Sounds promising, especially the backward compatibility, although the hopefully the price won’t be too steep with that built in SSD. If Sony can produce a good selection of exclusives like they did for PlayStation 4 I’ll certainly be interested.
All to be expected really. Not sure when I’ll next get a new console though, I feel there are other things I’d like to do with my money and time first.
Like any console generation it will come down to what games are available for the system.
But you raise a good point about whether it will be worth buying new gaming hardware vs spending that money on other things. That’s one of the reasons why I’m looking forward to MCC on PC, as I won’t need to buy new hardware to play Halo again. There’s plenty of current gen games PS4 games of high quality that we’ve no doubt missed that would be worth exploring before the PS5’s graphics spoil them. 
With each console generation the visual upgrades become a bit less exciting too. I think many of the gameplay styles have been more or less defined now, making new games feel fresh because of their story or world instead (Horizon: Zero Dawn is a good example from the current generation).
Which is one of the reasons why VR is so appealing to me! It offered me a new experience. Sort of that next “level” of gaming.
1 Like
Confirmed for 2020:
Clearly 4K will be a big part of the next generation, and it will probably be more worthwhile upgrading your display then than for the PS4 Pro/Xbox One X mid cycle upgrades (for which many games have suboptimal performance running at 4K). Apparently the PS5 will support up to 8K and 120htz so those are something to consider if you’re looking at buying a new monitor or TV, although it’s questionable how many games will actually run at these options. I’d be happy if we can get most games running at a smooth 60fps at 4K.
1 Like
4K/60 fps is probably going to be what most games will be aiming for. I’m curious if some games will still go for 30fps to maximize graphical quality instead.
Here’s what the new console looks like:
I’m not too keen on the new design, it feels a bit over the top, but perhaps it will grow on me. There’s also a discless version. I may get this version, since I don’t have much of a need for discs anymore.
There isn’t too much that interests me in the current lineup, but the Horizon sequel and backward compatibility with improved performance should make the PS5 a solid purchase. No doubt we’ll see more interesting games announced in the future (hopefully the VR Panzer Dragoon game).
Here’s another picture comparing the disc drive and discless versions.
The disc drive looks like it was added on to the discless design, rather than being a natural part of the design. I wonder if this was to subtly encourage people to go discless and shop via the PS Store?
I think it looks gorgeous, but there were no games announced that caught my eye. I worry that the next generation is gonna be a real dry one… (for me at least).
The system design looks like it’s going to cause a serious overheating problem. The white plates on the sides look like it would just further block off air flow…
As far as games there’s only a few that caught my attention:
Project Athia
Kena Bridge of Spirits
Solar Ash
And maybe Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
Looks like a PS3 in a peanut shell.
Didn’t see anything “next gen” in the footage.
Not even the GT7 60fps stand alone trailer impressed. Perhaps when it’s 4k 120fps…
The woes of being a PC gamer I suppose, we see a gradual increase in fidelity, not 5 year jumps.
Still glad so many games were announced for PC too, Athia, RE8, Pragmata, Deathloop, Hitman, Stray, Ghostwire, etc. Though some others will be EGS timed exclusive for PC, most weren’t and I can wait.
The jump in visuals wasn’t as noticeable for me either, and I’ve been a console gamer in recent years. This is at least partially due to the mid cycle console upgrades such as the PS4 Pro. Nevertheless, the Horizon sequel will no doubt look stunning due to it’s imaginative world.
I’m interested in what people expected from the lineup. We have some sequels to big first party franchises there. It would be nice to see more new franchises, or another original art title like The Last Guardian, although the latter tend to be indie games these days.
The system looks nuts and like an 80’s Fisher-Price toy. Not the best showing, but RE8 (even with its frame issue) Ratchet and Clank looked awesome
Looking through the reveal trailers, one thing that stands out is the abundance of platformers. Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot 4, Oddworld: Soul Storm, Sackboy. Also a number of indie games. It’s nice to see lots of new games that aren’t primarily focused on combat.
The price of PS5 has now been revealed, along with additional titles such as a new God of War (presumably a sequel to the top quality PS4 reboot). This, along with Horizon: Forbidden West, makes the PS5 a compelling next generation option, although it looks like the Horizon sequel will be coming to PS4 as well now.
