by mistake I meant including last gen chips in the current gen console. The CELL is a complex chip that very few people actually use it will always be relatively expensive, but that is beside the point including a redundant extra chip just for backwards compatibility is still stupid, especially if you are trying to keep it affordable.

That is a rediculous statement. Every developer that works on the PS3 needs to have an understanding of and work with the CELL chip. How many developers have ducked out of going multiplatform because of the CELL?

Very few, if any. 

Keeping the next console backwards compatible (which will likely require the chip actually being there, as it is so unique) will extend the life of all the "collection" games coming out. In no respect would it be "stupid" to make this move. If their next console does not have BC I will put off buying it for a long time.

I mean that sony are pretty much the only company still using it, mainly because they invested so much money into it. That raises costs. 

how many have put inferior multiplats on the PS3 because it is to expensive to utilise the CELL? 

Adding the CELL would add cost with little to no actual benefit, while backwards compatibility is nice to have most people won't avoid a console because it doesn't offer it. The PS3 is doing fine without it, it would be stupid to include backwards comparability at such a cost. More likely the SONY patent for the add-on that adds backwards compatibility will be used next gen for the people that wan't it.

After these past 4 years developers know what they're doing with the Cell. All SONY has to do is not make it more complex.

Glad to hear, as a developer I know how hard and complex is to program in a multi-processor environment. Sony really need to make the next PlayStation easy to program in order to reduce the costs of the games.

i think the ps4 will have the cell since most devs this gen learned how to use the cell. It would be a waste of knowledge many devs worked so hard to achieve this gen if sony took it away.

I actually think they may keep a version of Cell in PS4. From what I've read CPU architecture is undergoing a bit of an overhaul with both Intel and AMD coming up with CPU/GPU hybrids, much like the Cell was originally meant to be. It could even be that devs that used the Cell processor on the PS3 will actually have an easier time with the new PC CPUs. Alternatively, they may even be able to emulate the Cell processor with the new batch of CPUs comming out.

well the current trend is to use a multi core CPU with a GPU integrated on the same die, which is addressed in the same way as a discrete GPU so not really like the CELL. And thanks to the APIs that Nvidia are using even programing for the new x86 compatible GPUs that they are designing will be simpler than developing for the CELL tho many of the tricks used to optimise for the CELL will be able to be used in that area. Which reminds me there is a chance that the PS3 won't have a CPU at all and just use a Nvidia GPU.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/21/nvidia-teams-with-pgi-for-cuda-x86-gifts-its-brand-of-paralleli/

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/21/nvidia-reveals-fermis-successor-kepler-at-28nm-in-2011-maxwel/

News like this is always nice to hear.  Having SCEWWS directly involved in hardware R&D will be incredibly benefitial to both SCE and third party developers.  It will allow SCE to have stronger hardware launches, and it will allow both first and third party developers to quickly conform to this hardware post launch, leading to a better development culture than seen in the ps2/3 days.  SCE's first parties should actually have a good grasp of the hardware well before launch, given they will be directly involved in its creation, unlike with the ps3's launch.

This is an approach very similar to that taken by Nintendo over the past 30 years, and it's a sign that SCE is becoming a more focused game division, rather than a haphazard subsidiary of a larger corporate conglomerate.  Originally SCE was just a group of guys tasked with making a console, then hiring or paying off developers to make games for it.  The unit has become much stronger over in the 15 years since its inception, exponentially so in the past five years, despite the disaster that was the ps3's launch.  (By stronger I mean in management and vision, not financially.)

Five years ago Worldwide Studios didn't exist, and SCE's software teams were each kinda doing their own thing.  Five years ago their developers weren't even working with each other, let alone working on their hardware.   Five years ago they released the ps3, an incredible piece of machinery with an exorbitant price tag, one that was a nightmare to develop for, saw few notable software releases for the first full year of its life, and came with firmware that barely got the job done.

Under Kaz Hirai's helm, the division has evolved into a much stronger and more unified entity, working together to shape the future of PlayStation.  This change can best be seen in Sony's first party output, which is stronger than ever thanks to the ability of Sony's developers to work together and rely on each other, improving the quality and quantity of each studio's respective output.  To think these guys are now actively involved in hardware creation is truly exciting, especially on the firmware side.  Game developers are your best source for ideas for game-related OS improvements. 

I really can't wait to see what SCE is cooking up for PSP2 and PS4.

Indeed.  At this point, most developers have a decent understanding of Cell development, on top of a probably strong knowledge of general multicore development.  Cell is scalable technology, and it'd be a waste to abandon all that has been learned by developers and all the gains that have been made in the ps3's SDK in the past five years when they could easily put a stronger Cell in the ps4.

An upgraded Cell would also make software BC for ps3 games quite feasible for ps4.

Well in any case I just want BC very badly. :P

If it's possible to create an add-on peripheral that can do it, then I would agree that would be the better option.