While Sony has long said that the PS3 will have a 10-year lifespan – which would take us through to 2016 – chatter around the arrival of the PS4 has been picking up recently. Back in May, Sony CFO, Masaru Kato, confirmed that a big chunk of the company’s R&D budget is focused on building the next console.
Now DigiTimes has gone all out with claims that the PS4 will hit production at the end of 2011 in time for a 2012 launch. That would set Sony up for a head-to-head battle with the Nintendo Wii U. And that’s before we even consider the claim that it’ll come with motion control built in…
Citing its usual (and ever unreliable) component manufacturer sources, DigiTimes says the PS4 will pack full-body motion controls similar to Kinect, leaving the PlayStation Move behind.
It goes on to claim that Foxconn and Pegatron Technology are already onboard to build the PS4 with the aim of pumping out 20 million consoles in 2012. The two firms currently assemble the PS3.
While it’s certainly possible that Sony could have pushed forward its plans for the PS4, it would be a big change in strategy. It’s worth noting though that the company continued to support the PS2 long after the PS3 launched.
Dive into the comments and let us know: should Sony push the PS4 out early? Or with the Sony Vita on the way at the end of this year, has it already got enough on its plate?
