This Wednesday, February 20, Sony will be holding a special press event in order to make an important announcement, expectedly revealing the successor to the PlayStation 3.

The “PlayStation 4” is coming and the internet is riddled with rumors and speculation. Recently, we reported the possibility of Killzone 4 being a launch title for the PS4. We also rounded up the latest rumored specs of the next-gen hardware. Two more recent developments, however, concern the actual PS4 controller, as well as the PS4’s ability to stream older titles.

The PlayStation 4 Will Stream PlayStation 3 Games

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the PlayStation 4 will stream PlayStation 3 games.

Sonly will allegedly use Gakai’s streaming service, a company Sony purchased last June, to stream PlayStation 3 games, rather than building the hardware necessary to make the PS4 backwards compatible with PS3 games. Because the PS4 is expected to use AMD x86 chips, the hardware would not be compatible with the architecture used in previous PlayStation systems. Using Gakai’s streaming service would prove to be a cost-effective way to allow users to continue playing PS3 games, though it may not be ideal for actual PS4 games which are still expected to ship on optical discs.

Source: The WSJ, via The Verge.

The PlayStation 4 Controller

These images of a the rumored PlayStation 4 controller were recently sent to Destructoid and have been confirmed by numerous sources to be real. EuroGamer reported, via Digital Foundry, the following:

• Part of a complete Orbis dev kit (50GB Blu-ray Dive with 2 USB 3.0 ports.)
• Very recent. Not an early prototype.
• “L” and “R” buttons are set lower than the DualShock 3.
• New D-pad and analog sticks.
• Analog sticks are now concave, matching the Xbox 360’s analog sticks.
• The blue light is reported to be an inticator for PlayStation Move, now integrated into the pad, tracked by two cameras.
• The controller will feature a two-point touch screen but with no PS Vita-style touch screen on the back.
• Headphone socket at the bottom. Party chat and cross-game chat now a possibility. May ship with a wired mic and headset.
• Integrated Speaker.

Source: Destructoid, via EuroGamer.

What are your thoughts on the rumored PlayStation 4 controller? Is it what you expected? Is it something you’d like to play your games with? Let us know in the comments below!