I don't think we've heard everything inside the new PS, but Sony will still be closer to MS in power than it will to Wii U. However, I believe Sony will follow Nintendo in regards to having a screen on controller. X8ox will definitely be the most powerful, and continue evolving kinect & smartglass optimization.

power rank:
X8ox>PS0rbis>>WiiU

Wii probably also had something to do with it. Wii and WiiU follow similar strategies anyways.

@bolded: Obviously not. They were probably observing the competition way before they got too far into development (even though you're obviously exaggerating). We've known about Wii U for a while now, and Wii's been here forever.

Agreed. I think 90% of their reason will be because of financials. If WiiU influenced Sony, then it will be for a very small part of the whole reason.

Sony are between a rock and a hard place lol. On one hand if they go all powerful, the hardcore Sony fans will be happy. But investors may not be as they will probably be loosing money on each console. If they listen to investors, you are right it may backlash and peopel will not see a reason to upgrade.

Yeah  at launch the bluray drive alone almost cost the same amount the WIi U is being retailed for. Reports said it was 250$-$350. Sony did throw a lot of money into the CPU but that didn't necessarily equate to more "power", although that was definitely the intention. The Cell cost twice the amount of the 360 CPU but do ps3 games look 2x that of the 360? They made a mistake going with such a prorietarty, they essentially developed it from the ground up specifically for the ps3 but it didn't provide the gains they hoped for. 

Actually, Sony is in a fantastic position to offer a moderately enhanced PS4 without having to worry much about fan backlash. Why? Because if they integrate a cloud streaming service such as Gaikai's, players can play the absolute BEST looking games in the world regardless of the hardware in the PS4 (as long as they have a strong internet connection).

Intelligent company's don't work in such a rigid manor. They have to look for a route to long term profit, that doesn't always mean copying what was successfull. Sony cannot simply release an underpowerd system, comparable to the Wii U unless they have a killer USP. Otherwise it will essentially be nintendo 1st part vs Sony and although sony have made mistakes they're not stuid enough to think they can win that battle. Unless of course they've been investing heavily in more 1st party studios.

That small point is everything, the majority of people do not have a strong enough internet connecion. Unless sony included 4G chips in every system

Here's the problem for Sony.  They've always relied on a tech advantage (CD, DVD) to entice consumers, but this past gen, their blu ray didn't exactly work as planned.  So how in the **** will they sell PS4?  Power is a part of it, but IMO they need to make an all out, family computer entertainment type solution that somehow costs cheaper than X8ox. Don't know about being influenced by WiiU, but they need to continue having an ultimate browsing "pc like" experience, with a new controller that has a screen, and possibly trackball instead of right analogue. Continue pushing MOVE as well, since WiiU will still support remote+.

I honestly don't know what Sony's plans are, but they can't continue the same path banging their head on the wall expecting different results.  Fact is the Microsoft brand is very powerful and has overtaken the Playstation brand in the U.S (biggest most important region).

If the wii u does have any effect on the PS4, it will be because the Wii U will speed up the PS4 launch. Wii U launching now will likely make it so the other consoles will want to get out as soon as possible so they don't start with a huge deficit of market share. This will force Sony and Msoft to put out consoles sooner (and therefore weaker) than if they had more time...thats just my opinion

The new leaked specs indicate quite a bit of power in my eyes. What, its a 4 core 3.4-3.8ghz or something? With shaders, threads, and RAM availability that will cripple PS3 capabilities. That's better than the Wii U and people don't give the Wii U enough credit for its capabilities. Trump Wii U and you have a powerful machine for next gen. Even if they don't throw in all their weight towards graphics, they have at least the middle ground. Dedicate their efforts towards UI/OS capabilities and they have awesome on their hands. In fact that might be the most important factor if cloud gaming becomes a reality later in next gens life. If it's still too early by then, they can release another piece of hardware with cloud as a certainty.

The games are going to be better than people expect with this level of power. Our game tech is old now, it is stagnating, and on PC too. PC is often limited by the console push so people can't use PC as a judge of next gen. New consoles come with new engines. New games developed without old tech in mind.