Sony have also announced this PlayStation Plus Collection, which seems a bit like a competitor to Game Pass (presumably you lose these games if you stop subscribing), with some of the best PS4 games including The Last Guardian, Uncharted 4, The Last of Us Remastered, and God of War free as part of PlayStation Plus.
With Sony’s first party games now coming to PC, it will be interesting to see how long and how many of their PlayStation 5 games remain permanent exclusives. With Microsoft making Xbox games available across multiple platforms, they’ve bought a lot of goodwill from the gaming community. This tweet really represents this well:
I think it will only be a matter of time before Sony copies their strategy; in the future, games will be playable “horizontally” across multiple devices and in the cloud. We’ll see! Regardless, the current hardware and price of PS5, along with first party lineup, makes it an appealing place to play next generation games.
The price of the consoles is fine but not the price of 1st party games. 80 EUR for the average AAA game!
Astro’s Playroom* (Japan Studio) – pre-installed on PS5
Demon’s Souls* (Bluepoint Games / Japan Studio) – US$69.99/¥7,900/€79.99 (RRP)
Destruction All Stars* (Lucid Games / XDEV) – US$69.99/¥7,900/€79.99 (RRP)
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales* (Insomniac Games) – US$49.99/¥5,900/€59.99 (RRP)
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Mile Morales Ultimate Edition* (Insomniac Games) – US$69.99/¥7,900/€79.99 (RRP)
Sackboy A Big Adventure* (Sumo Digital / XDEV) – US$59.99/¥6,900/€69.99 (RRP)
Obviously higher MSRP means higher discounted/used prices as well. This affects those who wait just the same as the day one folks outside the super bomba $1-5 bins. The common 25, 30, 50 % discounts out of 50-60 are clearly going to have different final prices than similar discounts out of 70-80.
People cite inflation and other reasons but come on, gaming has grown to what it is because it got more affordable for more people over time, not less. Games have potential to ship many more units nowadays and first party AAA games should push people into choosing this system, not push for price hikes.
That is a valid criticism. I guess you would need to buy a lot of games for it to make a big difference though? You could get a PS5 discless and have to buy ten or so games to pay the same amount in extra per game to match the price of a Series X. I’m just wondering how much it will matter in practice?
I’ve been thinking about this, and while Game Pass and Microsoft’s more consumer friendly recent approach is great, to really see the benefits you’d need to play a lot of games on Game Pass. I find that these days I have enough trouble finding the time to just finish the games that I’ve bought. Great for trying lots of games though.
Wasn’t comparing it to Xbox or whatever, just on its own. Sony leading the way with 80 will probably make more companies do the same, on all systems. Pretty shitty trend to start for a powerful first party company like that. Discless version is a cheaper console but gives you less access to better game prices as it’s left to PSN and Sony’s whim alone and not any retailers and their shelf space/offers. It’s all pretty rhetorical to me, I’m sticking with PC gaming only. Consoles like the Switch have interested me too because they’re radically different due to the portability and other features as well as the type of games they get, but even then I still didn’t get them, though I was a bit more enticed than I ever was for a PS4 or an Xbox One.
If you can afford a high end PC for next generation gaming (apparently PS5’s GPU is approximately equivalent to an RTX2070 and the Series X to a 2080) that’s a solid option. It’s just that you’ll be paying 3 or 4 times as much at the moment. Besides price, the main appeal of PlayStation in particular is its great exclusives. Thankfully, we’re starting to see some of these arriving on PC, a trend that has been confirmed by Sony to continue, although it’s unclear if we’ll be seeing all of their big franchises arrive on PC like with Xbox. In particular, I recommend that PC gamers try out Journey, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Detroit: Become Human.
Upgrading GPU every gen and CPU every couple gens (so, the cost of a brand new console every gen, and about double that or so every two, new monitors and other peripheral can come along at their own pace like new TVs or whatever would) is pretty good price wise, timing it mid-gen so that you can infer what kind of power/budget you need to last the generation and match/surpass (or whatever your personal desire is to achieve) the consoles without buying the most expensive top of the line model at the start of it to break the bank and still not be sure it qualifies. Yeah, your PC will struggle with the biggest budget AAA games at the start of the generation before you commit to the upgrade (like, Wicher 3 was the game that got me to finally upgrade my last GPU for example, around a year after its release where I struggled to enjoy it with my old one and even then I kind of regretted it afterwards, I could have waited more to get better stuff for less since it wasn’t that great a game for me after all) but there will be plenty more to play in the mean time with lower requirements (rather than arbitarily block the hardware even when a game isn’t so heavy as it happens with consoles, the old ones don’t get all new games even if they’re low-end indies) and it will also breeze through everything after that point of no return (not to mention remaster previous games for free with higher resolutions, better framerates and potentially mods, simple like adding new visual effects and shaders with programs like ReShade or with in depth content overhauls by fans).
