Team Talk | Do the first PS5 details have you excited?

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The fifth console developed by PlayStation manufacturer Sony hasn’t officially been dubbed the PlayStation 5 yet, but we’re gonna call it that anyway.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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Oddly revealed to little fanfare in an exclusive interview with Wired, Lead System Architect at PlayStation and Creative Genius on Knack, Mark Cerny, shared an early glimpse of what we can expect from the upcoming PS5. Did he do enough to garner our interest in the shiny new box, which he also confirmed won’t be launching in 2019, or are we perfectly happy in its absence?

Sam

Sony seem to be building their next-generation platform in the most traditional way possible; physical hardware boasting a significant jump in horsepower, which will accept disc-based media. No forced streaming or any other gimmicks, just more of what we’ve always known and loved.

That’s comforting to hear, but, if the likes of Google Stadia happen to take off, where does that leave ye olde PS5? Confirmed backwards compatibility should certainly help, offering a huge built-in software catalogue at affordable price points, as should  support for existing peripherals like PlayStation VR.

That being said, I hope we also get an optional headset upgrade. For the machine to feel anything like there’s been a true generational leap, we need a higher display resolution and to ditch all of those wires. For the love of Knack: please, please, please lose the wires! Rumours suggest this might be the case, so fingers crossed we get a new camera and motion controllers too.

The extra tools being made available to developers - most notably a rapid internal SSD and an updated chipset, said to be capable of outputting 8K graphics - at least seem poised to implement the level of showcase required to wow consumers outside of VR.

Funnily enough, Mark Cerny also touted the wider implementation of 3D audio, which is something almost exclusively reserved for VR right now. It’s a huge factor when it comes to increasing immersion, so much so that the thought of having true 3D audio in all of my games is worth getting hot and bothered over alone.

Sam just uses his PS4 Pro for exclusives and VR, so PS VR matters more to him than most.

Chris

It seems a little odd to me that Sony are yet to officially name their new console the PlayStation 5. They’re usually quite predictable in that respect, so I'm going to assume that this is either an upgrade to the PS4 Pro (in which case I’ll be calling it PlayStation 4.9), or an all-powerful future console that may, or may not, be sentient (PlayStation 6). There is no in between, I deal only in absolutes.

With all the talk about fancy CPUs, GPUs and SSDs you might be thinking it's the latter (or a terrible start to a game of Scrabble) and I would be inclined to agree. I'd posit that very few people are invested enough in Spider-Man's fast travel system to warrant spending hundreds of pounds just to save 14 seconds.

The reason for Sony sharing little else about the console is that the PlayStation 6 doesn't want them to. The PlayStation 6 has been biding its time, assimilating all of our knowledge and building the infrastructure it needs to enslave the human race.

For years it has waited, patiently, but it did not hide. It was right there in front of us all along. You see: Mark Cerny is not the man behind the machine - Mark Cerny is the machine.

You don't want to know what happens when Mark Cerny interfaces with that port.

James

In 2018 I was more tempted to get a PS4 than any year prior, thanks to a number of tasty exclusives (especially Spider-Man). The next PlayStation’s existence is hardly a surprise, but it's again going to be the games that really strike my fancy over any flashy hardware, since I'm not already invested in the PlayStation ecosystem like I am with Xbox.

In terms of raw power, I think Xbox One X already hits the mark and delivers a level of spectacle which I don't fully appreciate. For that reason, the rumoured timed exclusivity period for Grand Theft Auto VI is what has me most tempted right now. 

​There’s no doubt that I've sunk more hours into GTA Online than any other game, despite being awful at it, though, being realistic, there’ll need to be much more than just an early taste on the menu for me to fork out on a new console and by extension a new library of games.

Considering Sony has decided to skip E3 this year, perhaps we should temper our expectations accordingly, since there'd surely be no better place to drop any bombs they might have stowed than on the industry’s biggest stage?

Will GTA VI, and presumably by extension James' beloved GTA Online​, spend its first month as a PlayStation 5 exclusive?

Liam

As someone blessed with little to no technological knowledge, the recently revealed PS5 specs mean absolutely zilch to me. There’s no doubt everything mentioned will make games look super pretty, but what most interests me is the confirmation of backwards compatibility and support for PS VR.

I don’t actually own a PS4, but I do currently have an unopened PS VR gathering dust in the corner of my living room. I’m aware this is an odd thing to purchase, considering the lack of a console to hook it up to, but there was method in my madness.

Bought on a whim at a heavily discounted price, the plan was always to try and save up for the PS4 afterwards, but life kept getting in the way. Whether it’s visiting friends, upcoming holidays or paying medical bills (I’m no longer based in the UK), the world seems to be constantly conspiring against me to ensure I never get my hands on one.

While the specs might not do it for me, the idea of being able to finally unwrap my VR headset and experience the whole suite of PS4 exclusives, alongside shiny new games on one shiny new console is worth getting excited about.

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How do you see the next PlayStation shaping up? Let us know in the comments below.