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PS5 Showcase!
For the past few days since Xbox revealed their prices, I really thought Sony would undercut Xbox for their main console by going for $449 and a date of November 6th, since Dirt 5 is out then. However, it’s $499 for the regular console and $399 for the digital edition. The UK price is £449 and £359, respectively.
When it comes to the differences between the PS5 ‘all-digital’ and the Xbox one (which is $299), the Xbox is a cut down console in terms of specs and power, whereas for the PS5, it’s the full-flavour version.
However, I have to recommend you ALWAYS buy the version which has a disc drive. Not only will both be a 4K UHD drive, so will play 4K Blu-rays as well as regular Blu-rays and DVDs, but if you buy a lot of games, you’ll be better off in the long run.
For example, when Shadow of the Tomb Raider was released in October 2018, it was £45 in shops like Tesco, but £50 in the online store. Exactly a month later, Tesco had reduced their prices for PS5 and Xbox One to £22.50. The online price? Still £50. So, just four games like that over a console’s 7-year life cycle and it’s already paid for itself.
My only gripe, however, is that why do we have to wait until November 19th when US et al get it on the 12th? I’m not happy with that! 🙁
However, when you compare the prices between the two main consoles and that they’re the same, the fact that Sony have some killer launch titles, while Xbox’s Halo Infinite is delayed until some time in 2021 or 2022, Sony have won the next generation hands down.
As for the games, the two which stood out most for me were Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War, and Demon’s Souls. They look awesome!
In addition, there is now a PS5 benefit with Playstation Plus, in that you can now download the games, so this puts it at the same point as Xbox Game Pass. That is something which has been coming a long while. However, I’m expecting that for another subscription service from Sony – Playstation Now – this is just be for the PS4 titles and not any of the PS2 or PS3 games.
NOTE: The above image is from IGN.
Check out today’s PS5 Reveal event from Sony at the video below and start at 59:17:
Previously on DVDfever:
June 11th 2020:
PS5 Reveal was delayed a week, but Sony hit back strong with a ton of games – a lot more looking far better than what Xbox showed recently, but stopping short of confirming the price. The following contains the full event video reveal, as well as a few individual trailers for some of them.
First up, there was a trailer… with the Rockstar Games logo… but it was a tease. Just a heads-up that GTA Online is coming to PS5 in 2021. I just tend to stick with the single-player GTA V, since whenever I attempt multiplayer, I get my arse handed to me. I’ll be interested to see how the game fares on the next-gen consoles, but with the settings as high as I can get them on PC, it looks phenomenal already. In the meantime, prior to its release, all PS4 PlayStation Plus members will get GTA$1,000,000 (deposited into their in-game Maze Bank account within 72 hours of log-in) each month they play GTA Online.
However, soon after, seeing the Gran Turismo 7 in-car graphics makes me realise how close we could get – graphically – a game based on the 1984 movie, The Last Starfighter. Someone, please make it happen!
But let’s get into the most impressive releases planned, for me…
Sackboy: A Big Adventure, from Sumo Digital, has got me sold from the off. I LOVE the Little Big Planet games (including on the PS Vita!), and can’t wait to play this spin-off. It looks so beautiful, and I expect to die a zillion times in the first fw hours of playing it. It’s even got all the original sounds, such as when Sackboy collects bubbles!
And then… Hitman III! It’s coming!!! January 2021!!! I want it now!!! I’ve loved most of the series, since let’s not talk about Hitman Absolution finishing off levels for you (oh, I just did), but the graphics on the new Hitman series have been so beautiful and fluid. And this third game will be the conclusion to the trilogy… until they make more, no doubt.
I won’t talk about the games chronologically, as it mixed in major titles with indie ones, but for a couple of other games along the way, Project Athia was quite stunning; like Lara Croft but with dragons, and coming exclusively for the PS5. After the PS5 Reveal, Square Enix released some info about this game: “Designed for PS5, Project Athia will harness the full power of the console and demonstrates Luminous Productions’ philosophy to provide a gaming experience like never before, fusing together the latest technology with art. It will be on PS5 and PC, and will transport players to a world filled with beauty and dismay as they set upon a thrilling story-led, action-packed adventure which can be twisted, tempestuous and forbidding.”
