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"Unlike PS3, we are not planning a major loss to be incurred with the launch of PS4," said Sony CFO Masaru Kato during an earnings call that ended moments ago.

"At the time we developed PS3, we made a lot of in-house investments to develop the chip, the Cell chip. Development of the chip saw the silicon processing and all the facilities invested by us ourselves. But this time, yes we have a team working on chip development, but we already have existing technology to incorporate and also product investment and all the facilities will now be invested by our partners, other foundries, so we don't have to make all the investment in-house."

Sony didn't offer a sales forecast for PS4 for the year ending 31st March 2014, nor did anyone ask - the fools!

Sony turned a profit a year after a record loss - not a bad result for Kaz Hirai's first year in charge. He didn't necessarily work miracles, but he did reorganise and streamline the company, cutting thousands of jobs and getting back to black by selling expensive office buildings in Japan and America, plus Sony's stakes in DeNA and M3 holdings. Doing so enabled Sony to splash out and acquire Gaikai last summer.

Sony's annual profit was 43 billion yen ($458 million) - roughly what was expected.

In the Game segment, sales were down 12.2 per cent and operating income down 94 per cent to $18 million, whoopsie daisy.

Combined PS3 and PS2 sales were down to 16.5 million from 18 million the year before, whereas combined PSP and Vita sales raised a whisker to 7 million from 6.8 million the year before. But a PS Vita price cut in Japan undermined the extra sales, bringing in less money for Sony.

In the year ahead, "Sales are expected to increase significantly," Kato said, "primarily due to the planned introduction of the PlayStation 4 in the fiscal year ending 31st March 2014.

"Operating income," however, "is expected to be essentially flat year-on-year primarily due to an increase in research and development expenses and marketing expenses related to the introduction of the PS4, offset by the impact of the above-mentioned increase in sales."

Sony expects PS3 to sell 10 million units this financial year - a figure I can confidently report because PS2 sales have been removed from the year-ahead forecast.

Sony believes a combined 5 million PSP and PS Vita units will be sold this financial year, which is considerably down on this year - not a good sign for Vita.

Nevertheless, smartphone sales were up for Sony, and continuing to turn those around, plus transforming TV sales, was described as "a must" for the company this year. The other segments are relatively stable by comparison.

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Sony and Microsoft are telling developers they're "going heavily" on free-to-play and in-app purchasing models with their next-gen consoles, according to Epic Games VP Mark Rein. Speaking in a roundtable discussion at the UK's Game Horizon conference, Rein said both companies will take on the kinds of financial models seen on mobile devices.

"The next-gen consoles are going to be fully embracing the free-to-play and these IAP-type business models," Rein told the audience, "So in case you don't know that I'm putting that out there. Sony and Microsoft are both going heavily in that area."

Roundtable chair Matt Martin of GamesIndustry International said that's what both platform holders are saying, but that "we still need to see some kind of evidence."

Rein replied, "Well, I'm telling you. I'm telling you what they're telling developers."

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"I think what you're going to see the new consoles do is a better job of making it easier," Rein said. "I think the real big thing that the consoles can do is improve their interfaces. They can improve the Xbox Live-type experience. They can improve their media center capabilities. But that's only going to make them also better platforms for having your games. Your games will just come down from the cloud, you'll be able to go to any Xbox, sign in, and boom, you'll be able to play your game."

"I think they can make gaming a lot more convenient, and then I think you'll game more if it's more convenient," he added.

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"The main reason being that many countries don't have robust internet connections. It makes sense for people to have internet connections to play online games, but for offline games there are many countries that we saw do not really have robust internet."

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“I don’t think Microsoft has the balls to block used games, and I want you to quote me on that,” said Pachter.

“Microsoft would alienate 30 percent of their audience by doing that and Sony would step in and exploit that by saying, ‘We’re not blocking used games.’”

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We are incredibly excited about PlayStation 4, and we can’t wait to share more features and details with you as we get closer to launch.

As you know, one of the first major reveals during PlayStation Meeting 2013 was the new DualShock 4 Wireless Controller. Today, we’re pleased to share a brand new video where developers discuss some of their favorite DualShock 4 features, what makes each feature unique and how it will make your gameplay experience much more dynamic.

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According to our source close to Square Enix, we are able to confirm the arrival of Final Fantasy Versus XIII on PS3 ... and PS4.

According to our information, the change would have occurred there are now nearly 2 years. A moment more complex during development. The life of the project has been anything but smooth sailing. But no, the title is definitely not canceled.

Note that today, the title would be dedicated to Sony machines and therefore do not come out on Xbox 360.

Our source confirmed that Sony would have helped this transition with the PS4 portage financially. The price for such exclusivity? Difficult to judge. Remains to be more and know a release date. Square Enix is scheduled to speak on the subject at E3 2013 in June in Los Angeles ...

