PlayStation 5: Does the new Sony console deliver the next-gen dream?
Yes, we finally saw the console, we know what it looks like and how gigantic it is – but crucially, yesterday’s PlayStation 5 reveal also delivered software and lots of it. It was our first opportunity to see the extent to which Sony and its partners delivered on the vision set out by Mark Cerny in the articles and presentations we’d seen so far. What we got was technologically astonishing in several places and diverse in scope, encompassing both console exclusives and an array of cross-generational releases. It was a flavour – a taste – of the next-gen experience to come a few short months from now.
Sony certainly didn’t make it easy for us though, kicking off proceedings with a bizarre Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer pulled from PlayStation 4 footage, while delivering the whole presentation via bandwidth-challenged, poor quality streaming at 1080p30 – a baffling decision when 4K media was (and is) available. Similar to the PS4 Pro livestream from 2016, it was difficult to fully appreciate everything Sony had to offer. It was like trying to sell a Blu-ray movie to the masses by showcasing a badly re-encoded hooky DVD in its place – and it was particularly impactful to the first PS5 title we saw: the new take on Marvel’s Spider-Man, featuring Miles Morales.
Thankfully, the quality of key titles shone through the macroblocking and we saw a definite pay-off to the specs reveal delivered by Mark Cerny a few months back. After the GTA5 episode and the Spider-Man teaser, we swiftly moved into proper showcase territory, kicking off with one of the highlights of the event: Ratchet and Clank on PlayStation 5. A closer look at the trailer asset reveals a native 4K resolution, and a basic density of detail far beyond its already impressive PS4 and PS4 Pro predecessors. Indeed, there’s a good argument that what we’re seeing here is significantly beyond the fidelity of the Ratchet and Clank CG movie – it’s a breathtaking example of art, technology and imagination coming together to produce something that looks simply fantastic.
From a technological perspective, perhaps the real breakthrough is the game’s dimensional rift mechanic, which sees Ratchet and Clank teleporting nigh-on instantly through very different domains at full fidelity with no sign of streaming issues or pop-in – validation perhaps for Sony’s super-specified solid-state storage solution, capable of streaming up to 5.5GB/s of data. Interestingly, slight hitches are noticeable, something we’d expect to see Insomniac clear up by launch, but also adding further to the authenticity of what was delivered. It’s work-in-progress code, after all.
