Sony's PlayStation 5 is coming and while it's still months away from a release, the leaks and chatter hasn't stopped. Among the many rumours doing the rounds on the web, we've listed down all the information that appears to be most credible.
Look and Design
Early prototypes of the next-gen console that have been pictured and leaked online are identical to a design patent filed by Sony last August in Brazil. The upcoming console will feature a V-shaped top, which seems like an allusion to the Roman numeral for five.
The design is both futuristic and nostalgic, like it's straight out of an 80s sci-fi movie. However, it appears to be bulky and won't be as slim as the PS4 or even the Xbox One. If the final product ends up looking anything close to the prototype, it would be a far cry from Sony's previous PlayStation designs for sure.
The Logo
While it seems like Sony's taking a different approach with the console's design, other aspects of the PS5 will stay true to its lineage. On Monday, at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan unveiled the video game console's logo, which bears a striking resemblance to the logos of previous PlayStation consoles.
Developers decided to retain the text style from PS4 and merely replaced the number at the end with "5." While fans expected Sony to do something different with the PS5 logo, Sony's logo remained faithful to its roots and opted for consistency.
Hardware Features
At CES 2020, Sony also discussed some of the console's hardware features, announcing five new ones.
- 3D Audio Sound
- Haptics / Adaptive Triggers
- Ultra-high-speed SSD
- Hardware-based Ray Tracing
- Ultra HD Blu-Ray
This is in addition to some of the hardware specs that had already been announced previously, such as the CPU, which will be a third-generation AMD Ryzen with eight cores and a custom Radeon Navi. Moreover, the console will support up to 8K with potentially full 4K support, and will come with backwards compatibility for PS4 games and PSVR hardware, 100GB optical disks and a completely revamped UI.
PS5 Controller
Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation 5 controller will undergo a complete redesign and the rumble technology will be replaced with haptic feedback and improved tactile sensations, like rumbling and shaking, in order to provide users with a more immersive gaming experience.
"With haptics, you truly feel a broader range of feedback, so crashing into a wall in a race car feels much different than making a tackle on the football field," Ryan wrote in a blog post. "You can even get a sense for a variety of textures when running through fields of grass or plodding through mud."
The controller's left and right triggers (L2, R2) will also feature "adaptive triggers" which developers can program so gamers can "feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain."
Release Date and Pricing
As far as the release date is concerned, we don't have a specific date but last October, Sony announced that the fifth-generation PlayStation 5 console would arrive this holiday season.
According to leaks, the release date will be November 20, 2020, which would make sense considering it would be perfectly in time for the Christmas shopping period. However, that date remains purely speculative at this point.
Sony has not yet revealed how much the PlayStation 5 will cost, but experts believe the PS5 will likely cost around $499, if not more. That's a competitive price tag given that Microsoft's next-gen console, the Xbox Series X, is also slated to arrive just in time for the holidays.