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"We are in a kind of sick market for old-school gaming - the traditional retail-based gaming - and as much as EA has moved into digital, the boxed stuff is not as robust. While digital is coming up fast it's not filling in the gaps. I think it's an easy target or oversimplification for folks who don't understand the business adequately; they don't really look at the big picture.

"Also, right now, there is this sort of classic innovator's dilemma where we see a new market emerging, but it's not really that great - with the mobile business, certain people make a lot of money but on the whole it's not generating as much revenue as the console business.

"Everyone's kind of holding out hope for the new consoles, but I honestly don't think they're going to be that big a deal. I worry a lot that unless Microsoft or Sony pull something magically out of a hat, it's pretty much the same old, same old repackaged and I don't think they're going to change the dynamic of the retail market. I don't see how they can - the market is what it is."

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Sony already revealed some PlayStation 4 specs at a February event in which the company unveiled the console's controller (pictured) and a stereo camera with motion capture capabilities, but not, to the chagrin of gamers everywhere, the PS4 itself.

But Sony may be parceling out information about its coming game console to build up buzz, according to the source.

GDC was probably the last big stage for the company to talk up the successor to the PlayStation 3 before the E3 gaming conference in June, unless Sony manufactures its own event. That's precisely what Sony plans to do, according to the source, who said late April/early May will be the likeliest timeframe for a full-blown launch of the PS4.

Microsoft, which is playing its cards much closer to the vest with regards to its own next-generation console, has also been rumored to be planning an April event to lift the curtain on what many are calling the Xbox 720. The source had no knowledge of such plans but guessed that an E3 reveal would be more likely given Redmond's recent history—Microsoft unveiled Kinect (then dubbed Project Natal) at the 2009 show and announced both the availability of Kinect and its redesigned Xbox 360 at the expo the following year.

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The perhaps awkwardly named combination is being headed up by former SCE Japan chief Hiroshi Kawano, while former SCE Asia president Hiroyuki Oda becomes the unit's deputy president.

The move sees a number of the two divisions' departments merge into one, with Sony looking to continue the cost-cutting initiatives it implemented across the last fiscal year.

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• Providing a new strategic planning department.
• New management unit is provided.
• Portion is provided in relation to the new publisher.
• Development of new support portion is provided.
• Publishing a new section is provided first party.
• Quality control unit is provided a new format.
• New product management unit is provided.
• Providing a new loan management unit.
• Japan section is provided a new customer relationship.
• Japan section is provided in the new marketing.
• Providing a new Japan sales department.
• Japan section is provided in the new online service.
• Providing a new Asia Strategy Department.
• Asian Network Planning Department provided new business.

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So here is a comparison between UE Elements demo on PC and PS4. Seems that ps4 version was running on old devkit and not on the final ps4 devkit, pc version was of course running on high end pc.

Clearly pc has a lot of depth of field as for ps4 has almost none. Also pc version has better surface reflections (like on the lava), textures (pillars), light and shadow effect (pillar scenes). Also ps4 looks a bit smudgy....but remember guys and girls that its a work in progress...both of them. When Epic is done optimizing UE4 its going to look better on both systems. I just cant wait until i get my hands on next-gen games.

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"Everybody has asked about it, it definitely helps out with voice chat, multiplayer games and everything so we decided to go ahead and do that," Norden remarked.

"It's got 32KHz stereo output for two players... frequency will only be reduced slightly when you start cranking up the number of players just because of the bandwidth of the wireless. And there's a 16KHz microphone port as well. The speaker is the same high-quality output as the headset. It streams directly from the PS4 at runtime."

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"I don't know if anyone has the next-gen hardware to be honest - really. There are versions of it, but does anyone have the final hardware? Do we really know what the final hardware will be?

"There are specs and alpha hardware, but nobody knows exactly what it will be. The only thing I can say about what we're building is that we've set the bar with what we can do and we can scale it down to 360 and PS3."

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On the subject of the first Battlefield 4 gameplay video, which was released earlier this week, Bach explained: "What you saw is pre-alpha - it's not the final game or anything. We are lacking a lot of optimisation. Without going into detail about what it could look like on a lower spec machine or a higher spec machine, we will have the scalability to bring the most out of any piece of hardware.

"The demo is the visual target of what we want the game to look like, and when I say visual target I don't want people to confuse that with rendering pictures that you could never create in the actual game - when we create our visual targets a big part of that is to make it realistic, as in you will be able to run it on a machine that you can buy.

"We've seen visual targets that are pre-rendered or running on machines that are designed for showing off technology - this is the game. [Single-player producer] Tobias was playing the game in the Frostbite engine with the content that we're using to build the game."

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Sony is targeting PlayStation 4 to be the “central device in the living room,” and are building the system around core gamers, its “primary audience.”

There are five core principles to PlayStation 4: “Simple, Immediate, Social, Integrated, and Personalized.”

The PlayStation 4 CPU boasts a 64-bit x86 architecture, low power consumption, low heat, 8 cores, 8 hardware threads, 2MiB L2 cache per 4 core group, 32kib l1 I/D-cache, PlayStation Shader Language, and features DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.0 support.

