Will The PS4 Have Blu-Ray Still?

[Final-Fan]

rafichamp said:

I have been thinking, the PS2 and the PS1 both used the DVD format. The PS3 toke a different direction and decided to go with Blu-Ray. So will the PS4 have Blu-Ray too (optimized, making blu-ray CD's to hold even more data) or will they change to a different format again?

If they choose to stay with Blu-Ray with the PS4 will this be a big factor in its pricing? Will it be a positive or negative impact?

Tell me what YOU guys think.

DISUCSSSSSSSSS

I think that the PS4 will continue to use Blu-rays.  

For the people who point to the PS1, PS2, and PS3 all using different formats, consider this:  

The CD format was fairly recent, but not brand new when the PS1 released.  In fact, the Sega CD had been around for some time using the same format.  

The DVD format was pretty new when the PS2 released.  The Dreamcast, released only a year or so earlier, used a custom disc only twice as big as a CD (much much smaller than a DVD).  In fact, the fact that the PS2 was a fairly cheap DVD player was considered a significant selling point.  

The Blu-ray format was so new at the time the PS3 released that it wasn't even really ready.  It was very costly and there were shortages of the optics or diodes or something, because the technology was so new.  I guarantee you Sony wishes that the technology had been a bit more mature at the time the PS3 had to release.  

What I am suggesting by recounting these situations is that the console generations have outpaced disc technology advancement.  Even if Blu-ray gets a successor in a similar amount of time as the other two did, it will not be in time for the next gen.  

As for the people saying the PS4 will exclusively use digital distribution:  the PSP-Go may have bolstered your argument, but I really, really don't think so.  There are huge amounts of the market that cannot realistically use DD as their only way of getting games.  Sony will not turn its back on that money.  

Now, as for the OP question of what impact this will have on pricing:  obviously using a mature disc format will mean that their production cost will be much lower than it was this time.  In addition it is widely speculated that the PS4 will use an advancement of the Cell-type processor.  The PS4 will probably also be less focused on the "power struggle" which also will let Sony keep costs down.  

My own speculation is that Sony will shoot for $300 as a launch price; IIRC PS1 and PS2 both launched at this price.