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Mere hours remain until Sony is expected to unveil its next-generation video game console at a major event in New York. The excitement is building while the rumors and leaks surrounding the console have filled gamers’ imaginations this past week. Sony itself has even added to the hype with a series of retrospective videos on past consoles and games that have been posted to the event’s web page.

This evening the speculation will end and Sony will either usher in a new era of video games or disappoint millions of gamers across the world. The company is obviously confident, as the presentation will be streaming live online. Sony clearly wants the entire world to be watching.

The presentation will be streaming in several different locations. The event website will, of course, host the stream, as will the latest PlayStation Blog post about the event. The PlayStation Facebook page will also have a stream available, and PlayStation 3 owners can watch the presentation live on their consoles through the PlayStation Home app or through the “What’s New” section of the PS3 Media Bar.

The presentation begins at 6 pm EST / 3 pm PST / 11 pm GMT, which is also 10 am in Sydney and 8 am in Tokyo on February 21, for those gamers on the other side of the world.

Don’t be late. Console announcements don’t come often.

The latest rumors about the console come from Kotaku, which is reporting that Sony’s next-generation console could feature smartphone or tablet interaction in the form of chat or controls. The report cites a “reliable source” as saying that mobile apps could allow players to purchase and download content to their consoles remotely.

The report also states that Sony will have two different SKUs for the new PlayStation at launch – a $429 version and a $529 version. Those dollar amounts do seem fishy, though, and posts over at the NeoGAF forums have pointed out that $429 is suspiciously close to the yen-to-dollar conversion for ¥40,000.

Another rumor from the Kotaku report states that Sony will be “following the path first set by Xbox Live” and will put “most” of the new console’s online features into a new subscription service called “PlayStation World,” which would take over for PlayStation Plus.

If that means new added services, such as Gaikai streaming, will be tacked onto PlayStation Plus, that seems expected. If, on the other hand, Sony is rolling back free services such as Netflix streaming or online gameplay into their subscription service, that could upset many Sony gamers who are used to playing online multiplayer and watching streaming video that isn’t locked behind a paywall.

The news broke today that multiple internet domains for the phrase “PlayStation Cloud” have been registered. The domains PlayStation-Cloud.com and PlayStation-Cloud.org, as well as PlayStation-Cloud and PS-Cloud on many different domains. The domains were all registered last Friday, February 15.

What makes this news relevant is that the contact info for the domains refers to Gaikai, the streaming gaming company that Sony acquired in 2012. The Gaikai connection and the PlayStation Cloud name confirms that the websites will point to a Sony product or service at some point. Whatever it is, PlayStation Cloud is coming soon.

With the PlayStation 4 announcement just one day away, the registration of these new domains suggests that an announcement involving PlayStation Cloud could be coming during that presentation.

The word “Cloud” is vague in terms of what service could be offered, since many PC digital right management (DRM) schemes and the PlayStation Network itself already feature “cloud saves” that sync player stats and data across platforms. The connection to Gaikai, however, lends credence to reports yesterday that stated Sony’s new console will be backwards-compatible with PlayStation 3 games via Gaikai streaming technology.

Needless to say, a PlayStation 4 that comes with on-demand access for PlayStation 3 (and other console) games would be easier for Sony to market than the normal route of touting a small lineup of (often lackluster) launch titles.

(via the NeoGAF forums)

Now, The Times of London is reporting that Sony could sell its next-gen console for as little as £300 (about $465). That would be a huge shift from the PlayStation 3, which began selling at €499 (Pricing in the U.S. started at $499). The high cost of that console initially led to slow sales, and was a large factor in Sony falling behind in the early part of this console generation. £300 would not necessarily mean a $465 PlayStation 4 launch in the U.S., as the pounds-to-dollar conversion of video game pricing is rarely one-to-one.

If the rumor is true, it would seem that Sony learned its lesson from the PlayStation 3 launch well. It’s unlikely, though, that any pricing or SKU announcements will be made at Sony’s February 20 presentation, at least for the upcoming console. The prevailing assumption is that the company will play pricing options close to the vest until Microsoft has announced its next-gen console.

There may, however, be an announcement about a price cut for Sony’s handheld console, the PS Vita. The price of the portable console has just been reduced to the equivalent of $215 in Japan.

The rumored hardware architecture of Sony’s new PlayStation and Microsoft’s new Xbox makes it unlikely the new consoles will be backwards compatible. The Wall Street Journal, however, is reporting that Sony’s new console may provide backwards compatibility by streaming games through the cloud.

Citing “people familiar with [Sony's] plans,” the Journal states that the next PlayStation console will offer PlayStation 3 games and stream them to users online.

This rumor seems credible because Sony last year purchased cloud gaming company Gaikai for $380 million. At the time, Andrew House, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said that the company would use Gaikai to “deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices.”

If the rumor is true and the next PlayStation console does include streaming games, the challenge for Sony will be keeping server and bandwidth costs down. Just last year, Gaikai competitor OnLive had to re-form its company and lay off half of its staff as a measure to stave off bankruptcy.

First up, of course, is the original PlayStation. The result of a ruined relationship between Nintendo and Sony to build a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo turned into one of the most successful gaming consoles of all time. Sony was the first company to market video games to adults and it worked out super well for the company. It even beat out long time incumbents Nintendo and Sega.

Following up the original PlayStation with something even better seemed almost impossible, but Sony did that and more with the PlayStation 2. The PS2 has the distinct honor of being the best selling home video game console of all time with over 150 million units sold around the world. It helped that the console was the exclusive home to many of the generation’s best titles including Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Final Fantasy X and Shadow of the Colossus.

