The Next-Gen Rumour Mill Churns Faster as More Xbox-Next and PS4 Details are ‘Leaked’
Now that we are a few weeks into a year that will probably see two new console launches, or at least big reveals from Microsoft and Sony, the rumour mill is starting to go into overdrive.
It’s probably fair to say that we are entering the video game worlds equivalent of silly season, as an army of gamers look ahead to the launch of the next generation of games consoles. Which system will be more powerful? How many terra-flops of data can they push? Will I need to buy ANOTHER TV SET?! All very important questions, I’m sure you’ll agree.
As is usually the case, new information about Microsoft’s as yet un-revealed hardware has come from a mysterious ‘insider source‘, who today claims that the next Xbox will be more powerful than the PS4, packing hardware that Sony’s research and development team can only dream of.
According to the source, Xbox-Next will target the ability handle Ray-Tracing rendering, while the PS4 will look to punch the resolution all the way up to 4k. Ray Tracing is a rendering technique that is used almost exclusively in pre-rendered stills and animation, and the idea that we are a step away from getting on the fly ray tracing from a home console very telling. If correct, the Xbox-Next will have to be a bit of a monster under the hood to pull it off.
The insider also stated that while the PS4 will be able to output 4k resolution (double the 1080p we are used too), it’s native resolution would fall some way short of that figure. Like the Xbox 360 and PS3, the PS4 will upscale the image to 4k, in the same way that our current boxes upscale 720p to 1080p. Still, actual 1080p rendering is no mean feat, something you’ll need a chunky PC to do today.
The source goes on to suggest that the Xbox-Next will be capable of handling data faster than its Japanese competitor, by virtue of its 3-single on chip design. Essentially meaning that it’s packing 3 multi core CPU’s, with each CPU (or APU) containing a GPU, as is the way with modern processor design. Yep, this paragraph just got complicated, but stick with me here folks!
When posed the question as to whether the three SOC’s will make developing for the system harder, the insider said;
“It would be hard to achieve if it was not for Oban design,” he says, adding “I have heard Starsha kits have very bad heating problems due to the GPU and SOC not being specialised enough.
“I think that has come down to sony not having enough money to invest in R&D. And also a lot of people are comparing Starsha (PS4 code name) and Kryptos(Xbox code name) by saying that Starsha is more powerful, well it’s because you are comparing them to early SDK. Sony Starsha has been in final SDK since December.”
Since the above was revealed to the world, another source has come out against the idea that the Xbox-Next will be more powerful, stating that in fact the PS4 will win the power prize.
So what do we really know? At this point, nothing concrete, but it’s fun to speculate. What we know for sure is that this is one exciting year to be a gamer. The coming months and the run up to E3 are going to be very exacting, and we’ll know for sure soon which company is playing the ultimate power card.
