Aside from being smaller and lighter, the Super Slim version of the Sony PlayStation 3 is essentially the same PS3 of old. It doesn’t add any significant under-the-hood specs nor does it improve on what’s already there.

While gamers may have an incentive to buy the Super Slim console in anticipation of some new titles (e.g. Assassin’s Creed III) bundled in, it really isn’t that much different.

The truly interesting aspect of this upcoming release may not be the fact that it claims to be 25 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter than an existing PS3. A Slim version of the PS2 was released in October 2004; that’s almost exactly eight years removed from the Super Slim PS3’s scheduled release later this month.

The PS3, on the other hand, was released in November, 2006. Doing the math, that could mean Sony will be using an eight-year product life cycle and releasing the PS4 in the fall of 2014. That’s more than two years from now, and an awful long time to wait for a new product. However, historically speaking, this wouldn’t be surprising if it happens.

Still, we’re not giving up on the chances of a PS4 release late next year. Nintendo will release the Wii U in November and Microsoft’s Xbox 720 could also be out by the fall of 2013, so a next-gen Sony console late in 2013 wouldn’t hurt.

We’re also expecting the Super Slim PS3 to undercut Nintendo’s Wii U sales a bit, but not that much; after all, the Super Slim is a new twist on an old device, while the Wii U is a completely new console loaded with new features.