Moreover, we’ve actually heard a similar rumor to this one already, but this one has a new source: a supposedly reliable anonymous person who heard the words “PlayStation 4 in 18 months” while Sony was in a “high level meeting”.

18 months from now is March 2013. While we’ve already talked about the PS4 2013 rumor back in June, when the Wii U unveiling caused a lot of speculation to circulate.

Of course, Sony responded with the usual: “we don’t comment on rumors on speculation”, but that just makes us more anxious. Could it be true?

Honestly, we believe that it’s possible to have an unveiling in June 2013 during E3, but why would Sony ever launch the new PS4 before the holiday season? Most consoles come out during November, when shopping rates skyrocket for the holidays. Same with major games, like the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which launches November 8, 2011.

Recently, we had a poll up asking you, our readers, when you think the PS4 will release. 4410 of you answered 2012, 3863 said 2013, 3713 answered 2014, 691 said 2015, and 865 of you answered 2016.

While we still think a 2013 or 2014 release date is most likely, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for it to be launched sooner. We want better speed, graphics, and all the quality Sony is known for to be out now in the PlayStation 4.

So what do you think? Does this March 2013 rumor hold any weight? If not, when do you think the PS4 will release?

In case you hadn’t heard, Kato made a comment during a briefing:

“For the home console, the PS3 still has a product life, but this is a platform business,” Kato said. “So for the future platform—when we will introduce the product I cannot discuss—but development work is underway, so the costs are incurred there.”

When he later did an interview with Wall Street Journal, Kati says the only Sony product he specifically mentioned was the NGP (next generation portable). While this is true, he still hasn’t clarified that Sony isn’t working on the PS4, and we’ve already known they’ve been working on the NGP since it is due to launch later this year.

In fact, he alluded to the opposite of his Wall Street Journal general statement, and we can go far enough to say that, Yes, Sony is working on the PS4:

“Any time we launch a product,” said Kato, “from that day we already start thinking about the next one.”

Since the rumor about the PS4 confirmation wasn’t necessarily corrected (he claims he was just misunderstood), we can assume that the PS4 was not ready to be announced.

We know that Sony took a large profit hit this past year for multiple reasons, and that the PS3 is the worst-selling console compared to Wii and Xbox. A logical way for Sony to earn their profit margin back is to make the next PlayStation, since we already know they won’t be manufacturing parts from scratch for the second time.

Also, what about the August Game Informer Australia announcement that games are already being developed for the PS4? How can Sony expect to make profits on those games, without a console to play them on?

What if this is just Sony’s way of trying to appease the millions of angry customers in the aftermath of the Network Hack?

We’ve been doing this for years without any confirmation from Sony saying they were actually under development, simply using the history of PlayStation release patterns.

Now that Masaru Kato, Sony’s Executive Vice-President and CFO, finally confirmed that the development of the PS4 is underway, but adding, “When we will introduce the product I cannot discuss,” what actually seems realistic?

As before, we still believe that Sony PS4 will have a 2013-2014 release date. Why? The PlayStation 2 was released 5 years after the original PlayStation, even though it had a 10 year shelf life. Then, another five years later, the PS3 was released, and this console also supposedly has a 10 year shelf life. It has currently been five years since the 2006 release of the PS3.

Many people speculate that 2016 is the furthest date possible for the next generation console, since it would fulfill the 10 year shelf life expectation, but that seems very far away. Gamers won’t mind having a new addiction sooner rather than later.

Other console manufacturers, like Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii 2, are already underway, with the Wii 2 being unveiled at E3 in June 2011.

It is doubtful that PS4 will be far behind the Xbox 720, so a 2013-2014 expected launch sounds entirely reasonable.

When do you think the PS4 will be released?

The Move will allow gamers to play the new games as if they were part of the action. It will be similar to the Wii but more advanced. The Eye camera detects the exact location and movements of the controllers. The Eye also has voice and image recognition which will allow for alternate reality games.

The Move made make it a good idea of Sony to release the PlayStation 4 sooner. The PS3 won’t allow four player to use the Move remote and subcontroller which is required for some games. The PS4 might have more Bluetooth ports which will allow for more players using the Move remotes and subcontroller.

I don’t expect the PS4 to be released until late 2011 at the earliest, probably 2012. The PS3 has had very poor sales, so Sony would make the next console as soon as possible to re boost consumer interest.

Nintendo Wii is doing just fine, so they wouldn’t be in a rush. Remember as of now they are still the leader, by far, when it comes to motion sensitive controls, and only need to offer a new console (or addon?) to provide the Nintendo Wii in HD.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is doing okay, could be better but I don’t believe any new console is rapidly approaching from them.The Xbox, like the Playstation, has built a following but the majority of the players are content, and not yet looking for much from Microsoft in terms of a new console. The biggest advantage that the Xbox 360 has had in it’s favor over the last generation of consoles, is it’s early release date… Yet the console has fallen short in terms of developing an audience that is loyal, or at least nearly as loyal as the Playstation audience has become.

With the most recent price cut however, sales may pick up substantially which may even accelerate Sony’s position in this seventh generation of video games competition. Just when you thought PS3 lost for sure, it got right back up and ready to compete. The Playstation will be a constant favorite of real gamers, the console has some of the most advanced features, and Playstation has always carried some of the greatest game titles.

Rumored Playstation 4 Controller Concept

The main thing that is holding off the next generation of Playstation, and the release of the Sony PS4, is the PS3. Playstation 3 was built with such amazing design, minus the few flaws associated with the Blue Ray players, the Playstation 3 is still hands down the best video game console on the market today. Producing the best and most advanced games available the Sony PS3 is going to be a hard console to top… But we know the Playstation 4 will blow it away!

Slim Playstation 4 Winning Concept

Many tech gurus out there believe that it is most likely for the Playstation 4 to be released either in 2011 or 2013, for different reasons for each date. As long as there are so many rumors regarding the release date, there is nothing set in stone just yet.

ps4 concept Level Magazine Cover

There will certainly be a Playstation 4, it has been on the drawing boards since before the launch of the Playstation 3, but there is no way that Sony could have known the power and technology that would be available to them today… keeping with the trend of putting out the most impressive game consoles possible expect the Playstation 4 to blow away all expectations upon release, and surprise the computer world again with the processor speed and capabilities of yet another mind blowing console from Sony.

PLAYSTATION 4 concept by darpan aero

**UPDATE**
This year’s announcements from Sony have come and gone, and they have introduced some really amazing stuff… But the Playstation 4 is not one of them… No worries though, between the amazing motion control game capabilities of the Playstation Move Games and the 3d gaming introduced to the Playstation 3, this is a great year for gamers.

The whole world of video games has changed so greatly over the last 20 years, Sony has begun to realize that a plan of 10 years per console (which is what they had initially intended) may not be feasible when technology changes at the rate it has been…

Above is a design that is claimed to be a mock up of the next generation of playstations.

Looking quite similiar to the PS3 but hopefully has a lot more loaded inside, and offers a lot more gamability. If this is the new PS4 design I would just like to point out what appears to be a lack of console slots, for controlers and such, possibly offering a wifi version of the Wii type controler, something that you can carry with you, step away with, and not feel tethered to your gaming console.