Rumour Has It: The PlayStation 4

http://kotaku.com/5896996/the-next-playstation-is-called-orbis-sources-say-here-are-the-details

In spite of the fun and innovation that was the Nintendo Wii, hardcore gamers have sworn by the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as the ultimate gaming consoles. But with a Blu-ray drive capable of 3D playback in addition to its massive hard drive for storing music, movies and photos, the PlayStation 3 was a multimedia behemoth that easily stood out from the crowd. So what could Sony possibly offer in the PlayStation 4 to outdo not just their competitors, but themselves? Here’s a roundup of some of the rumours surrounding Sony’s next offering.

Release Date

When the PlayStation 3 was unveiled in 2006, Sony claimed that it would have a ten-year lifespan in the gaming market, and that a new console wouldn’t be released until they felt that the PS3’s shelf-life had fully expired.

With reports of Microsoft and Nintendo preparing to launch their new consoles by the end of 2013 though (the Xbox 720 and Wii U respectively), rumours of an imminent release of the PS4 began to surface on the web, culminating in an expectation that Sony would announce the PS4 at E3 this year.

However, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai quashed those rumours, saying, ““We are not making any announcements at E3”, a claim that he followed up on. More importantly though, in response to the rumours that Sony were planning to unveil the PS4 soon, he also added that he, “Always said a ten year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that."

Further evidence of Sony’s plans for an extended lifespan for the PlayStation 3 can be seen in the form of the PS3 Super Slim, whose very existence suggests that Sony is determined to see the PS3 survive through at least one more holiday season.

Specifications

Given Sony’s resolve to see the PS3 last as long as possible, it’s hard to speculate about a console that barely exists as an idea, nevertheless as a piece of hardware.

According to games blog Kotaku, the console is rumoured to have a dual-core 2.3 GHz AMD x64 CPU (central processing unit) and a 28nm AMD Southern Islands GPU (graphics processing unit). For those of us that don’t speak binary, these aren’t the most powerful chips available. If this is true, then it’s possible that Sony could be moving away from offering the best graphics in favour of some sort of innovation, similar to Nintendo and their approach with the Wii.

However, games site VGLeaks reported that the PlayStation 4 could actually be up to 10 times more powerful than the PS3 due to a quad-core 3.2 GHz AMD x86 CPU and an 800 MHz AMD R10x series (Tahiti) GPU.

Whether Sony pushes for major innovations or focuses on pure performance power, either way, they will have to offer something really impressive in the PS4 not only to compete against the upcoming Nintendo Wii U and Xbox 720, but to convince current PS3 owners to upgrade from their current console.

Backwards Compatibility

One area of discussion and (surprisingly) consensus among the tech community seems to be on the assumption that the PlayStation 4 will not be backwards compatible (i.e. it won’t let you play PS3 games on it).

Although die-hard Sony/PlayStation fans will be disappointed by the news, it makes sense that Sony wouldn’t offer backwards compatibility with the PS4. As impressive as the PS3 was when it was first released, sales weren’t as strong as they could have been due to its initially high price tag. By not offering backwards compatibility, Sony can keep the price of the PS4 down, something which could entice people to purchase/upgrade to the PS4 (which is obviously in Sony’s best interests).

Name

The PS4 is reportedly going to be called Orbis, which translates to “ring” or “circle” in Latin. Why does that matter, you ask? Combined with Vita (the name of the PlayStation handheld meaning “life” in Latin), it means “Circle of Life”, which possibly suggests that the PS4 could work with the PS Vita, similar to the way the Wii U console and tablet work together.

Whatever Sony decides for the final product in terms of its specifications and name, we look forward to seeing what comes next for the PlayStation (whenever it finally does come out).