28w ago - Following up on the
previous PlayStation 4 rumors, today
VG247 (linked above) reports that Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) developer kits are now shipping and utilize the AMD A10 series as a base.
Below are the details, to quote: "Developers are currently taking receipt of a new PlayStation 4 dev kit, VG247 has been told today, with a final version slated to appear in January. Yes, it'll have Blu-ray. No, it isn't being made in Japan.
Multiple sources have confirmed to VG247 today that a new version of the Orbis kit is now shipping to developers, and that it's housed in a normal PC case.
There are to be four versions of the dev kit, we were told. A previous version was essentially just a graphics card. The version shipping now is a "modified PC," and the third version, appearing in January, will be close to final spec. A final version will be delivered to developers "next summer".
Some US developers attended a "disclosure meeting" at Sony's offices this week, with a further meeting to take place in the coming weeks. The purpose of the meeting is for Sony to tell studios what the machine is designed to do, to detail hardware and to show a set of presentations.
Our source told us that Sony is only calling the machine Orbis, and is not using the words "PlayStation 4″ in these meetings at all.
Orbis, we were told today, is based on the AMD's A10 APU series. An APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) is a combined CPU and GPU.
PS4′s APU was described today as a "derivative" of existing A10 hardware. The hardware is "based on A10 system and base platform".
The "ultimate goal" for the hardware, we were told, is for it to be able to run 1080p60 games in 3D with "no problem," to create a machine that's powerful enough for "today and tomorrow's market".
The dev kits have "either 8Gb or 16Gb of RAM. Deduce from that what you will." The hardware is not being made in Japan, it was said.
When asked if PS4 will have an optical drive, specifically Blu-ray, our source responded: "Of course it has." We've been told the hard drive will be 256Gb "as standard," but it's not clear if it'll be a normal HDD or a solid state drive.
We were told that Sony's aim with Orbis is to avoid problems involved in launching PS3 by creating something "very affordable" but that "isn't a slouch".
The machine has WiFi and Ethernet connectivity and HDMI out. Our source said the was "no difference" between PlayStation 3 and Orbis input/output.
The UI, however, has been revamped. It was said today that players will now be able to press the PS button mid-game and travel "anywhere" on the system. An example given was buying DLC from the PS Store mid-game then seamlessly returning to play.
"They're trying to make it as fluid as possible," our source said.
We were also told that the machine will be designed to accept system and product updates in the background, and that it'll "always be in standby mode". When you set the console up, we were told, you'll be asked if you want to allow background downloads. You can, of course, disallow them.
No details have been given on the pad as yet. Confirmation is expected this month. Orbis is expected to be announced at an event "just before E3″ next year."
Good mornig friends! Eu sou brasileiro e fă de games...
Parabéns pelo site!...
To quote via VGLeaks.com (linked above): LIVERPOOL SOC:
• Custom implementation of AMD Fusion APU Arquitecture (Accelerated Processing Unit)
• Provides good performance with low power consumption
• Integrated CPU and GPU
• Considerably bigger and more powerful than AMD’s other APUs
liverpool
CPU:
• Orbis contains eight Jaguar cores at 1.6 Ghz, arranged as two “clusters”
• Each cluster contains 4 cores and a shared 2MB L2 cache
• 256-bit SIMD operations, 128-bit SIMD ALU
• SSE up to SSE4, as well as Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
• One hardware thread per core
• Decodes, executes and retires at up to two intructions/cycle
• Out of order execution
• Per-core dedicated L1-I and L1-D cache (32Kb each)
• Two pipes per core yield 12,8 GFlops performance
• 102.4 GFlops for system
GPU:
• GPU is based on AMD’s “R10XX” (Southern Islands) architecture
• DirectX 11.1+ feature set
• Liverpool is an enhanced version of the architecture
• 18 Compute Units (CUs)
• Hardware balanced at 14 CUs
• Shared 512 KB of read/write L2 cache
• 800 Mhz
• 1.843 Tflops, 922 GigaOps/s
• Dual shader engines
• 18 texture units
• 8 Render backends
Memory:
• 4 GB unified system memory, 176 GB/s
• 3.5 available to games (estimate)
Storage:
High speed Blu-ray drive
• Single layer (25 GB) or dual layer (50 GB) discs
• Partial constant angular velocity (PCAV)
• Outer half of disc 6x (27 MB/s)
• Inner half varies, 3.3x to 6x
Internal mass storage
• One SKU at launch: 500 GB HDD
• There may also be a Flash drive SKU in the future
Networking:
• 1 Gb/s Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WIFI, and Bluetooth
Peripherals:
• Evolved Dualshock controller
• Dual Camera
• Move controller
Extra:
• Audio Processor (ACP)
• Video encode and decode (VCE/UVD) units
• Display ScanOut Engine (DCE)
• Zlib Decompression Hardware
Update: Some people is confused about the GPU, here you have more info about it:
Each CU contains dedicated:
• ALU (32 64-bit operations per cycle)
• Texture Unit
• L1 data cache
• Local data share (LDS)
About 14 + 4 balance:
• 4 additional CUs (410 Gflops) “extra” ALU as resource for compute
• Minor boost if used for rendering
Dual Shader Engines:
• 1.6 billion triangles/s, 1.6 billion vertices/s
18 Texture units:
• 56 billion bilinear texture reads/s
• Can utilize full memory bandwith
8 Render backends:
• 32 color ops/cycle
• 128 depth ops/cycle
• Can utilize full memory bandwith
All this info is subject to change in the future by Sony. We will give more detailed information about each component in future articles.
