Gadgetory

- Sony has made big headlines by kind of having a surprise reveal of some of the early specs behind, what we're all currently calling the PS5. And a lot of is sounds like some really exciting, awesome stuff, for the future. But there's a part of me that's a little worried. First, let's talk about what exactly that news was, if you guys aren't fully up to speed. So, Mark Cerny did an interview, with Wired, talking about the specifics of Sony's next-generation system. There were three really main areas they focused on. Visuals, audio, and storage. Visuals are, of course, one of the main focus areas that a lot of people get hyped up about for next-generation systems. And, they certainly weren't pulling any stops on this. Now, the claims for this next-generation system is that it is gonna be able to support 8K, as well as be one of the first consoles to make use of ray tracing, which is a technology that allows for more advanced and realistic depictions of how things like light and sound travel. Obviously, 8K isn't something that people are going to be making use of, right away, considering what TV options are out there, right now. But the idea is, it's going to have the power to be able to do that and therefore, should be able to handle 4K or maybe even 1080p with no problem whatsoever and be able to offer these super premium experiences for people that have that option. As for audio, this is something that I feel like a lot of people are actually glancing over, when they're talking about the news, which is a little disappointing. Because I think it's actually one of the really interesting parts to come out of this. Because audio is something that is oftentimes very neglected when you talk about video games. We gotta talk about it a lot in terms of like, oh, do you have a good enough headset? But, we don't always talk about, is your system actually giving you the best experience possible, in the first place? So, as part of this announcement of ray tracing technology being in the card for PS5, there's also idea that this will also support 3D audio. How sound travels in games is going be more realistically depicted and something you're gonna notice a lot more, with a nice set of surround speakers or with a really good headset. Where you're gonna get drawn into the game a lot more, than what is currently possible on the PS4 or any of its competitors. As for storage, the discussion wasn't so much about how much data the PS5 could hold. But more importantly, how quickly it could load that data. Because they're making one big upgrade, finally moving to SSDs. Now the main example that you had for this, was running a Dev Unit version of Spider-Man for PS4. And showing that on a PS4 Pro. If you're fast-traveling from one part of the city to the next, it takes 15 seconds to load that up. If you're taking that exact same situation and applying it to this new version of the system, using an SSD, it only takes point eight seconds. So, why am I worried? Well, I'm worried because of histories. Specifically, Sony's. Let's look back at some of their systems. The PS4 has been doing great. The PS1 did well. The PS2 was a huge success, in fact it's still the top-selling console ever. And then the PS3 hit a wall. And there's a few reasons why the PS3 hit a wall. It had a few problems with it's hardware and services, at launch. There weren't a lot of super strong games, when it was first released. And it immediately had a problem with perception, because of its price. Sony was at the top of the world, when the PS3 was getting ready to release and when they announced a price point of 500 dollars or 600 dollars for a bigger hard drive, compared to its competition. That was an insanely high number, that freaked a lot of people out. And as a result, it had a very, very, rough start, sales wise. It eventually clawed its way back out, but that was after numerous remodels, cutting a lot of features and making it a much more affordable option. Now, how is this relevant to the PS5? Well there's a quote that didn't make it into the original Wired article, that started making rounds afterwards. But, certainly talking about the price of the system. Specifically, he said, "I believe that we will be able to release it at a suggested retail price that will be appealing to gamers in light of its advanced feature set." Translation, it's going to be expensive, but it's going to be cool enough, that people aren't going to care. And that hasn't always been the case with history. Sure, we have Pro versions of systems, right now, that are expensive and people think are cool and are buying. But, those aren't the main moving versions of those systems. They are expensive options, for people that can afford it. While other people are moving for Xbox One S's, and PS4 Slims, because they play the same games, they get the job done and they're a lot more affordable. Whereas, with the PS5, if it's the only option, or all models available for it at launch are gonna be super expensive. And we're talking about a system, that's launching at minimum 500 hundred, possibly even as high as six. That's kind of a scary thing and reminiscent of what happened with PS3. And you can even see this from other companies, representing more modern history, like with the PS4 vs the Xbox One. When those systems came out, the PS4 was 400 dollars. Still expensive, but a new, shiny thing. And it felt like, kind of the right price point. Xbox One, on the other hand, launched at 500 dollars, for what was actually a weaker system. But, it came with a Kinect. Which was thought to be a cool enough gimmick, to maybe balance it out and wasn't at all. No one cared. Everyone went for the system that was a little more powerful. But more importantly, was also offering a better deal. Now, I get it. It's supposed to be a premium, new, cool, super powerful, thing. And that costs money. Nice things cost a lot of money. But, I'm kinda looking at the standpoint of looking at the history of how consoles have sold and how things performed. And, at the end of the day, a really important thing is making sure that a lot of people are excited for your system and are willing to throw down money for it. Because if someone spent two, three, hundred dollars on a PS4, a year before a new system is released. And now they're told, hey, those games that you love, well, all their sequels are now PS5 exclusives and cost 600 dollars just to get the system, in the first place. That's not a thing people tend to always react very well to. There's a lot about this news that's still really exciting to me. I mean, obviously just the entire concept of how powerful it could be, is a really cool idea. And there's a lot of other, like side tidbits, about the news that's really cool. It's still going to support PS4 games. Though, there were previous rumors that a new system could maybe even go all the way back to PS3, PS2, and PS1. That'd be cool. But, even if not. At least a PS4 would be very much welcome. And, it would even include support for PSVR. Which, leads also to the theory that there might be a better, stronger version of that, in the future, as well? And even if it doesn't, it being really expensive, that isn't necessarily the end of the world. I mean, again, the PS3 had more problems than just its price. And even with all those issues it did eventually end up doing, basically fine. It pretty much broke even with the 360, in international sales. Plus, there's ways they could even balance out this entire issue. For instance, maybe the one we're talking about right now, with Mark Cerny, is their super, top-line, amazing version of the system, that's gonna cost money. And there might me a more affordable option that launches with it. I mean, after all, not everyone really needs a 8K system. Especially, if it's gonna come out sometime in 2020, maybe 2021. There's a lot about the system, we still don't know about. How it's gonna shape into. And what kind of additional services or things, it's gonna be capable of. And I am super excited to learn more. So, let me know what you guys think. Are you excited about this news? Do you believe all the stuff being said about the PS5? And how much do you think it should cost? Let me know down in the comments. And until next time guys, you've been watching the Kevinator, I'll see you later.