After what seemed like decades of waiting, Sony has finally announced the launch of its newest PlayStation – the PlayStation 5. If you have been listening to the talks going around, you must be aware of all the leaks and theories regarding the PlayStation 5. If that excitement wasn’t enough, information regarding its actual launch had us jumping in our seats.
We are sure you are just as eager to know everything you possibly can about the most powerful PlayStation to date, and even more eager to get your hands on it. If you are already dreaming about owning the PS5, this article is just for you. Keep on reading to find out all there is to know about Sony’s latest PlayStation.
What is the Launch Date?
The PS5 will release in the US and Canada on November 12, 2020. In the UK, and many other countries around the globe, the PS5 will be released on November 19, 2020. Don’t forget to mark the date on your calendar!
What About the Pricing?
The PS5 comes in two editions – the standard edition, and the digital edition. In the US and Canada, the standard edition will cost you approximately $499 and the digital edition will cost you about $399. On the other hand, in the U.K., the standard edition costs £449 and the digital one will be available at £359.
Can I Pre-Order the PlayStation 5?
The official Twitter account of PlayStation recently tweeted that “only a handful of selected retailers will allow you to pre-order the PS5.” This was announced on September 17, 2020. If you are one of those who want to get your hands on the PS5 and plan on doing that before the rest of the world, we suggest being on the lookout for any news regarding which retailers will begin taking orders, and by when. We are sure you will be able to find this information quite easily.
A few stores, such as Target and Best Buy are allowing people to sign up for any notifications and news regarding the availability of the new PlayStation. Once they begin selling, you will be notified via email. We are all well aware of how fast things sell out, so if you are able to get your hands on the PlayStation 5 via a pre-order, consider yourself to be one of the very, very few lucky ones.
Read Also: Sony Playstation VR Review
The Controller
Sony introduced the world to DualSense in the month of April, earlier this year. The DualSense and the PS5 go hand in hand. If you have owned or used a Sony PlayStation controller before, you will find that the layout of the buttons hasn’t changed. In fact, the brand has decided to bring back the touchpad, which most of you must remember from the DualShock 4. But, quite a few surprises await you! The DualSense looks nothing like any other PlayStation controller you have seen before. We loved how sleek it looked in its dual-tone black and white design.
The DualSense has a built-in microphone, which will prove to be very convenient. All of us know how annoying it can sometimes be to search for your gaming headset just so you can communicate with your friends. The built-in microphone will completely eradicate the need for a gaming headset.
This new PlayStation controller will be touch-sensitive and have flexible feedback. Along with this, it will also have customizable triggers. This means that you will physically be able to experience things via the sense of touch. Sounds a little confusing, doesn’t it? Let us explain. You will be able to experience a rumble or the force of shooting an arrow, or perhaps even the difficulty and resistance in driving through a muddy grassland. It all sounds super cool, if we do say so ourselves.
The Console and Design
The design of the PlayStation 5 was announced early June this year, and it’s safe to say that the entire world went crazy over it. It will come in two designs – an asymmetrical style for the standard PS5 and a symmetrical design for the digital version. You are probably wondering what the difference between the digital and standard edition of the PS5 is. The standard version has a disc drive, while the digital version, on the other hand, will allow you to play only digital games. For the same reason, there is a $100 price difference between the two.
We had all grown accustomed to the complete black PlayStations, ever since the launch of the PS2. The look of the newest PlayStation is set to change. It is designed to have a dual-tone black and white appearance, just like the DualSense controller. The configuration and orientation of the PS5 will be vertical, while there will be slanting white projections lining the black interior. Most of our team really liked this new look and style. Having said that, however, a few of our team members weren’t too fond of the design. We will leave it up to you to decide how you feel about the PS5’s look and feel. Do let us know what you think.
Does the PS5 Offer Backward Compatibility?
Without a doubt, this is one of the most important questions that many PlayStation owners have been wondering about. We were quite pleased and relieved to know that the PlayStation 5 is compatible with many PS4 games. After all, PlayStation games don’t come cheap. The PS5 will use standardized software algorithms to permit the running of older games. At the time of the PS5’s release, around 100 of PlayStation 4’s most popular games will be available.
As a matter of fact, EA – a name all gamers worldwide are very familiar with – has offered a “dual entitlement” plan. What this means is that if you buy FIFA 21 or Madden 21 for the PlayStation 4, you will receive a PS5 upgrade for the exact same game for free. There is a catch, however. The dual entitlement plan will only be valid if you buy the standard PlayStation 5 edition, and will not hold true for the digital version.
Just like EA, there are many other games, such as Marvel’s Avengers which also plan on granting upgrades to players who buy the PS4 version of the games. The PS5 is said to be backward compatible with all of these games till the next-gen versions are released. In fact, all of this just proves that Sony is staying true to the PlayStation 5’s tagline – “Play Has No Limits.”
The Interface
No official information regarding the PS5’s interface has been given by Sony. However, a Reddit leak revealed what the new dev kit’s menu will look like. From this leak, it is safe to say that the interface is almost the same as that of the PlayStation 4’s. Having said that, there’s no guarantee that this gives us any information regarding how the PS5’s menu will look. Afterall, dev kits work on what already works, instead of trying out new things which may look appealing in the future.
In 2018, a Sony patent application was filed, which hasn’t yet been granted, although there are speculations regarding pop-up dialogue boxes to indicate the amount of time taken to cross a particular level. However, since this speculation hasn’t been granted it will remain as just that – mere speculation. Guess time will tell us what Sony has in mind.
A Brief Summary
- When is it releasing? November 12, 2020 (US and Canada), November 19, 2020 (the UK and other countries)
- How much is it for? $499 or £449 for the PS5 standard version; $399 or £359 for the digital edition
- Exciting features: 4K games at 60 FPS, up to 8K resolution, up to 120 frames per second, ray tracing, fast-loading SSD
- Games to look out for: Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon II: Zero West, Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Final Fantasy XVI
- Specs you should know about: 8-core 3.5 GHz AMD Zen 2 CPU, 10.3 teraflops AMD RDNA 2 GPU, 16 GB GDDR6 memory, 825 GB custom SSD
Final Words
If you consider yourself to be a gamer, you are probably just as excited as we are regarding the launch of the PS5. In fact, we are sure that even all those non-gamers out there must be intrigued by all the hype around the PS5’s launch. We are eager to get our hands on the beast as soon as possible. Are you?
If you have any questions, doubts, or queries, feel free to drop a comment in our comment section below, and our experts will get back to you with an answer in no time. If there are any products you have in mind that you would like for us to review and compare, do write to us!