Then there’s Kena: Bridge Of Spirits, from Ember Lab, which has little characters who are cute as a button, and sees you as a young female in a mystical land battling baddies like a combination of Dark Souls and Tomb Raider, but with more slightly-cartoony graphics.
Solar Ash, from the creators of Hyper Light Drifter, which is rather odd character with three eyes, roaming a beautiful landscape with an ethereal soundtrack. Released in 2021, I can see this one bending my brain plenty!
Jett: The Far Shore is coming this Christmas, and saw a rocket setting off with the words: “Carve out a future for people haunted by ovlivion, propelled by dreams, setting off on a new adventure to new planets”. In fact, it felt rather like Christopher Nolan’s movie Interstellar. A press release came out straight after this, and tells us the game: “invites you on an interstellar trip to carve out a future for a people haunted by oblivion in this cinematic action adventure. As scout and ‘anchorite’ Mei, be the first to deploy to a mythic ocean planet. Take the helm of a ‘jett’ and explore a vast unknown – skim low over waves, roar up pristine coastlines and carve through otherworldly woods. Adapt to an intricate, systemic open world and persevere through adversity alongside an intimate ensemble in this story of courage, wonder and regret.”
Returnal comes from Housemarque and sees a spaceship crash-land on a strange planet, with the female pilot crashing, getting attacked, dying… and waking up again, making it feel rather like the film Edge Of Tomorrow. However, in this game, with each new incarnation, the protagonist is affected mentally and physically.
Pragmata presented us with an unseen individual in a spacesuit who greets a young girl in a city that’s not everything is seems, but then neither is the girl. In the end, they landed on the moon. Probably the best place for anyone at the moment, due to what’s going on in the world. However, we have a long wait for this, as it’s not released until 2022… rather like the lockdown after we have a few more waves of youknowwhat.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is always the kind of title from a series that’s simple to pick and play, and does look incredibly exceptional from the initial reveal. The gameplay was the same standard kind of gameplay you get from a game, but with a fresh coat of paint on, that’s so fresh you can still smell it. However it’s what you’d want from something new.
The last game in this showcase was Horizon: Forbidden West – aka ‘Zero Dawn 2‘, from Guerrila Games. This is game many were hoping for, and they weren’t disappointed with its reveal. Personally, I haven’t played the first one. I understand it’s coming to PC, so hopefully I’ll get to check it out then. It appears to also star Lance Reddick, from The Wire and John Wick. On looking him up, I see he was also in Horizon Zero Dawn, as Sylens, so no doubt continuing his role.
Summing up some of the others, Destruction All-Stars, from Lucid, is a rather odd-looking racing game where you’re running about more than you’re actually driving a car, it seems. However, if this can be this generation’s Destruction Derby – a PS1 favourite for me – then I’m sold!
In brief:
- Stray centred around a cat walking through Chinatown. For the most part I had no idea what was going on… and then it ended. That’s out in 2021.
- Oddworld Soulstorm sees Abe take another odyssey, this time on a much more grand scale, visually.
- Ghostwire Tokyo was premiered at E3 2019, is set in Tokyo, and looks a weird game with all manner of very weird stuff going on.
- Godfall is coming this Christmas as well, from Gearbox, and is a very have colourful hack-and-slash actioner
- Astro’s Playroom, from Team Asobi, see the Astro Bot return
- Little Devil Inside, from Neostream, is part-cartoony-style actioner, part-cartoony Shadow Of The Colossus? Either way, it’s all odd.
- Demon’s Soul showed a monumnetal creature was teased wrapping itself round a castle before announcing the game title.
- Deathloop, from Bethesda, which was teased at E3 2019. It’s a time-loop game where everyone wants to kill you if you don’t kill them first. There’s 8 targets and they all have to die before midnight. If at first you don’t succeed, die, die again…
And for some with additional info:
Resident Evil Village is the next game in that series. It’s gory and dark, and certainly looks interesting from the cinematic trailer, but I want to see some gameplay proper. A press release came out straight after the event:
“Set a few years after the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, the all-new storyline begins with Ethan and his wife Mia living peacefully in a new location, free from their past nightmares. Just as they are building their new life together, tragedy befalls them once again. Chris Redfield, the legendary hero from the Resident Evil series who made a brief appearance in Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, is reacquainted with the couple and horribly disrupts their life, leaving Ethan devastated and thrown into an entirely new nightmare.
