Rather than let rumors and leaks go wild, Sony has made it official: its next-gen console is named the PlayStation 5 and will hit stores in time for Holiday 2020. More details of the console have been revealed in an exclusive Wired article published today.

The article details that the PS5 will pack a solid-state drive which, system architect Mark Cerny tells Wired, will "turn loading time from a hassle to a blink". He also clarified on ray-tracing for fancy lighting and sound effects in 3D environments that it "is not a software-level fix" but that "there is ray-tracing acceleration in the GPU hardware”.

Physical games are back for the new PlayStation and will use 100GB optical disks which will be read by the console's optical drive that also serves as a 4K Bluray player. There is also a twist to installing games on the PS5 which will give players "finer-grained access to the data". This implies a more modular approach to installation like installing "just a game's multiplayer campaign, leaving the single-player campaign for another time, or just installing the whole thing and then deleting the single-player campaign once you've finished it".

Emphasis was also laid in the Wired article and by Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan's blog post on the console's new controller. The latter will replace the “rumble” technology with haptic feedback to allow players to "feel a broader range of feedback" and it will also adopt USB Type-C connector for cable play/charging. Its trigger buttons (L2/R2) will also pack what Sony is calling "adaptive triggers". "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," wrote CEO Jim Ryan. Wired also noted during their hands-on with a prototype that the controller features a microphone of some sort but still looks like a heavier PS4 controller. After playing through a few demos, Wired's writer said that the controller gave "distinct—and surprisingly immersive—tactile experiences".

Also of note, Wired talked to Marco Thrush, president of Bluepoint Games, the company behind the PS4's Shadow of the Colossus remake, who said "We're working on a big one right now. I'll let you figure out the rest."

You can read the full version of Wired's exclusive article linked below. What do you think of the PS5 from this new announcement? What more features would you like to see in the next-gen console? And what could Bluepoint Games possibly be working on? Share your thoughts with us below!

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[Jiehfeng]

"Broader range of feedback", yup, Sony back at it again with Nintendo 'inspiration'. This time it's HD Rumble. ;O;

 

[the_randomizer]

Backwards compatible or no?

 

[antiNT]

Still hoping for GTA VI

 

[Ryupower]

Backwards compatible or no?

BC with the ps4 yes it will be
as for ps3,ps2,ps1 that is unknown

 

[Deleted User]

He also clarified on ray-tracing for fancy lighting and sound effects in 3D environments "is not a software-level fix" but that "there is ray-tracing acceleration in the GPU hardware”.

Nvidia is the only company that has implemented ray tracing in its GPUs. AMD hasn't said anything official about implementing ray tracing in their next GPUs. What GPU will be in there? Have we ever seen Nvidia GPUs in consoles?

 

[Jiehfeng]

BC with the ps4 yes it will be
as for ps3,ps2,ps1 that is unknown

PS1 for sure, PS2 very likely. All they need to do is get themselves an "official" emulator and release games on the store or something, that will definitely happen.

 

[Foxi4]

"Broader range of feedback", yup, Sony back at it again with Nintendo 'inspiration'. This time it's HD Rumble. ;O;

Judging by the rest of the text it seems like the DS5 controller has a bit more novel features to offer than just improved rumble - programmable, adjustible trigger resistance on their new "adaptive triggers" sounds very interesting.

 

[Jiehfeng]

Nvidia is the only company that has implemented ray tracing in its GPUs. AMD hasn't said anything official about implementing ray tracing in their next GPUs. What GPU will be in there? Have we ever seen Nvidia GPUs in consoles?

Nintendo Switch uses an Nvidia Tegra GPU if that counts for ya.

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Judging by the rest of the text it seems like the DS5 controller has a bit more interesting features to offer than just improved Rumble - programmable, adjustible trigger resistance on their new "adaptive triggers" sounds very interesting.

Well yes, they need to add something to it, we've yet to see how it goes though. It's basically what you have in the Xbox One controllers, but with "HD Rumble" instead of the regular motor thing in those controllers.

 

[Godofcheese]

That's cool and all.... but specs?

 

[Something whatever]

that was flaccid...

 

[Foxi4]

Well yes, they need to add something to it, we've yet to see how it goes though. It's basically what you have in the Xbox One controllers, but with "HD Rumble" instead of the regular motor thing in those controllers.

I don't think that's what they mean - on the Xbox controller additional motors are inside the triggers, so it's the triggers that are the source of vibration. Here they're talking about trigger resistance, meaning how easy or hard it is to pull the trigger, I'm interested to see how they achieve that effect.

Nvidia is the only company that has implemented ray tracing in its GPUs. AMD hasn't said anything official about implementing ray tracing in their next GPUs. What GPU will be in there? Have we ever seen Nvidia GPUs in consoles?

Any modern GPU is capable of Raytracing, NVidia simply released GPU's with cores dedicated specifically for that purpose. Similarly, any modern GPU could be dedicated to PhysX, but NVidia GPU's had PhysX cores on-board to offload the calculations from the main chip.

 

[andyhappypants]

"Broader range of feedback", yup, Sony back at it again with Nintendo 'inspiration'. This time it's HD Rumble. ;O;

Apart from HD rumble is a noisy crock of shit. Wish they didnt bother with rumble in the Switch.

 

[zeveroth]

Im waiting on Sony Seymour. It'll be backward compatible with all libraries. Coming Dec 31, 2030.

Seriously though, I'm actually not interested in a new system. There's enough games on PS4 for me to play for the next 5 years.

 

[Jiehfeng]

Apart from HD rumble is a noisy crock of shit. Wish they didnt bother with rumble in the Switch.

That's one of my favourite features, I really like it. To each their own.

 

[Foxi4]

That's one of my favourite features, I really like it. To each their own.

I personally hardly notice it as I'm too busy, y'know, playing the game. I'll notice triggers that are harder all of a sudden. To be fair though, they're both interesting technologies, their usefulness depends on the implementation, and how well-adapted they are by the industry. It's why you want those features to be supported across a broad range of devices, that increases the possibility that developers will bother including it in their games.

 

[raxadian]

Can't wait for idiots that will sell their PS4 with games on the cheap to afford this new console.

 

[Issac]

Haptic triggers sounds amazing!
Imagine, like @AlanJohn said elsewhere, playing a shooter and your gun jams. Then the trigger turns stiff and you can't press it. How immersive wouldn't that feel?

 

[Jiehfeng]

I personally hardly notice it as I'm too busy, y'know, playing the game. I'll notice triggers that are harder all of a sudden. To be fair though, they're both interesting technologies, their usefulness depends on the implementation, and how well-adapted they are by the industry. It's why you want those features to be supported across a broad range of devices, that increases the possibility that developers will bother including it in their games.

That's a lot of hardness in one post. ;o;
Personally for me I prefer to stay more attentive even when playing games to make sure I don't go too deep into it that I don't notice I'm pushing buttons, or in this case feeling the vibrations.

 

[RedoLane]

Haptic technology wasn't very comfy until now. the least comfy for me personally is the Switch's HD Rumble, but the problem is it lacks any indication of force feedback.
the Steam Controller was the closest to recreate that feel, but it was too weak.

One of my expectations from future gaming since 8 years ago was that game controllers would provide the exact same sensations as Racing Wheels.
If Sony can pull it off, I might start trusting them again.

 

[huma_dawii]

"Broader range of feedback", yup, Sony back at it again with Nintendo 'inspiration'. This time it's HD Rumble. ;O;

Nintendo took this from Microsoft HD Rumble. Nintendo didn't invent the technology.