The PS5 might just be the best PlayStation since Sony’s first ever PlayStation. It also might be one of the hardest ones ever to buy, although the PS2 was hard to find too - in the UK, at least - when it launched. Although It's been very difficult to acquire one the PS5 has been selling quite well. And I am not surprised.

I believe the PS5 is the best PS since the first one, and is superior to the PS4, PS3, and the PS2. There are a good number of reasons for this, but at heart it has everything to do with the roots of Sony and the unique footprint the Japanese giant has left on technology and design.

The PlayStation launched on 3 December, 1994, in Japan and arrived in North America and Europe nine months later. It had a 32-bit CPU, 2MB of RAM, and 1MB of VRAM. Paltry numbers, in retrospect, but it was quite literally game changing for the mid 1990s.

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It marked a significant change, leaving behind the 16-bit era of Mario and Sonic, and launching into a new graphical standard. The Sega Saturn, unfortunately, was an awkward turtle between the eras. Famously, the PlayStation came with a demo disc that showed off its 3D prowess, allowing you to view a walking dinosaur and move the camera around to see it in its full polygonal glory - a dinosaur that returns to the PS5 via a cameo in the already-installed Astro’s Playroom.

Later, games such as Tekken 3, Gran Turismo, and Final Fantasy 8 would wow ‘90s players with their realism and depth, while Lara Croft would captivate an entire generation. But we are not here, in fact, to talk about the games. If we were to rank the PlayStations on their software I’d probably have to give the top spot to the PS2, considering the unparalleled mix of quality and quantity across its library.

ps5 and dualsense
via Sony

Instead, we’re here to talk about hardware. And I put it to you that the PS5 is the most innovative hardware Sony has put out since the first PlayStation. Exhibit A? The controller. It should not be taken for granted. It is, after all, the one object that you actually feel - the only tactile connection you have with the visuals you see onscreen.

The PS2 had a rumble controller, but the technology was pioneered on the PS1. The PS3 added SIXAXIS and was wireless (big whoop). The PS4’s was better, but it still represented an incremental upgrade on DNA that was pioneered on 1997’s DualShock, which featured rumble and dual analogue sticks.

The DualSense, PS5’s evolution of the DualShock, represents true innovation. The detail and variety of feedback coming through the DualSense is remarkable. I’m already regretting not having played Gran Turismo Sport mostly on PS5. It’s so much better. Now I can feel the weight of the cars, the distribution of balance, and the texture of the different road surfaces through my hands.

I’ve had a blast running through PS4 games with the DualSense and it’s pleasing that many have incorporated the unique features of the PS5 controller. But not only does the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers now let me feel the tension of a bow in, say, Horizon Zero Dawn, but the DualSense fully immerses the player in a three-dimensional way.

Astro's Playroom

Astro’s Playroom, a pack-in game on the PS5, demonstrates this wonderfully. It’s the standout demo for the DualSense’s abilities, allowing you to feel the drips of rain on Astro’s head, the squelching of his feet in the mud, or the slickness of steel as he rolls across a surface. But I realised the controller actually plays a trick on you. A brilliant psychological trick. When Astrobot jumped from a smooth surface to one made of steel, I could feel the cold toothiness of it. But it wasn’t all coming from the tappiness of the vibration, it was also in the sound the controller emitted. It had fooled my brain into ‘feeling’ the steeliness.

Sound is another major innovation. It’s easy to forget now, but the PlayStation was notable for its sound quality with composers, especially in the Final Fantasy series, making the most of the sound engine. The PS1 even doubled as a near-audiophile quality CD player. Audio improvements are a huge part of the PS5’s appeal too. Whether it’s through TV speakers or a headset, the audio is superior to its PS4 predecessor, not only with a greater dynamic range and a more immersive sound mix, but with new ideas - such as 3D audio. And this should have been the case earlier, really. This is the company that made the Walkman, after all, and which produces award-winning sound systems and headphones to this day.

The original PlayStation helped propel Sony to its peak. There was a time in the 1990s and early 2000s when Sony seemed to be the coolest brand in the world. From its Trinitron TVs, which were so flat screen, to drool-worthy G-Shock CD players, and innovations such as the MiniDisc and the totally futuristic Aibo robot dog, Sony was known for its cool yet playful approach to design and technological innovation.

The PlayStation epitomised this. Sony was unafraid to experiment.

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PlayStation-Analog-Joystick
1280px-PSX-DualShock-Controller

Pics credit to Evan Amos.

The PS2, meanwhile, was far more powerful than its older brother but it seemed to jump into maturity a little too eagerly, with a black colour scheme and blocky, less playful design. The PS3 was a great big hunk with a frustrating CPU to design for leading to muddy, stuttery games. The PS4 was competent, but felt more like a correction from the PS3 than a big leap forward. Games aside, did it ever truly excite in the way the PS5 has?

Jumping into games with the boundary-busting SSD, the immersive audio, and the revolutionary DualSense controller makes the PS5 the most transformative PlayStation for a long time. Ever since the PS1 changed the makeup of living rooms, expanding the reach of consoles into a more mainstream space, Sony has been riding high on its consoles, which have driven huge profits for the company.

But it seemed to forget about the fun, for a while, and started to focus on multimedia entertainment (PS2) and pure power (PS3). The PS4 was a simpler approach for Sony, which made the console easier to develop for, but it cast aside that stream of inventiveness that’s an indelible part of the company. But now it seems it has rekindled that quirky, innovative spirit first seen in the PS1. I mean, even the white of the latest console harkens back to the lighter shades seen in days past.

Sony has always been interested in media beyond just videogames. The PS1 played CDs, the PS2 DVDs, and the PS3 blu-rays. But the PS5 feels like Sony has reconnected to the idea that this is a station primarily for play. A machine built for fun and games that’s doing more than it ever has to send new signals to players, immersing them through hardware innovations.

It is pretty enormous, though.

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