PS4 [ORBIS]: United States release in November 2013.
Control it with your Smartphone!
Update Info
A reliable Kotaku source has informed us that the PlayStation 4, codenamed Orbis, will be out this November in the United States.
Although nothing is confirmed just yet, as we get closer and closer to the release of Orbis, which Sony is expected to officially announce during an event in New York City tomorrow night, we continue to hear more details about what will ship with the new hardware.
New information revealed by our source suggests that on top of all that, you’ll also be able to control the PS4 remotely from your tablet or smartphone. You’ll be able to use a mobile device to chat with your PS4 friends or buy games which are then automatically downloaded to your machine, our source says.
Orbis is also following the path first set by Xbox Live: our source says “most” of the PS4’s online features will require a premium subscription to use. Sony’s new online service will be called PlayStation World, our source says, replacing PlayStation Plus.
Some other tidbits: our source says that every PS4 will come with a PlayStation Eye; that a new spectating feature will let you watch other friends play games from your console’s dashboard, even when you don’t own the game they’re playing; and that the console will support local network play via Vita.
Current photos of the PS4 controller are inconsistent with some of the information we’ve received. For example, we’ve seen Orbis documentation that details a “share” button, and Edge magazine corroborated that not long after we reported it, saying that the controller’s share button will record gameplay and allow you to share it online.
This controller doesn’t seem to have a share button at all, although it’s possible that the functionality has been wrapped into the all-purpose PlayStation button, which is a carryover from the PS3’s DualShock controller.
Sony is expected to announce their new console tomorrow night at an event in New York City.
Jason Schreier via Kotaku