More PlayStation 3 News...
To quote: SPECS
We'll begin with the specs. And before we go any further, know that these are current specs for a PS4 development kit, not the final retail console itself. So while the general gist of the things you see here may be similar to what makes it into the actual commercial hardware, there's every chance some - if not all of it - changes, if only slightly.
That being the case, here's what we know is inside PS4 development kits - model # DVKT-KS000K - as of January 2013. As you'll see, some things have changed since earlier kits became available in March 2012.
• System Memory: 8GB
• Video Memory: 2.2 GB
• CPU: 4x Dual-Core AMD64 "Bulldozer" (so, 8x cores)
• GPU: AMD R10xx
• Ports: 4x USB 3.0, 2x Ethernet
• Drive: Blu-Ray
• HDD: 160GB
• Audio Output: HDMI & Optical, 2.0, 5.1 & 7.1 channels
If you think the HDD is small, remember, these are the specs for a machine that developers are using to make games on, not the console you'll own and be storing media on. And don't worry about having two ethernet ports; as this is a dev kit, one is there for local sharing/testing purposes.
Interestingly, while some of these specs (such as the 8x core CPU) match with those reported by Digital Foundry only a few days ago, others like the RAM (DF reported 4GB of GDDR5, while we've heard 8GB) differ.
We've learned there's a headphone jack on the front of the console, but it's unclear whether that's just for dev kits or is an intended feature of the final retail console.
CONTROLLER
The PlayStation 4 Has A New Controller, Fancy User Accounts And Impressive Specs (So Far)
Ever since the release of the original PlayStation, Sony has maintained roughly the same basic controller design. This trend may be continuing with the PS4, because we've learned that developers are working with—and dev kits support—both the Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controller. This suggests that, for the most part, the design and capabilities of the PS4's controller will be similar to those on the PS3. The documentation also shows a Move controller, suggesting Sony's Wii-style motion wand will work with the new console.
There is a new controller in development for the PS4, though, known internally as the Orbis Development Tool, and while it keeps many of the same features as the current pads—like the four iconic PlayStation face buttons, two thumbsticks and shoulder triggers - there's one key addition.
THE CURRENT PS4 DEV KIT, AT A GLANCE
• 8GB system memory, 2.2GB video memory
• 4x Dual-Core AMD64 "Bulldozer" CPU, AMD R10xx Liverpool GPU
• New controller features touch pad
• Can link PSN accounts to controllers, allowing for multiple logins.
British site CVG speculated last week that, because they'd heard the PS4's controller was "trying to emulate the same user interface philosophies as the PS Vita", that meant it would feature a touch screen. Instead, the Orbis' controller features a capacitive touch pad, like you find on the back of a Vita (presumably it's also on the back of the PS4's controller), that can recognise two-point multi-touch. The entire pad can also be "clicked" for an additional input button.
The PS4's controller will again be capable of motion-sensing, like its PS3 predecessors, only now with improved technology like tilt correction. It will also feature vibration, which Sony has thankfully learned is a next-gen feature you need to launch with. It'll also have an RGB LED light in it.
While there have been reports of the PS4 controller featuring "biometric" technology, there was no mention of it in the information we were provided.
