform ecosystems: PS4 is likely to integrate with Sony's Xperia mobile phones and the Vita handheld console; the next Xbox will doubtless be compatible with Windows 8 PCs and Windows mobiles.

Last year Sony spent $380m on the California-based company Gaikai, which has developed a cloud-based technology that lets users play as games are streamed over the internet. Microsoft has hinted that the new Xbox will support cloud-based gaming.

It is likely, then, that both next-gen consoles will offer something akin to Spotify for games, allowing players to stream or download new titles in exchange for a monthly subscription.

In the US, Microsoft has toyed with a smartphone-style subsidised price model where buyers get the Xbox 360 for a lower price if they sign up for a two-year online gaming subscription. This could well be used to keep the cost of the next-gen machines down.

All this is not great news for retailers who depend on selling boxed games, but it fits in with new consumer purchasing habits. "I am convinced that smart, scalable cloud technology is going to be critically important," says Clark. "But we mustn't forget that it depends on the reliability of the connection, bandwidth and latency. The challenge [is] how much to rely on the device and how much on the server."

It is possible that a new device will come in to disrupt the market – and that few will see it coming. Games were an afterthought on the iPhone and on Facebook, but these platforms spawned huge new markets with hits such as Angry Birds and Farmville. This could also be the point at which the industry breaks away from its reliance on genres such as sports sims and military shooters.

"The living room is wide open right now," says the games designer and author Will Luton. "Some device will come in with the purpose of doing something else – likely movies, TV or music – but will be games-capable.

"People won't have to go to specialist shops for games about musclebound men smashing something's skull in. There will be new content, it will be for everybody and, unlike mobile or social games, it will be long-form and narrative-driven.

"This will be the biggest change games will ever see. Finally we'll be able to compete creatively and as widely as every other media art form."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/feb/15/playstation-4-battle-games-market

Rumor: Sony takes a shot at Nintendo with new ad

Sony will be announcing its successor to the PlayStation 3 in just a matter of days. A proper reveal will be taking place this Wednesday.

In order to spread the word, Sony has been publishing various ads across the net – from pre-roll videos on YouTube to traditional block ads on websites.

There have already been a couple of ads spotted that seemingly come off as a bit of an insult to Microsoft and/or Nintendo. Now yet another traditional ad has been discovered that clearly takes a shot at the Big N and the company’s Mario IP.

Source: http://gamingeverything.com/40423/rumor-sony-takes-a-shot-at-nintendo-with-new-ad/

PS4 Will Not Be The Biggest Announcement At Playstation Meeting.

We are all ready. Our cores ache for the inevitable announcement of the PS4 on the 20th of February. We have a good idea of what to expect. Leaks have been frequent and in most cases similar, which suggests a certain degree of accuracy. Sony have been reticent on the matter, with not a single response to the rumours. This also augers well for the coming event. Leaked images of the prototype controller have hit the net to resounding positivity and the hype can get no louder. Although there are still many questions to be answered — and I doubt all of them will be answered this coming Wednesday — one thing is for certain: Sony are about to do something BIG.

I’m a playstation fan; always have been and always will be. Many would view that as naive but there’s a reason I can say that with certainty.  Since Sony’s first foray into the console business they have always delivered in one way or another, whether it’s games, peripherals or services. Sony planted something deep inside the gamer in me and I can pin it to three distinct moments: The chimed boot up of the PS1, the sore thumbs posters and the menu music of Tomb Raider. Like everyone else, I’m eager to see what their next console brings to the table. We can expect better graphics, smoother frame rates, better AI and bigger, bolder gameplay. One only has to look at up coming games on the PS3 like The Last Of Us, Beyond: Two Souls and God Of War Ascension to inspire wild speculation.

But as strong as the gamer in me is, there is also a corporate me. That may not be of interest to a lot of gamers because most gamers are simply consumers. They anticipate the releases, buy the releases, play the releases and wait keenly for the next. I believe a gamer should take a moment to consider the fact that Sony are a company, a company that needs to make money in order to continue creating unique franchises and taking risks, because without that sound financial footing, we the gamer would suffer in the long run. It has been well documented that Sony are in financial difficulty, but we the gamer can take solace from the fact that Sony’s gaming division is one of their most successful divisions, and so it follows that their focus is going to be exactly where we would hope for the foreseeable future.

But what of the headline? Sony acquired ‘Gaikai’ [Definition: A large open space] on the 2nd of July 2012 for $380 million but since then little has been said about its implementation. Occasional articles popped up suggesting that this was Sony’s answer to full backward compatibility on the PS4, or even the PS3. I have no reason to doubt that this is the case — in fact I would be shocked if it wasn’t utilized in this way.  But I believe that this is just the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg’ and Gaikai is going to be bigger than any single console. Absorb that for a moment, put the PS4 announcement to one side, and consider the possibilities.

Some of you may already be ahead of me, some of you may be as excited at the prospect as I am, but many of you may not have fully embraced the potential because you relate to a sleek, black box that sits just below your HDTV. Data is not reliant upon hardware when it is piped directly into your homes. It is not restricted by a product, regardless of  which product that may be. As I have already pointed out, most people are consumers and they will consume anything that is easily available, particularly if it entertains and is reasonably priced. New TV channels arrive on a regular basis and many people wait eagerly to see what fresh content they may bring. All it takes is a remote and the will to seek it out. From consoles to laptops, from phones to tablets, TV channels have spread digitally beyond the confines of traditional delivery points.

And so it will be with games. Gaikai or perhaps PSTV, will offer Sony a much broader alternative to the single console solution and more scope for building revenue. Just as TV channels have migrated, so will PS branded games. PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP games will be available through this channel and will require but two acquisition: A subscription fee and a controller. This channel will eventually be incorporated into all Bravia TVs and through licensing deals, to other TV manufacturers. The same applies to all internet connected devices that are not Sony branded. PS4 will be a great console with great content, but the the message ‘The future of Playstation’ is bigger than anyone can possibly imagine.

Source: http://sony-gamer.com/?p=1539