Wednesdays are for the PSN Store Update. Everyone knows that. Whatever digitally distributed goodies you’re shelling out for preoccupy all your thoughts. So it’s not really a huge surprise that there hasn’t been much in the way of meaningful, interesting games news today.
On days like this, we have two options. We can either give up trying and just post bits and pieces like Sleeping Dogs and Hitman Absolution being cheap on PC at the moment or Bohemia Interactive making Arma Tactics for Nvidia Tegra things and putting mocap in it. Stuff that would barely warrant a sarcastic line from Tuffcub while he’s filling up Snatch. The other option is to mess about on the internet and uncover something odd, interesting and probably completely irrelevant.
We’ve plumped for the second option, because it’s more fun.
Visit http://us.playstation.com/ps4/ and it takes you to the PlayStation front page. Visit anything else, for example /ps5 or /orbis, and it doesn’t, you get a 404 error.
What can this trickery possibly mean? Well, apart from the fact that somebody at Sony knows how to set up a proper redirect, it strongly suggests that Orbis is out of the window and Sony are sticking to prior experience: the PS4 will be – wait for it – called the PS4.
Orbis, then, was just the codename, as we suspected.
Worth noting that /vita takes you, via another redirect, to the PlayStation Vita page, so Sony are definitely setting these up for a reason.
Curiously, /playstation4 doesn’t redirect, whereas /playstation3 does. It’s certainly a hugely deep and exciting way to spend an afternoon.
There were concerns that Sony might drop the ‘4’ due to superstitions in Japan, where the number is sometimes pronounced ‘shi’, which is also the word for death.
So, what do you think, dear readers? Is this a massive hint that the PlayStation 4 will be the, er, PlayStation 4 or is it just more evidence of an overactive imagination and a talent for procrastination? Does anyone really like the name “Orbis” anyway? And the most important question of all: can we go to the pub now?
Edit: Just spotted that someone on GAF has also found this earlier today.
Tuffcub
“Stuff that would barely warrant a sarcastic line from Tuffcub while he’s filling up Snatch.” which is why there isn’t one today.
PUB!
JesseDeya
When did you you ever actually fill up snatch?
xdarkmagician
naming it anything else than the PS4 would be marketing suicide. And this way if it fails the japanese have an excuse.
djhsecondnature
Nice spot. It could be a redirect from long ago to keep the page free or prepared but that’s unlikely.
I’d be surprised if they don’t use PS4, regardless of the superstition in Japan – I think Sony realise they’re a global company now and that
Taylor Made
I personally is willing to make a bet it won’t be called ps4 maybe in its homeland anyway.
Klart
When Roland (drum machine producer) made their machines in the eighties (202, 303, 808, 909,…) , they avoided the 404, since the sound for four, ‘chi’, is the same as the sound for death in Japanese. At that time it was therefore taboo and the 404 was never launched.
McProley
Love the 808!
Tuffcub
303 is better
cam the man
No surprise if Sony sticks with PS4.
Jakster123x
PS3-2?
MOVE
Pretty sure it will be called PS4 but here is hoping for PlayStation Omni.
gazzagb
PS4 makes sense to keep the continuity rather than something totally different.
On a side note, I picked up Gorman Absolution for 7 quid, hoping it’s good, it’s taking forever to download.
gazzagb
Gorman? Stupid autocorrect, I meant Hitman.
aerobes
It’s awesome. First game in a long time I platinumed.
blast71
Or gore! man! – when it’s a particularly bloody hit ;)
salvodaze
Well, I guess the Japanese will have to go with “yon” for this once. Let’s hope the Christian world won’t be around by ps13. Joking of course, I do not like religion though. Awkward.