All good things must come to an end though. The PS3 didn’t have the best launch, and the $600 launch price was too much for many to swallow. Sony’s console also lost out on many of its exclusive franchises from the last generation as the Xbox 360 was also home to popular titles like Final Fantasy XIII. Regardless, the PS3 hit its stride a few years after launch, and now offers many of this generation’s best games, including Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and LittleBigPlanet.

Unfortunately, these videos don’t offer any hints to what we can expect on Wednesday. The hype is at an all time high though as the PlayStation faithful are figuratively frothing at the mouth for any and all information about the next generation of gaming from Sony.

All we can say is that it’s going to be big. This is the first true next-generation console debut, and people are already expecting a lot from Sony and Microsoft. Sony can’t really afford to mess this up like they did the original unveiling of the PlayStation 3, and Microsoft will be watching very closely to take advantage of any missteps. The worlds’ eyes are on you, Sony. No pressure.

After numerous leaks and a suggestion that the reveal would happen in May, Sony is now teasing that the official unveiling of the next PlayStation will happen sooner than anybody thought.

In a blog post simply titled “See the Future,” Sony posted the following video teasing an announcement for February 20:

Of course, we could all be looking far too much into this. Maybe this is the future of the PlayStation 3, or Sony will announce some kind of reboot for the Vita to make up for struggling sales. That doesn’t appear to be the case, however, as the Wall Street Journal reports that Sony will indeed be unveiling the successor to the PlayStation 3 at the conference.

Sony is also sending out invites for the event with many industry figures placing their bets on a console reveal:

Follow @michaelpachter

Michael Pachter
@michaelpachter

Sony is inviting investors and media to the Feb 20 event; that means console announcement. I’m genuinely excited, although I will be in LA

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14 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Follow @geoffkeighley

Geoff Keighley
@geoffkeighley

Just got my invite. PlayStation Meeting, February 20 NYC. #IThinkIKnowWhat‘sComing

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14 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® · powered by @socialditto

Follow @crecenteb

Brian Crecente
@crecenteb

PlayStation just dropped the mic on January 2013, the most batshit crazy month in gaming history.

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14 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

The event will reportedly be live streamed as well so Sony fans will be able to see the future of the PlayStation brand first hand. Expect new hardware and a few new games to go along with it. Don’t hold your breath for a price or launch date. Those will come closer to or at E3 in June.

According to SemiAccurate, the PS4 is now being called Thebes by those working on it. The Orbis name may still be present as the Thebes name may apply only to the chipset whereas Orbis refers to the console as a whole. As for the chipset, it’s still rumored to be using the AMD CPU/GPU that was reported on back in early November.

As for the launch, it’s now being reported that the Orbis/Thebes/PS4 will launch in either Spring or Autumn of 2014. If that’s the case, that would put Sony’s next console behind the Wii U and the next Xbox. The report says that Microsoft is still planning on launching its next Xbox in late 2013 with chips entering mass production before the end of the year.

So where does this leave Sony? If true, Sony will be behind the curve yet again when it comes to entering the next generation market. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for the company as it has already stated that it doesn’t matter who’s first, but rather who’s best. The extra time in development could lead to the PS4 being a more powerful system with more features than Microsoft’s machine, but the delay could also undercut demand for Sony’s machine. Many gamers buy only one gaming console, and an early launch for Microsoft’s machine could mean that many will choose it over whatever Sony has cooking.

Regardless, both companies will need to show off their respective next-gen consoles at some point next year, either at E3 or some private event. Microsoft and Sony need to reaffirm that they’re dedicated to the next generation of gaming and show that there’s something to look forward to. Gamers might even be willing to wait an extra year for Sony’s machine if its initial showing is impressive enough.

[h/t: CVG]

Bloomberg reports that the next Xbox will be launching in time for the holidays next year. To be more specific, people close to the company said Microsoft plans to have the next-gen console ready for Thanksgiving sales which indicates a late October or early November release date.

So when we will see the next Xbox in the proverbial flesh? People close to Microsoft say the company is still trying to decide when to reveal the new console. E3 is a logical choice, but game publishers are increasingly turning to private events for product announcements as it’s easier to control the message. If you recall, the Xbox 360 was revealed via a special on MTV. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to assume Microsoft would do something similar for the next Xbox, most likely on Spike TV.

The Bloomberg report lends some credibility to past rumors saying that the next Xbox would launch next year. Unfortunately, the report doesn’t dive into any of the hardware rumors that have been at the forefront of the conversation for quite some time. For now, most of the information we know comes from a leaked internal roadmap that revealed the next Xbox would feature six to eight 2GHz processors, 4GB of RAM and a single GPU clocked at 1GHz.

As for Sony and its rumored Orbis console, we still don’t know anything beyond a few unconfirmed rumors floating around the Internet. The only solid piece of information came back in April when sources close to Sony said the company was hoping to have Orbis out before the next Xbox, but Sony later said that at E3 that it wants to be better, not first.

For more rumors and information, check out everything we know about the next Xbox so far.

VG24/7 cites multiple unnamed sources as confirming that the new dev kits have been shipped, housed in PC cases. They claim that the current state of the kit is as a “modified PC” and that a January dev kit will more closely resemble the eventual console, with a final dev kit shipping sometime next summer.

The few rumors about Orbis that have leaked hold that the console will run on an AMD processor and support 4K resolutions. VG24/7′s sources say that the new kit’s processor is “based on” the AMD A10 APU series, combining the CPU and graphics processor. The kits also have 8GB or 16GB of RAM, a 256GB hard drive, and a Blu-ray drive.

The report also states that the goal for the console is to run 3D games at 1080p resolutions. Another goal is, evidently, to make the console more affordable. That’s a different strategy than the one Sony used for the PlayStation 3, which fell behind in the current generation of console wars because of its high launch price.