The PS5 has officially been announced, Sony has revealed first looks at some games, and Dustin has thoughts on it all.
After months of building hype and speculation to go along with seven sweet years of PS4 action, Sony finally, officially unveiled a first look at the PS5. In a live stream lasting just over three hours they showed the console itself as well as debuted teaser trailers for some of the big games expected to launch with the console in the 2020 Holiday season.
While the announcement was pretty standard for a video game console (internet frenzy, criticism of how the console itself looks, salivating over game footage), there is still lots to unpack as this represents the first console of the new generation. With that in mind, here are some of the ups and downs of the PS5 Reveal event.
Up: Spider-Man Miles Morales
2018’s “Spider-Man” on the PS4 was exactly the type of game that fans of the webhead had been waiting for and hoping for. Expectations were already high for the sequel and it’s safe to say that developer Insomniac has not been twiddling their thumbs. Focusing on Miles Morales, the 60-second teaser offers little in terms of gameplay footage but looks absolutely gorgeous and generates tons of excitement for the title, which is expected to be available with the launch of the console in the 2020 Holiday season.
Up: Resident Evil 8: Village
Until the last 30 seconds of the trailer you’d be hard pressed to guess that this was even a Resident Evil game. The village setting at first seems more in line with the Witcher or another Wolfman game but the thought of another claustrophobic, small-village setting (ala RE: 4) seems to be exactly what the franchise needs to continue to build on the momentum of RE: 7. The return of an absolutely swole looking Chris Redfield is also likely to please longtime fans of the franchise who have been hoping to see the character redesigned. RE: 7 was awesome and the recent remastered versions of 2 & 3 have shown just how far graphics have come along. Expect this game to be an absolute monster when it comes out in 2021 as it will likely showcase everything the PS5 can do.
Down: More GTA: 5 DLC
We were psyched to see the Rockstar logo and began to dream of the possibilities for “Grand Theft Auto 6” only to immediately have our hopes dashed. At this point, GTA: 5 is actually older than the PS4 console itself and while they continue to add more to the Online experience, there’s only so many green and purple aliens that you can kill. The graphics will probably be pristine of course but it’s going to be hard for more of the same to try and stand out from all the new games that the PS5 will have to offer.
Up: Zion Williamson’s Sweat / Down: NBA 2K21
It wouldn’t be a next-gen console without the sports games to go with it and NBA 2K21 is the first sports title to debut a first look at new footage. And the graphics are impressive: Look at Zion glisten! (sidenote: Zion getting the 2K cover after playing 19 regular-season games in his rookie season is incredible and also proof that the NBA may try to rig the upcoming playoff tournament to get him and the Pelicans in, but I digress)
While the graphics are impressive, this trailer is a lot of Zion dribbling and dunking in an empty gym without a single glimpse at gameplay. Now, the cynic in me wants to say that that’s because everyone in the world knows that 2K21 is going to look exactly like 2K20, 2K19, and the last four entries in the series but with more sweat.
Now, all that said, do I even need to see a trailer to know that I will line up and buy it like the sheep I am? Naaahhh.
Down: No “God of War” Sequel Announcement
After taking the series to Norse mythology with 2018’s PS4 highlight “God of War”, fans were ready to see any type of announcement to confirm the return of Kratos and his son Atreus. The PS5 reveal event was over three hours long and not one mention or hint at anything coming anytime soon. I can’t imagine the time it takes to make these games but still, even something so much as a hint to the sequel going next-gen could’ve gone a long way to push fan frenzy even further over the top.
Down: The Console Itself
5 Things the PS5 Looks Like That Aren’t a Game Console:
Down: No Price Revealed
One thing that almost every gamer can agree on is that the PS5 is probably going to be pretty damn expensive. With rumored prices ranging from $400-$800, fans have been waiting for Sony to set an official price point. Thursday’s reveal event came and went without a mention of the price. They showcased the console, plenty of game footage and trailers, but left without every addressing just how expensive the thing is going to be.
Amazon UK allegedly accidentally leaked the price in a post that had it at about $765 which seems pretty high for a standard console. There’s talk that this could be a premium edition of the console and not the basic one with price rumors for the basic one seemingly in-between $400-$600. Either way, with a rumored next-gen Xbox price-point being way lower than that, asking that much is going to be a tall task from Sony, especially given the recent pandemic across the world and the 40 million+ in the U.S. alone that are unemployed. These rumors aren’t going to stop until Sony just steps up and confirms the prices so it’s disappointing that they didn’t take the opportunity today to do that. That also has me a bit concerned that it may be in the area of the $600+ price and Sony just didn’t want to dampen the mood of their successful reveal event by announcing such a high cost.
While we were already excited for the launch of the first next-gen console, the reveal event mostly exceeded our expectations from a game standpoint. The underwhelming hardware design and the unknown price point are certainly a bummer but overall, we can’t wait to see more of what the PS5 can do.
What are you most excited about with the PS5? Did you enjoy the reveal? Were you disappointed? Let us know here in the comments or on Twitter. And stay tuned for all the latest on the next generation of video game consoles.
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