Rumour: PS4 Controllers Will Be Linked to Your PSN Account

Sony’s upcoming next generation console will include the option to link your PlayStation Network account to a controller, allowing you to earn Trophies when playing on a system that’s not your own. That's according to Kotaku, who claim to have obtained the official documentation for an Orbis development kit.

The site continues that accounts won’t be “locked” to a specific controller, but you’ll be prompted to sign in each time a new input device is connected to the console. “One application we learned about for this feature would be that, were four players in a co-op battle able to defeat a boss, then all four would receive Trophies,” the publication explained.

Details about the controller itself are still shrouded in secrecy, but Sony is apparently working on a new handset, even though the current development kits work with existing DualShock 3, SIXAXIS, and PlayStation Move units. That indicates that the new device – which is tentatively dubbed the ‘Orbis Development Tool’ – will share much of its functionality with existing hardware. However, Kotaku claims that the refreshed peripheral will boast a two-point capacitive touch pad, similar to the one on the rear of the PlayStation Vita. It adds that the entire pad will be "clickable", creating an extra input.

The report also mentions the inclusion of a share button, but it’s unclear what that's used for. “The most likely use would be to allow users to share some aspect of their gaming experience to Twitter or Facebook,” the publication hypothesised.

As for specifications, well, development kits are notoriously more powerful than retail consoles, but the report mentions an 8x Core CPU and 8GB RAM. Many of the details tally with a recent Digital Foundry report, though the final system’s likely to only have 4GB RAM, albeit the speedy DDR5 type.

You can peruse the full article through here. As always with rumours of this kind, it’s worth taking things with a large pinch of salt. Still, it’s nice to speculate, isn’t it?

[source kotaku.com]