The PlayStation 4 will still have a optical drive according to a interview between Kaz Hirai and MCV. Hirai has ruled out a download-only future for the next generation PlayStation console as Sony’s business will always require a physical discs in one way or another, despite being the first one to release the download-only PSP Go.
If you are waiting for the next generation PlayStation console, you have a few years of waiting to do if Sony Worldwide Studios boss, Shuhei Yoshida, is to be believed. In an interview with Develop, Yoshida said that Microsoft and Nintendo will release their next consoles before Sony.
Although the next iteration of the PlayStation, be it PS4, hasn’t been announced yet, Sony has confirmed that work is progressing on ‘future platform related activities’. First party developers are helping to design the future PlayStation according to Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.
While we may think Sony is on the push for digital distribution with the release of a UMD-less PSPgo, a recent interview by Play3 with Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s Senior VP of Product Development reveals Sony’s plans to “use optical storage discs like Blu-Ray” for the PlayStation 4. Could this mean the creation of an entirely new storage format similar to how the PSP and PS3 have used new storage formats?
Although the PlayStation 3 has a 10-year lifespan, Sony is already moving forward with the PlayStation 4. According to insider info (along with some speculation), Japanese website PC Watch Impress is reporting that Sony is looking to alternatives to the PS3’s Cell architecture, which some developers have found to be challenging. One early alternative include Cell and Intel’s Larrabee. Wanting a bit more horsepower, Sony has apparently abandoned this plan.
