Sony officially announced the next generation of the Playstation console last night. Simply titled the Playstation 5, audiences tuned in to an hour-long stream that detailed some of the games coming out for Sony’s new machine.
If you want the short version, we didn’t get a price for the console, nor did we get an exact release date. However, the consensus seems to point to a price point around the €500 mark, and a release date of winter this year.
Last night was the first time the world was shown the console itself and going by the Twitter reaction, it looks like Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey went on a Keto diet, or an internet modem sandwiched between two pieces of office paper.
The actual technical specifications of the console have been known for some time – a solid state drive, ray tracing lighting graphics, backwards compatibility with certain PS4 games – so last night was a chance to show off what games are on the hopper for the PS5.
The most intriguing concept of all was the fact that the console can be bought as strictly a digital-only console with no disc drive, or with a disc drive that is capable of playing 4K UHD discs. This is a clever move on Sony’s part, as they can chase two demographics; people who want just the games, or consumers who are more old-school and traditionalist, and are also in the market to invest in 4K UHD as their movie viewing platform of choice.
But you didn’t come here to read about technical specs, let’s talk games.
The reveal started out with the Rockstar logo, which, for the faintest of moments, led us to believe that Grand Theft Auto 6 was coming out, or god forbid, the long-delayed Agent was finally seeing the light of day. Hopes were crushed as it was revealed to be just a port of GTA 5 for the PS5. You know, the same game we’ve been playing since 2013 on the Playstation 3.
There were some legitimate highlights and thrills in the new games front; a sequel to the 2018 hit Spider-Man will focus on Miles Morales and will be a launch title for the console.
2017’s surprise hit Horizon: Zero Dawn will be receiving a sequel, Horizon: Forbidden West, and the graphics looked, for lack of a better word, breath-taking. The variety of locales, from detailed underwater cities, to snow-capped valleys, showed the true graphical power of the PS5, and looks set to be a killer app for the console.
We also got a bevy of surprise sequel reveals, with the Resident Evil 8 trailer being incredibly atmospheric and creepy, alongside a new Ratchet and Clank sequel, that looks like a Pixar movie transferred into video game form, and much to this writer’s delight, a Hitman 3 reveal.
Players were also shown some of the first-party games coming to the PS5, with the most intriguing of all being Horsemarque’s Returnal, which seems to blend films like Edge Of Tomorrow and Annihilation with video games like Dark Souls and Death Stranding.
Capcom, alongside their Resident Evil 8 reveal, also showed off a new game called Pragmata, which is as close as the conference got to having some Hideo Kojima inspired insanity without having the input of the man himself.
The conference had a good mix of games aimed at the traditional gamer, as well as the casual one, with titles like Fortnite, NBA, Destiny, Rainbow Six Siege and Assassins Creed also confirmed to be in development for the console.
Overall, the lack of concrete information such as price or release date is frustrating, but as said earlier, it will most likely be coming in around the €500 mark, and at least there is the option of buying the one without a disc drive if you’re just in it for games.
With Sony leaving the current console generation reclaiming its top spot, Microsoft desperately trying to regain ground and Nintendo back in contention, it a good time to be a fan of video games.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.