PS4 Rumors Beginning to Surface

So Kotaku's reporting on some PS4 rumors; It's codenamed "Orbis". I usually try to ignore rumours, but can't help but get a little excited after this extended console cycle. Some of this stuff sounds a little crazy; 4k res, anti-piracy measures built in and AMD southern island (7k series) GPU?

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

For those who don't wanna click though, here's the TL:DR version copypasta'd:

• Is called, or at least carries the working codename, "Orbis".
• Is scheduled for a Holiday 2013 release.
• Won't be backwards compatible with PS3 games.
• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.
• New games can be bought either on Blu-Ray or downloaded.
• Current specs are an AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU

The dev portal thing and Orbis being latin, like the Vita, make me think they're onto something. Thoughts?

Update: Yep, codename's definitely Orbis, it seems. http://kotaku.com/5897139/sketches-of-playstation-orbis-features-surface-then-disappear

Also, someone pointed out Orbis is Latin for circle, forming "circle of life" when paired with vita. Maybe they're planning a better cross-platform experience this time around. Sure sounds like some pretentious shit Sony would make up.

Terrible codename.

It will be called Playstation 4,

Will lock new games to a PSN account, well that will be the death of Sony, seriously who pirates on a PS3 anyway? Isnt it the hardest to hack.

And Sony fails to innovate yet again.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

It will be called Playstation 4,

Will lock new games to a PSN account, well that will be the death of Sony, seriously who pirates on a PS3 anyway? Isnt it the hardest to hack.

For a while, then it was the easiest to hack. Don't know about it's current state though.

they (and by they I mean all of them, MS, Sony, Nintendo) really want to kill the used game market huh...

@Horrifying said:

• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

I remember the exact same rumour about the PS3. There were going to be CD keys that attach games to your system and make reselling your game impossible. It didn't happen. It won't happen this time either.

no backwards compatibility and account-locked new games? it can't be

@MattyFTM: Not with about 20% of PS3s not connected to the internet.

@MattyFTM said:

@Horrifying said:

• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

I remember the exact same rumour about the PS3. There were going to be CD keys that attach games to your system and make reselling your game impossible. It didn't happen. It won't happen this time either.

I wouldn't go as far to say that it won't happen, but I feel it is incredibly unlikely that this is true. Sony has a record of dumb ideas, and following through on this one (as well as killing PS3 backwards compatibility) would be up there, yet reasonable.

But... people seem to forget that these are rumors.

I wonder what a Dualshock 4 will add. With each Dualshock they've added (and taken away) some stuff, so I wonder what this next version will do.

Another analog stick.

On the back.

@LibrorumProhibitorum said:

I wonder what a Dualshock 4 will add. With each Dualshock they've added (and taken away) some stuff, so I wonder what this next version will do.

Another analog stick.

On the back.

Touchplate.

On the back.

And there is no way they would have no backwards compatibility.

Account-locked games are a deal-breaker for me. I'll find a new hobby before I support these types of initiatives. 

Kotaku publishes rumor articles in a 3 per day basis. No wonder, Stephen Totilo then says that they predicted this or that. With so many, they eventually hit one that's accurate.

I love this part: "Orbis. Say it out loud. Sounds a little like the word "four", doesn't it?". What?! Dude who wrote it must be high or something.

@MattyFTM: I'm not 100% on this, but I'm pretty sure Blurays have individual serial numbers or some kind of unique identifiers attached to them. Back during the PS rewards beta, they tracked new games purchased both physically/digitally and tallied a total through reward tiers. Dunno how they could've done it otherwise. Maybe I'm talkin' outta my ass here, WHO KNOWS. D:

The no backwards compatibly is probably true so they can sell you the same PS3 games again in collections because we all know Sony loves collections.

@Winternet said:

I love this part: "Orbis. Say it out loud. Sounds a little like the word "four", doesn't it?". What?! Dude who wrote it must be high or something.

Yeah, actually laughed at that part. Dude's really goin' for it there.

I don't think the account locking will happen. It'd be a potential nightmare for customers. If someone ended up not liking a game, they presumably couldn't return it. With no one else being able to use that disc, it'll just become a useless piece of plastic. Sony wouldn't be shooting themselves in the foot as much as blasting it off with a rocket launcher.

Even if they did go with that ridiculous anti-piracy idea, I can see people causing enough of a stir for them to retract it.

Hm. Interesting.

@Winternet: Oh Kotaku, the pinnacle of journalism. :D

@Moncole said:

The no backwards compatibly is probably true so they can sell you the same PS3 games again in collections because we all know Sony loves collections.

Well, since they appear to be ditching the Cell architecture, I think this is almost a guarantee.

@killacam said:

no backwards compatibility and account-locked new games? it can't be

the lack of backwards compatability is pretty much a given at this point, just ready yourself for it. Cell processor and all that

@Moncole said:

The no backwards compatibly is probably true so they can sell you the same PS3 games again in collections because we all know Sony loves collections.

Guessin' it's to have a more familiar architecture for devs, unless you're ready for another terrible-ass port fest.

no backwards compatibility is crazy.

@killacam said:

no backwards compatibility and account-locked new games? it can't be

Well, regarding backwards compat, it seems very likely that cell is being dropped and they are going with PC x86 parts. Emulating the cell might be doable, but probably would be a lot of work. This is one this I can see happening to keep the price down.

Cool. I'll stick with my pc though. Consoles regardless of what happens will never had the same level of sophisticated games. With motion control they seem to be going backwords.

Many of the points are likely, I guess...

I still don't like the codename. Orbis is pretty awful.

@mosdl: I could see a basic model with no backwards compatibility and a premium version with.

