Although the PS5 reveal on Wednesday was not the glamourous console reveal many were hoping for. However, aimed primarily at games developers, it showed the world what the PS5 was working on, and provided tantalising glimpses of what’s to come.
- Xbox Series X: everything we know about PS5’s rival
- Get one year of Disney Plus for just £49.99 (opens in new tab)
It makes sense to see what the developers think about the console so far, as they were the target audience of the presentation. As it turns out, the devs are just as excited as we are.
One of the biggest changes in the PS5 is its new solid state drive. One hundred times faster than the PS4, it’s going to basically eliminate loading times, changing the way we “disguise” loading sections of levels by having the player’s avatar travel through in-game corridors.
Co-game director of Naughty Dog Anthony Newman said it was going to “fundamentally change the way we design videogames” and give developers freedom to experiment. Check out his tweet below:
Most crucial part of the @cerny presentation imo. The SSD in the PS5 (and all the associated IO hardware) is going to fundamentally change how we design videogames by removing limitations we've been working around the last two gens. https://t.co/XDcj2BJ5gVMarch 18, 2020
His co-game director Kurt Marganeau had this to say:
Still tripping about this #PS5 SSD spec. Like, people don’t even know how big of a leap in terms of game design can be made, especially for 1st party that doesn’t have to design to lowest common denominator. By far the biggest leap in my career. Can’t wait.March 19, 2020
Another big deal is graphics and audio, with advanced ray-tracing and 3D audio immersing you in the game like never before. Elijah Freeman, VP of games at Virtuos, told IGN in an interview: “Yes, improved smoke effects will be great to look at, but the ability to just barely glimpse an enemy if the light catches them right after you’ve thrown a smoke grenade adds a new level of nuance to playstyles.”
The advanced games won’t just look better, they’ll also change the way we play, as new stimulus can create new strategies not possible in games due to their graphical limitations.
Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, one of the minds behind Borderlands and the upcoming PS5 game Godfall, just had a few words of congratuations and amazement at the incredible specs on offer.
This is great stuff. I’m very excited about that I/O https://t.co/rRz5efceMJMarch 18, 2020
How will the PS5 fare against the Xbox Series X? We know Sony’s console is inferior in some respects to Microsoft’s offering, especially in terms of raw “teraflops” or graphical power. However, it remains to be seen how efficiently the console (and games developers) can use the new technology in order to get the edge over its rival.
Liked this?
