PlayStation 5: It Has A Name AND A Release Window
Sony only has words for Wired, it seems. After revealing some preliminary details about the company's next-generation console to Wired back in April, Sony recently spoke with the outlet again to shed more light on what is now officially called the PlayStation 5.
To start, the name! We long suspected Sony would keep the trend of numbered PlayStation systems going, and in the interview, Sony's Jim Ryan confirmed that the machine will indeed be known as the PlayStation 5. The console's moniker maintains over two decades of consistency, and makes it easy for fans and consumers to tell where the PS5 stands in the hierarchy of Sony hardware. Clearly, if it's higher than a PS4, it's better.
We finally have a release window for the PlayStation 5, as well. It appears that The PS5 and Microsoft's Project Scarlett will be butting heads sometime in late 2020, as Sony has also gone ahead and announced the PS5 as a "Holiday 2020" release. It's been nearly six years since this console generation kicked off with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in late 2013, and in a way, the generation received a bit of new life thanks to the half-step upgrades of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. But make no mistake: the next generation — the real one — is coming next year. You'd better start saving up.
Along with those two bombshells, we also got some other new details about the PlayStation 5, straight from the horse's mouth.
Those hoping for the digital future to come in and take hold will have to wait a while longer, as games will still be sold on discs with the PS5. According to Sony, physical titles will use 100 GB discs, and will be read by a disc drive that also supports 4K Blu-rays. And while game installation is mandatory for discs — news that some may not want to hear — Sony is working on a system to ensure players only have to install the parts of the games they actually want. So if you're all about multiplayer in Call of Duty and you don't give a hot damn about the campaign, you could have a "multiplayer-only" installation option on the PS5.
Sony also wants the PlayStation 5 dashboard to be a little more capable than the PS4 dash is currently. As it happens now on the PlayStation 4, the console's dashboard doesn't do much to tell you where you're at in single player games, or which multiplayer titles have matches ready and waiting. Sony's Mark Cerny says that, "Multiplayer game servers will provide the console with the set of joinable activities in real time," and, "Single-player games will provide information like what missions you could do and what rewards you might receive for completing them." It seems Sony has taken criticism of the PS4 dashboard to heart, and wants to make sure the software on the PS5 is more interesting and more helpful to players.
And it looks like Sony is taking a cue from Nintendo by upgrading the haptic feedback found in the PlayStation 5's controller, which we'd be floored to learn isn't called a DualShock 5. The Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons — stick drift issues aside — are truly fantastic in the area of haptic feedback, thanks to what Nintendo calls "HD rumble." So when you play something like 1-2 Switch and have to shake your Joy-Cons as though they're tumblers full of ice, you actually get the sensation of shaking ice in a container, thanks to that haptic feedback. Sony is on the path toward doing something similar with its next-gen controller, which Wired stated, "gave distinct — and surprisingly immersive — tactile experiences." It'll definitely be interesting to see how Sony utilizes this feature in its upcoming PlayStation 5 titles. Now if only someone could invent HD smells...
It's unclear at this time whether Sony will be unveiling the PlayStation 5 (and potentially, its lineup) in bits and pieces or will have a major press event to formally introduce the console sometime next year. We suspect that Sony will hold its own event outside of a conference like E3, though who knows; maybe the company will come back to the annual trade show for something as big as the PlayStation 5. We'll have our eyes and ears open for any PS5 news that happens to break in the months ahead, and we'll keep you up to speed as the next generation gets closer and closer to becoming a reality.