THE SEXY PS5

PlayStation 5. Unsurprisingly, this is the name that Sony has officially chosen for its next generation of game consoles. Before this officialization on October 8, 2019, the hardware had already presented several of its features in terms of hardware, but this It is finally only at the end of 2019 and especially throughout a very special 2020 that it has taken the time to reveal itself.

LEASING DATE :

The release date of a new console is always the subject of speculation, most often years in advance. The PlayStation 5 has not escaped this habit, and between its announcement last year and the formalization of its launch period, we took turns wondering if the PS5 would arrive at the beginning of the year or in end of 2020, or even later, in 2021. A potential postponement could not be ruled out given the Covid-19 epidemic which led to the closure of many production lines, including in the hardware sector, which could affect the availability of components needed for mass production. But Sony has maintained the idea of a release for the end of the year.

And Now the release dates have been officialized :

- 12th of November 2020 in USA, Japan, Canada Mexico, Australia, new Zealand and South Corea

- 19th of November 2020 in Europe and the rest of the world

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At it’s release, the PS5 will exist in 2 versions. One classical versions with a Bluray reader that will cost 500$ (500€) and an All digital version for dematerialized games that will cost 400$ (400€).

These rates were announced during the September 16 2020 event hosted by Sony.

If this price seems high, it is however less than that of the PS3 at launch, which was then billed at the imposing price of 599€. Conversely, the PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro were launched at a lower price of 399€, while the PlayStation 2 came in at a mid-price of around 450€.

The announcement in the meantime of the price of the Xbox Series X (499 €) has potentially pushed the manufacturer to opt for the same type of estimates, while the existence of an "All Digital "also allows Sony to offer a machine with a more affordable price for tight budgets.

Regarding the games, Game prices will increase on PlayStation 5. In comparison, one of the news games, “Demon’s Souls” for example will cost 79.99€ in europe.

The average game prices on PS4 were around 69€

RETROCOMPATIBILITY OF THE GAMES

The PlayStation 5 will benefit from a backward compatibility system which, according to the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, would make 99% of PS4 games playable on PS5. You would therefore not have to buy a version here, or even wait for a remaster or a remake for almost all of your PS4 game library. The Last of Us Part II for example, The Game we tested in the lest TAT edition will benefit from this backward compatibility, as announced a few months ago the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Sony also officially confirmed that the PS1, PS2 and PS3 games cannot be played by the PS5 and therefore would not be concerned by this backward compatibility.

A new design

When it comes to looks, there is already a lot to say. This turns out to be a little bigger than the DualShock 4 (PS4 controller), the angle of the triggers has been adjusted, the “Share” button has been replaced in favor of a “Create” button, and the button with the PlayStation logo located under the central touchpad also has a slightly different design. The cross, triangle, square and round keys are now transparent and the color no longer appears on them, while the directional keys on the left side have also changed to transparency. But inevitably, what is most obvious is this two-tone model which in the process brings out the colored LEDs on either side of the central pad. The famous triangular "Lightbar" located at the front of the PS4 controller has been removed, leaving more room for the connection system to recharge the pad. Note also that this now adopts a USB-C socket instead of the usual Micro-USB sockets.

Increasing the immersion

In terms of functionality, the PlayStation 5 pad will manage the haptic feedback, which will be used here to accentuate certain sensations. For example, the feeling of heaviness while driving a vehicle in mud. The vibrations will therefore always be there. The L2 / R2 triggers also benefit from a true adaptive approach that will allow their voltage to be changed dynamically. Sony explains this feature with a simple example: You might feel this in-game when you draw a bow, with the trigger resistance getting stronger to mean the string tension increases as you press the key. concerned. We don't yet know exactly what the "Create" button is for, other than that it will provide players with new ways to create gameplay content to share with the world. On the other hand, the existence of microphones integrated in the pad has been confirmed, however Sony adding that it will be preferable to opt for a headset if you want to chat longer.

ERFORMANCE

4K images 

Unsurprisingly, the appearance of 4K on consoles with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X has launched a wave of updates to make games compatible, whether to offer native 4K or an intermediate resolution, then enlarged using rendering techniques to simulate 4K. The PS5 will obviously offer 4K resolution. On the other hand, another information divulged during the presentation of the machine could have generated some misunderstandings: the PlayStation 5 will certainly be compatible with the 8K format, but that obviously does not mean that we should expect to see games running in this definition from the launch. This is of course a simple compatibility aiming to anticipate the arrival of the next generations of televisions, a console intended to remain in your living rooms for a few years.

Spacialized audio

The conference of the architect of the PlayStation 5, Mark Cerny, happened last March was also the opportunity to present a 3D audio engine whose objective is to offer a deeper immersion in the game through an increased spatialization of sound sources. Concretely, this means that the player could precisely locate the origin of the different sounds of the game, which would unsurprisingly bring a more than undeniable advantage, including in terms of gameplay, for titles such as survival-horror, FPS or stealth games. Audio ray tracing is also integrated into the console and makes it possible to take into account possible reverberations or absorption of frequencies by different surfaces or objects. Finally, and in order to respond to the problems of differences in sound perception according to the physical characteristics of the players, the PS5 uses a dedicated hardware / software combo called the Tempest Engine. The goal is obviously to allow as many players as possible to take advantage of all the sound features that the PS5 offers.

ONLUSION

This new generation of Playstation look to be a real monster and a concentrate of technology. The graphical card looks performant, the treatment of sound in dolby atmos look very interesting and the range of game at it’s release is impressing.

But if I can make an advise, as usual for new devices wait and don’t run to buy it directly. The first generation is always a kind of crash test.

DU

ALSENSE CONTROLLER

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