With Steam’s big picture mode, it’s now easy to plug a cheap gaming PC directly into your TV, and have a superior graphical experience compared to current-gen consoles. Now that the vast majority of notable third-party games are coming out on both consoles and PC, those concerned with graphical fidelity are buying the Windows version. The console market is getting stranger by the year. Now, it seems like Sony is fighting the same kind of battle with Microsoft. The slapdash SIXAXIS controls for the PS3 were clearly a response to the Wii, and the Playstation Move was even farther down that path. This rumor makes it clear that this isn’t directly derivative of the Kinect technology, but it does come off as reactionary. With the increasing activity in the Siri-like natural voice recognition space, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sony position new voice commands prominently to combat the potential of a next-gen Kinect. Just like the Kinect and the Playstation Eye before it, this new hardware will also sport an array of microphones that allows for noise cancelation and directional voice tracking. If this is true, that means Sony will be able to judge distance and movement on the Z axis without directly cribbing from the Kinect’s IR implementation. The rumored hardware for the next Playstation sports two 1280×720 cameras. By comparison, the Kinect offers a standard camera at 640×480 (30 FPS) and an IR camera running at 640×480 (30 FPS). The current Playstation Eye peripheral for the PS3 is a single camera that offers a resolution of 640×480 (60 FPS).
The Playstation Move hasn’t been nearly as successful, and the latest rumblings in gaming circles is that Sony plans to launch a full-fledged Kinect competitor with its next generation console. Microsoft has a surprising success on its hands with the Kinect, and it doesn’t appear that it’s going to stop pushing that technology forward. Surely, the next Playstation will be a graphics powerhouse compared to the aging PS3 and Xbox 360, but that’s just not enough.
The PS4 is right around the corner, and rumors have been circulating about what gameplay hook it will offer. We’re only a few days away from what will hopefully be a major console announcement from Sony. This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page.