PS4: Concept Controller + Hardware Specs

Following yesterday’s “See the Future” teaser by Sony, a flock of rumors followed speculating what they could mean. What’s on every souls mind is, of course, the PS4. What else would be more fitting for the future than the future of the next generation? Current generation doesn’t qualify for the future, or at least not to my pampered standards.


The staff over at EDGE, a decorated game news site, has reported a bit of interesting details about the PS4. Things such as release dates, controller specification, and how the PS4 will out perform the next-gen Xbox were stated. They haven’t named a source as they have chosen to be anonymous, but they have claimed the validity of the source.


The staff at EDGE wrote, “Development sources with working knowledge of both next generation consoles have told us that PlayStation 4 will be more powerful than the next Xbox, will ship with a redesigned controller and launch by the end of the year in Japan and the US. PlayStation 4’s European launch will follow in early 2014.” The redesigned controller thing was a given; I mean, of course they aren’t going to recycle the same controller from the PS3. The release date suggestion got me excited for sure. If they in fact follow through on this said time, this year will be so freakin’ amazing!


Once again, Sony is more than likely going to reveal the PS4 during their “See the Future” even on the 20th of this month, but what will they reveal specifically during the event is uncertain.


They wrote, “Sources close to the hardware have revealed to us that PS4 will ship with a redesigned controller which is the same size as an existing DualShock but features a small touchpad in place of the existing Select, Start and PS buttons. The tech is based on Vita’s rear touchpad, and is similarly responsive in use.” This sounds good to me. The integration of Vitas touchpad technology makes sense. The staff went on to state, “A new Share button on the controller will, when pressed, launch a new feature that will allow screenshots and video to be distributed online. The PS4 hardware will continually record the most recent 15 minutes of onscreen action (with no processing penalty, claims our source), which users will then be able to edit and broadcast via the Internet.” Now this is straying away from the ordinary, but it does sound overly remarkable. Capturing 15 minutes of on screen activity and being able to upload that activity would save a lot of time and money. Would this feature, if true, render many recording devices such as PVR’s useless?


Concept of the said controller.


On to more information, the sources brought up launch details and said, “We’re told that PlayStation 4 will launch in Japan and the US by Christmas, with a Euro rollout following in early 2014, the delay attributed to the complexities involved in European distribution.” This gets me all fuzzy and warm inside. Forget Santa, I’m gifting my self! I’m sure it will be costly, but who cares? The sources added, “Alongside the console, Sony will also introduce a new, improved iteration of its PlayStation Eye peripheral, which remains compatible with the PlayStation Move controller.” Will the improvements mean much? Will they overtake the level Kinect is at?


There have also been rumors in the past of the hardware specifications of the consoles. The sources told EDGE that the speculations were in fact accurate, “We have confirmed with sources that recently leaked tech specs are accurate. Though Durango devkits offer 8GB of DDR3 RAM, compared to Orbis’s 4GB, Sony’s GDDR5 solution is capable of moving data at 176 gigabytes per second, which should eliminate the sort of bottlenecks that hampered PS3 game performance. Importantly, we’ve learned that Sony has told developers that it is pushing for the final PS4 RAM to match up to Microsoft’s 8GB.” Do you gamers approve?


That it isn’t all, they additionally noted, “Both platforms are driven by eight-core AMD CPUs clocked at 1.6GHz, with Microsoft opting for a D3D11.x GPU from an unknown source and Sony utilizing a more capable solution in AMD’s ‘R10XX’ architecture, alongside the so-called ‘Liverpool’ system-on-chip.” Through comparison, the specifications show the PS4 at an advantage.


Keep in mind that this piece of information comes with strings attached. Those strings being speculation and the lack of confirmation by Sony themselves, we can’t be absolutely sure. However, these details sound legitimate. We will find out on the 20th of February what Sony has in store for us. Once again, thanks EDGE staff for this valuable set of information. It has added to the excitement already stored up for the PS4!