There are some amazing pictures circulating that depict what is claimed to be in-game footage from the PS4 and Xbox 720.
The pictures were shown in editions of the print magazines PSM3 and Xbox World Magazine, and replicated onComputerAndVdeogames.com. In their respective articles, not much is said about the horsepower or when to expect any sort of official announcement, but it is of course assumed that developers have been working on next-gen games for years.
The PS3 has been around for five years now; the Xbox 360 has been out for six. Under the historical trends of the gaming environment, that usually means it's time for a hardware refresh. This time, for the first time, it's different.
The PS3 and 360 have the ability to literally change themselves thanks to online firmware updates that no previous console was able to do.
For the Xbox 360, Microsoft also launched its Kinect motion camera that it hopes will rejuvenate the system. It is also banking heavily on enhanced non-gaming experiences like live TV, streaming music, and social networking.
From a hardware perspective, though, there does need to be a refresh. The Xbox 360 has become fragmented, with early console owners stuck with a device that has no HDMI port, a lack of wireless connectivity, and no hard drive.
Today's Xbox 360 owners have all that, but some things can't be changed through a hardware refresh, like disc capacity or internal infrastructure. That requires a brand new console, and we're very much reaching that point for the Xbox 360.
The PS3 probably has room to stretch its legs a little bit more, as sales have only continued to grow and there seem to be no technological limitations (game developers aren't even coming close to filling up the capacity of a Blu-ray Disc), but beefed up processing and graphics chips are probably widely available now, and that would be the trigger for the PS4.