If the Wall Street Journal are to be believed, the successor to the PlayStation 3 is due in 2013, and was considered to be download-only at one point. WSJ sources claim that Sony “considered but ultimately rejected a download-only plan” for the PlayStation 4.
Its looks like a Software Engineering at SCEA has accidentally let slip that he has worked on maintaining a “voice chat library” for the PlayStation 4. Frederick Umminger listed the role on his LinkedIn profile, but was later corrected to reference the PlayStation 3.
Publishers have long claimed that second-hand games are hurting the industry, which has lead to the rise in online Passes to access multiplayer content as a way to make some money from second-hand games. The PS4 has been rumored to block used games, but Sony’s Jack Tretton said that he was “opposed to blocking used games.”
Another remove about the PlayStation 4 / Orbis has been circling recently. This new rumor suggests that Orbis will support OpenGL natively. “OpenGL is a layered API on the PS3,” source have told TheSixthAxis. “It’s much easier to use than LibGCM, which is the main PS3 system.”
It appears that Sony are aiming to release the successor of the PS3 (currently dubbed Orbis) out before Microsoft get their next console out, according to sources. The report, which says that the PS4 has been in design planning stage for about two years, says that Sony are confident “it will have the console at market ahead of the next generation Xbox next Christmas.”
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?
