The PlayStation 5

It looks like PS5 is going to be a big console, and the main reason it needs all that space is heat.

Matt MacLaurin is the vice president of user experience design at PlayStation, and he's been responding to comments about the PS5 reveal on his LinkedIn page (as spotted by VG247). While MacLaurin isn't divulging any big shockers like the PS5 price, he has been willing to give some extra context to the console reveal that Sony did at the PS5 Future of Gaming event last week.

One commenter asked why PS5 needed to be "bigger and bulkier" than PS4. "Thermals," MacLaurin answered. "This gen is little supercomputers. While the 7nm process delivers amazing heat performance for the power, the power is very extreme."

MacLaurin's comments about "the 7nm process" refers to the ever-shrinking semiconductor technology that allows tech companies to fit higher performing components into the same amount of space. The other half of the equation is making sure those new components don't overheat. If your PS4 has ever started to sound like a bayou airboat, you know that ventilation has been a problem for Sony's current generation.

Aside from being a big fella, PS5 also has a distinct look about it. MacLaurin was willing to share some thoughts about that too in response to commenters.

"I understand it's not for everyone, but no good art is," Maclaurin said. "Still, I think it's refined enough to tuck away quietly. The editions are going to be lit."

Sony showed off its PlayStation 5 console design last week and briefly teased the OS, now Sony’s VP of UX design at PlayStation, Matt MacLaurin, is promising an overhauled user interface for the PS5. Describing the new software interface as a “very interesting evolution of the OS,” MacLaurin says it’s a “100 percent overhaul of the PS4 UI and some very different new concepts” in a LinkedIn thread.

“As it’s UI it’s practical first, but it’s a whole new visual language and a complete rearchitecting of the user interface,” explains MacLaurin. The new PS5 OS is “more subtle than flashy, but no pixel is untouched,” he adds.

MacLaurin says the team will show off the new OS soon, after Sony briefly teased part of it during its PS5 games stream. The PS5 OS was shown as part of several Easter eggs throughout Sony’s event last week, culminating in the hardware reveal.

While Sony is promising a totally overhauled dashboard for the PS5, Microsoft is taking a slightly different approach. Instead of a radical redesign, Microsoft is focused on optimizing its existing Xbox One dashboard for the upcoming Xbox Series X so the UI is as familiar as possible. The Xbox Series X dashboard will stay aligned with the Xbox One, but with some enhancements and updates made before the new console launch.

MacLaurin also teases a “maybe” in response to a question about changes in the homescreen interface, but doesn’t reveal any specifics for the PS5 OS. Perhaps more interestingly, MacLaurin also hints at custom hardware designs for the PS5 in the future that will go beyond what we’re used to with the PS4.

“This [hardware] is also customizable in ways previous gens weren’t,” reveals MacLaurin. He even teases a “maybe” response to questions about a black version of the PS5, and that “there will be a special edition for everyone.” It’s clear we haven’t heard every detail about the PS5 hardware or software just yet.

Happily for anyone who struggles to summon much interest in raw tech specs, last week’s PlayStation 5 broadcast was heavy on games. Having seeded details about the console’s hardware and performance throughout the year, Sony opted to show what developers have been doing with that speed and power.

Of the 28 games shown, nine were from Sony’s own studios, meaning they will be playable only on PS5. A further 14 were what’s known as timed exclusives, meaning that they’ll be available on PS5 first and may also launch on PC.

Exclusive games have always been the shining beacons that attract players to an expensive new console, but arguably their role has been diminishing for at least a decade. Microsoft, particularly, has completely changed its approach to its own studios’ games in recent years, offering up all of them on PC and Xbox and packaging them up as part of a £7.99-a-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass instead of charging £50 for each. Xbox bosses have even repeatedly stated that, in their ideal world, Xbox games would be playable on any screen or device. Meanwhile, the biggest game publishers, including 2K, Ubisoft and EA, almost never make a game for a single platform any more, instead selling them across PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

However, Simon Rutter, PlayStation’s EVP for Europe, says that for Sony exclusive games are “hugely important. More important, I think, than they’ve ever been. Through their proximity to the system’s designers, PlayStation’s studios are able to really extract the most out of the system performance and that’s a really valuable attribute for a platform holder to have. [PlayStation] can rely on a studio network that can really show off the innovations that we’re trying to put across … when the exclusives are as powerful as Marvel’s Spider-Man or Horizon, they are important games that people want to play.”

Take Gran Turismo, the hyper-realistic racing game that has been synonymous with PlayStation since the 90s. “Gran Turismo 7 is going to benefit from almost every single technological enhancement that we have in PlayStation 5,” says Rutter. “The loading times will be next to nothing compared to what they have been in the past. Sitting in the cockpit, the 3D audio allows you to hear the thunderous roar of a Ferrari behind you or in front of you, and you can recognise the difference between that and the engine noise of a Maserati. Driving the car using the DualSense controller, you’ll have a different feeling in your hands from the smooth undulating tarmac of a racetrack, compared to the gritty sensation on a gravel track. Pressing a soft accelerator will feel very different than pressing on a stiff brake pedal or gear paddle.”

Sony’s approach is a reminder that games consoles are about more than tech specs; their features, and the selection of games that their manufacturers curate, create a culture around them. Nintendo specialises in consoles that are portable, flexible, family friendly and fun. Xbox, historically, has always put connectivity at the forefront, centring games such as Halo and Forza that you play online with friends. Sony, meanwhile, likes to invest in a diverse portfolio of games to attract players who like to feel as if they’re on the cultural cutting edge.

That comes at a cost, however – £50-60 per game – and, in the conspicuous absence of pricing details for the PlayStation 5, there is speculation that the console could push £500. Add in a monthly online-play subscription and you’ve got a very expensive hobby. For players, the games have to be pretty great to justify it.

On June 16 2020 22:59 ZerOCoolSC2 wrote:
I'm definitely getting the disc version. I'm still old school that way. And until the download speeds from PSN is better, this makes the most sense. I would consider a digital only if I ever start a family or buy/build a house where my nieces and nephews come to stay over or whatever the case is.