It seems that third-party developers did not know that PlayStation 4 would be including 8GB of GDDR5 RAM until Sony’s reveal event in February – even though they already revieced development kits before the console was officially announced.

VideoGamer.com got a chance to talk to Just Add Water’s CEO Stewart Gilary – who is developing a unknown IP for PlayStation. Gilray stated that third-parties were originally told that console would only be equipped with 4GB of RAM. However, after they found out the real RAM specs after console’s reveal they were pleasantly surprised.

This is what Gilray had to say regarding this matter; “We were told [PS4] was 4GB originally,” Gilray told us, “and we first knew it had 8GBs when Mark said at the event’s stage, ‘And it has 8GB of memory.’ We’d had kits at that point for a good while.”

Gilray assumed that only “a couple of really close first-parties” knew that PS4 would have 8 GB before the console’s reveal, “but I think most third-parties, if not all third-parties were like, ‘Yeah, 4GB, awesome, can’t wait.

“It’s a fantastic amount of memory,” he goes on, “especially DDR5 memory, because it’s so fast you don’t have to have everything there at once. You can swap it in and out instantly, effectively. But when they said 8GB it was like, ‘Ooookay.'”

Gilray also said; “added bonus” of PS4’s memory is that Sony has “already ring-fenced the system memory away from the game memory,” Gilray adds, “so there’s none of this business that we had with PS3 of having to share memories.

“When you press the PlayStation button on a PS3 game, you get the basic XMB up [but] to do anything you have to quit the game, because of the memory for it. With PS4 we don’t have that because the system memory is already ring-fenced for itself.”

After hearing Gilray’s comments it is easily assumed that the third-party developers originally developed games that targeted lower system requirements than the actual console’s capabilities. This might just explain the reason why Thief will be capped at 30 FPS rather than 60.

PlayStation 4 is slated to come out this Holiday season worldwide. Stay tuned for more next-generation news here at GamingBolt.

Source – VideoGamer

The event is expected to last for a few hours or less than that, but you can watch it on the official PlayStation site and a variety of Sony sites.

The conference begins at 6pm EST, so UK users can watch it at 11pm, and Indian users can watch it at 4: 30am.

You can bookmark this page and come back later when the conference begins in your country and watch it at your leisure.

Video streaming by Ustream

We will also be live blogging the event, and it will give you a faster idea of what was announced in case your internet is not working well.

Stay tuned for more information at GamingBolt.

In this analysis we take a deep look in to the rumored specifications of both the consoles and decide what it will eventually mean for game developers and most importantly, for the gamers themselves.

Let us first take a look at the rumored specs of Orbis and Durango.

CPU:

Both, the Orbis and Durango are rumored to run on an 8 core CPU at 1.6 Ghz. They will be grouped in to two clusters. In majority of the cases processor speed is all that matters. In extremely rare cases, the game’s performance will be dependent on the on-board cache. The Orbis is rumored to be shipping with a shared 512MB L2 cache and on the other hand the Durango will have 4MB L2 cache. Now on paper, Orbis seems to have the upper hand, but according to us cache memory does not matter since data is mostly processed by the CPU on the fly.

Floating Point Operations Per Second:

For this you need to understand the meaning behind FLOPS. Floating Point Operations Per Second basically means:  “a method of encoding real numbers within the limits of finite precision available on computers.” Or in another words, the ease with which computers can calculate a large range of numbers quickly.  So basically  the more FLOPS your computer can perform, the more quickly it can process data.

Orbis is capable of doing 1.843 TeraFLOPS in the GPU department whereas the Durango can do 1.23. So all your game related operations like pixel drawing and other complex calculations will be faster on the Orbis. But since we are dealing with Tflops, people using both the Durango and Orbis will see next to no difference.

GPU and RAM:

The GPU of the Orbis is based on AMD’s “R10XX” (Southern Islands) architecture and has a DirectX 11.1 feature set. Most games will still be made on OpenGL, but the feature set is good to have which suggests that the Liverpool GPU is an enhanced version of the architecture. It also contains 18 Compute Units. The main clock runs at 800mhz and it is capable of 1.843 Tflops.

