The end of one generation implies the beginning of another. A natural cycle that we have been seeing for several decades also in the world of videogames, where the PlayStation brand is getting closer to participating in the start of a new period with PS5. Without risks in the name, easy to understand, but where beyond the nomenclature a console awaits us that is postulated to be a main participant of the great changes that await us in the sector. It's time to go over in detail everything we know about PlayStation in May.
Christmas of 2020: Sony's new generation with PS5
Before starting, it is important to make it clear that we will not find here more than information. Making it clear when we talk about possibilities, but without speculation or rumorology: information only . One that is dropping; but that leaves us with a fairly concrete and sufficient panorama so that we have decided just now to publish this report.
Sony and Microsoft play a particular game of chess where the movement of one implies the almost immediate response of the other; a board where each false step can be paid very expensive, to the point of losing a generation before starting it.
But let's get in the background, where does Sony PlayStation come from? PS4 is already the second best-selling home console of all time; a story that seems to mimic the incredible dominance that PS2 had in the market, where neither Microsoft nor Nintendo kept pace with the Sony solution, which also took the main attention of the developers.
The scenario is now different, because at the end of the day a generation start causes the clocks to return from scratch . The generational race brings everyone back to the starting line: the successes of the past are of little use. 2020 is and will be a year based on communication, convincing the loyal user not to change color; to convince the seduced by the competition that you have to give the PlayStation brand a chance, in the case that concerns us. Microsoft is preparing the most ambitious, powerful and player-centric console in its history, Xbox Series X. Sony, for its part, is very clear what it wants to do with PS5, but its silence is for now longer than that of the signature led by Phil Spencer.
Let's talk about PlayStation 5: all about the console
It was last October when we learned that the fifth generation of PlayStation would be called PlayStation 5, with that name. Mark Cerny and Jim Ryan , system architect and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, respectively, offered the first official details - no graphic material involved - of the successor to PS4. The shadow will be long (a shadow of more than 108 million units sold in six years), so the feat is arduous.
Although we have not seen the chassis yet, although we do not have a photograph with which to link PS5, we do know what will be in their guts. We know that you will use an AMD Navi GPU accompanied by a Ryzen Zen 2 CPU , all using the increasingly sound ray tracing , which has already taken its first steps in high-end computers and in the film industry. The real-time ray tracing of PS5 will be accelerated by the hardware itself, not by software, through a graphic variant of the Radeon Navi families. It will be a series of algorithms that allow these calculations to be executed at full speed, which will result in an immediate deduction of the place of recidivism of the light to improve the effects and reflections in real time. That is, not only graphics and technical power; also lighting, as part of the benefits for the immediate future of video games on home consoles.
"It's just what people were waiting for," they said. PlayStation 5 does not want to lose perspective, something that Sony has made clear on many occasions: it is a game console. It is expected that, like PS4, there is a support for very clear multimedia content, with applications such as Spotify, Netflix and the possibility of watching movies thanks to the advanced Blu-ray Ultra HD reader, but the focus will be the video game eminently.
The importance of SSD memory
This technological leap, according to the developers who have been offering the sensations that the console development kit has evoked, has as its main support the storage memory SSD . Using solid-state memories primarily involves speed; and will improve the user experience for both players and developers themselves when it comes to work.
They say it themselves: it will help "create much richer worlds," allow "drastically help improve load times" and reduce development times "significantly."
There is a recurring example that helps us to tangibly understand what they mean. Cerny gave Marvel's Spider-Man (2018, PS4) as an example. "There are some portions of data duplicated 400 times on a hard drive." The SSD dispenses with many of these residual data packages and facilitates a faster "drastically" read speed, in addition to saving space in ways still to be detailed, but which are considered very high.
In essence, with PS5 you can make a quick trip in Marvel's Spider-Man in 0.8 seconds; instead of the 15 seconds of the fast trip of the current console. The city's load, meanwhile, went from 8.1 seconds to 0.83 seconds for this process. Obviously, we talk about the estimated times in a PS4 video game, we don't know if these minimum waits will also be transferred to the PS5 native games.
