PlayStation 5 Showcase
As expected, whether it be Sony or Microsoft revealing their next gen details first, they would be shortly followed by the competition. This past week Xbox, due to a calculated leak or not, revealed all the details of the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S including specs, price, release date, Game Pass and pre order details among other things. Less than a week after Xbox revealing their next generation plans, Sony has unveiled their plans for the upcoming console launch. On September 16, The PlayStation 5 showcase happened and gave usjavascript:noop(); one last glimpse into the near future of what PlayStation has to offer before we can actually get our hands on it.
The PS5 showcase was quite lengthy, as it clocked in at a little over forty minutes, featuring almost everything that you would have wanted to see including some longer looks at games that we knew about, some new game teases, the release date and the price. It wasn’t a perfect presentation as there was some crucial information missing, including when pre orders go live, what exact games will be coming on day one and a few other smaller items. The silver lining is that there is a lengthy post of the PlayStation Blog filling in some of those gaps.
Some of the messaging that was left out of the conference was likely for the best as one of the more unfortunate but expected aspects of next gen is the price increase on the software. It all began with Take Two announcing their pricing for NBA2K21 and how it was ten dollars more expensive than current gen. This started the ball rolling with everyone expecting the ten dollar increase to be the norm. However, all developers and publishers didn’t unanimously agree that the increase was what they would be charging. Ubisoft, for example stated that they would be keeping the same price but that was likely for positive press as the company has had a lot of bad publicity this year regarding working environment.
Although, with Sony leading the charge, its inevitable that everyone will follow. Over on the PlayStation Blog, there is a list of which games will be officially available at launch from first party and out of the four games two of them are 70 and Miles Morales has two version and one of them is 70, which means that 70 is going to the new normal for premium game pricing. SackBoy: A big adventure will be priced at a slightly less expensive 60, which seems analagous to last gen pricing of games like Ratchet and Clank.
It was only a matter of time before the cost of games increased permanently. The last time we saw them rise was back at the launch of the Xbox 360. Games have only become more expensive to make, larger in scope and with all the negative stories we hear about crunch, hopefully the extra money can help alleviate some of the pressure developers put on their employees. This seems like wishful thinking and the reality is likely the money wont make it to the bottom of the food chain. My other hope is that we get a sliding scale for pricing games this generation that might lead to smaller experiences being less than full price. The hope is that some developers charge what the game is worth and not just an arbitrary number.
Games aren’t the only thing that will be getting a price raise this generation as the DualSense will be a little more expensive but once again that is to be expected because if everything Sony has been saying is true about the controller then it is much more technologically advanced and worthy of the extra price. The hope is that it is built a little stronger than the DualShock 4.
The PlayStation 5 will hit store shelves just two days after Xbox Series X & S. November 10 is when the Xbox will go on sale and November 12 is when the PS5 will be available. This is the first time that consoles have launched this close together in the history of console launches. Up until this point the closest that we have seen was last generation with the Xbox One and the PS4 being a week apart. PlayStation 4 launched on November 15, 2013 and a week later the Xbox One followed on November 22, 2013. The other first in history is when comparing the main offerings because this will be the first time that both consoles are launching at the same price. In the history of modern era gaming consoles even dating back to the late 80’s with the NES there has always been some type of variance of pricing. This makes it very hard to use history of price and release date as a precedent for what could happen this generation.
The main variance this time around could be the entry level versions of each console. Xbox Series S is a slightly less powerful version of the Series X that isn’t capable of the same visual fidelity among a few other concessions it had to make. Despite lacking a few features, it is still technically a next gen console and at 299 US, it does make for a compelling argument for its purchase as it is very inexpensive. However, similar to the launch of last generation, Sony has a more concise message that they are delivering. There is no worry for what model of PS5 features what components or what resolution it can do or what frame rate is possible. The only question is do you want a disc drive or do you not, which is very simple.
Sony’s rebuttal to the Xbox Series S is the PS5 Digital, which does not sacrifice any of the technical features of the PS5 other than it doesn’t have an optical drive. This version is launching at $399 and makes a extremely strong counterpoint to the Xbox Series S. For just 100 more you are able to truly get all the bells and whistles of next gen, including the Dual Sense controller.
