Bambam, Baffles, and I are already waiting in line to get one.

Technically it's amd64 AKA x86-64. This is the first I have heard of an official announcement. My initial reaction is "too soon" since I still think the PS3 is quite capable, but meh. I probably won't be an early adopter, but I'll probably eventually get one since I am loyal to the PlayStation brand. Will need to wait and see how it works out before making the final decision.

Release is still 3/4 of a year away so I can see the specs possibly changing from now until then, but already the specs seem more than capable. The PS3 has something like 512 MB of memory (256 MB dedicated for RAM and video memory, each), IIRC. Bumping that up to 8 GB DDR5 should offer a world of possibilities, I would imagine. Of course, other specs can factor in, but I imagine that they've all been appropriately updated. It will certainly be a very capable device. It will be interesting to see how other consoles measure up.

I find it interesting to see them abandon the Cell processor with this generation and return to an Intel-based architecture. In a way it seems too bad since I had high hopes for what the Cell might have meant for computing in general, but I'd say it was still a successful product (whether or not the partners feel that way internally we may never know).

I haven't paid attention to the Wii-U, but IIRC the specs aren't a major leap above the Wii, and if it's going to share a generation with the PS4 specs I think it will be interesting to see if it can still skate by on the casual/gimmick strategy or if it'll just flop.

Append:

Some of the non hardware features seem to be compelling, even to me. At least it has my interest piqued.

I seriously doubt I will be buying a PS4. I don't even own a PS3 or 360. I've little interest in the vast majority of mainstream titles out there right now, and the ones I do have an interest in I just buy on Steam.

Like the advertising based on what the camera picks up?

There's already a leaked photo!

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I feel as though X86 will mean hacks-a-plenty, probably even get Windows on it.

Xbox 1 was X86 and there are over 24 ways to run unsigned code.

If they're smart they will give indie developers what they want which is a way to program for it for free. And give Linux people what they want. If they do that then there is a good chance it will not get hacked for a while.

Yea, the PS3 got hack REAL quickly after they removed Linux support, so that's a case for bringing back Linux support

I don't have any interest in PS4 either.

What strikes me as odd is that the announced specs are essentially a PC.

Does that mean that PCs will be hackable to allow PS4 games to run on them? what measures will Sony to prevent that?

I happen to like AMD cpu's, so I think I'll be getting a Playstation 4... near the end of it's lifetime, or at least when it has many good games. Seriously, I'm not going to get burned agan like I was with the PS3. I bought it expensive to play Final Fantasy 13. What a letdown that game was.... :p Fortunately the Atelier series made up for it later.

Thomas, spoken wisely. I'm trying to do likewise. For example, I bought a new PSP for less than 100 euro about half a year ago, and it has served me well ever since. )

I suppose a lot of developers are breathing a sigh of relief at the switch to the more traditional x86 architecture. Hopefully this means that developers will be able to harness the console's power faster than they were able to with the Cell processor.

I wonder how long before we'll be able to install XBMC on it?