PS.. is it 5? I think we're on 5 now. PS5

can't believe the new ps5 controller has a 'honk' button! incredible! pic.twitter.com/3LEUX6jxwl

— Crows Crows Crows (@crowsx3) April 8, 2020

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps5/

this is the new controller
http://i.imgur.com/AEfMwvE.png
― let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:08 PM

The DualSense iterates on its predecessors by introducing a new haptic feedback system, adaptive triggers for the L2 and R2 buttons, a built-in microphone array, and a new ‘Create’ button in place of the ‘Share’ button from the DualShock 4. Details on what exactly this ‘Create’ feature actually entails is still to come.
“In all, we went through several concepts and hundreds of mockups over the last few years before we settled on this final design,” Nishino wrote. “DualSense has been tested by a wide range of gamers with a variety of hand sizes, in order for us to achieve the comfort level we wanted, with great ergonomics. Our goal with DualSense is to give gamers the feeling of being transported into the game world as soon as they open the box. We want gamers to feel like the controller is an extension of themselves when they’re playing – so much so that they forget that it’s even in their hands!”
― let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:09 PM

a little more xbox-ish, but not too much
looks pretty
― mh, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:10 PM

dont like how that looks nearly as much as the ds4
― ciderpress, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:11 PM

i presume you can turn off the microphone. what a nightmare to have voice chat on EVERY GAME
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:12 PM

every time any of the console makers change their controller i have to worry that they've made something that's not comfortable for my giant hands. the current gen ones are all ideal
― ciderpress, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:14 PM

"This will be the first controller that is already it's own Overwatch variant"
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:23 PM

the new controller looks like it’s wearing a little black spaghetti-strap dress
― force ghost bg (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:25 PM

The current controllers are great, except they keep breaking down for me. My original one has phantom R2 inputs and generally unresponsive, and on the newer one the down button only works about 1/10th of the time. This makes for a fun challenge in Dark Souls 3, where I never know if I'll be able to change consumable items or not.
Admittedly, this is probably related to the fact that I now mostly play while I'm on the stationary bike, with sweaty hands. :/
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:29 PM

xp lol
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:30 PM

Maybe that's not a speaker, maybe that's a fan that blows in your face to make you feel like you are outside.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:34 PM

The DS4 already has a speaker!
― Triceratops Vowell (Leee), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:36 PM

oh yeah one of my 2 DS4s has a bad stick. but at least it doesn't cramp my hands up
― ciderpress, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:58 PM

Karl Malone's milk post: thanks mate, you really cheered me up!
― doorstep jetski (dog latin), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 6:57 PM

:D hey man, i'm just giving you a glimpse of the future. glad to see the synergy with the thinking behind the new PS5 controller!
"Our goal with DualSense is to give gamers the feeling of being transported into the game world as soon as they open the box. We want gamers to feel like the controller is an extension of themselves when they’re playing – so much so that they forget that it’s even in their hands!"
*hundreds of journalists hands go up*
"WILL WE BE ABLE TO PUSH MILK WITH OUR "HANDS" USING THE PS5 CONTROLLER???"
― let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Wednesday, April 8, 2020 7:10 PM

i cannot state strongly enough how much the new controller looks like it’s wearing a little black dress and it’s freaking me out

phew i’m glad i now say that twice itt

next generation baby

i agree that the new controller is wearing a dress and the analog sticks are its honkers

the internet agrees
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-04-09-of-course-people-are-drawing-the-ps5-controller-as-an-anime-girl

the controller is also wearing pauldrons

Sources tell Bloomberg that this year, Sony will be producing a lower number of PlayStation 5 consoles. The cause, reportedly, isn’t due to the novel coronavirus covid-19 pandemic, but rather, the hardware’s high price at launch.

The console’s technical specs are expected to be reflected in the pricing, Bloomberg added, and there has been speculation that the PS5 will be priced between $499 and $549. Certain components are scarce and expensive, which could cut into the company’s profits on each machine.

Kotaku reached out to Sony but did not receive a reply prior to publication.

Production might be impacted by the pandemic. Sony employees are working from home, and Sony might ditch in-person press events for the console. Earlier this year, the company held a virtual briefing to announce the console’s specs.

The PS5’s assembly is expected to begin in June. While Sony has revealed the console’s controller, only a small handful of insiders have apparently seen what the actual console looks like, for fear of leaks.

Sony was quoted as telling its partners that it will make 5 to 6 million PS5s during the financial year ending on March 31, 2021. In comparison, Sony sold 7.5 million PS3s during that console’s first two quarters. The goal is still for a simultaneous worldwide launch, but the pandemic is impacting game production across the industry, which could impact the debut titles.

