There’s been a lot of conflicting accounts on whether or not Sony will discard the physical disc-drive on its next home console the Playstation 4 – or to use a rumoured codename “Orbis”. There has been a lot of speculation that the Japanese gadget maker will replace the traditional method of loading our games, along with Blu-ray reading technology, with entirely cloud internet-based content. Sony’s Worldwide Studios Vice President has made comments to suggest that might just be the direction the next console takes.
Scott Rohde has spoken optimistically of cloud gaming, such as the OnLive and Steam streaming services which are entirely web-based with games and content stored online. This makes the need for the massive memory and storage requirements on gaming gadgets redundant and should cut costs which could make Sony’s future console much more affordable. This also means money in the pocket of console buyers – or the cost can be reallocated into others areas of the hardware such as graphics support.
Rohde says “It just makes sense. And so, over the next five years, you’re going to see everything evolve to that state because people want access to their data anywhere”. Applauding the cloud, he is however reluctant to speak at length about the use of it as the PS4’s main outlet for gaming content, leaving us with the teaser “Will there be a partnership? I’m not going to answer those questions right now. But, like I’ve said ten times, like a broken record, the industry is always evolving.”
We think you might have answered well enough, Scott.
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