The Durango GPU, meanwhile, is said to be a slower than the Orbis with a total output of 1.23 Tflops. This isn’t a bad thing however, since we don’t have proper documentation for it. The GPU’s main memory runs at 800mhz, just like the one in the Orbis, and features 12 shader cores providing a total of 768 threads.

Orbis’ RAM is said to be GDDR5, which is a RAM with a higher bandwidth speed, and also quite expensive. It’s a miracle Sony have gone with such an exotic configuration as they feel they didn’t do enough justice to the PS3, where many developers complained about the less amount of RAM. The system has given 500MB to the OS, which leaves us with a decent amount of memory, which can last an entire generation without causing bottlenecks.

The Durango is said to have 8GB DDR3 RAM, which you can normally find in desktop PCs, however, the thing with Durango is that it also has a 32MB eSRAM to complement it. The eSRAM provides very high bandwidth and also takes a lot of space on the die, but it sort of nullifies the slower DDR3 memory the system has.

However, considering the Orbis has a non-split memory structure and a RAM that will not need a lot of optimization from developers, we could see games running better on the system until developers can learn how to take advantage of the Durango RAM structure properly.

We can say that both the systems have an advantage and can result in great games if they are developed with each system’s strengths in mind.

Applications:

Microsoft are clearly going to provide a more application based product with the Durango. Out of the 8GB they are allocating 1.5 GB to the OS. So one can expect more social applications on the Durango during it’s life time, something which we have already seen on the Xbox 360. Expect a lot of Kinect 2 support too.

Sony on the other hand will be allocating 0.5 GB to the OS, which should run a decent number of applications. I am sure Gaikai will be one of the applications that will be shipped along with the PS4.

What It Means For The Game Developers And Gamers:

On paper, the Orbis clearly has a better hardware with a better graphic card and a powerful RAM. But will developers use them to the fullest? That remains to be seen. Judging by the current generation and the advent of multiplatform games, very few developers will be using the full resources of the Orbis.

With development costs going high and next gen consoles following a PC like development module, expect the current trend to continue on the Orbis with better first party and multiplatform games that will perform similar to the Durango.

One thing’s for sure, Orbis unlike the PlayStation 3 should not be getting any flak from the developers regarding it’s architecture.

Both the Orbis and Durango will have something unique to offer. The Durango will be offering a totally new set of social media features, coupled with Kinect functionality. Whereas, Sony will pushing cloud based gaming with Gaikai.

Conclusion:

Sony are indeed putting their best foot forward. But does a powerful hardware mean better games?

Games is where it all matters. Right now there are more questions that answers. Hopefully we will get them answered  in the coming days and weeks.

Stay tuned for more news and updates.

Sources have told Edge that the PS4 will indeed be releases in Japan and the United States at the end of this year, but that it will miss a 2013 European release date and come out in the region early in 2014.

This might just happen. Sony has had a history of releasing some of their hardware late in Europe, a la the PSP and the PS Vita (which released late in US too).

Edge also detailed several new features that the PS4 will boast of, according to its source, in its article. The first one was an improved version of the PS Eye.

The PS4 will also ship with a redesigned controller. “[It will be] the same size as an existing DualShock but features a small touchpad in place of the existing Select, Start and PS buttons,” reads the reports. “The tech is based on Vita’s rear touchpad, and is similarly responsive in use.”

“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 article added. “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.”

The PS4 is likely to be announced on February 20th.

Stay tuned on more info.

So, Sony just dropped the bomb.

The mega-publisher has posted a video on YouTube that tantalizingly teases a MAJOR announcement for February 20th, which is now just 19 days away. The video, interestingly, has been titled “See The Future.”

The video shows the X, Square, Triangle and O buttons of the PlayStation family in teasing fashion, and ends with the date words Feb 20th 2013 plastered on the screen.

Everyone’s been predicting a PS4 and Xbox 720 reveal for some time before E3, so this perfectly fits that conjecture. With an announcement for the PS4 right now, Sony would have a lot of time to market and hype the console before showing some actual details and maybe revealing a few key titles on E3.