Earlier we mentioned the word Ultra HD Blu-ray, which will no longer be a thing of the future and will become conventional in the upcoming PlayStation consoles. These are advanced versions of the current standard of optical drives, only this time with 100 GB of storage . So, do not panic: PS5 will continue betting on the physical format, although the reality, with income data on the table, tells us that digital is becoming increasingly incipient and dominating in the financial reports of companies.
In addition, the facilities of the games in those SSD memories will be modular . "Instead of treating the games as if they were huge blocks of data, we are allowing lighter access to the data," Cerny said. We can install, for example, the campaign mode of a video game if we only want to play that mode, thus leaving aside other modes such as a hypothetical multiplayer. And vice versa. When you finish with one you can uninstall it and install the other ... You decide. The goal is that the storage memory of the console does not have data packets that we will not use. They did not transcend data on language packs, which is another of the community's requests: to be able to choose the download only of the language to be used.
The PlayStation 5 interface will give information about the status of the servers, reward, active events and other data of interest of the game that we are going to execute without having to start it. The Cerny team wants to prevent us from having to start a game, wait several minutes and see what is happening at the moment in the online video game of the moment; A more explanatory interface, with pop-up and clear menus. All this added to a “much faster” root boot of the console.
A continuous logo: what makes PS5 unique
Only a logo and an infographic with five great characteristics is what Sony advanced in the conference held at the CES Convention Center 2020 held in Las Vegas this past January. Few details, but certainly clear.
Jim Ryan , CEO and President of PlayStation, revealed on the stage the official logo of the console, which maintains the typography size, thickness and shape of PS4, PS Vita and PS3 since the time of PS3 Slim. “We will know much more about PlayStation 5 in the coming months; We hope to be able to reveal more details, including the content we will show to present the platform and the future of video games, ”he said. And there we continue waiting. Despite the laughs through social networks, alluding that they did not squeeze their heads too hard to devise that logo or product image, the truth is that the reaction was a tremendous success in the social network of images par excellence, Instagram . In just one day, more than 5.1 million “likes” were added
Ryan took advantage of that forum to summarize in an infographic image the five main virtues of the system. Broadly and briefly: Ray-tracing , haptic controls for DualShock, 3D sound for surround audio, Blu-Ray Ultra HD memories and SSD storage memory .
Now, why not risk with a different logo? Why this continuity? The answer, which is due to a commercial strategy, is very clear in the Japanese house: “ It is important to offer a sense of consistency in the PlayStation brand products . It should be like that for anyone who sees it [the PS5 logo] to immediately and positively think: 'I think it's PlayStation,' ”Ryan said for Business Insider .
It does not deny that they will need to offer something totally new and groundbreaking. "Similarly, we need to work on new ways to make PlayStation 5 attractive. This year will be difficult, but it will also be a very special year compared to other console releases ." “But you know, there are still more unique PlayStation 5 elements from old consoles to come. Their 'biggest differences' have yet to be announced. ” The official PlayStation 5 website already exists , it is visible to anyone, but Sony says it is not yet ready to show what they have in hand. The estimated date does not change: Christmas 2020 .
The most advanced Dualshock controller: haptic technology
Tastes aside, the PlayStation Dualshock has been characterized for decades to maintain a very particular style, with moderate changes. There are those who prefer the two aligned joysticks; others keep this option above that of the competition ... In any case, there is always room for improvement. The perfect command does not exist, we do not know if it will exist, but PlayStation believes that what we know under the tentative name of Dualshock 5 may be the best controller in the history of the company.
His credentials are already known: adaptive triggers with different levels of resistance so that we can empirically feel the real changes in - for example - weapons: weight, cadence, tension ... A shotgun is not the same as an arc. Nor is it the same to drive a vehicle on asphalt than on the ground. These changes are to be captured at the sensory level with the new PS5 controller.
How? As far as we know, there will be a much more advanced vibration technology than in current controllers; something similar to the HD vibration of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con. Sony is designing the control with actuators located on the grips on both sides, so that we feel what is happening in our hands and fingers. Triggers, handles ... everything.