The first-person action in Resident Evil Village begins when players assume the role of a distraught and shattered Ethan as he seeks to uncover the mysterious new horrors that plague a once peaceful village. Throughout this terrifying journey, players will fight for every breath as they are hunted by vicious new enemies that have infested the snow-capped locale. Channeling the capabilities of next generation consoles, the detailed realism and relentless feeling of fear will increase with each desperate battle for survival, while moments of calm will leave players wondering what new horrors await.”
NBA 2K21 had a teaser presented by New Orleans Pelicans player Zion Williamson. The game is built from the ground-up to fully utilize the incredible power, speed and technology of the PlayStation 5 and next-gen consoles. Load speeds will be unrecognisable with game action that appears in less than 2 seconds. This means less loading and more balling. Experience dynamic high-fidelity visuals and graphics that are as ‘in your face’ as Zion’s dunks. NBA 2K21 promises to be a standout visual showcase for the next generation of gaming, bringing the sports simulation closer to reality than it’s ever been before.
Bugsnax (pronounced ‘bug snacks’) comes from the creators of Octodad. and is rather cartoony. It’ll appeal to kids but I’m not sure if this one’s for me. It’s out this Christmas. Again, more info was released straight after: “Bugsnax takes you on a whimsical adventure to Snaktooth Island, home of the legendary half-bug half-snack creatures, Bugsnax. Invited by intrepid explorer Elizabert Megafig, you arrive to discover your host nowhere to be found, her camp in shambles, and her followers scattered across the island alone… and hungry! It’s up to you to solve the mysteries of Snaktooth Island: What happened to Lizbert? What are Bugsnax and where do they come from? But most of all, why do they taste SO GOOD?
>Goodbye Volcano High, from Ko_op, is a cartoon-style graphical adventure… I think. It’s coming in 2021, anyway. It’s difficult to make out exactly what sort of game it is based on the trailer. Some more info from the press release that came out straight after this: “Fang is a typical 18-year-old dinosaur: they’re more concerned about their band going viral than they are about what happens after graduation. But they’re about to have much bigger problems. Will they find time to figure themselves out? Can they balance navigating a changing world with a budding romance? During hard times, what do we owe each other? Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic narrative adventure about the end of an era… and the beginning of a love story.”
At the end, it looked like we might actually get to see the console, through a load of shape-shifting blue and black bubbles. And then we did. It’s not all black as before, but mostly white, with a very sleek black design down the middle. It’s difficult to describe it other than… sleek, and with lots of airflow space. Naturally, I want one right now.
Of course, some have said it looks rather like a Virgin Media router. It does a bit. But then Xbox’s new console looks like a fridge, and they’ve taken the rise out of themselves with that as well.
For the PS5 Reveal, though, and there’s also a ‘digital edition’. Oh no… no Blu-ray drive? That did not work well for Xbox and their ‘SAD’ edition, with the moniker standing for Xbox One S All Digital Edition… although I callled it the Xbox One SADE, after the singer. She’s great.
At least we get a media remote. I haven’t had one of those since the days of Xbox 360. However, with the PS4, I found the controller easier to use for playing Blu-rays than I did on the Xbox One S.
Finally came the tagline: “Play with no limits“. Let’s hope that’s the case.
Now, what about the price of the PS5, Sony? That’s the one part of the PS5 Reveal we’re missing.
Oh, and will it have full backwards compatibility? I want to be able to insert discs from PS1 through to PS4 and have them WORK! Including PS3! I know it was programmed differently from the other consoles for some unknown reason, but I can’t see why I can’t just insert the game disc, and while it’s in there, have it download the game from a server after recognising it (since PS Now has a ton of these games) and then I can play it! I don’t mind if it requires the disc while it’s in there. Make it happen, Sony!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.