VG247 has been told by several sources that new versions of the PS4 (codenamed Orbis) development kits have been shipped out to developers. This is apparently the second iteration of the hardware to be sent to devs and has been described as a “modified PC.” A close to final spec version of the hardware will be shipping out in January with the actual final builds due to be with developers by Summer next year.
According to VG247’s sources Orbis is based on AMD’s A10 APU series, which is a combined CPU and GPU. Sony wants this hardware to be capable of running games at 1080p (and in 3D) as standard. Currently the dev kits have either 8GB or 16GB of RAM, Blu-Ray is still the optical drive of choice and the system apparently has a 256GB hard drive. It’s unclear however whether that is a regular HDD or a solid state drive. Inputs and outputs will remain pretty much the same as a PS3, with HDMI, Ethernet and Wifi still being part of the Orbis hardware.
The UI is also getting an update, with the system being described as very similar to how the Xbox 360 works now with the Playstation button bringing up the system menu at any time. Allowing you to browse the PSN store mid-game and even buy/download some DLC before dropping seamlessly back into the game. Check out the full story over at VG247 for a few more tidbits of info.
What do you think of this info? Does it have you excited for the next generation or is it all a little too close to speculation for your liking? Let us know in the comments below or hit up the forums with your thoughts.
Source: VG247