It’s just a random day in October, but Sony just went and announced a slew of details about the next PlayStation.
Even though everyone has been referring to it as the PlayStation 5 since the consolemaker first started to discuss their “PlayStation Next-Gen” project earlier this year, they confirmed it once and for all on the PlayStation Blog this morning. Oh, and Sony also announced that the newly-christened PS5 will be available on store shelves “in time for Holiday 2020” (probably sometime around November if you’re looking for my guess):
Since we originally unveiled our next-generation console in April, we know that there’s been a lot of excitement and interest in hearing more about what the future of games will bring. Today I’m proud to share that our next-generation console will be called PlayStation 5, and we’ll be launching in time for Holiday 2020.
Not only does it now have a name and a launch window, but Sony’s executives further expounded on the PS5’s under-the-hood capabilities in an exclusive report by Wired.
First, it looks like Sony will attempt to challenge the Switch’s HD Rumble with the advanced “haptic feedback” found in the PS5’s new controller:
First, we’re adopting haptic feedback to replace the “rumble” technology found in controllers since the 5th generation of consoles. 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. You can even get a sense for a variety of textures when running through fields of grass or plodding through mud.
And second, Sony will add “adaptive triggers” to the controller to better simulate the “tactile sensation” of various actions such as “drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain”:
The second innovation is something we call adaptive triggers, which have been incorporated into the trigger buttons (L2/R2). Developers can program the resistance of the triggers so that you feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain. In combination with the haptics, this can produce a powerful experience that better simulates various actions. Game creators have started to receive early versions of the new controller, and we can’t wait to see where their imagination goes with these new features at their disposal.
Sony also confirmed that the PlayStation 5 will ship with a 4K Ultra HD Disc Drive for games and movies, and reconfirmed that it’ll include a Solid State Drive for faster loading times.
And a well-hidden part of the Wired report even hinted at a huge new title from Bluepoint Games (“We’re working on a big one right now,” said President Marco Thrush). But the entire article is definitely worth a read, even if it doesn’t answer the most important question about the PlayStation 5… how much it’ll cost.