It should be said that the batteries will be included again in the chassis of the control, so that it will not be necessary to have external batteries or interchangeable batteries. The input port is unknown, so we cannot anticipate whether to bet on the micro USB, USB-C or a proprietary type input. Toshi Aoki, product manager, said they had been working a long time on a controller that will be "a little lighter" than an Xbox Wirelles Controller, but slightly heavier than a Dualshock 4.
There are official patents that suggest that the remote control may include back buttons, although this is nothing more than a patent. The only official in that regard is the accessory launched by Sony for the Dualshock 4.
Another certainty is that the PS5 command generates a lot of interest among the developers. Jacob Sutton, artist responsible for environments at Infuse Studio, believes that “Haptic feedback will be a fantastic feature. It will be as long as the developers get their full potential and do not become only an element that adds development costs, as happened with the DualShock touchpad. ” Also, Ivan Moen, CEO of Rock Pocket Games pointed out that the potential of the haptic functionalities of the new PlayStation 5 controller is overwhelming. “I think that haptic [functions] contribute a lot to an experience. But I also think about his subjectivity with respect to different players. It also depends on how the game uses it. In general, I think the potential to add them to an experience is very high. ”
Finally, Jim Ryan, of Sony, said after having tested the command that “Even when playing a driving video game like Gran Turismo Sport with a PlayStation 5 controller makes the experience completely different ”,
Price: a very difficult figure to adjust. How much will PS5 cost?
The million dollar question: how much will PS5 cost? The price is always a puzzle, a double-edged sword. You can bet on assuming losses with each sale to compensate for it in another way; or launch a very expensive console trusting that people will respond conveniently. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo know it with recognized errors such as those of PlayStation 3, Xbox One or Nintendo 3DS, which had to lower their PVP internationally to increase the installed user base.
According to a recent report in Bloomberg, the price of PS5 is not yet decided. And it is not because Sony Corporation does not want to, but because the cost of manufacturing the machine currently ranges from $ 450 ; More than desired. The main problem is the provision of DRAM units and NAND flash memory ; which have a very high demand from smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and other Asian companies. With few units, the price increases.
Sony usually closes the price of its next consoles in February , before the end of the fiscal year (see cases such as PS3 and PS4, launched in November in the first territories where they saw the light). This time it will not be possible, so it is possible that the first remittances enter production without having that figure closed.
Damian Thong, on behalf of MacQuarie Capital, analyzed the situation, ensuring that the profit margin will be, in any case, very small. The manufacture of PS5 will bring the cost of the console closer to 500 dollars. “With a manufacturing cost of $ 450 for PlayStation 5, and trying to find a similar revenue margin, the console's retail price should be at least $ 470 ; difficult to sell to the general public considering that PS4 Pro, right now, is its most expensive machine with a price of $ 399 and discounts frequently, ”he argued.
Sony's strategy will therefore be to take advantage of the benefit of subscriptions, software sales and other digital products to compensate for the cost of hardware. Software-based hardware, in short .
Video games: what games are already confirmed for PS5
Finally, the games . There is little use for a good price, a lot of power or having the fastest and quietest console if there are no great video games with which to squeeze that system. Sony does not release a pledge, except with the case already confirmed by Bluepoint Games , but the third publishers do not hide that they already have PS5 development kits in their possession and that there are titles that will be intergenerational; that is, those that will come out on current consoles as well as on Xbox Series X and PS5.
In this article we have compiled in detail all the information we know about those video games. Not surprisingly, we will now summarize the names of these titles, which will have their own version, adapted and sometimes unique to PS5.
- Godfall : starting with Godfall, the new Counterplay Games and Gearbox. It was the first game explicitly confirmed for PS5 and will also go on sale on PC. Action RPG in third person with looting and multiplayer mode for up to four players. It will not arrive before Christmas 2020.
- Outriders : the new People Can Fly recently changed dates and will be intergenerational: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. An RPG shooter set in a sci-fi universe full of darkness, where humanity is close of extinction In this article we tell you what we thought, because we have already played it.
- The Lord of the Rings: Gollum: this new bet of Daedalic Entertainment will have “gigantic dimensions levels and aesthetically inspired by the drawings made by Tolkien himself” and that we will travel through much of Middle-earth while we cross “hostile and friendly faces " The protagonist will be Golum, which we will see recreated thanks to the Unreal Engine 4. The Tolkien universe will be the protagonist in the next gene.
