There’s something vaguely existential about the announcement of a new PlayStation console, as I’m reminded anew on the morning that Sony has broadcast the revelation that the holiday season of 2020 will bequeath unto gamers the fifth distinct entry in the gaming franchise. Upholding the series’ time-honored naming convention, the new console has been aptly dubbed PlayStation 5, and with its announcement comes news of hard- and software updates that should prove intriguing to gamers in the know… if, of course, they can tear their attention from the inevitability of the forward march of time through and well past the fragile chapter of youth, also no doubt underlined by the announcement of Sony’s next console.
Placing impending life crises aside for the time being, we set our sights on the technological changes implemented into the PlayStation model for this latest console. Firstly, the PlayStation 5 will eschew the spinning hard drive of its forebear for a solid-state drive, which should mark an uptick in speed and efficiency. Also integrated into the PS5’s hardware is the proponent for ray-tracing acceleration, a technique that will allow for more expansive implementations of lighting and sound design in the games compatible with the console.
Further updates are set to befall the PlayStation 5’s controllers. First off: adaptive resistance. This is to say that buttons will emulate the physical resistance of tasks performed onscreen, when appropriate; the example given in Wired magazine’s comprehensive breakdown is the pulling back and firing of a bow and arrow. On a similar token, the new controller (which has yet to earn a proper name) will institute haptic feedback in lieu of the traditional rumble technology. While players have long been able to “feel” the effects of an onscreen collision, this update looks to better differentiate the feel of one sort of collision from the next (e.g., per Sony’s own breakdown on the PlayStation blog, a car crash versus a tackle on a football field).
Further announcements are sure to come, as decrees the never-ending trudge through this prison that is linear time. So stay tuned!
Featured Image: Sony