An Analysis, by Nathan Taber
The next iteration of gaming hardware is coming and the folks over at Sony are finally opening up about what their next generation system will entail. Top Sony executive Mark Cerny spoke with Wired magazine and now I’m bringing you the lowdown. Although not officially named yet, I think we can all figure out that this system will go by the name of PlayStation 5, or PS5 for short. With that being said, let's take a look at some of the things that the Playstation 5 will be bringing to the table.
Of course the most obvious advance in technology we will be getting are updated visuals and performance. For those who can decipher tech specs, the GPU will be based off of AMD Radeon Navi technology, and the CPU will be powered by the third generation AMD Ryzen line. Personally, i’m interested to see how much LARGER games can be made. Could you imagine seeing the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto’s open world span hundreds of miles, or the Star Wars Universe becoming one giant playground? As far as aesthetics are concerned, It will be interesting to see the level of graphical improvement we get in contrast to the PS4 Pro in particular.
While the chipsets and processors will pump out better looking visuals, updated resolution support will be the determining factor in how much detail is output to your screen. 4K resolution is also called “Ultra” HD or HD 1.5 as I like to call it. 4K support is something that Sony has tried to implement already with the PS4 Pro, but it’s technically not a true 4K experience, yet more of a gimmicked up version of a 1080P resolution. But now with PS5, games will run in native 4K and can even output in 8K, for televisions that support it. With just about every new HD Television on the market supporting this resolution, this will be a giant leap forward for the console gaming industry.
We are headed towards a point in the video game industry where instant accessibility is going to be a huge priority for companies. By including a much quicker solid state hard drive, Sony will be trying to inch us closer towards instant gratification. Load times will be significantly quicker and performance will be increased enormously. I could even see a huge industry wide overhaul of how game menus and loading sequences are formatted. At minimum, performance will be enhanced, but could Sony somehow utilize this technology to promote something greater?
The PS5 will be backwards compatible with PS4 games and virtual reality headsets. The system will also be capable of playing physical media.
Could Sony be implementing a new cloud or fully integrated remote play feature? I have a hunch that something like this could be the case and i'm interested to see how they go about utilizing the technology differently from their competitors. As I look at the landscape of the next generation of gaming offered from Microsoft and even Google now, I notice that they are all in on remote gaming where you can play your games from multiple devices. You just have to know that Sony wants a bite of that as well. I could picture the PS5 utilizing a pick up and play option that links to your main system wirelessly. Maybe you could stream your PS5 to a phone or separate TV with the download of an app. On the other hand, they could sell a separate device alongside the PS5. Its a strong possibility that they are utilizing the new solid state drives to enhance this experience. I’m not quite sure how it will unfold, but there’s no question that cloud & remote based gaming is the future and the folks over at Sony are going to want a slice of that pie. What’s your take? Share a comment below!
