Today Sony has officially confirmed the release date of PlayStation 5 and a multitude of details, such as a new DualShock with haptic response, modern interface and 100GB discs with a 4K Blu-ray reader.
Sony officially confirms the release date of PS5, which will arrive in stores at Christmas 2020 and reveals a multitude of new details about the console, which also will not have any surprises in its name: it will be called PlayStation 5.
PS5 specifications and backward compatibility
Wired reveals new console information, which, like Xbox Scarlett – the next Microsoft console – will use a third-generation AMD Ryzen CPU with eight cores of the Zen 2 7nm architecture, with a GPU belonging to the Radeon Navi family, and take advantage of the speed of the new SSD memory to reduce loading times.
As we saw in a demonstration last May with the successful Spider-Man, if the game in PS4 Pro took 8 seconds to load, in PS5 thanks to the SSD memory, the load becomes almost instantaneous: 83 tenths of a second. It is also important to note, as already announced months ago, that PS5 will be fully backward compatible with PS4 games.
Mark Cerny has commented that the compatibility with ray-tracing technology at the hardware level – with GPU acceleration -, which will facilitate more complex and sophisticated lighting, a technique that is giving much to talk about in recent times.
The 3D sound will also be prominent on PS5, something that stood out in the first details of the console in April, since it will have a custom 3D audio unit that Cerny believes will “redefine the sound that can be made in a video game.” Regarding the resolution and graphics quality that will support the new PS5, it has been confirmed that it will be compatible with resolutions up to 8K.
New 100 GB discs for games
As it has been known, the SSD disk not only reduces waiting times, it also offers more efficiency and the example of the Spider-Man game by Insomniac Games. There is content that doubled up to 400 times on the disks so that the data search was faster. The SSD eliminates this need, so it not only loads before, it saves space.
In any case, PS5 will use 100GB optical discs and a 4K Blu-ray reader. The installations will be mandatory, as in PS4, but this time they will work a little differently, with the option of installing only part of the game – such as multiplayer, or the campaign – or all at once. Once the campaign is completed, the user could delete that part and leave the multiplayer.
New Remote, the Dualshock 5
PS5 will use a new version of Dualshock, although Cerny does not call it DualShock 5, it will have adaptive triggers, with various resistance levels to simulate, for example, an arc and the tension that exists when a trigger is pressed, or feel resistance to accelerate with an SUV on a rocky surface. Also, the new command will feature haptic vibration, which will replace the traditional wave, being more complex and more nuanced.
In the demos that Wired has tried, they showed different textures that they felt in the tactile experience: the mud was slow, the ice gives quick response, when you jump into the water you feel resistance, in the wood of a bridge there is a certain movement, etc.
The pad’s speaker has also been improved, and there is another series of novelties such as the USB Type-C, a larger capacity battery and, due to the new haptic engines, weighs a little more than the DualShock 4, but will be lighter than the Xbox pad with batteries.
New interface
The interface will be renewed compared to the current PS4, although with the same philosophy of quickly starting the games. The game servers will report multiplayer activities on the console menu, and games without this mode will give information on the missions you could do and the rewards directly from the console interface – no need to enter the console. game-.
Custom game installation
Until now, one of the things that the players complained about most in PS4 was the obligation to install on the hard disk any video game we wanted to play, something that according to the latest confirmations, will no longer be a problem in PS5.
In Cerny’s own words, ” With PlayStation 5, instead of treating games as a big block of data, we are allowing more precise access to them,” what does this mean? That although we will have to continue installing the games on the hard disk, on PS5, we will have the option to individually install differentiated elements of a game such as the campaign or its multiplayer mode, something that many players will certainly appreciate.
Gran Turismo Sport on PS5
Gran Turismo Sport has taken the PS5 kit – a kit that is as it had leaked -. Driving on different surfaces thanks to the new haptic vibration conveys sensations that the DualShock 4 could not. According to the tests, the classic vibration tires the player when it is always used in games that use it a lot – for example, driving titles.
Sony has worked on this haptic response since the DualShock 4 was developed, and they say they could include it in mid-generation, but it would have divided the user experience between those who had it and those who didn’t, so it has been reserved for PS5.
Bluepoint works on PS5
The studios are working on the console, but none are cited at the moment. Bluepoint, who developed the remake of Shadow of the Colossus, it does confirm that they are working on a game for PS5: “I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.” Rumours say it is a remake of Demon’s Souls.
The prestigious Kotaku journalist, Jason Schreier, has said on his Twitter account following this information, that he has spoken with some third-party developers who have told him that PS5 hardware is excellent and that the development tools arrived time.