[Globox_82]

Developers are currently taking receipt of a new PlayStation 4 dev kit, VG247 has been told today, with a final version slated to appear in January. Yes, it’ll have Blu-ray. No, it isn’t being made in Japan. Multiple sources have confirmed to VG247 today that a new version of the Orbis kit is now shipping to developers, and that it’s housed in a normal PC case. There are to be four versions of the dev kit, we were told. A previous version was essentially just a graphics card. The version shipping now is a “modified PC,” and the third version, appearing in January, will be close to final spec. A final version will be delivered to developers “next summer”. Some US developers attended a “disclosure meeting” at Sony’s offices this week, with a further meeting to take place in the coming weeks. The purpose of the meeting is for Sony to tell studios what the machine is designed to do, to detail hardware and to show a set of presentations. Our source told us that Sony is only calling the machine Orbis, and is not using the words “PlayStation 4″ in these meetings at all. Orbis, we were told today, is based on the AMD’s A10 APU series. An APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) is a combined CPU and GPU. PS4′s APU was described today as a “derivative” of existing A10 hardware. The hardware is “based on A10 system and base platform”. The “ultimate goal” for the hardware, we were told, is for it to be able to run 1080p60 games in 3D with “no problem,” to create a machine that’s powerful enough for “today and tomorrow’s market”. The dev kits have “either 8Gb or 16Gb of RAM. Deduce from that what you will.” The hardware is not being made in Japan, it was said. When asked if PS4 will have an optical drive, specifically Blu-ray, our source responded: “Of course it has.” We’ve been told the hard drive will be 256Gb “as standard,” but it’s not clear if it’ll be a normal HDD or a solid state drive. We were told that Sony’s aim with Orbis is to avoid problems involved in launching PS3 by creating something “very affordable” but that “isn’t a slouch”. The machine has WiFi and Ethernet connectivity and HDMI out. Our source said the was “no difference” between PlayStation 3 and Orbis input/output. The UI, however, has been revamped. It was said today that players will now be able to press the PS button mid-game and travel “anywhere” on the system. An example given was buying DLC from the PS Store mid-game then seamlessly returning to play. “They’re trying to make it as fluid as possible,” our source said. We were also told that the machine will be designed to accept system and product updates in the background, and that it’ll “always be standby mode”. When you set the console up, we were told, you’ll be asked if you want to allow background downloads. You can, of course, disallow them. No details have been given on the pad as yet. Confirmation is expected this month. Orbis is expected to be announced at an event “just before E3″ next year. http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/01/ps4_...playstation_4/

In before this sucks, low spec.

Sounds impressive imo

[Drencrom]

Is that good or bad?

[Eideka]

Very good specs.

Hopefully Sony does not disappoint.

[Orayn]

I am still weirded out by the prospect of both Orbis/PS4 and Durango using x86 CPUs. One would hope it'll mean better PC ports, from a technical standpoint, due to more hardware similarities. Hope.

[Seda]

What's the equivalent DBZ power level?

[Magic Ovaries]

I don't get all this tech talk, just tell me how many WiiUs duct taped this is.

[Globox_82]

Is that good or bad?

The “ultimate goal” for the hardware, we were told, is for it to be able to run 1080p60 games in 3D with “no problem,” to create a machine that’s powerful enough for “today and tomorrow’s market”. The dev kits have “either 8Gb or 16Gb of RAM. Deduce from that what you will.”

Sounds almost too good

[Takao]

cross game chat still not confirmed

smh

vita has cross game chat

[gabbre]

What's the equivalent DBZ power level?

8999

[Musiol]

fuckyes.gif

[Combichristoffersen]

At least it's not being made in Japan, so that's a good sign.

[bobbytkc]

8999

Fuck. Game over. Time to pack up guys

[SniperHunter]

Is that good or bad?

very vague...whats the point of an APU and a GPU???

[Pranay_]

What's the equivalent DBZ power level?

From Goku before super saiyan to SS3

PS3->PS4

[Globox_82]

Orbis is expected to be announced at an event “just before E3″ next year.

As expected.

[Silent_Ocarina]

Just before E3? I can't wait to see this thing.

[Sid]

What's the equivalent DBZ power level?

0

[Harlock]

We still able to play Super Stardust HD? Hope is powerfull enough to emulate the PS3 cell chip.

[Proelite]

8 or 16 GB of ram.

4 - 12 in the final.

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Amd means BC is out the window right?

We still able to play Super Stardust HD? Hope is powerfull enough to emulate the PS3 cell chip.

The console that supports its downloadable content with BC is the one that will get my money early . I don't even mind if retail games aren't supported, but if I can't take my psnxbla games into next gen, I'm probably going to stay in this one for an extended period, till I've satisfied that library.


I don't mind waiting till the peak of next gen to jump in. I have have plenty downloadble games on the HD twins in my backlog.

[Takao]

What's the equivalent DBZ power level?

Keeping it within the beginning of the series, if Wii U is Farmer With a Shot Gun, Orbis is Nappa. PC is Goku.

[Erasus]

x86 cpu

16GB ram in devkits

YES!

Devs know x86, no more weird (but powerful) POWERPC stuff. Awesome.
Look at how powerful the xbox 1 was compared to the competition.

Amd means BC is out the window right?

Dammit, did not think of this.

Yes no way the A10 can emulate the Cell. No way.
http://www.techspot.com/review/580-amd-a10-5800k/

Wonder if its paired with a descrete gpu? Or maybe its good enough for 1080p60fps because devs can really code to the metal.

