New info on the rumoured PS4 have shed some light on potential hardware including a share button to distribute screens and footage online, a touchpad enabled controller and a EU launch date of early 2014.
New PS4 details, specs and launch date info
Sony have announced a mysterious ‘event’ centering on ‘the future of PlayStation’, the video is rumoured to tease a PS4 reveal. The new info comes from Edge. Here are the key points:
•The controller has been redesigned and, while it will be the same size as a Dualshock, now features a control surface based on the Vita’s rear touchpad where the start and select buttons used to be.
•The PS4 will continually record the last 15 minutes of on-screen action and a new ‘Share’ button will enable the user to edit and distribute screens and videos online.
•The launch window will be Christmas for Japan and the US, followed by Europe in early 2014. Apparently this is due “complexities involved in European distribution”.
•There will be a new version of the PlayStation Eye.
•The hardware uses eight core 1.6GHz AMD CPUs built on AMD’s ‘R10XX’ architecture in the ‘Liverpool’ system-on-chip. The GDDR5 (essentially the RAM available to the graphics memory) “is capable of moving data at 176 gigabytes per second” which should eliminate problems like Rimlag. Sony are also reported to be increasing the PS4′s RAM to 8GB from the initially reported 4. Apparently the PS4 “gives developers more opportunities this time around, notably because the hardware is much more PC-like in its makeup”.
Much of this ties in with previous leaks describing the PS4 specifications. An earlier report pegged the console as having a 4x Dual-Core AMD64 “Bulldozer” (equaling 8x cores), 8GB system memory, 2.2 GB of video memory and an AMD R10xx GPU for the main hardware. Also included were a Blu-ray drive, 160GB hard drive, HDMI & Optical, 2.0, 5.1 & 7.1 channel audio outputs. That leak also spoke of a redesigned Dualshock mixing the “DualShock’s legendary face buttons, twin sticks and shoulder triggers with a ‘capacitive touch pad’ that could be similar to the one on the back of the PS Vita”.
It’s not the the first time people have compared PS4 to gaming PCs either with talk that the “PS4 will be mostly constructed from off-the-shelf PC components”. However, other rumours suggest PS4 will ditch the Dualshock altogether after, “numerous iterations, few of which resemble the DualShock, trying to emulate the same user interface philosophies as the PS Vita”. That report also mentions an LCD touchscreen.
Continuing the good news of increased power and more approachable development is the talk of the PS4 price with $350 the value being thrown around. That’s apparently the result of an analysts investigations following talks with sources at this year’s CES. That report also mentioned a PS4 announcement early in the year, along with this report that specifically mentions February for a PS4 reveal
