• PlayStation 4 Is Called Orbis, Arrives in Late 2013, Prevents Used Gaming

    A massive batch of details has arrived concerning Sony’s next PlayStation home console, the oft-rumored PlayStation 4. According to a new report, the device is called Orbis and will be released in late 2013, with a feature that will prevent it from playing used games.

    The current generation of devices has been around for quite some time and, even if Sony and Microsoft are confident in their consoles, lots of rumors about the next generation have appeared in the last year or so.

    Now, Kotaku arrives with a brand new report concerning the next PlayStation console, which has been rumored up until now to be the PlayStation 4.

    According to the website, however, the console’s name, or at least its codename, is Orbis. In Latin, this means circle and, when combined with the name of the recently released PlayStation Vita, it turns into circle of life, which lends credibility.

    According to the website’s source, the PlayStation Orbis will have both a CPU and a GPU made by AMD, with the graphics being based on the recently released Southern Islands cards for the PC.

    This improved hardware will allow the console to display graphics at a resolution of up to 4096x2160 and 3D images at a full HD 1080p resolution.

    The report says that more and more prototypes of the console are being sent to select developers across the world so that they can start working on games for the new home console.

    Unfortunately for existing PS3 owners, the Orbis won’t have any sort of backwards compatibility with games for the current device, which means early adopters won’t have lots of things to play on it.

    Just like with a previous rumor concerning the next generation Xbox console, it seems that the Orbis will have a system in place to prevent used gaming, similar to the one seen with current PC games.

    Games for the console will arrive either on a Blu-ray disc or as digital downloads. Once you get a retail game and place it into your console, you need to activate it online and tie it to your PlayStation Network account, which means you’ll be able to download it from the PS Store in case something happens to the Blu-ray disc.

    Those who buy used copies of a game might be served with a trial version or be forced to pay a certain amount of money in order to unlock the full title, but actual details aren’t clear just yet.

    In terms of its release, the report says that the PlayStation Orbis will be launched all around the world at the end of 2013, which means an actual announcement is coming soon.

    Bear in mind that all these details are just rumors, as of yet, so take them with a grain of salt.
    Comments 19 Comments
    1. godofhell's Avatar
      godofhell -
      they will kill GameFly with this.
    1. Funkin''s Avatar
      Funkin' -
      The next Xbox is rumored to not allow used games to be played on it as well? If that turns out to be true I won't be getting the next Xbox or the PS4(which I doubt I would have gotten the PS4 anyways, I still don't have the PS3).

      I hope both companies fold in the gaming market and Nintendo is the last one standing...
    1. Cabalo's Avatar
      Cabalo -
      It's not really either MS or Sony's fault, as they suffer this pressure from the game developers, who wish to sell more copies instead having one being sold from hand to hand.

      Just look at EA's recent attempts to tackle this issue.
    1. Mr.Blaze's Avatar
      Mr.Blaze -
      gamefly,gamestop,redbox stocks are all going to drop like crazy if this happens.
    1. proforma's Avatar
      proforma -
      Books exist despite Libraries and despite to possibility to sell them used.

      Where I play PS3 I don't have Internet and even if I had I simply won't trust Sony with any of my data since the company has proven both: malevolent and incompetent.
    1. duke0102's Avatar
      duke0102 -
      If the game can't be bought used then I imagine they'll take the p*ss with prices pretty quickly
    1. bobbintb's Avatar
      bobbintb -
      i think the smart thing to do is quit releasing newer consoles and just release revisions. microsft has sort of been doing this more than sony and i wonder if that is their intention. why start from scratch every few years? if they have a good model/architecture design, they can just periodically release revised consoles. they would save money in r+d, not have to sell the consoles at a loss, and consumers would not have to buy a new console every few years that wont play their old games. the current generation consoles have been around for a while and they still dont have much trouble playing newer, more demanding games. and if the there are too many games where the system cant meet its needs they just release a revised model that can. i think they would stand to make a lot more money by doing so and it would be better for the consumer as well.
    1. megabyteme's Avatar
      megabyteme -
      Quote Originally Posted by proforma View Post
      Books exist despite Libraries and despite to possibility to sell them used.
      This statement is so entirely on the mark. Regardless of which company(ies) are behind it, it is STILL corporate greed. Look at the massive amounts of profit in these games, and tell me they NEED to put an end to the reselling of non-installed software. Unlike PC software which can be installed, so far, these games still require the availability of these game discs to be played. Customers can't have their games, and sell them too. Therefore, there is NO reason why software companies need to stop people from selling games they no longer wish to have.

