At an online event last night, Sony, for the first time, officially introduced the world to its next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. For those unaware, the event was set to take place in the early days of June, but as the US was swarmed with protesters, Sony had to postpone its event.
Both the standard PlayStation 5 and the Digital Edition stand vertically, with a design dominated by white panels on either side further housing a black interior. The two consoles are distinguished by the lack of the 4K UHD Blu-ray drive on the Digital Edition. Regardless, it's the vanilla PlayStation 5 that looks more symmetrical and thinner than the Digital Edition.
The centre portion of both the consoles features a standard USB-A and a USB-C port with blue LED lighting and air vents on the top curve. Sony hasn't revealed any photos of the backside of the console as of yet. The overall design of both the consoles is in line with the DualSense wireless controller, which was unveiled a couple of months ago.
Sony announced the specifications of the PlayStation 5 in March, where it revealed the next-gen gaming console will feature custom AMD chips, which will provide 10.28 teraflops of power using variable frequencies on both the CPU and GPU. Sony will also use a dedicated SSD, which will provide 825GB of storage and 5.5GB/s of performance. Therefore, the PlayStation 5 will require all the games to be installed to the in-built SSD to make use of these speeds. As a result, the PlayStation 5 consoles will be able to run titles on 8K, or 4K titles at a 120Hz refresh rate, and will also feature 3D audio.
Sony also showcased a bunch of accessories that go with the PlayStation 5 consoles. Apart from the DualSense wireless controller, Sony also showcased an HD Camera for motion tracking, a Media Remote for the console, a charging station that can charge up to two Dualsense wireless controllers, and a new Pulse 3D Wireless Headset.
Lastly, Sony also showcased a handful of exclusive titles including, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Resident Evil Village, NBA 2K21, Deathloop, Hitman III, and so on.
Sony has kept its lips sealed on the pricing of both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. Given the high-tech internals, we expect the consoles to cost higher than the PlayStation 4. Regardless, the vanilla PlayStation 5 is expected to be relatively affordable, thanks to the omission of a dedicated 4K UHD Blu-ray drive.