Codenames just a codename.

@Shookems said:

I had the same thought.

I'd buy a PS4rbis

4rbis? FOURBIS FORBIS FROSOSREOSJ... :/

@Jay_Ray said:

@mosdl: I could see a basic model with no backwards compatibility and a premium version with.

My guess adding a cell/rsx would cost around $100ish, so doable.

Playstation FourOrbis god damnit all to hell. Just make it a damn powerful machine. 16 cores. Go.

AMD? Seriously? That's a bad idea, they're doing awful compared to Intel right now. But maybe future processors will be better.

@Daiphyer said:

And Sony fails to innovate yet again.

Cuase you know.... Mircrosoft is definitely gonna innovate 360

• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

At least the codename doesn't sound like slang for a log of shit

@Jack268: Log of Shit. That is a perfect code name right there.

Just because you make something up, does not make it a rumor.

@Horrifying said:

• Won't be backwards compatible with PS3 games.
• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

This. seriously. sucks.

I don't get the issue with backwards compatibility. I would have spend hundreds of dollars (euros) on PS2 games if the PS3 would have been backwards compatible.

Of course they want to sell the new games, but this kinda prevents people from investing further money into older games.

And even though only 3 games from the 75+ PS3 games I own are bought as used, I think it's pure insolence to deny people the possibility to sell their mispurchases.

I'll stick to the PS3 for some time and wait 2 years or so until I get the PS4.

Sounds like a shitty PC, with a shitty version of steam. Oh no i dind't

@cstrang said:

@LibrorumProhibitorum said:

I wonder what a Dualshock 4 will add. With each Dualshock they've added (and taken away) some stuff, so I wonder what this next version will do.

Another analog stick.

On the back.

Touchplate.

On the back.

And there is no way they would have no backwards compatibility.

They don't even have it now anymore, and there are STILL PS2 games being made

@MattyFTM said:

@Horrifying said:

• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

I remember the exact same rumour about the PS3. There were going to be CD keys that attach games to your system and make reselling your game impossible. It didn't happen. It won't happen this time either.

I could see it working if they made it optional, and tried to incentivise people to do it. They are going to make a big push for digital distribution this generation, and all of those games will be linked to some kind of an account, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them allow you to link it to the account and give you special benefits for doing so. For example, once you link it to your account they could then let you install the game to the hard drive and no longer require the disk. Once it's linked you could get some free wallpapers, avatars and stuff like that. Offer discounts on future installations of games if you have previous versions on the account. Try to sell it as a free warranty on all your games by allowing you to download a digital copy of the game once it's linked for free. So if anything ever happens to the disk you can still play the game.

I could see it working as a way to start training console gamers to get used to the idea of digital distribution and to make it less of a big scary thing if they treat it correctly.

@Morrow said:

@Horrifying said:

• Won't be backwards compatible with PS3 games.
• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

This. seriously. sucks.

I don't get the issue with backwards compatibility. I would have spend hundreds of dollars (euros) on PS2 games if the PS3 would have been backwards compatible.

Of course they want to sell the new games, but this kinda prevents people from investing further money into older games.

And even though only 3 games from the 75+ PS3 games I own are bought as used, I think it's pure insolence to deny people the possibility to sell their mispurchases.

I'll stick to the PS3 for some time and wait 2 years or so until I get the PS4.

...well if you want to play ps2 game why not just buy a ps2? Right now they probably pay you when you buy a ps2, it must be pretty cheap. I would understand if playing ps2 game on ps3 would give you a bonus or something, but it does not. It takes some space, but then again if I wanted to play ps2 game really bad it would not matter to me.

Holiday 2013 is absolutely insane, so this is bs. Especially considering it says it will support 4k. By 2013? 4k still isnt even on the market, about ten people will have one by then... And the cost of it would be astronomical.

@Jay_Ray said:

@mosdl: I could see a basic model with no backwards compatibility and a premium version with.

I can also see Sony dropping it entirely 1 year after release...

@nohthink said:

@Daiphyer said:

And Sony fails to innovate yet again.

Cuase you know.... Mircrosoft is definitely gonna innovate 360

We know nothing about the next Microsoft console. I'll give you that we know barebones if at all about PS4, but judging from their track record, it's gonna be a better PS3.

@Darklight said:

@Morrow said:

@Horrifying said:

• Won't be backwards compatible with PS3 games.
• Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.

This. seriously. sucks.

I don't get the issue with backwards compatibility. I would have spend hundreds of dollars (euros) on PS2 games if the PS3 would have been backwards compatible.

Of course they want to sell the new games, but this kinda prevents people from investing further money into older games.

And even though only 3 games from the 75+ PS3 games I own are bought as used, I think it's pure insolence to deny people the possibility to sell their mispurchases.

I'll stick to the PS3 for some time and wait 2 years or so until I get the PS4.

...well if you want to play ps2 game why not just buy a ps2? Right now they probably pay you when you buy a ps2, it must be pretty cheap. I would understand if playing ps2 game on ps3 would give you a bonus or something, but it does not. It takes some space, but then again if I wanted to play ps2 game really bad it would not matter to me.

A PS2 is still €120 here. Plus, there are no trophies. I work abroad and have very little time on my hands, and the time I dedicate to games must be worthwhile. I keep track of this time by collecting trophies, so I can remember my positive gaming experience.

I know this sounds awkward, it's probably due to my neurosis to keep track of everything I do. I make notes when I read a book and add a commentary and stuff. I have issues spending my time with something that doesn't leave something behind. When I was younger I used to draw and paint, I had a huge collection of pictures. They were the remnants of the time spent in my youth.

I know I should probably go see a psychiatrist ._.