      I'm sure car companies would prefer everyone would purchase a new car, and not sell their used one to someone else. That, too, would increase the demand (profitability) of new car companies.
    1. Hole69's Avatar
      Hole69 -
      Another obsolete console from the start, blurry low res textures, still can't do 1080p without upscaling, texture pop-in, low draw distance, boxy levels, the whole scope of a game reduced because the consoles can't hack it. Good news for AMD though. Back to my far superior PC . . . . .
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Microsoft has been behaving nicely as of late, I'm surprised to hear that they're doing this too. You'd figure they'd be the ones to take advantage and muscle a non-lock feature to either undercut Sony or force them to give in. Consoles just won't sell as well with this in place, and if the medium doesn't sell, the derivatives get cut immensely. It's a compound effect, how did these idiots acquire their jobs?
    1. megabyteme's Avatar
      megabyteme -
      How about the other, ancillary problems associated with this stance...

      I would like to play the game I purchased, and own, on a friends' console. Nope.

      No borrowing games from friends. Nope.

      Got poor neighbor kids with nothing to do but trample your yard, and torture your house pets? Want to give them some old games to play? Nope.

      I have a Gamecube and an Xbox1 that still work, have fun games, and are plugged into my media room right now for my kids to play. What are the chances these 5-7 year old games (that I own) will be around on servers for me to play as I wish. I'm fine with my kids learning/destroying an old game system and its disks. Not so much when games are $60 each, and consoles are $300-500.
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      I'd like to know how a kid under 2.5 years of age can play an XBOX.
    1. Funkin''s Avatar
      Funkin' -
      Quote Originally Posted by Hole69 View Post
      Another obsolete console from the start, blurry low res textures, still can't do 1080p without upscaling, texture pop-in, low draw distance, boxy levels, the whole scope of a game reduced because the consoles can't hack it.
      And which we all know that all those things is what makes a game fun, right?

      Anyways, all I can say is that I hope either of these consoles get hacked or I'll more than likely never buy either one if it turns out to be true that you'll have to only buy brand new games. And I have absolutely no doubt that the price of new games are going to increase again this next gen.

      If there's no hacking going on then I'm sure the Wii U will be my only console of this next gen. Which since Nintendo is going HD and already there's a lot of third party support for the console, it'll surely be leagues better than the Wii. All the FPS/M-Rated kiddies should be happy this time around with a Nintendo console.


      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      Microsoft has been behaving nicely as of late, I'm surprised to hear that they're doing this too. You'd figure they'd be the ones to take advantage and muscle a non-lock feature to either undercut Sony or force them to give in.
      I agree completely. Hopefully by Sony going this route and MS not will force Sony out of the console business altogether. Wishful thinking...
    1. megabyteme's Avatar
      megabyteme -
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      I'd like to know how a kid under 2.5 years of age can play an XBOX.
    1. lavino's Avatar
      lavino -
      And SONY, you won't get any of my used money either ^_^
    1. CQ1ST's Avatar
      CQ1ST -
      Quote Originally Posted by megabyteme View Post
      How about the other, ancillary problems associated with this stance...

      I would like to play the game I purchased, and own, on a friends' console. Nope.

      No borrowing games from friends. Nope.
      you gotta be kidding me

      ..and these companies and their new stance: "the customer is definitely wrong now, the customer is hurting us so badly, the customer must be stopped!"
    1. netjuba's Avatar
      netjuba -
      most of us are happy with free ps3 games for next 5 years lol
    1. Xbox_360's Avatar
      Xbox_360 -
      This is just BS, some troll trying to get a rise from people. If they did this guarantee sales would be down and they would be removing this crap from the system. The only way this would ever work is if we the customer get heavy discounts on new games, I am talking no more then $30 for a new game. Older games as well would have to get cheaper over time, like Steam cheap like games for $10 and lower.
    1. NEET's Avatar
      NEET -
      both the xbox one and ps4 are boring i only bought a ps4 for bloodborne i'm looking forward to dark souls 3 but i'm going to play that on steam