DailyGamingNews
Circle of Huskarl
Minmatar Republic
5
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Posted - 2012.11.17 16:53:00 -
[1] - Quote
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, itGÇÖll have Blu-ray. No, it isnGÇÖt 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 itGÇÖs 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 GÇ£modified PC,GÇ¥ and the third version, appearing in January, will be close to final spec. A final version will be delivered to developers GÇ£next summerGÇ¥.
Some US developers attended a GÇ£disclosure meetingGÇ¥ at SonyGÇÖs 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 GǣPlayStation 4GǦ in these meetings at all.
Orbis, we were told today, is based on the AMDGÇÖs A10 APU series. An APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) is a combined CPU and GPU.
PS4GǦs APU was described today as a GǣderivativeGǥ of existing A10 hardware. The hardware is Gǣbased on A10 system and base platformGǥ.
The GÇ£ultimate goalGÇ¥ for the hardware, we were told, is for it to be able to run 1080p60 games in 3D with GÇ£no problem,GÇ¥ to create a machine thatGÇÖs powerful enough for GÇ£today and tomorrowGÇÖs marketGÇ¥.
The dev kits have GÇ£either 8Gb or 16Gb of RAM. Deduce from that what you will.GÇ¥
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: GÇ£Of course it has.GÇ¥ WeGÇÖve been told the hard drive will be 256Gb GÇ£as standard,GÇ¥ but itGÇÖs not clear if itGÇÖll be a normal HDD or a solid state drive.
We were told that SonyGÇÖs aim with Orbis is to avoid problems involved in launching PS3 by creating something GÇ£very affordableGÇ¥ but that GÇ£isnGÇÖt a slouchGÇ¥.
The machine has WiFi and Ethernet connectivity and HDMI out. Our source said the was GÇ£no differenceGÇ¥ 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 GÇ£anywhereGÇ¥ on the system. An example given was buying DLC from the PS Store mid-game then seamlessly returning to play.
GÇ£TheyGÇÖre trying to make it as fluid as possible,GÇ¥ our source said.
We were also told that the machine will be designed to accept system and product updates in the background, and that itGÇÖll GÇ£always be in standby modeGÇ¥. When you set the console up, we were told, youGÇÖll 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 Gǣjust before E3GǦ next year.
also says that the dev kits arenGÇÖt made in Japan (a first) and are designed with a UI that allows users to easily jump in and out of open games and applications and install updates in the background. |