[Stark]

What's the equivalent DBZ power level?

This is what I was waiting for.

[darkside31337]

"We were also told that the machine will be designed to accept system and product updates in the background, and that it’ll “always be standby mode”. When you set the console up, we were told, you’ll be asked if you want to allow background downloads. You can, of course, disallow them."

Surprised they'd let you disallow them. Figured automatic FW updates would be something they would do as anti-CFW measure.

[V_Ben]

The stuff about the UI is pretty exciting. Sounds like they've been learning well.

[KojiKnight]

very vague...whats the point of an APU and a GPU???

Same reason why some people get 1 good Nvidia card for graphics and one "okay" card for physx... Because then you have two dedicated cards handling two different tasks (in this case, the APU could be used mostly/solely for GPGPU functions)

(edit) That is if it indeed did have an APU and a seperate graphics chip.

[mrklaw]

- modified PC doesn't mean that A10 is the final CPU/APU in the PS4

- Based on A10 means the potential for lots of customisation therefore don't read too much into that specifically

- 256GB suggests SSD but thats a bit SSD and would be too expensive.

very vague...whats the point of an APU and a GPU???

APU probably wouldn't have enough oomph for next gen graphics. So you want a dedicated GPU still (hopefully).

The GPU part of the APU can be used for other things, much like CELL did this gen. Either physx style stuff, or possibly post processing/AA etc. Basically offloading stuff from the CPU

[gofreak]

Well the RAM situation sounds much improved, if true.

And is an APU as per the prior spec. Something based on the A10 makes sense for the current kit. Shame they don't have more specifics though, particularly on the GPU side of the APU. On whether it's changed or not.

[Derrick01]

Still clinging to that 1080p/60fps hope I see. It doesn't matter how powerful they make it, devs will choose to get more out of the game and make it 720/30 and I'm ok with that. I have a PC to fix that, but my PC can't make extra graphics or physics.

[Globox_82]

At least it's not being made in Japan, so that's a good sign.

It's made in China, stop the presses.

[Toki767]

So $500?

[Sid]

8 or 16 GB of ram. 4 - 12 in the final.

You meant 4-8 in the final,right?

[AOC83]

So $500?

[Sid]

So $500?

I don't think we can guess the price at this point since orbis may appear at fall 2013 or early 2014.Even then the hardware will be customised according to sony's requirements.

[V_Ben]

"We were also told that the machine will be designed to accept system and product updates in the background, and that it’ll “always be standby mode”. When you set the console up, we were told, you’ll be asked if you want to allow background downloads. You can, of course, disallow them." Surprised they'd let you disallow them. Figured automatic FW updates would be something they would do as anti-CFW measure.

People with Bandwidth caps might take issue with that, so a toggle seems fair.

[herod]

The “ultimate goal” for the hardware, we were told, is for it to be able to run 1080p60 games in 3D with “no problem,”

like a midrange PC?

[bobbytkc]

So $500?

That would be good news to me. I don't want to buy a WiiU equivalent. Thanks.

[SmokyDave]

Yummy.

The machine has WiFi and Ethernet connectivity

Did nobody tell Sony that only 0.000002% of the world use Ethernet?!

So $500?

I'll happily pay for the right kit.

[KojiKnight]

Still clinging to that 1080p/60fps hope I see. It doesn't matter how powerful they make it, devs will choose to get more out of the game and make it 720/30 and I'm ok with that. I have a PC to fix that, but my PC can't make extra graphics or physics.

Yeah... I think hoping for 60fps out of most games is make believe... It "can" do it, but so "can" PS360, devs are going to throw that right out of the windows to basically give themselves double the time to render a scene (IE more effects)

[mrmarioman]

1080p@60fps and 3D? That would be nice. I thought hdmi was limited to 24frames at 1080p 3D

[Sub_Level]

Keeping it within the beginning of the series, if Wii U is Farmer With a Shot Gun, Orbis is Nappa. PC is Goku.

So Orbis is at least five times stronger than PC? Or are we talking post-King Kai training?

[Zee-Row]

If its backward compatible with PS3 games , thats a bigger win for me.

[FlashFlooder]

It's slightly reassuring that they aren't promising the moon, like they did with PS3. And that they seem to understand that price is a big factor.

But man, I'm mostly amazed at how big of a disaster their investment in Cell processor has been. For them to be ditching that architecture altogether is kind of unthinkable, yet here it is.

[AOC83]

like a midrange PC?

I´m pretty sure he isn´t talking about current gen graphics in 1080p/60fps.

[Metalmurphy]

This pleases me... if it's true anyway.

[eso76]

Affordable ?
Was hoping for something outrageously expensive (And monstrously powerful, accordingly).

Let's hope Xbox 720 is at least 599$ :P

[Globox_82]

Keeping it within the beginning of the series, if Wii U is Farmer With a Shot Gun, Orbis is Nappa. PC is Goku.

Who is Nappa? Is he bad ass?

[Pranay_]

like a midrange PC?

A mid range pc plays current gen games at 1080 p and 60 fps =)

[LiquidMetal14]

From a tech standpoint, it sounds very good. I like their ambition if the 1080p part is true. Shoot for a standard and built games to that mantra.

[Shalashaska161]

Amd means BC is out the window right?

Not really, though it does make it a little less likely. Honestly I'd say cell is the bigger obstacle in BC.

Anyways, I like where they are aiming for power wise. Chances are I'll day 1 this system.