>Our main source supplied some basic specs for the console, but
>as the future is always in motion, bear in mind these could
>easily change between now and the Orbis' retail release.
>Still, if you'd like to know what developers are being told to
>plan for now, here you go.
>
> AMD x64 CPU
> AMD Southern Islands GPU
>
> The former, that's largely something we've heard before,
>but the latter is interesting. That's the name given to many
>of AMD's 2012 roster of high-end PC cards. The PS4's GPU in
>particular, we're told, will be capable of displaying Orbis
>games at a resolution of up to 4096x2160, which is far in
>excess of the needs of most current HDTV sets. It'll also be
>capable of playing 3D games in 1080p (the PS3 could only
>safely manage 3D at 720p).
>
>NEXT YEAR
>
>Our main source tell us that "select developers" have been
>receiving dev kits for the new console since the beginning of
>this year. Revised and improved versions of these kits were
>sent out around GDC, while more finalised beta units will be
>shipped to developers towards the end of 2012.
>
>That should hopefully give developers plenty of time to have
>launch games ready for the Orbis' retail release, which will
>be in time for the 2013 holiday season. If you can remember
>the PS3 launch—it's OK if you can't, it was a while ago—that
>too was in time for the holiday shopping season (November 2006
>for Japan and North America).
>SO LONG, PS3 GAMES
>
>Remember how the PlayStation 3 swiftly dropped the ability to
>play PS2 games? Well, our main source tell us the Orbis won't
>even bother, and that Sony has no plans to offer backwards
>compatibility for its existing catalogue of PS3 games.



>SO LONG, USED GAMES
>
> BACK IN DECEMBER... A post left on Pastebin back in
>December also referred to the PlayStation 4 as Orbis, calling
>it a codename in the same vein as Microsoft's Durango. The
>system specs in that post differ significantly from what
>Kotaku has heard, and the lack of a hard drive by default goes
>against the idea of downloading full games to the system.

> The Pastebin post also mentions that big name developers
>like EA were disappointed by an Orbis much less powerful than
>Microsoft's next machine, so there's a chance that it's the
>story of an earlier prototype that didn't make the grade.
>We've reached out to EA for comment.
>
>Just like the next Xbox/Durango, we've heard from multiple
>sources that the Orbis will likewise have some kind of
>anti-used games measures built into the console. Here's how
>our main source says it's currently shaping up: new games for
>the system will be available one of two ways, either on a
>Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download (yes, even full retail
>titles). If you buy the disc, it must be locked to a single
>PSN account, after which you can play the game, save the whole
>thing to your HDD, or peg it as "downloaded" in your account
>history and be free to download it at a later date.
>
>Don't think you can simply buy the disc and stay offline,
>though; like many PC games these days, you'll need to have a
>PSN account and be online to even get the thing started.

I guess I'll be done with video games after this generation. I'm already struggling to pay my current internet bills and now console-makers wanna make consoles that'll drive up my bills even further? SMH.


>If you then decide to trade that disc in, the pre-owned
>customer picking it up will be limited in what they can do.
>While our sources were unclear on how exactly the pre-owned
>customer side of things would work, it's believed used games
>will be limited to a trial mode or some other form of content
>restriction, with consumers having to pay a fee to
>unlock/register the full game.
>
>This would allow used games to continue to be sold at outlets
>such as GameStop, while also appeasing major publishers who
>would no longer have to implement their own haphazard
>approaches to "online passes".

Whatever. I don't do used games anyways.