A trusted source has revealed to Kotaku more details about the PlayStation 3’s successor, currently known as Orbis. It uses both an AMD CPU and GPU, and is planned for a holiday 2013 launch.
Whether Orbis is its actual name or just a codename, its Latin name meaning “circle” fits well alongside the Vita, which actually means “life.” This could hint at a unique future relationship between the console and handheld.
Further proof to its name is that the website orbis.scedevnet.com actually links to Sony’s Developer Network. If you swap out the name Orbis for PS4, the link does not work.
Its hardware specs consist of an AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU capable of showing games at a resolution of 4096×2160. This backs up a previous Forbes report. While the current PS3 can only display 3D games at 720p, the new console will kick it up to 1080p.
“Select” developers have already received dev kits, Kotaku reports, and revised kits were sent out earlier this month around GDC.
Another interesting bit of information is that Orbis won’t be backwards compatible with PS3 games, and it will use the same anti-used game restrictions the new Xbox will have. Kotaku states that games will either be Blu-ray or downloadable. Blu-rays will actually be locked to your console, so if you decide to buy a used game from someone else, you may get a trial version of the game and will need to pay to unlock its full version.
These details are subject to change, of course. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to E3.
Leave a Reply