Two pieces of news, and each talking about two different pieces of hardware, have just surfaced.  It seems that 2011 is the year we gamers should all be looking forward to.  Why you ask?  Well, do the words PS4 and Wii HD pique your interest?  Because rumors hint that the said year will be the target release date—or year– for the next next generation of consoles.

Starting with the PS4 (Playstation 4), reports from a Japanese website, PC Watch, claim that Sony is already in the developmental stage for the PS4.  Even though Sony has been boasting about the Playstation 3’s expected ten-year lifespan, they’re looking to be either cutting that lifespan short, or planning to release the new console while the former one is (technically) during its mid-life—since the report says that Sony is planning to release the PS4 sometime in 2011.

Apparently, the new console will be using the same architectural base as its older brother, as Sony is allegedly eyeing the same Cell Broadband Engine as the one found in the PS3.  The rest is all technical jargon, so you can read a more comprehensive article here.  But, in stating the obvious, the PS4 will definitely be more powerful than the PS3.

As for the Wii HD, WhatTheyPlay.com reported they’ve heard from “multiple sources” that Nintendo are already showing “early presentations” of the new console.  Again, the year 2011 pops up in the discussion.  As the name implies, the new Wii will be HD capable and is said to be the “true next generation” console produced by Nintendo.  This move will mark the company’s first step in the real next generation race, seeing that the Wii was just a slightly tweaked Gamecube which had motion sensing controllers.  On the other hand, the Wii HD is said to be what the Gameboy Advanced was to the original Gameboy.

But just because Nintendo is going all out in hardware improvements (tripling their R&D funding since 2006 should be proof enough) doesn’t mean they’re selling out and scrapping their unique philosophy when it comes to making games: “[technological] power isn’t everything.  Too many powerful consoles can’t coexist. It’s like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction.”–that’s so Zen, and I mean it in a good way.  Reports also suggest that Nintendo will be more preoccupied with coming out with a new system that puts more emphasis on what the player interacts with rather than console itself.  So we should expect more innovations than just a long list of specs containing words that most of us wouldn’t know what the hell we’re reading.

That’s pretty much it for now.  Credit to Kotaku.com for providing the pictures.

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