At launch, the PlayStation 3 was hard to get, so expect the PlayStation 5 to be even more so.

is anyone here thinking of trying to be an early adopter?

I am going to buy this console. i missed out on the ps4/xbox one generation

when is there a game worth playing for it is the question

i haven't been an early adopter since i somehow managed to convince my dad to buy me a psx right when it came out (crazy knowing that it was like $600+ with memory card + a game, even back then!)

i know it's a bad idea, but honestly if there's some sort of must have launch title (super mario 64 or BOTW-esque) i can see myself doing it

xp

ulysses otm

has playstation ever had a must-have launch title? like one that's a top-ten recommendation for the console, even at the end of the lifecycle?

i don't see a reason to early adopt if you have a 4

the launch titles will be the last of us 2 with better loading times and ghost of tsushima with better loading times

and knack 3

I was kinda tempted to early adopt on both this gen... but who knows. There probably won't be a great system exclusive for at least a year or two anyway

yeah i don't really see anything in the pipe or rumored pipe i care about that isn't going to get a ps4 version, would have to be some left field surprise

plus - with these supply constraints I'm betting they'll rush out the first hardware revision even sooner than usual

and if these launch at $500... hmm.. i dunno

what's the point? wait a couple years and see if sony actually continues to deliver decent exclusives. current gen console quality has never been an indicator of next gen console quality. i've come to expect the inverse lately.

i mean, wow?
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/a-first-look-at-unreal-engine-5

Knack 3 will be phenomenal

wow!

i got bored after 10 minutes but it does look nice

UE4 demo for comparison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD9CPqSKjTU

I don't have a PS4 but I guess it took a bit for PS4 games to get as good as the demo?

never believe the demo is a good rule of thumb, but that UE4 looks worse than god of war honestly.

never believe the demo is a good rule of thumb, but that UE4 looks worse than god of war honestly.

I can't tell if this is a put-down or not (honestly!). Because I just (barely) started God of War a couple of weeks ago, and not only thought it looked great, but thought that PS5 Unreal 5 demo was maybe technically better quality, down to the little programmer details, but not to my maybe weak eyes radically better, good as it looked.

i got bored after 10 minutes but it does look nice

Um, isn't the video 9 minutes long? No wonder you got bored.

the demo should be reasonably representative for what constrained area/camera games like god of war or whatever will look like, open world games have more technical hurdles obviously

Looks fantastic

https://kotaku.com/playstation-5-game-showcase-happening-next-thursday-1843754372

https://blog.playstation.com/2020/06/08/updated-time-this-thursday-see-the-future-of-gaming-on-ps5/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

will be watching.

give us a fuckin price sony

Not buying until gta6 comes out

well duh

(been my rule for the past two ps machines)

I have a PS4 Slim and I've been very happy with it, so much so that I'm not sure what a PS5 would give me that I don't already have or want in a machine. Besides exclusives, I guess, but that stuff is totally under wraps, given that hyped heavy hitters Last of Us 2, Cyberpunk 2077 and Ghost of Tsushima are coming out for PS4.

there is no point in buying a new console until there are games worth playing on it, idk why people even humor the thought of buying near launch

clout

fanboys + people who didnt have the previous box

I have Gamespot gift cards and GS is near death and my PS4 optical drive is dead. First time I’ll be buying a new system ASAP.

GTA though? Man, that’s been downhill from 4 on.

It would be be Spider-Man 2 for me. But I don't know, something about the general anxiety of this year might lead to just get this and maybe the MS one too

So just caught the Demon's Souls remake, what else have I missed/

HZD sequel so you better play the first one sooner than later!

Eh, I've got a couple of years before I even consider PS5.

FUGLY

better have good cooling because that's going in a drawer

that is seriously rank

looks like a router

I am *that guy* who even at a bar that has its TV's motion smoothing turned on mention it to the bartender, because it looks like butt.

when we were watching that movie that was being motion-smoothed by the ps5 i was also high and it was really fucking with my head, it felt like i was watching a weird soap opera

I was in a hotel this weekend with my family. We watched some baseball which looked fine, then later put on some cartoons which looked absolutely unwatchable to me. Obviously since this was a hotel TV there was no way to access the settings to remove motion smoothing. My kids don't seem to care.

