The fifth iteration of electronics giant Sony’s massively popular PlayStation series of home video games consoles has been available for consumers to buy for a few months now and has sold over 4.5 million units worldwide. There was a huge amount of hype around the console in the years, months, weeks, and days leading up to its official release. But now that the dust is starting to settle a little, the question on everyone’s lips is, does the PlayStation 5 live up to the hype? Let’s take a look at some of the facts about the console.
Technical Specifications
There are currently two versions of the PlayStation 5 (also abbreviated to PS5) console available to buy – the Digital Edition and the full version. While the Digital Edition is limited to downloading games and other media, the full version of the console also allows the user to use physical discs.
The PS5’s GPU (short for Graphics Processing Unit) by AMD is a round-breaking technical achievement, and the visual graphics are spectacular and notably sharper and more vivid than those of its main rival, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S.
The SSD (Solid State Drive) enables you to load games up in mere seconds, and the general processing speed is lightning-fast, meaning that waiting around for processes to load is a thing of the past.
The console’s controller features a new design that is more ergonomically satisfying than previous versions and features an advanced motion sensor and new buttons such as the “Create” button, which allows the player to record and share their gaming achievements with the world.
Games Available
If there is one aspect of the PS5 that still has room for improvement, it is the variety of games available. The games themselves—such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Godfall, and Demon’s Souls – are great, but there aren’t that many of them yet, and most are also available for the PS4.
One of the main selling points of the PS5 at launch is that you can still play your entire PS4 library on it, and some games such as Watch Dogs Legion and Madden NFL 21 offers free upgrades to PS5 quality for owners of the PS4 versions. Not to mention, there are sure to be plenty more excellent games released yet.
Other Features
The PS5 also features VR integration, backward compatibility with PS4 games, and a fast and streamlined online connection. All of the familiar apps and internet capabilities are once again available, so you can do everything from listening to music to live sports streaming to using social media apps. The PS5 is not just a video games console; it is a complete home entertainment system.
Price and Value for Money
There are a couple of notable drawbacks of the PS5, the price and the size. It doesn’t come cheap at $499 for the full version and $399 for the Digital Edition. However, when you consider the extensive features, this may be worth it. The size has also been a factor for some gamers, with the console being particularly large. If every other PlayStation console is anything to go by, Sony will release a scaled-down version in a year or two, so it may be worth waiting for this if space is important to you.
