PlayStation 4 To Be Called ‘Orbis’ on Release?

By Prarthito Maity | March 29 2012 8:34 AM

If rumors are to be believed, an insider with gaming website Kotaku claims to know important details about the eagerly anticipated next generation PlayStation 4. According to him, the next PlayStation is being developed under the name of “Orbis” and is expected to bring out its own set of games in late 2013.

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A visitor plays with a Playstation at the Sony Playstaytion exhibition stand during the Gamescom 2011 fair in Cologne August 18, 2011.

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As per this unnamed source, which is renowned of providing “correct information”, the new console will be powered by an AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU. This will allow it to process regular games at a sensational resolution of up to 4096x2160, and 3D games at 1080p.

Moreover, to the horror and major disappointment of PlayStation 3 owners, the Orbis will not be backwards compatible with PS3 games and the console will limit access to used games. Sony, according to the source, will accomplish this feat by making new titles available on Blu-Ray or for download over PlayStation Network, and will be locking the copies to individual PSN accounts.

This means that although players who pick up a new physical copy of the game will be able to unlock it for download over PSN (PlayStation Network), players who will be buying the used ones will be limited to what they can access, unless they pay another fee to completely unlock the entire game.

However, Sony has denied the reports and has claimed that the company will not be entertaining speculation and rumors at this stage. However, as pointed out by Kotaku, there is already a section for Orbis on Sony's DevNet website, and although the system isn't listed among the platforms, the name Orbis does appear in the address of the website.

Orbis has also been rumored to launch in late 2013 in the holiday season, according to a Gamesradar report.