Motion smoothing is an abomination. I don't know if it helps video games or not though? And i can't remember if my PS5 settings have it switched on or not

I was plating Blododborne last night which everyone complains about as having a low frame rate, and I couldn't notice it at all - seemed super smooth.

i remembered that some ps4 games have a free upgrade to the PS5 version. i might do that with tony hawk 1+2, i haven't played it in a bit but it's an easy one to throw on for 10-15 minutes at a time. i never really got into no man's sky despite a few tries, and i would probably have to start elden ring over from the beginning if i was going to try and play it again.

playstation console prices are going up again from April 2nd, PS5 Pro will be $899/£789/€899
anyone want to bet what the PS6 will cost at launch?

they should genuinely cancel the PS6, throw away the current design and try again in a few years

I mean, any guess what GTA6 will cost?

I'm all for cancelling the PS6, the console model is a mess right now. Still hasn't caught up or corrected from the covid craziness. Chip shortages, inflation, few games that really take advantage of supposed improvements in performance, etc.

gta6 will be $70 i would think. doubt they will mess with standard pricing at this moment

at this rate the PS6 would just be a PS5 Pro Pro, crossgen games will last the whole PS6 generation

they are still putting out ps4 versions of some stuff

It really doesn't feel necessary to release a new console yet. I still think of my PS5 as being pretty new and powerful enough to run games they haven't even come up with yet

it's clearly just inertia since they've always been on the 7 year cycle before now but this time there's no efficiencies after 7 years. $500 worth of console tech in 2027 will be...a PS5

It's also to do with the fact hardly anyone could get hold of a PS5 for the first year or so. And then it took ages for many exclusive games to come out for it.

Looking back at the thread, I got mine in September 2022 just as they started becoming a bit more widely available. And that was, like, last year so...

(and I mostly play PS4 games on it anyway)

And of course, what the market taught Sony (and the others) during that initial wave of shortages was that actually, people will quite happily pay hundreds more than the launch RRP. I suspect they’d be a lot more cagey about continuing to push the price up if they hadn’t seen what the scalped consoles were going for back then.

They care about the number of games and services sold over everything. Number of consoles sold drives that, along with time-based or forever exclusives that drive more console sales and, more importantly, further game and service sales

I doubt the consoles selling low in the first couple years was that much of a hardship, because they're typically a loss leader on launch. If anything, they're probably kicking themselves that they didn't figure out a way to make any extra money off of the shortage/scalping

I guess they kind of did in that they did more direct sales to consumers during that time and Sony selling the PS5 at retail price is going to bring in a little more money than selling them on to a retailer who also gets a cut

yup, that sounds right to me

It has varied over time but afaik Nintendo is the only company that tries to make the console itself profitable from launch

kinda funny sony have spent so much time chasing a live service unicorn, bought bungie to make one for them, and bungie then made them a super hardcore, super brutal live service FPS in a very niche genre

I actually think marathon will find its audience and grow (getting out the cul de sac that e.g. the finals has found itself in) but it’s probably unlikely to hit CS:GO numbers. apex number would def be a success

‘probably unlikely’. sorry I mean, no chance in hell it does but I think it will steadily grow through word of mouth if it gets the support and the on boarding process is refined

Reportedly some PS4 players that have wish-listed GTA 6 have been getting notice they should finally/belatedly upgrade to PS5 in anticipation of a Nov. release date, implying (not surprisingly) that the game will not be playable on PS5. That's no surprise, other than the fact that they even have to say it nearly six years after the launch of the PS5. Insane how long PS4's been hanging in there!

Curious anyone's thoughts on Sony's decision to do away with physical media on their platform by Jan 2028...

If nothing else it's another step in the direction of consumers not owning the media that they bought.

I feel like this has now been the case for a while for people using Steam on PC. I think it sucks due to the fact game access can be taken away at any time, but PC users seem to have already normalized this for themselves.

Nintendo might potentially use this as a differentiator moving forward?

at least with PC you can shop around for keys, bundles etc. with Sony it's going to be their price only, and they've already been testing "dynamic" pricing where digital games are priced algorithmically to extract the most from each user. then you get Sony's disastrous record with being hacked, do you really trust them to protect your purchases/account?

article about dynamic pricing if you were unaware
https://www.polygon.com/playstation-store-dynamic-pricing-testing/

steam also has the refund policy which has been a huge sticking point for every digital platform that has tried to challenge them without matching it, something which no one seems to be willing to do

I don't buy a lot of games for PC anymore, but when I do I try to buy through GOG instead of Steam just because you do get the actual installer of the game without any DRM

I've bought a physical ps5 game in the last year, but it was second hand and I can't really say I'd buy enough in a year to make this not a sensible business decision for Sony. A large part of that is that I barely buy any ps5 games at all, because this entire console generation was basically a scam that used a Demon's Souls remake as bait

if my steam deck or my two year old PC die, or Steam goes full anti-consumer and starts doing dynamic pricing in a closed ecosystem and deletes games you "own" at will, I'm fucked but otherwise just gonna bunker down

the loss of lendability/resellability is the biggest issue though, huge hit for people who lean on trade-ins, public libraries, sharing games with friends etc. nintendo has the key cards which are transferrable but a one-time-use game key in a box is not.

