PlayStation 4 Coming February 20

UPDATE 11:48PM EST: The Wall Street Journal confirms that Sony will announce the successor to the Playstation 3 on February 20. The new console will have aspects of social gaming and faster, more advanced chips.

Sony reportedly considered removing the optical drive for the system and moving to a download-only platform, but scuttled the plans out of deference to regions with still-slow Internet connections.

The video game rumor mill is heating up with the possibility that Sony could reveal the PlayStation 4 on February 20.

Sony has released a video promoting an event to “see the future” at a “PlayStation meeting” on February 20. They have also invited the video game press to an event in New York City on that date.

The current PlayStation 3 has been on the market since November of 2006. Nintendo recently released its Wii U console, while Microsoft is also expected to release a follow-up to the XBox 360 soon.