Orbis. You’ve probably heard the name, it’s apparently the codename for what presumably will eventually be called the Playstation 4. For now however, internally at Sony and game developers, it is called Orbis. And the folks over at Kotaku have managed to get their hands on documentation for Orbis, some 90 odd PDFs worth, no less. It comes by way of an individual known as SuperDaE, someone who previously tried to sell Durango (the codename for the next Xbox) development kits on ebay.
These documents, not officially confirmed of course, seemingly provide details for the very recent versions of the Orbis dev kits. System specs, listed below, show a powerful machine indeed, though it should be noted as these are not final builds of the hardware these specs can and in some cases probably will change. For example the second ethernet port is most likely for testing purposes, much like the smaller hard drive most likely doesn’t represent what you’ll see in retail units.
- System Memory: 8GB
- Video Memory: 2.2 GB
- CPU: 4x Dual-Core AMD64 “Bulldozer” (so, 8x cores)
- GPU: AMD R10xx
- Ports: 4x USB 3.0, 2x Ethernet
- Drive: Blu-Ray
- HDD: 160GB
- Audio Output: HDMI & Optical, 2.0, 5.1 & 7.1 channels
We recently heard rumblings that Sony was looking to move away from the Dual Shock controller, a form factor they’ve been using since the original Playstation. And while the current dev kits are still compatible with Sixaxis and Dual Shock controllers, there is in fact another controller. It’s known as the Orbis Development Tool, reportedly it will have all the things you come to expect from a Dual Shock 3. Those trademark face buttons aren’t going anywhere, it’ll have shoulder buttons and the motion-sensing features remain, though with improved technology. What’s new is a capacitive touch pad, akin to the one Playstation Vita owners are familiar with. It’ll be multi-touch and the whole pad can be clicked, giving an extra input. Finally there is a “Share” button, the purpose of which is unknown, could it just be a sync button of some sort? Or something more?
Speaking of sharing, the final piece of information Kotaku shares from these documents is about Sony’s new multi-user account system. It sounds like Sony are taking a page from Microsoft’s book with this one, as they will allow users to sign into multiple accounts on one console, at the same time. Much in the way a new local player on an Xbox 360 can sign into a profile store on the console, players who sync up their PS4 controllers would essentially be linking the account to their controller. This would allow those playing a co-op game, for example, to all unlock a trophy for their individual accounts.
None of these details are set in stone, heck they might be completely false, but they do match up with other things we’ve been hearing lately. What do you think of these specs and the details of the supposed new controller? Let us know in the comments below or hit up our forums to discuss it with us and our other readers.
Source: Kotaku