Within a few weeks, we’ll finally have our hands on the PS5, and as that day approaches, our excitement is hitting peak levels. There’s plenty that we’ve already talked about when it comes to the PS5, but as you’d expect from a next-gen console that’s launching imminently, there’s a lot more to talk about still. Here, we’ll be going over fifteen more details that you should know about the PS5.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
When you purchase the PS5, what exactly will you get for your money? Well, the console, of course, but the console will also come pre-loaded with Astro’s Playroom. On top of the console, the box will also an HDMI cable, the console’s power cord, a DualSense controller, a USB cable for charging the controller, and a stand on which to keep your PS5.
CONNECTIVITY
As far as connectivity is concerned, the PS5 is looking like a pretty future-proof machine. Sony have confirmed that the console supports WiFi 6, which would make it completely up-to-date, with max download speeds of 9.6 gbps (as opposed to the 3.5 gbps of the PS4 Pro and the 300 mbps of the base PS4). Meanwhile, the console also supports Bluetooth 5.1.
PORTS
What about the ports? You can expect plenty of those on the machine. Other than its power socket and an ethernet port, the PS5 will also have four USB ports. One will be a high speed USB Type-A port, two will be Super-Speed USB Type-A ports, and one will be a Super-Speed USB Type-C port.
2021 FIRST PARTY LINEUP
With Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls, Destruction AllStars, and Sackboy, the PS5 is already starting off on a strong foot in terms of first party support- in 2021, it looks like things will get even better. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Horizon Forbidden West, and God of War’s sequel are all confirmed as 2021 releases, while a recent report suggested that Returnal might also be targeting a 2021 launch. Barring any delays, next year might prove to be one of Sony’s most prolific years yet.
ORIENTATION
The PS5 is a chunky boy, which is a bit of an understatement. It’s easily one of the biggest home consoles ever made, and even exceeds the Xbox Series X’s size, which is no small console either. Thankfully, you’ll at least have the freedom to choose how you want to place it (if you can find the space for it). Thanks to the base that will come with every PS5, the console can be placed both horizontally and vertically.
POWER CONSUMPTION
The PS5 will be drawing a lot of power, which isn’t surprising, considering how impressive its innards are. The PS5 will have a power draw of 350W, while the PS5 Digital Edition will have a power draw of 340W. That’s more than twice as much as the PS4 Pro, which had a max power draw of 165W, or the base PS4, which had a max power draw of 150W.
CROSS-GEN SAVES
Cross-gen saves is an area where the PS5 seems to be stumbling, especially these last few days. While there’s no blanket rule on whether or not they will work (there’s actually quite a bit of confusion regarding that), several games have already been confirmed to not be supporting cross-saves. These include the likes of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, DiRT 5, and Maneater.
CROSS-GEN VOICE CHAT
Recently, a leak emerged through datamining of the web-based PlayStation Store, which showed several messages and error prompts that may have clued us into features that the PS5 will have. One of these seems to be the inclusion of voice chat and messaging across the PS4 and PS5. Whether that will be just on a system-level or apply to all games in general remains to be seen, but if it goes without saying that if it’s on a system-level, games with cross-gen multiplayer will probably have cross-gen voice chat as well. It’s worth noting that this information is coming from a leak and hasn’t yet been officially confirmed by Sony, so things may or may not change.
GAME SHARING
It seems like game sharing will work the same on PS5 as it does on the PS4. Coming from the same aforementioned leak, messages datamined from the PS Store indicate that users will be able to set a PSN account as their primary on a PS5, following which all other accounts on that console will be able to access the primary account’s content and subscriptions. Again, Sony haven’t officially confirmed this yet, so keep that in mind.
BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY
Sony might not be emphasizing backward compatibility as much as Microsoft, but they aren’t completely ignoring it either. The PS5 will be backward compatible with the PS4’s library, with Sony saying that 99% of PS4 games will be playable on the PS5 at launch. It’s also been confirmed that select titles will benefit from boosted frame rates. PS1, PS2, and PS3 games will not be playable on the PS5… but something’s better than nothing.
DUALSENSE’S BATTERY
Sony haven’t given us an exact number when it comes to what the DualSense battery life will be, but we do know what its battery capacity is. At 1560mA, it’s almost double the capacity the DualShock 4 launched with at 800mA (though its later models had a capacity of 1000mA). This doesn’t necessarily mean that the DualSense will have twice as much battery life as the DualShock 4 – thanks to its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, it’ll probably draw a lot more power – but we can hopefully look forward to a longer lasting battery nonetheless.
SSD EXPANSIONS
The PS5 will come with an internal 825 GB internal SSD, but if you end up needing more space, you will, of course, have the option to expand with external storage alternatives. Thankfully, Sony have confirmed that off-the-shelf NVMe SSDs can be used with the PS5, as long as they’re certified. Basically, if you can find an SSD that’s fast enough, you can use it. That won’t be easy (or cheap), of course, especially at first, seeing as the PS5’s SSD is ridiculously fast, but hopefully, it won’t take too long for more off-the-shelf SSD options to become available.
PS PLUS COLLECTION
It may not be Game Pass, but it’s something. The PlayStation Plus Collection is a curated collection of PS4 games that PS Plus subscribers will be able to play on the PS5 right off the bat for no extra cost. The list of games that will be included in this collection is quite impressive too, including the likes of God of War, The Last of Us Remastered, Persona 5, Resident Evil 7, Batman: Arkham Knight, Days Gone, Monster Hunter World, Bloodborne, and more.
SPIDER-MAN
The PS5 is releasing with a solid lineup, especially from a first party perspective, but the one game that’s going to attract more players than any others is Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Though it’s a cross-gen release, with support for ray-tracing, a 60 FPS performance mode, nearly instantaneous loading times, and more, it’s primed to leverage the PS5’s hardware quite well. You will also have the option to purchase the Ultimate Edition, which will come with a download code for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered– which isn’t cross-gen. The remaster will be exclusive to the PS5, and it’s looking like a pretty impressive remaster, featuring ray-tracing, other visual enhancements, quicker load times, a 60 FPS mode, more Photo Mode features, new suits, new Trophies, and even a completely new facial and character model for Peter Parker.
DEMON’S SOULS
Of course, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales isn’t the only big first party exclusive launching with the PS5. Bluepoint Games’ Demon’s Souls remake is also a launch title, and unlike Spidey, it’s exclusive to the PS5. And Demon’s Souls, too, will have performance and visuals modes. As their names suggests, the 4K Modes and High Frame-Rate modes will prioritize 4K visuals and better performance respectively. Presumably, the 4K mode will target a frame rate of 30 FPS. Meanwhile, a recent Digital Foundry analysis of the game’s gameplay trailer revealed that it was running at 1440p at 60 FPS. One would assume that that’s the High Frame-Rate Mode.
