So if NB and PS4 have 8gb DDR3 and 4gb GDDR5 (I think that's what the recent rumor suggested) what the effects on games be?  I hear people saying DDR5 is faster but since there's less that could obviously be bad.  So what specifically could this enable?  Will there be bigger environments rendered on one?  Better fps on the other?  What sort of effect will this difference have in game?

Didn't you said you were tired of next gen rumors?

yes I did but i also readily admited that I would not be able to hold out in that same statement.  That's kind of irrelevant anyway because this is really more of a technical question.

Entirely up the devs. I actually read a summarized explanation of strengths of each approach over at gaf. I will try and find it

But the bottom line is both will yield great results overall but will give excellent results in several different areas to one another

I can guarantee you that they are not true.

There is currently nothing called DDR5.

Even DDR4 is not really commonly occurring, and just now arriving on the market sometime this year.

What DOES exist is GDDR5, which is not the same.

that's probably the one from the rumor I said I could've remembered wrong.  Regardless what's the pros and cons of each setup as far as what I will see in the game?

Well, if we're speaking just double RAM, from 4GB GDDR5 to 8GB DDR3, with no further elaboration on how fast this RAM is, it's difficult to say what the benefits will be.

Typically, with the new engines arriving, the difference will be seen in slightly better maps (texture, normal, reflection, gloss, etc.) and whether new types of dynamic meshes can be incoporated at all. Things like per-pixel displacement and dynamic tesselation belong in new engines that purportedly require lots of RAM.

Aside from that, as you said, bigger environments, more of everything in general. RAM's where it's at.

All depends on which console one has prematurely latched his or her allegiance too. They'll find ways to make one seem better than the other.

But, assuming these rumors have an inkling of truth to them, it's really up to the developers. There's enough talent in each console manufacturer's first party studio base to do impressive stuff with whatever they're given.

Some of the rumors are suggesting that a large amount of the 720's RAM is dedicated to the OS, which has people speculating that Microsoft has something planned that goes beyond just producing a gaming machine. Kinect 2.0 is the most common assumption.

I think so, their main goal seems to be 'controlling the living room', a machine that goes well beyond games (that´s probably Sony´s ultimate goal as well) and does everything.That story about MS acquiring a home automation company for the Xbox team hints at that.

3GB for the OS seems like a lot, but they´re probably thinking in the long term.