Forbes: PS4 May Be Powered By AMD

[Yungstar 2006]

What is the benefit of porting PS4 games to the PS3?

i'd guess it's so the 10's of millions of PS3 owners have a chance to play those games.

[itachi73378]

i'd guess it's so the 10's of millions of PS3 owners have a chance to play those games.

yup. Just like ps3and 360 games are also put on the wii. Its a whole new market, those people that only have last gen console will buy them for sure.

[Centurion]

i'd guess it's so the 10's of millions of PS3 owners have a chance to play those games.

That will definitely help the sales of Playstation 4's.

[LfCpS3]

No matter who makes it, i hope its powerful, reliable and cheap!!!

[Nakatomi Uk]

I highly doubt the PS4 would have a Series 7000 ATi chip inside thats now official old tech in the graphics world for gamers yeah its the latest out now but the 8000 Series will now be in development I bet and that wont even be in the PS4 should this all be true about AMD/PS4, I tell ya if it was AMD would develop and release something special for the PS4 and make sure its got at least a few great features to work with the CELL CPU Sony have to stick with the CELL due to the devs now getting used to it they just need to use a new version and IBM have been tweaking that for years.

[davin_g]

That will definitely help the sales of Playstation 4's.

It isn't about having the most sales for one console or another. Sony has 60 odd million PS3 owners that they would love to continue to sell to while the PS4 is taking off. So what...Sony gets royalties for every game sold. Whether PS4 or PS3. They don't want to keep people from buying a PS4 but they still need money coming in to be profitable. Also this allows developers to recover their costs easier and reduces cost if it is easy enough and will lower their risk. In fact I would dare say if porting games over to PS3 is easy and say xbox the next xbox is difficult to port down to the 360 (no evidence to think this) than it would be very likely that developers would be much more apt to utilize special features and promote their games on Sony's console because they would have a much much bigger base to sale to. PS4 would hopefully be able to set itself apart from current gen products with incredible new features and graphics and gameplay (if not it will fail) but developers are not going to completely ignore all those customers and with easy and quality porting of games to the PS3 would only strengthen Sonys ability to sell consoles...PS3 and PS4. Heck they are still selling millions of PS2s worldwide and many millions more software for it last year and that is like 5 years into PS3s lifecycle do you think Sony wont try to do the same when the PS4 comes along? We want as powerful a graphics processor as possible and hopefully affordable as they can get but if they can make similarities between the PS3 and PS4 possible so that developers will be able to make porting games down to PS3 possible it would only mean more support and hopefully more games at launch and maybe even exclusive content or even titles if they can give developers the ability to make their games for multiple platforms. Hopefully we get incredible titles for the PS4 and yet those on the PS3 will get to enjoy quality ports from that..else if it is difficult and expensive...those devs may decide not to port games over to PS3 or even worse not make them for the PS4 until the install base is big enough. It simply means more games and hopefully better quality for both consoles and hopefully more success for Sony who makes the games and experiences I value most.

[Bigdoggy]

If developing games is easier to do on the PS4 compared to the PS3, I guarantee that developers will jump ship right away from the PS3 and start concentrating 100% on PS4 games and to forget about PS3 altogether.

I personally don't give a crap about backwards compatibility. In fact, I would rather have a few more features equal to what the cost would be on BC. each Playstation system will constantly be bottlenecked every time they make each system BC. not only is it more expensive but you lose out on what new features the console could have had, but because of the cost of making a console BC, you know exactly what I'm saying here. Sony went so far and out with this system that they really need to look back at what made them successful in the first place and it certainly was NOT the PS3 or the PS2. It was the PS1, it was the fact that they support independent developers, because of Sony's support some of those developers grew into well known developers within the gaming world. Sony completely fell off the cliff in terms of independent support.

[Soldier 95B]

If developing games is easier to do on the PS4 compared to the PS3, I guarantee that developers will jump ship right away from the PS3 and start concentrating 100% on PS4 games and to forget about PS3 altogether.

I don't agree with this. For the sake of argument, let's assume that there will be at least 70 million PS3's by the time the PS4 is announced. NO way will developers ignore a user base of 70 million people. The sales potential is astounding. The PS4 will have no user base at the start, and will still be expensive to develop for. What I can see happening is that developers possibly developing games simultaneously for both the PS3 and PS4 in order to generate some revenue coupled with actual profit.....if the PS4 is that much easier.

EA didn't give up on Madden for the PS2, nor NCAA...still releasing them along side the PS3 version. They didn't want to alienate the, I imagine near 150 million, PS2 user base out there. At this age, it is almost like free money for them.

[itachi73378]

NO way will developers ignore a user base of 70 million people. The sales potential is astounding.

This.

[Inzane2050]

When the next generation hits, we will have the 360/PS2 porting scenario done as it always has been. The PS1 to PS2 jump had this same thing done as well where old hardware still got all of the games. As posted already, you can't ignore the 70 million units of the current generation. It is a steady transition, not a forced migration. The transition takes time until games can stand on their own legs with the new consoles.

