FUTURE WATCH: PlayStation 4 (Page 1 of 3)

The PlayStation 4 is here! Okay, so maybe not, but it's fun to dream. Here's how GamePro would design the PS4.

additional ingenuity by Tenacious Moses and Ahoy_and_Avast


For a console that's a solid five to seven years over the horizon, the PlayStation 4 sure has been making a big splash lately.

Given the widespread interest in Sony's "next-next-gen" console, we thought it might be fun to peer into our GamePro crystal ball and make some educated guesses about where Sony is headed with its long-lived PlayStation brand.

In this first edition of FUTURE WATCH, we examine the strengths and pitfalls of Sony's current strategy with the PlayStation 3, and make some suggestions for their inevitable follow-up to the PlayStation 3. Have your own predictions? Send them to vicious_sid@gamepro.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 1: The Sony Galaxy has landed
Page 2: System specs, games, and storage
Page 3: The controller

NOTE: Before we dive in, we should set some quick ground rules. Judging by Sony's timetable from the PlayStation 2 to the PlayStation 3, we're loosely assuming that the PlayStation 4 will debut around (roughly) 2012. For the purposes of this article, that date will serve us just fine.

Secondly, we're also assuming that HD adoption will be at or near 100%, and that overall technology prices (for RAM and silicon) will have plummeted compared to today's market.

With that said, enjoy!

The Name

Sony faces a serious problem in naming the PlayStation 4. In Japanese, the number four (pronounced "shi") also means "death" and is widely considered unlucky in a superstitious sense. This cultural wrinkle is leveraged in films and manga, some of which contain the Japanese kanji character for four to add an aura of edgy danger. But many Japanese people consider the number and its derivatives to be highly unlucky. Because of its negative connotations, it's highly unlikely that a mainstream Japanese product would contain the number four.

For that reason, we're betting that Sony will avoid naming its console the PlayStation 4, at least in Japan. So we came up with a new, international name for the PS4: The Sony Galaxy. The name is reflected in the design of the new console, a perfect sphere swirled with star-like patterns. Sony's online service would be named "PlayStation" in order to keep its powerful branding established.

Welcome to the Galaxy

Welcome to the Galaxy

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