Sony is maybe probably about to announce the PlayStation 4

It’s been a little over six years since Sony released the PlayStation 3. In that time, Sony has seen its place in the videogame industry diminish. Part of that was unavoidable: It would have been impossible for the company to create a device that could live up to the PlayStation 2, which all-but-dominated the first half-decade of this videogame millennium. But Sony also ran afoul of the evolving culture of gaming. The PS3 is a ridiculously high-powered machine, built for the Grand Old Epic games, like God of War or Uncharted or Grand Theft Auto. But the market has shifted. Casual gamers buy their family a Wii or play Angry Birds on their smartphones. Competitive gamers prefer the Xbox 360, with its booming online service.

Artistically, you could argue that the PS3 won this generation. Financially, the picture is hazier: Ps3 sales have reportedly passed the Xbox 360, but they both paled in comparison to the Wii. The future for Sony is unclear…but not for long. Yesterday, journalists received an invitation from Sony to a press event on February 20th. The intention of the press event is purposefully vague, but if you go to the site playstationmeeting.com, you’ll find this video:

The message which pops up at the end — “Be the first to know” — seems to indicate that Sony is planning to announce their next console. The timing would be just about right. Nintendo just began the new generation of games with the Wii U, and Microsoft is expected to announce the next version of the XBox (720?) in the summer. It will be interesting to see what the PlayStation 4 looks like. Will it radically shake up the controller format, like the Wii U’s Gamepad? Will it incorporate motion-gaming? Does this mean The Last Guardian will be delayed another five years?

Follow Darren on Twitter: @DarrenFranich

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