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With E3 just around the corner rumours and leaks are beginning to surface on an almost daily basis. The latest leak is centred around the specifications for the much-muted, as yet unannounced, Playstation 4.
Written on what appears to be Sony headed paper, the specs sheet reads more like a fan-boy’s wet dream than anything we can take too seriously.
With a pinch of salt at the ready let’s delve into the farcical: the specs sheet all but confirms that Sony will use a new version of its Cell Processor – which in hindsight is probably true, as Sony bought the factory that produces the chips and isn’t likely to throw its money away so quickly.
According to the leak the console will come with a combined 20GB of RAM, divided between the system and graphics card. Graphics-wise the console will apparently be powered by a dual-GPU based on Nvidia’s new, rather expensive, Kepler architecture.
The idea that Sony would use the newly released and extremely expensive Kepler architecture should immediately raise alarm bells; one is extremely unlikely, but two is just farcical.
Not only will the console come with a processor so far and above what is likely, there’s a 250GB hard drive and full backwards compatibility with all Playstation games as far back as the PS1.
Apparently the console will be able to output 2D graphics to a resolution of 2160p, which is even more suspicious as TVs capable of that resolution are currently retailing at around the £7,000 mark.
Audio hardware has also been given an upgrade and will be able to handle 11 channels of digital Dolby surround sound – that’s the sort of audio capability that an iMax cinema would be proud of.
It’s been widely thought that the specs are so far beyond what many were expecting that they have to be fake; although it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they’re real.
If we’re to believe that Sony and Microsoft are seriously planning to use the mobile phone model (monthly contracts off-setting the price of the unit) for selling hardware in the future; a console retailing for as much as £500 could be plausible.
If Apple can sell an iPad at such a big asking price, then it’s not ridiculous to suggest gamers would pay out the same for a new console. Imagine if the console cost £500 (contract free), but you would only pay £200 upfront, and then you had to pay for a monthly contract – then a console of this spec could be feasible.
In other Sony and E3 news, reports are suggesting that Sony might be ready to jump the gun and announce its intention to move into cloud gaming, with rumours, suggesting a partnership with OnLive could be announced at E3.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
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