It’s almost completely certain that this is a PS4 reveal, but in the off chance that it isn’t, what do you guys think it will be?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

In addition to the specs, the rumour also reveals the accessories Sony will be bundling with the system, along with things like Blu Ray drive speed.

These specifications are similar to the ones the major sites have broken before, but this one contains more information and the diagram of the Orbis–which is the codename for the PS4.

It contains a CPU with eight Jaguar cores clocked at 1.6ghz along with a 4GB GDDR5 RAM, running at a blazing fast speed.

The GPU has a DirectX 11.1+ feature set and is clocked at 800 Mhz. It also has a Blu Ray drive running at 6x speed but reading speed varies. Check out the full specs below.

LIVERPOOL SOC

Custom implementation of AMD Fusion APU Arquitecture (Accelerated Processing Unit)
Provides good performance with low power consumtion
Integrated CPU and GPU
Considerably bigger and more powerful than AMD’s other APUs

PU:

Orbis contains eight Jaguar cores at 1.6 Ghz, arranged as two “clusters”
Each cluster contains 4 cores and a shared 2MB L2 cache
256-bit SIMD operations, 128-bit SIMD ALU
SSE up to SSE4, as well as Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
One hardware thread per core
Decodes, executes and retires at up to two intructions/cycle
Out of order execution
Per-core dedicated L1-I and L1-D cache (32Kb each)
Two pipes per core yield 12,8 GFlops performance
102.4 GFlops for system

GPU:

GPU is based on AMD’s “R10XX” (Southern Islands) architecture
DirectX 11.1+ feature set
Liverpool is an enhanced version of the architecture
18 Compute Units (CUs)
Hardware balanced at 14 CUs
Shared 512 KB of read/write L2 cache
800 Mhz
1.843 Tflops, 922 GigaOps/s
Dual shader engines
18 texture units
8 Render backends

Memory:

4 GB unified system memory, 176 GB/s
3.5 available to games (estimate)

Storage:

– High speed Blu-ray drive

single layer (25 GB) or dual layer (50 GB) discs
Partial constant angular velocity (PCAV)
Outer half of disc 6x (27 MB/s)
Inner half varies, 3.3x to 6x

– Internal mass storage

One SKU at launch: 500 GB HDD
There may also be a Flash drive SKU in the future

Networking:

1 Gb/s Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WIFI, and Bluetooth

Peripherals:

Evolved Dualshock controller
Dual Camera
Move controller

Extra:

Audio Processor (ACP)
Video encode and decode (VCE/UVD) units
Display ScanOut Engine (DCE)
Zlib Decompression Hardware

The article has said that there are three types of devkits:

R10 boards with special BIOS, running in generic PC’s

“Initial 1″ — Early devkit

model number: DVKT-KS000K
SCE-provided PC equipped with R10XX board
Runs Orbis OS
Available July 2012

SoC Based Devkit: early version of the ORBIS hardware

Available January 2013

Here’s the info on all:

R10 Board (with special BIOS) assemble in a Generic PC

Requires Windows 7 64 bit edition
Recommend
Sandy Bridge (Intel) or Bulldozer (AMD)
Minimum 8 GB RAM (system memory)
650 Watt PSU
VS2010 SP1
DWM (Desktop Windows Manager) must be turned off
Application will use Windows services for everything except GPU interface
SCE will provide “Gnm”, a custom GPU interface

DVKT-KS000K (“Initial 1″)

Runs Orbis OS
CPU: Bulldozer 8-core, 1.6 Ghz
Graphics Card: R10 with special BIOS
RAM: 8 GB (system memory)
BD Drive
HDD: 2.5 ” 160 GB
Network Controller
Custom South Bridge allows access to controller prototypes

SoC Based Devkit

Available January 2013
CPU: 8-core Jaguar
GPU: Liverpool GPU
RAM: unified 8 GB for devkit (4 GB for the retail console)
Subsystem: HDD, Network Controller, BD Drive, Bluetooth Controller, WLAN and HDMI (up to 1980×1080@3D)
Analog Outputs: Audio, Composite Video
Connection to Host: USB 3.0 (targeting over 200 MB/s),
ORBIS Dualshock
Dual Camera

These specs match the ones that will be in the final console. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter wants to warn people that this is all probably an overreaction. Pachter believes that no publisher- Sony included- is “foolhardy enough to take such a risk”, and that the patent doesn’t even mention if Sony will necessarily use the technology. The patent would only give publishers the option to do so if they wanted to.

