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.
KeRaSh
As far as I know (got it from a Japanese friend’s grandma) the Japanese are pretty superstitious about even numbers in general because you can easily divide them by 2. Apparently that’s the reason why you usually don’t get an even amount of money for your birthday (or at least used to) over there. They still called the PS2 the PS2 so I hope common sense prevails when it comes to the next Playstation. Actually I don’t really care what the name will be. I guess I’m just a fan of common sense.
hazelam
i’ll be very surprised if it’s called anything other than the PS4, at least in the west, and can they afford to let superstition force them to abandon a long established brand name in their home market?
with their fortunes the way they are right now, i think they need every tool they can get to sell their next machine.
surely though, they knew this issue was potentially coming up when they launched the second Playstation console and called it the PS2.
hol
I like Orbis, has a nice sound to it.
DapperHayden007
While on the topic of Next-Gen, Ubisoft Massive is hiring a Technical artist for a Next-Gen AAA RPG game, any ideas on what game it may be?
Link below ;)
https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/asp/tg/cim_jobdetail.asp?partnerid=25314&siteid=5290&jobid=708538
ron_mcphatty
PS4 is good, nice and simple. It would be awesome if it looked like the PSX and had a TV tuner, what a machine :)
Sympozium
they could name it “Playstation”
ron_mcphatty
Naaah, don’t be ridiculous ;)
thatguy
When you search for PS4, it wants you to sign up for updates about new products…
Something smells fishy.
CRASHBASHUK
http://us.playstation.com/search/index.htm?id=ps4&site=§ion=true#?q=ps4&?site=PlayStation_com&?sort=&?classname=uperpcom&?start=&?leftNav=leftNav
I see what u mean I searched ps5 nothing came up
Kennykazey
Seeing how the Vita is named after life, I think it’s appropriate to name it after death. To a certain extent at least.
Sympozium
Playstation Morte then?
hazelam
you know, that never even occurred to me.
now i can’t help but wonder if there’s any causal relationship there.
XisTG
Yes, PS4 please, don’t do an Apple and star calling it New Playstation or something :p
Awayze
I. CANNOT. Wait.
I’m desperate for a new PlayStation.