There's one other addition to the PS4's pad you won't find on a DualShock 3: a "Share" button. We're not exactly sure what it does. The most likely use would be to allow users to share some aspect of their gaming experience to Twitter or Facebook. Maybe a screenshot? We have no idea. But that Share button might have something to do with...
ACCOUNTS
The PlayStation 4 Has A New Controller, Fancy User Accounts And Impressive Specs (So Far)
Sony is trying to change the way you think about user accounts with the PS4. As it stands now, and this applies to all current consoles the PS3 (and the Wii U), when you log in, you log in as a single user. With Orbis, Sony is moving the place of "ownership" away from the console, with something it calls "multi-user simultaneous logins."
Which means that the PS4 will let more than one person be logged into the same system at the same time. It achieves this by linking control pads to user accounts; as each new controller syncs with the system, that player's account can be logged in as well. Accounts won't be "locked" to a controller; you'll simply be prompted to sign in to an account every time an extra pad is connected to the console.
One application we learned about for this feature would be that, were four players in a co-op battle able to defeat a boss, then all four would receive trophies.
We only learned of this feature in relation to local accounts stored on the console itself. It's unclear whether you'd also be able to do this via the PlayStation Network if you were playing online.
That's it for now. Remember, none of this information is confirmed, and even the information that is locked down in January 2013 may change before the console's eventual release, which is likely not for at least another nine months, at minimum. This is just what we've been told Sony is working on and planning for as of today. That being the case, how do you think it's shaping up?
Finally, from http://www.vgleaks.com/orbis-devkits-roadmaptypes/ comes ORBIS Devkits Roadmap / Types below, as follows:
Currently, there are 3 types of devkits:
1) R10 boards with special BIOS, running in generic PC’s
2) “Initial 1″ - Early devkit
• Model number: DVKT-KS000K
• SCE-provided PC equipped with R10XX board
• Runs Orbis OS
• Available July 2012
3) SoC Based Devkit: early version of the ORBIS hardware
• Available January 2013
Time to look inside of each devkit:
R10 Board (with special BIOS) Assemble in a Generic PC
• Requires Windows 7 64 bit edition
• Recommend
• Sandy Bridge (Intel) or Bulldozer (AMD)
• Minimum 8 GB RAM (system memory)
• 650 Watt PSU
• VS2010 SP1
• DWM (Desktop Windows Manager) must be turned off
• Application will use Windows services for everything except GPU interface
• SCE will provide “Gnm”, a custom GPU interface
Do you remember the first Durango’s pictures? This is a very early devkit based on Windows.
DVKT-KS000K ( “Initial 1″ )
• Runs Orbis OS
• CPU: Bulldozer 8-core, 1.6 Ghz
• Graphics Card: R10 with special BIOS
• RAM: 8 GB (system memory)
• BD Drive
• HDD: 2.5 ” 160 GB
• Network Controller
• Custom South Bridge allows access to controller prototypes
DVKT-KS000K SoC Based Devkit
• Available in January 2013
• CPU: 8-core Jaguar
• GPU: Liverpool GPU
• RAM: unified 8 GB for devkit (4 GB for the retail console)
• Subsystem: HDD, Network Controller, BD Drive, Bluetooth Controller, WLAN and HDMI (up to 1980x1080 at 3D)
• Analog Outputs: Audio, Composite Video
• Connection to Host: USB 3.0 (targeting over 200 MB/s)
• ORBIS Dualshock
• Dual Camera
The last devkit is the closer one to the retail console. Expect a machine with these specs or similar to these ones. Obviously, Sony could introduce changes in these features, but don’t expect deep mods.
More PlayStation 3 News...
I think $ony had already confirmed that the PS4 will NOT play PS3 games; only PS1 and 2 games... And I'm sure $ony will do everything they can to prevent another easy jailbreak, but you never know. With the $400 price range you can't go wrong with picking one up and hoping for the best.
Hang on to your hardware and play the shit out of it. Maybe at the moment you are not that interested in playing your current console but believe me in 5 - 10 years when the current games are hard to find or difficult to emulate you will be regretting selling your consoles like I did.
I've been researching a lot lately why emulation is so hard and why not all games get renewed and believe me, most titles have a license and when that license expires the developer can not continue production and thats limbo hell for there project. Take care of your consoles and preserve them as well as you can, you will not regret it a couple of years later when all these machines cant do bc. If they can do bc, well your games are still there!