5 things you need to know about the PlayStation 5
The battle for supremacy is heating up as Microsoft and Sony prepare to fight it out for sales next year with two new next-gen consoles - but little has been said about these powerful machines and what we can expect.
That is until today, as both Wired.com and PlayStation have released information on the 'PS5' and what gamers can look forward to. There are still many unanswered questions regarding what features and tech will be available to consumers, but here are five key things to take from the recent announcement.
The official name
It might seem daft, but we weren't actually 100% in the know on what Sony had planned to call its next-gen console, but now it has.
Introducing the... PlayStation 5!
Admit it, that announcement blew your Star Wars themed socks off (other merchandised socks are available).
The release window
Obviously Sony is keeping an eye on its main competitor Microsoft, who will be launching the 'Project Scarlett' console next year so, as expected, the PlayStation 5 will also be launching "in time for Holiday 2020" according to the PlayStation Blog.
The price rumors currently state that the PS5 will retail between $349 to $399, which is a similar price bracket estimated for the new Xbox console.
New controller design
Although we haven't seen what the PS5 controller looks like just yet, Sony has confirmed that a new controller design will be 'adopting haptic feedback' to replace the 'rumble' system used in the DualShock 4 controllers.
In the PlayStation Blog post, SIE President & CEO Jim Ryan said "With haptics, you truly feel a broader range of feedback, so crashing into a wall in a race car feels much different than making a tackle on the football field. You can even get a sense for a variety of textures when running through fields of grass or plodding through mud."
Imagine being shot with heavy round ammo in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, or taking a crunching tackle on FIFA 20 - this controller is going to make your hands feel strange (in a good way).
Sony has also confirmed that the controllers will feature innovative adaptive triggers, which have been incorporated into the trigger buttons (L2 & R2).
"Developers can program the resistance of the triggers so that you feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain," says Jim Ryan. "In combination with the haptics, this can produce a powerful experience that better simulates various actions.
"Game creators have started to receive early versions of the new controller, and we can’t wait to see where their imagination goes with these new features at their disposal."
Catching some rays
Microsoft had already confirmed earlier this year that the Project Scarlett console will support hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, and Sony will match that with the PlayStation 5.
Sony's system architect Mark Cerny confirmed the news in an exclusive story posted on Wired.
The console’s powerful GPU hardware means that less resources will be needed to make your precious games look, well, even more wonderful.
Fresh storage and performance process
As we move further into technological wonders, the software and hardware to power these beasts needs to keep up the pace - fortunately, it sounds like the PS5 will.
The PS5's solid-state drive (SSD) will not only make loading times a doddle - with loading screens expected to be over in a blink - it could also change the way in which users install games, files etc on the console.
"Rather than treating games like a big block of data," says Cerny in Wired's exclusive chat, "We're allowing finer-grained access to the data."
Imagine purchasing a new game but not having the vast amount of storage needed to fully install it - then imagine being able to download, say, the campaign or multiplayer individually - it's an exciting prospect for PS5 gamers who want to get on with playing the games they love and not worrying about the storage to hold their library.