"Sony has begun considering in earnest using the Cell architecture for the PlayStation 4," says a report on Japanese-language site Impress Watch. The report goes on to say that Sony is currently seeking input from developers on the idea.

Using the Cell would cut production costs on the PS4--a much-needed step for Sony, which loses money on every console--and enable PlayStation 3 developers to more quickly produce games for the PlayStation 4. The PS3 is renowned among developers for its unconventional internal architecture, making game production more challenging.

According to the report, Sony had planned to continue using the Cell architecture after the PS3 since the system's conception. The PS4 may run on an enhanced version of the 45nm chip already in production for the PS3. The 45nm chip would reduce power consumption, as would the projected use of standard DDR RAM instead of XDR RAM.

Using more current hardware would also allow Sony to compete with Microsoft and Nintendo by getting the PS4 to market more quickly. Of course, Sony may stay competitive in processing power by adding more cores to the PS4 version of the processor.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has already noted that the PS3's development cost $3 billion and would be apt to stop the PS4 from similarly draining money from Sony's coffers.

While technology developers such as Epic Games and Crytek believe the next generation of consoles will appear in 2012, WildTangent CEO Alex St. John believes that the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii represent "the last generation of consoles."

"There's not going to be an Xbox 720 or a PS4, I'll make that bet, not going to happen," St. John told UK newspaper Telegraph. "The era of consoles defined by graphics and high-production values is over."

He explained that consoles are a "game-disabling experience" designed "to prevent you [from] playing games you didn't pay for," a technique he believes is rendered obsolete by games that require players to be online, such as Blizzard's World of Warcraft (PC).

"The principal reason that Sony and Microsoft get a cut of everybody's games is because they prevent piracy," he said. "This allows the publishers to invest more money in a game because they can be confident that it won't get stolen and will have to be paid for at a premium."

As for the Wii and its incredibly popular interface, St. John likened the Wii's focus on a motion controls to the peripheral-centric arcade games that signaled the arcade's demise. "The only arcade machines you can find left today are ones... Read more

Following Epic's statement that the next iteration of its popular Unreal Engine development tools will target the PlayStation 4 and next Xbox first, president Mike Capps has roughly estimated that the next generation will run from 2012 to 2018.

"We've got Unreal [Engine] 4 in production right now," Capps said at GamesFest, according to Gamasutra "It's going to be in the next console generation--our rough guess is 2012 [to] 2018."

In its early years, Epic was primarily focused on PC software and technology with titles such as Jazz Jackrabbit and Unreal Tournament. Like many other formerly PC-centric companies, such as Microsoft, the studio has since become a major player in the console market.

"Version 4 [of Unreal Engine] will exclusively target the next console generation," founder Tim Sweeney said earlier this year. "Microsoft's successor for the Xbox 360, Sony's successor for the Playstation 3--and if Nintendo ships a machine with similar hardware specs, then that also...PCs will follow after that."

The current version of Epic's Unreal technology, Unreal Engine 3, has proven to be a popular choice for numerous PC and consoles developers as they craft titles for multiple platforms while attempting to take advantage of each platform's strengths.