Sony to Unleash PlayStation 4 on February 20

From X-bit Labs: Sony Corp. on Thursday posted a video that calls its fans to “see the future” on February 20, 2013. Given the current background and the buzz regarding the next-generation video game consoles, it is very likely that Sony plans to formally unveil its highly-anticipated fourth-generation PlayStation. The new system will reach the market later this year.

For Sony, it is crucial to unleash its next-generation video-game system ahead of Microsoft Corp., which managed to start selling its current Xbox 360 a year ahead of the PlayStation 3 and therefore grabbed a larger share of revenue in this generation. As a result, Sony will introduce the next-generation PlayStation 4 also known as “Orbis” at an event on February 20, 2013, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Sony PlayStation 4 is expected to be based on eight-core system-on-chip with eight AMD Jaguar x86 cores as well as custom AMD Radeon HD graphics processing unit. The new PlayStation will also feature a hard disk drive as well as Blu-ray disc optical disc drive. The new PlayStation is expected to be capable of running video games in stereo-3D mode in full-HD (1920*1080) resolution and upscale video content to 4K-class resolutions (3840*2160)

To maintain compatibility with previous-generation video games, Sony will use its Gaikai video game streaming service that will render those titles remotely and deliver the images using video streaming over the Internet.

Sony PS4 is also expected to feature a new controller that will replace the legendary Dual Shock. The design and features of the new controller will remain similar to the traditional PS controllers – expect face buttons, two thumbsticks, shoulder triggers, haptic feedback and motion sensing – but with one significant addition: a capacitive touchpad that can recognize two-point multi-touch. The controller is also projected to feature “share” button, which may have something to do with social capabilities of the new gaming platform. In theory, capacitive touchpad can be installed not only on the front side of the controller, but also on the backside, just like on the PlayStation Vita, which should theoretically allow PS4 owners to play at least some of the games for the portable console.

The PlayStation 4 “Orbis” is going to debut on the market later this year at price-points starting from $350 to $400.

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