The PlayStation 5 will be out in time for the holidays next year

Since Wired got the scoop on the PlayStation 5 in April this year, there’s been little word on what the system entails. We know it’ll feature AMD’s Navi, and that it’ll feature some sort of souped-up SSD to make it zippier, eliminating load times. In a new deeper look, once again by Wired, we learn a few more details.

The system will continue to use physical media – the standard 100GB Blu-Ray – but as with the PS$, all games will have to be installed to the system. In this case, it’s mandatory that games get installed to the internal storage, but Sony says that because how the SSD works to eliminate loading, it’ll also mean smaller install sizes. Sony says that from the home screen, you’ll be able to directly jump into a multiplayer match for game, or a specific level without having to launch the game first. Developers will also be able to allow you install just the single-player, or just the multiplayer bits.

“Even though it will be fairly fast to boot games, we don’t want the player to have to boot the game, see what’s up, boot the game, see what’s up,” PlayStation architect Mike Cerny says. “Multiplayer game servers will provide the console with the set of joinable activities in real time. Single-player games will provide information like what missions you could do and what rewards you might receive for completing them—and all of those choices will be visible in the UI. As a player you just jump right into whatever you like.”

According to Wired, the PlayStation 5’s new controller is very much like the DualShock 5, but will now feature a USB C charging port. Instead of the normal L2/R2 triggers, the new controller will offer a sort of haptic feedback that’ll allow developers to “program the resistance of the triggers,” allowing for things like tension on bows, increased resistance in braking and the like. Sony says it’ll offer a “broader range of feedback” than plain old Rumble.

As for the hardware, there’s not much new information. It’s still an eight-core CPU (based on AMD’s third-gen Ryzen line) with a custom GPU based on AMD’s Radeon Navi hardware. Cerny has confirmed that there’ll be hardward0-driven real-time ray tracing. The PlayStation5 will also support “3D audio,” provide support for some form of 8K gaming (and 4K gaming at 120Hz), use less power, have PS4 backwards compatibility, and sport that super-duper ultra-fast SSD.

Importantly, we now know that the thing will be out in the holiday period next year. That’s Holidays, 2020; time to start saving.

You can read Wired’s new exclusive here.

Last Updated: October 8, 2019