1. DDR3 2133 mhz is only "slow" when compared to something like GDDR5. Its a massive upgrade over the 360, PS3, and even a nice bump over the DDR3 1600 mhz in the Wii U. Add the 32MB ESRam and you can see why MS might feel like they've got a solid solution already put together. They can't just go back to the drawing board now that it's clear Sony is doing with GDDR5, they've been planning on DDR3 from a pricing angle and need the quantity for the OS features.
2. I'm sure they have a good bit of customization going on in the box, but then so does Sony. The question is if MS' hardware ninjas can out-duel Sony's hardware ninjas, letting a weaker system on paper perform comparably in real world output. That's a tall order, Sony's engineers are very good. They have a track record of being unnecessarily cute and convoluted in their approach, but so far it looks like the PS4 is avoiding that. A straight forward hardware design with Sony's pedigree of engineering is very exciting.
Good god, that'd be hard to answer.
They help so many smaller devs and are basically the umbrella of technical guidance to all of Sony's exclusive PSN games. Hell, that last role alone led them to hire Seth Killian away form Capcom specifically to help guide those games (title is "lead designer of external development"). They're now readily pursuing ex-Vigil members. It's crazy how rapidly they've grown with God of War as the only consistent, established IP they turn out.
I'd imagine they have more than enough staff to work on a new PS4 IP while still providing a high level of technical guidance to PS4 partners.
They did, but there have been suggestions that a lot of Liverpool staff stuck around with Evolution after the closure. Also, there were rumors at the time of closure that Liverpool was already working on WipEout for PS4.
I could definitely see it happen. WipEout has become a Playstation staple and is a perfect fit for the digital distro model.
