Sony has stopped shipping the PlayStation 2 in Japan according to Famitsu. The console, which was launched back in 2000, has sold over 154 million units worldwide, and still remains the primary PlayStation console in certain territories. Its uncertain if Sony will stop shipments to other countries too, but with the rumoured PS4 reveal on the horizon, it’s likely to happen soon.
The latest issue of PSM3 magazine has a number of PlayStation 4 rumours, as reported by GameFront.de. According to the magazine, the console won’t be called the ‘PS4’ or ‘PlayStation 4’ as the number 4 is considered unlucky in Japan and has an alternative pronunciation related to death.
If rumours from last night are true, Sony have begun shipping PlayStation 4 / Orbis development kits to development studios in North America. According to VG24/7, the Dev Kit is essentially a modified PC using components close to what the final PS4 will actually contain. A updated Dev Kit with near-final specs will ship in January.
Despite Sony closing down Liverpoool Studio a few weeks ago, we’re happy to reveal that WipEout for the PlayStation 4 is still alive. Yesterday, the official WipEout 2048 Twitter feed tweeted ‘WE. ARE. ALIVE’ and the picture below. The game was previously thought to have been cancelled after the studio was disbanded.
4K is a resolution standard for several different resolutions in digital cinemas and computer graphics, roughly 4 times larger than 1080p HD resolution. Apparently, Sony is planning to launch its first 4K consumer device, the XBR LED TV as large at 80″ soon and there has been chatter that the PS4 will support this resolution.
Speaking with MCV, Fergal Gara, SCE UK VP and MD Fergal Gara, said that retail sales will be a important “whenever the next cycle” of consoles are released, despite declines in sales over recent years. This means the PS4 won’t solely rely on digital purchases and cloud-based gaming.
According to the LinkedIn profile of Attila Vass, who used to be the Director of Research & Development at SCEA, the “Next Generation” PlayStation has been in development for almost two years. Picked up by VideoGamer, the profile claims that they were working on the graphics library and security on “Next Generation” platforms way back in August 2010.
Speaking last week to MCV, Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, had an interesting response when asked about the PlayStation 4 and “why is now not the time to talk about a new PlayStation.” He also had quite a bit to say about the PlayStation Vita and how it’s doing in the market.
According to some “reliable” specs over on NeoGAF, the PS4 hardware is “more or less set in stone.” The forum post indicates that the PS4, codenamed “Orbis” will feature a AMD CPU with 4 cores and a AMD GPU capable of producing 1.8 teraflops. The RAM is also set at a rather low 2GB of GDDR5 RAM, and unlikely to be upgraded to 4GB.
