Console wars are nothing new but the next gen console wars are phenomenal as both XBox and PlayStation are gearing up to take over our living rooms and our free time. The immersive nature of the games will be taken up several notches as graphics, load times and audio are notched up to 11. Details below.
Via T3
The PS5 video, which opens with a voice over from Sony’s Lead System Architect Mark Cerny (taken from the recent official “The Road to PS5” deep dive) then proceeds to show a wedge-shaped PlayStation 5 console that comes in white, black, red and (interestingly) metal colourways.
There are some lovely details in the design, too. As part of the console’s two-tone aesthetic, there are strips of square, triangle, circle and cross PlayStation button patterns running over the machine, while the notable V-shape that was evident on the PS5 dev kit is also retained when the system is viewed top down.
What is particularly cool in terms of design features is that the PlayStation 5 also has a removal top plate, which underneath hides a turbine style cooling system (we think every gamer can get behind Sony kicking things up a notch in terms of cooling efficiency and noise) .
In terms of ports, the PS5 here is shown to come with a brace of HDMI ports, a digital optical port, as well as a network connector and selection of USB ports, too. These are joined at the rear of the console by a dedicated SSD bay, which allows upgrading of the drive.
We also get a look at some games that could run on the console, as well as how the new DualSense controller would pair with it. Lastly, we see how a next-gen PS VR headset that is wireless could look and the sorts of experiences it could offer.
Overall, we think this is a really well made concept design for the PlayStation 5. We like the fact that the shape of the system remains faithful to the PS5 dev kit, but does so while looking much, much better. Slim, stylish and laden with advanced features — it is the sort of package we’d bite our own arm off to grab.
Hopefully we will, finally, get to see the real PlayStation 5 console design up close soon, as this latest PS5 video has just whetted our appetite for the next-gen console even more.
And, hopefully, the next PS5 event that Sony does will not be so misjudged as the aforementioned deep dive. While the Japanese maker should be applauded for being so candid about the intricacies of how certain parts of its console work, there is no doubting that the level of technical jargon left many gamers cold.
If Sony can follow up with a second event that focused more on the aesthetics, accessories (come on PS VR 2!) and games that will be the ideal scenario, as gamers will have got a look under the PlayStation 5 hood, as well as an introductory tour to its ecosystem.
And, with AMD confirming that it is ramping up production of CPU software for the PS5, it seems like the console is still going to release as initially promised in time for the winter holiday season 2020. Both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are confirmed as using AMD’s Zen 2-powered CPU, which will be partnered with a 7nm Navi GPU.
The new PlayStation has also been confirmed by Mark Cerny himself to come with a brand new custom 3D audio unit and an SSD that allows games, both new and old, to launch far faster than on PS4. Indeed, when Cerny first introduced the PS5’s SSD, he showed how the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man loaded 18.75 times faster than on PS4, which is a speed increase of 1,774%.