Sony execs have been quoted for years as saying the PlayStation 3 will have a 10-year life cycle (as opposed to the standard five-year cycle of previous console generations), so we weren't expecting to see so much as a hint about a successor system at next week's E3. Assuming two videos "leaked" by YouTube user SCElabs are legit, however, we may see the first rumblings of the next console generation at the show after all. And they certainly look legit, with high production values, a look and feel consistent with Sony's usual weird-ass PlayStation marketing, and clear, conspicuous Sony branding.
Above: We brightened and cropped in on this shot to better show off the Sony logo on those headphones
The most recent video, which dropped today, is the more coherent (and therefore interesting) of the two:
In it, we see a tester, decked out in Sony headphones and what look sort of like the Bravia-linked 3D glasses we used during a recent demo with Killzone 3.
He's monitored by a couple of Japanese scientist types in an adjacent control room...
... who watch his reactions on a bank of three monitors.
Above: Yep, that looks like a DualShock 3, all right
Midway through, he stops, looks around and starts staring at his hand...
Above: Ha ha, what?
... and then sees a bluish opponent stand up in whatever shooter he's playing and take a 3D run straight at him.
This, strangely enough, scares this shit out of him.
Above: BWAUGH
We're then shown a brief shot of the game he was playing before he quits out and shuts down the system, presumably out of fear.
Above: Oh hey, can't wait to play Modern Warfare 2 on the PS4! (Or in 3D on the PS3. That might actually be cool)
He then collapses in the chair, panic-stricken and breathing heavily, before he calms down and starts grinning.
Above: Oh, man. VIDEOGAMES
At this point, we'd naturally assume that the video is meant to promote the fact that the PS3 can support 3D on Sony's latest, 3D-enabled Bravia line. But then the following three logo splashes tell us differently:
Above: The tiny line of text at the bottom reads "PS4 v4.0"
Then there's the first video, which went up Sunday and involves Sony researchers charging madly through hallways in an attempt to wrest the PS4 controller and goggles from a catatonic tester: