After 
seven years, Sony is ready to pull the plug on the PlayStation 3, clearing shelves this fall for the PlayStation 4.
As expected, the PS4 features improved graphics performance over its predecessor, but unlike the PS3, which relied on hardware superiority to woo customers, the new system will focus on other elements as well to lure players away from competing consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo — as well as platforms from Apple and other companies. No price has yet been disclosed.
After 
almost a year of rumors and whispers, Sony has finally revealed the worst kept secret in gaming: The PlayStation 4 is on the way.
At a lavish press event in New York, the company showed off its next-generation console, a system it hopes will lure people away not only from competing machines from Microsoft and Nintendo, but from smart phones, tablets and other new gaming platforms. It will be released this holiday season, though the company didn’t announce a price.
What 
does tonight’s announcement of the PlayStation 4 spell for Sony’s next-gen fortunes? Chris Morris takes a look at what has been promised — and ignored — and predicts what it means for the platform holder’s future.
The reveal was just the beginning.
Sony’s unveiling of the PlayStation 4 Wednesday was the start of a long, carefully planned marketing campaign that will culminate in its release this holiday season. And while the company might be focusing gamer attentions on the new hardware, the touchscreen controller and several big name games, what’s really at stake is a whole lot bigger.
Video 
game consoles, typically, spend about five or six years in the spotlight, before stepping aside for the next generation. The current cycle, though, is now entering its seventh year — a longevity that many analysts and publishers blame for the malaise that has affected the shares of game makers.
Sony, on Feb. 20, is expected to unveil the PlayStation 4, its entry in the next generation battle. The system is more than the start of a new cycle, though; it’s an essential step in rebuilding Sony as a corporation.
Columnist 
Chris Morris looks at opportunities and potential pitfalls for Sony in the upcoming console battle.
In just under two weeks, we’ll know a lot more about the PlayStation 4 than we do right now- well, in theory.
The truth is: The leaks about the PS4 have been coming fast and furious lately. And people with knowledge of the system (but who are still abiding by the NDA) indicate that there’s a lot of accuracy in the recent reports. For the sake of argument, let’s assume for the moment that the whispers are right. Given what we think we know, what things about the PS4 can put it in a leadership position in the next generation – and what things could turn it into the next Vita?
Rumors 
about the PlayStation 4 have been floating around for over a year now, but on February 20, we’ll finally get a glimpse at the real thing. That’s the day Sony will hold an event in New York where it reportedly plans to unveil its long-awaited next-generation console.
The company got the hype machine rolling Thursday evening with a mysterious teaser video. To amp things up further, the company posted a Twitter update reading simply “see the future.” Within minutes, news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, confirmed through sources that this would, in fact, be the company’s launch party for the PS4.
Now 
that Nintendo has priced and dated the Wii U, it’s only a matter of time before people once again start trying to guess what Microsoft and Sony have in store. Other than unnecessary redesigns, that is.
Aside from secondhand information from developers, there aren’t many facts out there regarding the Xbox 720 (technical codename: Durango) or the PlayStation 4 (technical codename: Orbis). But they’re both definitely coming, so we’re heading out on a very large, very shaky limb today by blasting out some informed predictions for what gamers might expect in the near future. While we don’t expect every one of these to come true, we’re sure going to brag about the ones that do. Take it away, crystal ball!
Nintendo 
and Sony took pains to avoid mentioning their next-generation console systems at this year’s E3 videogame conference. But their publishing partners had plenty to say.
While no independent publishers were willing to come out and call the graphically-intense games they had on display “next generation,” many quietly confirmed that they were showcasing what consumers can expect to see when the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 finally hit the market in late 2013.
As 
Nintendo prepares to launch the Wii U later this year and Microsoft andSony gear up for expected 2013 launches for their next generation consoles, there’s a sense of excitement building in the videogame industry — but there’s also a sense of fear.
The market has changed considerably since the launch of the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 — and while new console launches used to be a surefire way to reinvigorate both core and casual gamers, nobody’s certain if that will happen this time.
There 
have been plenty of leaks, whispers and rumors about the next Xbox for a few months now, but there hasn’t been a lot of talk about Sony’s plans for the next generation.
Kotaku, though, claims to have uncovered some inside information about the system that, on the surface, makes it sound like the next generation console race is going to be a tight one — and begin next year.
Chris Morris: Journalist 