The next video game console from Sony, the PlayStation 4/Oribis will be revealed at E3 gaming exposition early this summer and released during the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a new report.
Digital Spy reports that VGleaks, a website that has been dubbed the WikiLeaks of the gaming industry, claims to have seen the Sony's plans for the new console, which supposedly entered development in June 2011.
According to the report, rumors suggest that the PlayStation 4 will be powered by "a quad-core AMD APU Solutions processor with an AMD 8000 series GPU and between 2 and 4GB of GDDR5."
Here is the Sony's PS4 'road map' from Vgleaks:
2011 June/July - PC with Win7 64-bit and a "jailbroken" ATI r9 graphics card
2011 Sept/Oct - PC with Win7 64-bit and a "jailbroken" ATI r10 graphics card
2012 Q1 - disclosure to more developers
2012 E3 - potential unveiling window start
2012 Jul - devkits for engineers writing OS
2012 Q3 - first true hardware prototype devkits
2013 E3 - potential unveiling window end
2013 Q4 - launch
There have been many rumors about Sony's new console including the system coming with the ability to run Ultra HD Visuals with 4K resolution according to a Yahoo report. The 4K resolution could be used to entice gamers to upgrade their television sets to a new model much like the PS3 helped to broaden the sales of Blu-ray disc. Sony is already selling 4K resolution capable Blu-ray players for about $200, so there is no reason that the company would not include the technology in the PS4.
Other reports suggest that Sony has filed a recent patent for technology that can block the use of used video games. The new tech would tag video games with chips that are very similar to the ones found in bankcards and credit cards.The tag will be matched with the user's account and the information will be stored on the tag, meaning every time the disc is used in the future, the tag will check to see if the ID's match. If the IDs do not match up, the game disc will not work.
A GamesIndustry International article suggests that the PS4 will release in October with the Xbox 720 releasing in November. According to an industry analyst, the new systems will retail for $350 to $400 in the United States and will be built from off the shelve PC parts.
"Given the fragile state of the console game market, we expect the E3 trade show in June will take on added significance, most likely providing the industry with the first public opportunity to examine next-generation hardware,"wrote Baird's Colin Sebastian in a note to investors.
He added, "Our checks suggest that next-generation console hardware will be largely built from 'off the shelf' high-end PC components, along with hybrid physical/digital distribution models, enhanced voice controls and motion sensing (Kinect integration with every Xbox), and broad multi-media capabilities."
Sony has yet to official confirm the new video game console or deny its existence. For now these reports must be looked at as interesting and enticing rumors.