It seems like this is a repeat of earlier this year when Sony delivered a very to the point conference, once again making a strong case for why you should buy a PS5 this generation. The problem is that they bungled some of the messaging and definitely angered some potential fans with the pre order troubles. In the past Sony said that the pre orders will not come as a surprise and during the showcase nothing was mentioned about pre orders, then on the PlayStation Blog it was mentioned that they would go on sale the following day at select retailers.
However, this wasn’t the case as different retailers released pre orders at different times leaving many loyal fans in the lurch. If you weren’t attached to your phone and social media then odds are you have not managed to get a pre order of the system yet. It likely goes without saying that many of the purchased pre orders were likely sold to bots who will scalp them should the PS5 be hard to attain, which it likely will be. Pandemic or not there are enough people who have enough money or have been saving up long enough to purchase a new system.
PS5 has come in and out of stock since the showcase, selling out in mere minutes. I think with the pandemic there is a much higher percentage of people that are going to be ordering online, which explains the online pre orders selling as quickly as they did. This obviously is in conjunction with the first wave of PS5 being grabbed up but the hardcore fans and the scalpers. Sony has said that it plans to have 10-15 million units by spring of next year, which leaves me to believe that you will be able to find one soon after as we are not likely in Wii territory again.
This could be an actual shortage of pre orders or this could be an artificial shortage which people have accused Nintendo of in the past because the narrative right now is that the PS5 is a very in demand item. All media outlets are reporting on the scarcity of the PS5, which now creates an even higher demand. People think that if the PS5 comes back in stock that they might feel pressured to purchase one due to fear of missing out. Either way, it certainly seems like Sony is leading the pack again, with the Xbox pre orders not going live until about a week after. This could be the difference for some people that were on the fence about which console to purchase to buy the first one that is available.
The good news, is that Sony took to social media to address their poor handling of the pre order situation and assured people that more units are on the way. “Let’s be honest: PS5 preorders could have been a lot smoother. We truly apologize for that. Over the next few days, we will release more PS5 consoles for preorder - retailers will share more details and more PS5’s will be available through the end of the year” Take it with a grain of salt as they also said that preorders wouldn’t be a surprise and we saw how that initially turned out. If you aren’t dead set on getting one on day one, it sounds like you will be able to track one down at some point this year.
Another item that Sony left out of the conference was the launch titles. Technically, there isn’t a killer app launching with the PS5 but it’s been a while since we have seen a console launch with one of those. Even then, consoles that launch with a system seller don’t tend to set the world on fire with sales numbers such as the original Xbox and Nintendo 64. The exclusive launch titles include Astro’s Playroom, which will be pre installed on the system, Demon’s Souls, Destruction All Stars, Miles Morales, and Sackboy.
One of the final announcements of the show was Sony trying to provide value in the form of a game catalog which they are calling the PlayStation Plus Collection. PS5 owners that are also PS Plus members will get instant access to a curated selection of mostly first party titles such as BloodBorne, God of War, Persona 5 and many more. We didn’t get a lot of information regarding this collection as to whether or not this library will grow over time or change.
We also don’t know if the PS5 will slightly upscale any of these games to make them look better than they originally did. We also dont know if this is a limited time offer that will just be around for the launch period. These aren’t new games and this new service doesn’t compete with Game Pass directly as there are many differences between the two options but it does provide value to PS5 owners who might have missed a few of the titles during the PS4 era or new gamers who skipped the PS4 completely.
There is a lot to look forward to with the future of PlayStation and Sony did another great job for the second, or even third time this year if you include the Mark Cerny, GDC talk showing gamers why the PlayStation should be the primary console in your mind. There have been rumblings that the first year of the PS5 should be akin to the first year of the Nintendo Switch when it had Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, Mario and Rabbids, and a handful of excellent Indies.
In terms of what we know for sure coming for the PlayStation in the first year or so is Miles Morales, Horizon Zero Dawn 2, Ratchet and Clank, Demon’s Souls, God of War 2, and DeathLoop fill out the list of exclusives coming likely in the first year of the console being on the market. Barring any setbacks or delays for these games then we are looking at an excellent first year of the PS5. If these games all make 2021 and the cadence is right then PS5 momentum should ride right into 2022 with a solid lead.
Outside of the world of PS5, Xbox and Nintendo are bound to have some excellent games as well. 2021 will likely see Halo Infinite, it’s the 35th anniversary of Zelda, there is the rumoured Switch Pro, which makes it look like 2021 has the possibility to be a challenger for best year of gaming.