The GPU will offer tessellation to add “geometric detail to smooth edges or create more organic shapes.”

The system’s RAM is 8GB 256 bit GDDR5, a high-end graphics memory only found on PC graphics cards.

The PlayStation 4 developer environment is Windows 7 64-bit (our source wrote “Windows 7-bit,” but we take it that’s what he meant) with tools fully integrated into Visual Studio 2010 and 2012. Developers, Sony says you’ll be able to “debug your PS4 code as you would your PC code.”

Every PlayStation 4 will be equipped with a large hard-drive.

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As previously announced, the Start and Select buttons on the DualShock 4 have been replaced with a single “Options” button, and a new button called “Share” has been added.

According to Sony, the PlayStation 4 controller buttons are going back to digital over analog because no one used them on PlayStation 3.

The L2 and R2 buttons on the DualShock 4 have been given a curved bottom. That means no more accidental fast-forwarding while watching Netflix.

The touchpad on the controller will have a resolution of 1920×900, and will click when pushed down.

The light bar on the back of the controller can act as indicators for different players. Player one would be blue, two red, three green, and four pink, just like the PlayStation symbol colors. It could also indicate things in-game, like when your health bar is low.

Unlike the DualShock 3 and PlayStation 3, you’ll be able to charge the PlayStation 4 controller when the system is not turned on.

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The PlayStation 4 Eye camera will “enhance the PS4 user experience” with high-sensitivity dual color cameras at 1280×800 resolution, 12 bits per pixel, and 60Hz.

PlayStation 4 will have a dedicated port for the camera, which is an exclusive Sony-developed connector. That means you won’t be able to plug it into your PC.

Suggested uses for the camera include walkthrough videos, killcam taunting, system login, and speech recognition. Or, the camera can see each player’s controller, and move split-screens according to each person’s location in the room.

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In 2004, there was the XMB (PSP, PS3), in 2011, the LiveArea (PS Vita), and with PlayStation 4, a new user interface based on the five principles mentioned earlier.

The interface is meant to give players a glance of information without having to load a game. You’ll be able to see what new add-ons are out, what friends are saying about said game, etc.

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Every PlayStation Network user on PlayStation 4 will have two identities: their real name and picture, and their PlayStation Network ID and avatar. The player must enable others to see their real name. If imported through Facebook, your real name will automatically show. But that, too, can be modified.

Additionally, PlayStation 4 will have an increased friends capacity.

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A mock-up of how PlayStation 4 can integrate social gaming was shown. For example, with games that have choices (imagine Mass Effect or Heavy Rain), it’s possible you might see what choices your friends who’ve played the game have made. Developers will be able to set chapter markers in PlayStation 4 games for reference when using such Share options.

As far as PlayStation 4′s streaming and sharing features go, they require no additional work from developers. The hardware will handle it automatically.

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With remote play, PlayStation 4 games can be played on a PS Vita screen. The screens are mirrored on both systems at the same time. As with streaming and sharing, this is something handled by the hardware, not the developers, and can be booted at any time with no special mode required.

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Through the PlayStation mobile app, PlayStation Network users will be able to login, buy PlayStation 4 games, and have their systems begin downloading at home.

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"Yeah, if it doesn't have any bugs that are completely destroying the world," Adam Boyes, VP of publisher and developer relations at Sony America told Joystiq last night at the PlayStation Indie Arcade event. "[CCP's Dust 514] is a great example of putting out content that you know is not final. If you want to monetize it, that's fine. I mean, if you want to put out a game that's playable and does pass the checklists and stuff, you can. If it doesn't sell and you can't support, you may not want to support, but we absolutely support that."

Boyes noted the buy-in alpha openness wasn't just for the upcoming PlayStation 4, but could be applied to PS3, Vita or PlayStation mobile.

He continued, "We allow that on all of our platforms, that sort of continually updating and selling. Again, if people buy it and they're passionate about it, and you want to improve it and make it better over time you can."

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Not unlike Black Ops 2, the title will be set in the future, although an event forces its protagonists to use current-day weaponry.

Among various gameplay details for both campaign and multiplayer, Call of Duty: Ghosts—it’s claimed—will feature dynamic loading screens—such as allowing players to rappel into a map—new prone mechanics, such as rolling, corner-peeking, which is already present in the PC version’s more recent entries, and will introduce the ability to “dash into sliding while shooting.”

Infinity Ward is also said to be prototyping destructible environments, although are said to be struggling to successfully integrate it with the game’s multiplayer component. Spec Ops, a series of co-operative missions in the Modern Warfare series, is also set to be replaced with something new.

“The next CoD game will be called ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts‘ and not Modern Warfare 4 or MW4,” wrote Drift0r in the video below. “This new title as well as single player and multiplayer details were leaked to me from a very legitimate source.”

“Typically I would not post videos like this but I completely trust this source. This video contains info about the story, and some multiplayer inclusions.”

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