Sony is heavily rumored to unveil the PlayStation 4 at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2013 scheduled to happen from June 11-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. As the big day draws closer, here is a round-up of all the PS4 developments we know so far.
PS4 Release Date:
The only official announcement from Sony states that the console will be released for "Holiday 2013" in the U.S. Although Sony did not specify anything about its launch in other regions, the latest rumors indicate that the PS4 will see a global release in 2013. While a retail release in time for Christmas (this year) would be the ideal situation, Sony seems to be worried about the stock issues. Sony has called for a press conference on June 10 at the annual E3 gaming conference during which it's expected that the company will give the gaming world a sneak peek into what the console will actually look like.
PS4 Price:
Sony has yet to comment on the pricing of its upcoming gaming console and in the absence of that information, we are forced to look into what people close to it say. In an interview with Edge magazine Sony Worldwide Studios Vice President Michael Denny said the company is looking for a mass-market friendly pricing. "Part of that vision [for the PS4] is we have created a console absolutely focused on gamers - and we want that to be gamers in the broadest sense as well. I think to some extent I can ask you to draw your own conclusions," he said. Sony US President Jack Tretton had previously asserted that Sony may launch PS4 at less than $599.
"Industry watchers certainly seem to think so. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter predicts a price of $400 to $449, while Inside Network analyst Billy Pidgeon suggests that the system needs a sub-$300 price point to really compete. The Times of London cites "industry sources" and "internal documents" in suggesting a launch price of £300 (about $460), which would be 25 percent less than the UK launch price for the PS3," Ars Technica reports.
PS4 Specs:
It has already been officially revealed that PS4 will run on a single-chip custom processor and utilizes eight x86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU cores, with a next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine powering the way. The AMD graphic engine offers a dedicated graphical processing unit of type 1.84 TFLOP and this powerful CPU and GPU combination along with its proposed 8 GB GDDR5 RAM will provide an frictionless and seamless gaming experience.
The new console will come with Blu-ray disk support plus good ol' DVD, plus HDMI output support as well as Analog-AV out and an optical digital output, Tech Radar reports.
Another major feature in the next-gen Sony console, the PlayStation 4 Eye, employs two high sensitivity cameras equipped with wide angle lenses and 85-degree diagonal angle views. The cameras (with 1280 x 800 pixels) can cover the reflection of a gamer from the backdrop or discriminate between gamers in the locale. The device is rumored to have a facial and voice recognition technology allowing players to enjoy the games in a more intuitive manner.
PS4 Launch Titles
The launch titles listed for PS4 include (listed by Tech Radar):
- Deep Down (Capcom)
- Destiny (Bungie)
- Diablo III (Blizzard)
- Driveclub (Evolution Studios)
- Final Fantasy (Square Enix)
- Infamous: Second Son (Sucker Punch)
- Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerilla Games)
- Knack (Sony)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED)
- Watch Dogs (Ubisoft).