Not everyone buys the consoles day one or the Pro models day one or whatever anyway and similarly PC gaming isn’t just about upgrading every year to have the best graphics and performance, you can be more budget conscious too and also not pay subscriptions (at least before they become the norm as so many companies want to move gaming to the Netflix era but it’s not happening just yet imo, I mean for basic things like enabling online play and services and such, you get so many features for free from Steam and other clients/storefronts that keep improving and offering unique things), have backwards compatibility spanning decades without rebuying the games, emulation on top of that for the back compat to span even more systems and decades and all sorts of other perks. That said of course I’m not saying that following these scenarios the hardware will be brought down to a $500 console level or even less as they also get cheaper as the generation passes, but not that bad for a hobby one commits to either (let’s say, compared to car nuts or whatever) and there’s usually far more price competition on PC between digital and physical storefronts (at least when a game is not a timed Epic Games Store exclusive etc., but hey, I can wait).
Honestly, I don’t really care for Sony’s fist party output bar rare exceptions (and the same goes for Microsoft to be honest, not singling them out, just the topic here), they just do the usual AAA cinematic/open world stuff nowadays which lots of other big publishers develop and imo they never had great IP on their own, they relied on third parties since the PS1 and now third parties (even Japanese publishers which used to shun PC back in the day, so good) are all multi platform or at least one console exclusive + PC. If I wanted platform games and such which they also do at times (like the new Ratchet & Clank) I’d be going for a Nintendo system as secondary as nobody really matches their diversity and difference to what other publishers tend to develop as a rule. Without SEGA as a first party, they’re the one with an identity left. The last time I had two systems was to have PC and Wii and it was a great experience.
That said even a single platform has more games than one can conceivably ever play nowadays, I can deal with missing the few Sony games that don’t fit that mold, there’s plenty more to play from big publishers, small publishers and indies alike that don’t all reach consoles either (not to mention pioneering new fields like VR, sure consoles will get that too at some point but the current PSVR is super lacking in terms of controllers, Sony really botched that with retrofitting the Move and Aim stuff instead of developing new purpose built hardware, which heavily limits the experiences it can get and by the time consoles get on par I’ll have been enjoying it for a generation’s worth of years), or do it after they succeed on PC.
Journey was okay when it came to PC (I didn’t feel it deserved its hype beyond the striking art style but maybe because I had already tried its mobile cousin which is basically the same thing with the harrowing social/grinding aspect on top and different visual themes), Horizon: Zero Dawn I’ve yet to delve into, it didn’t grab me through the intro sequences, very by the numbers Ubisoft-esque open world action adventure, and I don’t really like any David Cage games so far, at best they’re flawed like Fahrenheit and at worst bad. Dontnod and some indie developers here and there do that style of game better with a lower budget imo.
Some of these are no longer and/or weren’t always first party and I didn’t have to have those games regardless of that status. From the PS5 known potential exclusives I’m mostly curious about Demon’s Souls so far but it’s a very strict remake and it wasn’t as good as Dark Souls to me, even if it now looks better than all previous games on a technical level (perhaps not artistically in all aspects), I love my cohesive seamless metroidvania worlds and its design didn’t employ that in the same way sequels did, possibly due to its weird development before finally becoming a cult hit that spawned a beloved style. But even so, From Software still exists and will likely be making more games in that style I can play on PC, from Dark Souls to Sekiro, so I don’t need to get a PS5 even if Sony does get this remake or even a Bloodborne 2 or whatever they secure as exclusive, even if they don’t put those on PC like Horizon. Plus other devs make this style of game since Dark Souls became a hit series, so as I said, they don’t have much that other platforms don’t also get in some form to really wish to have the console for unique things.
Just my 2 cents.