New PlayStation will expand social features, could integrate mobile gaming, says WSJ

Mere days before the successor to the PlayStation 3 is rumored to be announced, The Wall Street Journal has published a few more tidbits on what we might see. According to anonymous sources, Sony will be expanding on the console’s current social features, allowing users to share achievements through Facebook and Twitter and upload gameplay footage to YouTube. These features were already present to some extent on the PlayStation 3, but we could be seeing a better experience in the future, in line with previous reports that the new PlayStation would emphasize social gaming experiences.

The Journal also tentatively filled in some of the gaps in Sony’s plans for extra features and its acquired cloud gaming service Gaikai: we’re now hearing that Sony head Kaz Hirai led the deal to buy the company, and the Journal has reiterated that the new PlayStation would work through a combination of optical disks and streaming. Sources suggest that “Sony’s new console may also allow users to compete against others using different hardware, such as smartphones and other portable devices.” It’s not specified how this will work, but it’s possible it refers to streaming multiplayer games onto other platforms, something that was initially a selling point for cloud gaming. Sony has told us to come “see the future” on February 20th, so it’s possible we’ll have hard answers very soon.