On June 11th, 2020, Sony finally revealed the PlayStation 5's design along with a large handful of upcoming titles set for the launch window and beyond. There is still a lot fans do not know, but Sony has unveiled enough information to generate excited for this holiday season.
While it is not perfect, much of the new console's design points to Sony's best console yet. The ten reasons listed below refer to both its aesthetic and the hardware running the games. With all this in mind, the next-generation leap looks to be one of the biggest jumps between consoles yet.
10 SSD
The SSD, or Solid State Drive, will significantly speed up the rate of date transfer, resulting in reduced load times and more immersive worlds. The only disadvantage will be the increased cost of buying bigger hard drives for those who want more space, but external HDDs will still be compatible with the console. Exclusives will certainly take full advantage of this new tech, and hopefully third-party games will utilize it as well.
9 Digital And Disc Models
The console will release in two editions. The first includes a disc drive, while the second lacks one, forcing players to build a library purely from the PSN store. The price difference between the two is unknown, but it could go a long way towards making the console more affordable for consumers in the early days of its life. Certain regions of the world also use disc-based media less frequently, making this a more reasonable alternative.
8 Controller
Sony is once again eschewing the title "DualShock" for the next controller in favor of the DualSense. It slightly resembles its predecessors, but several major changes, some of which are memetic, look to adjust the gaming experience. It is bigger and more round, and its default colors are white and black. The big addition is haptic feedback, which will change the way buttons feel depending on what transpires on screen,
7 Color Scheme
In terms of the look, Sony is going all out. It does not seem like a natural evolution from the PS4, which itself felt like an organic step forward from the PS3 Slim. The black and white colors match up with the DualSense, and also make the console look like a machine from the future. It is a polarizing design, but one cannot say the company is not bold.
6 Ray Tracing
High-end PCs have had this feature for a while, but next-generation consoles are set to include dedicated ray tracing for the first time. This graphics technology significantly improves lighting for more realistic environments. Lighting is an incredibly important part of a game's look, so improving it all around will increase visual fidelity for every game.
5 Selective Installation
Long installations and downloads are the bane of every console owner's existence. If someone only wants to play the single-player campaign, they have to download the whole game.
If the file size is too big, they have to delete other games. This problem will be alleviated somewhat by the PS5's feature to selectively install certain parts of the game separately. If someone just wants to engage in multiplayer, they can choose to download only the multiplayer. Hopefully this practice works as well as it sounds on paper.
4 Ultra HD Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray has been the dominant form of physical media for movies for well over a decade, but that is looking to change with the next-generation consoles embracing Ultra HD Blu-Ray. This format supports 4K resolution as well as HDR. People are increasingly using streaming and online purchases for entertainment, but physical media is still the best way to have the highest-quality image. Quality is also not at the mercy of a network connection.
3 Audio
During Mark Cerny's presentation labeled "The Road To PS5" he spent a significant amount of time talking about the advancements to audio they are making. The real-time 3D audio is set to be the greatest leaps in gaming audio yet. It may seem irrelevant to many, but sound is one of the most important factors in making a game more immersive.
2 Vents
Using the relative size of the disc slot, deduced the PlayStation 5's dimensions, and it is likely one of the largest consoles ever released. The Vents lining the side will hopefully alleviate some of the sound and heat sure to emanate from the powerful machine. The PlayStation 4 is a notoriously loud platform, something fans have vigorously complained about. Here's hoping Sony has taken these grievances to heart.
1 Backward Compatibility
The last time a Sony console had the ability to play the last generation's game was the early PS3 models' PS2 backward compatibility. The feature was stripped out soon after to reduce costs. The PS5 will play numerous PS4 games at launch, and more will be added as time goes on, similar the Microsoft's work with backward compatibility. Some find this feature irrelevant, but many appreciate not having to have two consoles hooked up the same time or switch the cords out when they want to play an older title.