PS1/PS2 and disc games being cheaper than carts did so much towards making console gaming a lower-income hobby, this feels like the end of that

oh yeah it absolutely sucks, I'd gigantically prefer a thriving console industry with physical games available

Take 2 having everyone over a barrel with their non-transferable take it or leave it $80 GTA6 download code feels really grim

lots of people pointing out that everyone's already accepted this years ago with steam, but it's different when you can get refunds, shop around, everything is generally more reasonably priced on PC anyway

Console manufacturers recently are just like, you don't own anything, $1000 PS6, no more PC releases, let's facilitate genocide, let's shut down every studio we buy cos we're fucking dumbasses, what is there to like

yep

I guess nintendo will keep doing their thing tho?

I just wish I wanted a switch 2. it hurts me to say it (lol), but I still don't. I'm sure something will eventually come along tho (and the console will cost 3x more due to hardware shortages)

the GTA6 thing is extra weird because they apparently are going to be selling disc copies, the game is just coming in so hot that they won't be in stores by release day, they'll be out a few weeks later. they are keeping this on the lowdown because they of course want people to buy the digital version on day 1 instead of waiting

https://www.eurogamer.net/gta-6-no-physical-release

this eurogamer thing casting doubt on the delayed physical release was the most recent thing I read about it, idk if there's been firmer info anywhere since?

The lack of physical means the death of the secondary market which could mean the near-death of significant sales/discounts.

I bought my PS5 with a drive (back when there were still website queues) precisely so I could buy used games, or sell my games once finishing them. In practice, though, I rarely did so. All of the exclusives I wanted came out on PC eventually, so I'd end up buying them on GOG or Steam since I don't mind waiting (and I love mods). The only use it gets now is when I watch a Criterion blu-ray or my partner plays Katamari. On the rare occasions I feel like gaming in the living room rather than in front of my computer, I just use Moonlight to stream to my Apple TV.

I understand wanting to have a physical release as opposed to an ephemeral digital artifact that is malleable and revocable but the process of installing off disc sucks!

I was burned by some late-era Final Fantasy game some years ago. Blu-ray read speeds are likely slower than my home internet speed, so it took a long-ass time to install. And of course you then download and install a patch. The patch? It was THE SIZE OF THE ENTIRE GAME

so I installed it twice and then I wasn't even that interested in the game and I only played it a few hours!

physical media could work but Nintendo's using what's really the only viable option, and even then, ballooning storage prices make that less feasible by the day

the foreseeable future is buying a console with 500GB of storage that holds perhaps 2 games, and when you want to play a different one you wipe one and download a new one

I've been doing the buy "physical PS5 game, play it, sell after finishing to help pay for next PS5 game" thing this gen so this is definitely going to fuck me over
I wouldn't even mind if it was PS6 only, but there are going to be PS5 games made long into the future that I would have bought this way. in summary, fuck all this

Great discussion on MinnMaxx about this situation, with lots of perspectives. One being that all these PS decisions mean they'll be squeezing fewer and fewer people with ultimately fewer and fewer returns, because there is a finite number that can afford $1000 consoles and $70 rentals (in the sense that you will never truly "own" digital games, you're just being given the right to play them until that right is rescinded or otherwise curtailed). And then what? I can totally see PS charging for system updates in the future, or charging more for ad-free or otherwise "premium" features.

charging for system updates makes no sense whatsoever because they'd have to maintain security patches across multiple versions and keep the store backend compatible with all those versions as well. selling a hardware platform that has its own OS means you want everyone on the absolute newest version if at all possible because you're leaking money on supporting older versions

For sure, I was just giving some BS example. Maybe I should have said upgrades instead. Anyway, they are going to start squeezing players for everything, assuming any of us make it to 2028.

Picked up a few things on sale, Josh-style. The Resident 2 & 3 remakes, and Thank Goodness You're Here, each under 10 bucks.

Gotta bolster the backlog!