- Rainbow Six Siege - one of the biggest phenomena in Ubisoft's history, with more than 50 million players - will have a version for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X since launch. That is, the date will not be chosen by Ubisoft, but when both systems are put on sale, the game will be there, waiting, and without fragmenting the community: it will be cross-play in their respective family. All PlayStation players and all of Microsoft. In the future, they hope that the cross game does not understand colors.
- Watch Dogs Legion : another from Ubisoft. Its delay, which leaves the title for a moment between October 2002 and March 2021, will allow the studio to make an even more ambitious title and, if there is any doubt, be intergenerational since launch. Ubisoft hopes it will be the most ambitious title in the saga.
- Gods and Monsters : the authors of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft Quebec, are holding this fantastic title in a giant open world full of action, mythological creatures, skills and playable elements to start building new intellectual properties outside those already settled. It will also be intergenerational.
- Rainbow Six: Quarantine : as a spin off, this installment will be based on the Rainbow Six Siege Outbreak event. We will face a mysterious alien parasite that is infecting humans and transforming them into lethal creatures. Its gameplay will be 3v3 in online multiplayer games, with PvE and science fiction setting for the first time in the saga.
- Bluepoint Games : they are the only ones, within Sony, that have openly confirmed to be working for PS5. The "biggest" game in its history, they say. "We are working on a great game right now," said Marco Trush, president of the study, last October. "I will let you find out the rest." They have not detailed what IP will be, but we do know that it will be "a reimagining", a reinterpretation of a game to adapt it to the current times.
Insomniac Games (Marvel's Spider-Man), Sony Santa Monica Studio (God of War) and Guerrilla Games (Horizon: Zero Dawn), are already working on their next projects, which will be exclusive to the PlayStation label; although they have not revealed what it is.
Also, Dreams already has an experimental version for PS5. The study believes it is logical that the game comes out on PS5, but they have nothing to announce yet. Finally, the team of Mark Cerny, principal architect of the console, confirmed to be working with a version adapted from Gran Turismo Sport to the PS5 development kits. We do not know if there will be a new Gran Turismo outbound, but its creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, is already working on the new installment of the saga and its goal is to standardize the 4K resolution to be able to aspire to refresh rates of 120 FPS or even 240 FPS .
Backward compatibility, an unknown under desire
Sony wants the transition from PS4 to PlayStation 5 to be as sweet as possible. This implies several things, but in a world that makes the eminently digital it is necessary that the services, the intangible, can migrate from one platform to another in the most natural way possible and that the legacy, which has been part of the users For several years, don't get lost on the road.
Hiroki Totoki , chief financial officer of Sony, commented on the occasion of the last report of the current fiscal year his intention to continue betting on PS Plus, which already has more than 38 million users, and that backward compatibility is part of that new ecosystem. We would lie if we said how it will work; We do not know if it will be by hardware or only through software. In fact, the only reality is that this backward compatibility - whatever it may be - will be with PS4. We do not know if it will apply to previous generations of the console.
Ubisoft says that PS5 and Xbox Series X will have "total backward compatibility," but Yves Guillemot did not extend too much in this regard when asked.
Developers like Jason Sutton believe that backward compatibility will directly influence the video game industry at the commercial level. “I think that this PS4 function will affect the industry completely, also the community of players in different ways. Some positive aspects are that people won't have to buy remasters to play their favorite PS4 titles. On the other hand, the negative is that "Developers will not dare to launch new versions or editions of PlayStation 4 games on PS5 so easily."
The most recent information we have about the backward compatibility of PS5 dates back to October 2019, when Sony said they are still working on it; It is not finished. Virtual reality, finally, is also something unknown. After the initial implementation of VR PlayStation, Sony has patented a new control with fingerprint recognition VR.
Soon we will know the launch catalog, price and specific date of departure of PS5 , which promises to be ready for Christmas 2020 . It will not be in E3 2020 , however, since they will cause leave for the second consecutive year.