“This patent reminds me of SOPA,” Pachter said in a note, “and if Sony puts the technology into the next PlayStation and any publishers attempt to limit the playing of used games, I expect the consumer backlash to be similar.”

Pachter also said that PlayStation US boss Jack Tretton told him earlier in 2012 that he is against blocking used games. “For the record, I’m totally opposed to blocking used games,” is what Tretton said, according to Pachter. “I think it is great for the consumer that they can buy those. We have a customer that buys our console late in the cycle, pays less and is looking for value-priced games. I think it would be anti-consumer for us to do that.”

He did add this, though: “I don’t know, maybe Japan will think something different but that’s my view.”

“Sony benefits little from a unilateral decision to block games,” Pachter said, talking about whether or not Sony will actually ever implement this technology that has created a shitstorm in the industry. “The company’s first party software sales represent less than 10 per cent of overall sales on its consoles, and it is unlikely that blocking used games would result in a lift of more than 10 per cent in new game sales. That means that Sony’s sales would rise only marginally if the PS4 blocked used games.”

“Sony would be materially hurt if its console blocked used games and competitor consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo did not,” he continued. “The Wii U is already on the market with no used game prohibition, and we believe that Microsoft would take advantage of Sony’s prospective decision to block used games by marketing that its own next generation did not block used games.

“If we are right, consumers would favour the console that provided more choice, leading to loss of market share for Sony’s console and a benefit to Microsoft’s.”

Well, online passes discourage the sale of used games as it is, but it seems highly unlikely, as Pachter said, that any publisher would take a risk such as this. The used games industry is a major pillar that supports the revenues of all publishers and retailers, and no publisher, especially one as important or as big as Sony, would risk such a move.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

[Eurogamer]

It was an explosion of Wii U gaming related news this week with Nintendo finally unveiling the pricing and other details like the released date for the system for each region. The Wii U will come out on November 18 in the US, November 30 in the EU, and December 8 in Japan.

It’s a bit weird that the Japan region gets the system last considering Japanese companies always released their products in their home region first.

We have covered everything for your convenience and you can check them out here. We have trailers, launch line-up and a bunch of other things that is beneficial if you are going to buy the system later this year.

Wii U: Michael Pachter predicts that the system will sell out for months.

Some may call it the kiss of death, but Michael Pachter can get some things right, sometimes. He tweeted as series of predictions where he said that Wii U will sell out a few months. He was initially in shock after Nintendo announced the $300 price point for the system.

Xbox 720, PS4 Graphics Could Get Close To Avatar’s Quality

“Where the graphics quality bar will end up is unclear, but I am confident that the lighting itself could get close to Avatar quality. Then the question moves onto other aspects of content creation. Is that level of modeling detail feasible, and will the animation, physics, and AI all be equally plausible. And finally, will the game be any good!,” Dr. Chris Doran the co-founder of Geomerics, a company responsible for middleware engine Enlighten, in an interview with Gamedev.net.

 That’s all for this week but make sure to check out our Wii U coverage.

Epic Games wants powerful consoles next-gen, and so does every gamer worth his salt out there. These screenshots were revealed via a tech demo running on the GTX 680 card by Nvidia.

Tim Sweeney of Epic said: “We’re much more in sync with the console makers than any other developer is. That means we can give detailed recommendations with a complete understanding of what is going to be commercially possible.

“There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of our engine team and our studio to drag this industry into the next generation,” added Gears of War design director Cliff Bleszinski.

“It is up to Epic, and Tim Sweeney in particular, to motivate Sony and Microsoft not to phone in what these next consoles are going to be.

“It needs to be a quantum leap. They need to damn near render Avatar in real time, because I want it and gamers want it – even if they don’t know they want it.”

I love Epic Games, and this is the reason why. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Via Eurogamer.