Rumour: PlayStation 4 codenamed Orbis, out holiday '13

Kotaku's rumouring this afternoon the next PlayStation is codenamed Orbis, will combat used games in some form and is being planned for a holiday 2013 launch.

The report claims the Orbis codename is Latin for circle or ring. Combine that with the Latin meaning of Vita, it could mean circle of life. Rumored sketches of certain features rumored to be in the next PlayStation, titled "Illustrations & Sketches for new PlayStation Orbis features" were posted earlier by design firm Coque Design, but have since been removed, according to Kotaku.

Anyways, the Kotaku story carries the URL orbis.scedevnet.com. While it doesn't point towards any next-gen PlayStation portions of the site, it does link to the site regardless, meaning there's at least a tiny bit of weight to it at least.

It also suggests that Sony is set to not feature PS3 backwards compatibility for the system right out from the box, compared to when PS2 BC was dropped from PS3 around 2009 when Slim launched.

Its hardware specs will consist of an AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU, with the ability to show games at a resolution of 4096x2160. This backs up a previous Forbes report. It'll also be able to display 3D games at 1080p. The PS3 is only able to do it at 720p.

Revised dev kits were sent out earlier this month around GDC, with finalised units due by the end of this year.

Orbis will also have an anti-used games measure in the same way the next Xbox is supposed to, with Kotaku suggesting games will be made available in two ways: Blu-ray or download. The Blu-ray title will then be locked to the PSN tied to the game you played it on. A title will also be able to be downloaded onto the HDD from the BR and be available as a download if you wish to grab it in the future.

Those who pick up Orbis titles second-hand will likely be restricted in some form to a trial or limited content, with the user having to pay a fee for an unlock for the game.

It was rumoured last year that unnamed first-party studios had already gotten its hands on development kits for the system, with an announcement for the system due at E3 this June. Sony debunked the latter rumour at CES in January.

It's also rumoured the next PlayStation wouldn't carry the Cell processor that powers PS3.