[davin_g]

Agreed. I don't want the PS4 to play PS3 games I would just like for the sake of developers to keep some of the architecture similar enough that developers don't have to relearn everything all over again next gen in making games and can build on what they have achieved learning on the PS3. If it will make porting games over to the PS3 cost effective that is even a better scenerio for 70 million consumers, hundreds of developers and distributers, and Sony. The last thing I want is a gimped PS4 or one with bottlenecks. I simply would think it beneficial to for some similarities in the system. Developers had to basically almost relearn everything this gen with the PS3. I saw it affect game development time with NUMEROUS DELAYS of all my favorite franchises. I also saw multiplatform games be better on the 360 and I believe we have basically seen less support from indie developers and even larger 3rd party developers by being "put-off" by the difficulties. Not only that but cost of development went way up. If they can provide a nice solid gpu and free up bottlenecks with RAM and keep things similar except maybe a more powerful cell I would be thrilled. If it is easy enough to port games over to the PS3 and keep it relevent even better for Sony and developers to have larger revenue streams.

[bobtheduck]

I hate AMD... I've had such bad experiences with them on my old PC. I had 3 AMD cards die on me, and I decided I'd never buy another AMD product if I could avoid it.

I hope this isn't true. If nothing else, I'd just want to see Xbox 720 and WiiU do Nvidia.

And for someone who plans on staying mobile (like me), having one system that does everything is, well, very advantageous. If I had a 360 and a Wii, I wouldn't have been able to bring them with me to Korea. I also can't bring a fattie PS3 and a PS4 anywhere at the same time, and I like playing old games from time to time. BC is very important for me.

[Nuvian]

PlayStation 4 Ditching The Cell Processor, Sources Say, Which Leads to Some Wild Theories. @ Kotaku

[Sufi]

It's bittersweet that they're abandoning it. I wish the Cell had a point and that it saved them money because that's good for us in the long-run (costs) but at the same time, they really don't need anything other than a regular CPU because GPU is where it's at.

[Sub-stance1]

I'm sure most developers will like this move.

[TEJ2025]

Will this cause no backwards compatibility?

[brebaz]

If True, it's like shooting yourself in the foot and wonder why you're limping!!

[SolidSnakeUS]

Anyone think they would have a mobile, low power version of the FX-8120/FX-8150 octo-core CPU? Would honestly be a great idea. I know it's not as powerful as Sandy Bridge or the upcoming Ivy Bridge CPUs, but considering AMD is an architecture already out and if they can pull off both an AMD CPU and GPU, they only have one company to deal with, especially when both CPU and GPU by the same company can really help improve communication and possible performance between the two.

[brebaz]

Anyone think they would have a mobile, low power version of the FX-8120/FX-8150 octo-core CPU? Would honestly be a great idea. I know it's not as powerful as Sandy Bridge or the upcoming Ivy Bridge CPUs, but considering AMD is an architecture already out and if they can pull off both an AMD CPU and GPU, they only have one company to deal with, especially when both CPU and GPU by the same company can really help improve communication and possible performance between the two.

Pilediver is around the corner and it is more power efficient and 10-15% more powerful than BD coming out this year. Should make things a bit more interesting for sure!

[SolidSnakeUS]

Even with that extra 10 to 15%, it might only really get it up equal to SB at best. Even so, if it can be down to 77W or 90W, it might be a whole lot better. For a GPU, I'd expect Sony to try to get the 78xx to 79xx series (at least) for the new system, mainly because by the time the system is ever released, these two series of AMD cards will be a LOT cheaper.

[brebaz]

Doesn't really matter though, Using something other than the CellBE would be exactly like an Arrow to the knee

Otherwise the Purchase of the CellBE back again from Toshiba would be a waste of money.

[Inzane2050]

The PS4 will use a new IBM processor but keep the Cell BE for backwards compatibility. It's how Sony has always rolled, no?

[brebaz]

Here's why Sony won't be Using AMD CPU's in the PS4

It's official. Sony and Toshiba just issued a press release saying that the two companies have signed a binding memorandum of understanding to transfer Tosh's fabrication facilities, operated by Nagasaki Semiconductor Manufacturing, back to Sony. A deal that is rumored to cost Sony some 50 billion yen (about $835 million) -- a bargain considering that Sony sold the facilities that manufacture the Cell Broadband Engine, RSX graphics engine, and other SoCs to Toshiba for 90 billion Yen back in 2008. Unfortunately, Sony's being coy about its plans for the new facilities. The two hope to complete the transfer sometime in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/24/sony-buying-back-cell-chip-fabrication-facilities-from-toshiba/

[SolidSnakeUS]

Do you think they also want to keep the CellBE because not only for BC, but also because it's something that makes them different from the competition? As in they don't have the same hardware as the other guys? Imagine if both the 360 and PS3 had AMD CPUs/GPUs, it would be kind of silly considering they would almost be the same thing.

[brebaz]

Not just to be different i guess, they invested a lot of money on it, and also most developers know their way around the CellBE by now. Going to the next generation with improved CellBE more ram and a faster GPU could make the PS4 a Unique beast to be feared IMO. And also there's the fact that if they used a mainstream CPU and GPU it won't be a console no more, just a PC that you can't upgrade.