So what can us gamers and tech heads expect in 2012?

So with 2011 coming to a close and no more big news coming our way this year it's time to turn our attention to 2012...

Here's a run down of things we'll be talking about next year!

Xbox 720/PS4

Rumors have persisted over this though most of 2011 and have been growing towards the end of the year, With Wii-U announced and on it's way towards the end of 2012 M$ and Sony are going to be keen to grab a piece of this pie. But who will be first out of the gate? I reckon Sony will be jumping the gun this time just as M$ did (Very successfully) with the 360. With CES 2012 being M$'s last keynote presentation I reckon we will be getting a tease of an announcement for E3 with Sony possibly announcing the PS4 at CES to go along with a presentation regarding the future of the PSvita.

Windows 8

Windows 8 is confirmed for next year and has been shown off in it's many forms, We also know it'll be powering the next-gen Xbox. With Windows 8 being quite literally the first time M$ has started from scratch since Windows 3.1 it's certainly going to e a big talking point, offering mouse as well as touch functionality your going to be seeing it heading to every conceivable device under the sun (Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Phones...there's even rumors of a range of touch-screen notebooks made specifically for Windows 8 ) but how much of a rig will you need to run it?

4G

With 3G being quite frankly a huge letdown eyes are going to turn to 4G next year with a full roll out of the service for 2013. Trials are currently underway for at least 2 of the UK's mobile networks and first signs are quite frankly incredible. Offering speeds upwards of 80mbps! (The Gadget Show tested this) it's going to outdo alot of the current broadband infrastructure of the UK. But the biggest selling point of this will be to those in the middle of nowhere who really struggle to get any kind of connection, 4G will be using the old TV frequencies once the digital switchover is complete, meaning that it will reach pretty much 100% of the UK. But what of pricing?

Super HD

Not many have heard of the so called "Super HD" but Sony will be releasing the first home projector to offer the picture format later in 2012. and the Olympics will also be recorded in the format.

Here's the stats:

7680 x 4320 resolution (4320p)
16x the detail of current HDTV's
120fps with progressive scan
33 megapixel still photo support

Who knows what else will be announced in the coming months but this lot along with a huge amount of game releases is going to keep us busy all year!

I'm still waiting for a 'Cherry 2000'

How much better than HD can 16x more be? The mind boggles!

4G sounds potentially very interesting and it could be a real game changer for people with poor BB areas (Tom and Andy, thinking of you). If it is feasible to 'subscribe' to 4G as a service then expect BT and Virgin to pull their finger out sharpish and get the countries infrastructure up to scratch.

just actually read the 4g thing - could be the shizzle especially with the tv signal thing. have used fast 3g in the past and that appears as fast as our broadband.

vita is going to be big this year i reckon.

actually will 4g put an end to having to have a phone line? we have been musing binning the tv license due to access to 4od bbci etc

i would imagine the tv license would have to be paid still as you have to pay if you dont have a tele but have access to a computer.the robbin gits would find away to fleece us of our money
even thou what they show is drivvle

a few years back when i just used a tele for dvds and gaming i was allowed to not have a license, would be suprised if that had changed.

would be handy but i wouldn't be surprised myself
but as you say if your not actually watching tele whats the point in having a license

Actually as far as im aware you need a tv license for iplayer

No I'm wrong ignore that....

As long as the next xbox can handle MMO i'll be happy - seriously tempted to try Eve Online at the moment

re 4g - how would someone use that for gaming - would each item require a dongle or would you setip a mobile wifi hotspot in the house?

Duke wrote:As long as the next xbox can handle MMO i'll be happy - seriously tempted to try Eve Online at the moment

same here - dont they have a months free trial going at the moment?

You can setup a hotspot using a dongle with a laptop

Andy wrote:

Duke wrote:As long as the next xbox can handle MMO i'll be happy - seriously tempted to try Eve Online at the moment

same here - dont they have a months free trial going at the moment?

I think they are doing a buddy system, where you get 3 weeks free and if you sign up they then get a kick back (in game i believe)

If you do decide to give it a go let me know would probably tip me over the edge to signing up, would be good to have some one to go through the very sharp learning curve.

I seem to remember riggor saying he used to play it maybe he could give us a heads up

I played eve online for 18 months when it first came out and nothing else. Its a fantastic game and huge!! Its a social life ender though which is why ultimatley I had to quit as I was on it every single night and even tried to steel the odd hour in the day. Got to the point where I was organising real life around it......not good.
Probably quite a bit has changed since I was last on it but I remember for the sheer scale of some of the pvp battles was staggering. The planning for invading a system held by a rival corporation took days and everyone had a specific role. I loved the electronic warfare so trained my skills down that path. Sensor jamming, warp jamming, missle lock jamming etc etc. But another part of the game was mining asteroid fields, this was more of a social event but is required to make money. Several players actually mining. A few running cargo ships back and forth to space ports and a gang on fleet defence duties as pirates are bastards!! Could talk for hours on it any specific questions then ask away but maybe in a dedicated thread?

Been looking around the official forums and looks like there are 60 day free trials available from existing subscribers, going to try my luck and see if I can get one from somebody

if you dont get any luck let me know and ill ask some of the people i used to play with. i think some are still in the game

am gonna avoid this as am already addicted to dc and need to draw myself away to play normal games

it really was a life sucker mate. should come with a warning imo

You can add "Smart" TV's to the list too:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16480712

I saw that article earlier Tom and it makes for very interesting reading. Maybe its things like Smart TV's that the likes of M$ are more worried about long term than other console rivals and might be part of the logic around trying to cram every possible media facility possible into the Xbox.

I honestly couldnt give a flying fuck as long as I can still play games on my console (yes this does still happen before anyone comments!) then Im happy

Pais wrote:

totally i am not bothered watching films or any other crap as long as i can play games
that is my main concern.
do you think that if m$ start going in wrong directions do you think the quality of games will go down