Rumor: Next PlayStation Codenamed Orbis
The next PlayStation is codenamed Orbis and will launch in time for the 2013 holiday season, according to a report by Kotaku today.
In Latin, Orbis can mean circle or ring or orbit. As cleverly pieced together and pointed out by Kotaku, that doesn’t mean a whole lot until coupled with the Vita, which in Latin means life. Combine the two, you get: Circle of Life.
Assuming that this information is valid, this points to two important things. One, the Vita will have further integration with the PS4/Orbis. Two, with this much thought and underlying meaning being put into the codename, it may in fact be the actual name of the system. But let’s hope not. (Continue reading after the jump.)
The system is planned to release in time for the 2013 holiday season, sources told Kotaku. With reported specs of an AMD x64 CPU and an AMD Southern Islands GPU – the same name given to AMD’s 2012 high-end PC cards – the Orbis will apparently be capable of playing games at a resolution of 4096×2160, and will play 3D games in 1080p.
Okay, now onto the topics that usual get people a little worked up.
According to the report, the PS4/Orbis won’t have backwards compatibility for playing PS3 games as Sony has no interest in offering that option. Similar to PC gaming, measures are also being taken to combat gamers from buying pre-owned, like the tethering of new games, both Blu-ray and downloadable, to a single PSN account. Or limiting pre-owned games to a trial mode, with a small fee required to unlock the full game. Or, even more terrifying – and PC players are more familiar with this model – the requirement of being online to play a game.
Important to note: none of this information has been confirmed or denied. Sony’s official stance is that they don’t comment on rumors or speculation.
So, with that said, I’m going to go try to adjust to the name Orbis.
“Hey, Nick, you wanna go out tonight for some drinks?”
“No, I think I’ll just stay in and play my Orbis.”
Source: Kotaku
About Nick A
Nick joined addicted-gamers in 2011. He is a writer, based out of Saint Louis, Missouri, working to finish college and earn a degree in Journalism. He's a self-professed lover of sports, games, 90s sitcoms and useless pop-culture information.
