PS5 event: Sony PlayStation 5 price, games and specs predictions

Sony is about to give a first look at the games we’ll be playing on the next-generation of consoles.

The PlayStation 5 event Sony cancelled to give #BlackLivesMatter protests a chance to be heard is now set to go ahead on Friday morning.

As the protests went on in the US, Sony announced it would push back the event, originally scheduled for Thursday last week.

“We do not feel that right now is a time for celebration and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard,” PlayStation announced on Twitter last week.

But as protests show no signs of stopping, Sony has decided to push ahead.

A prerecorded stream of the event will go live on the PlayStation website at 6am Friday morning.

RELATED: PS5 event postponed over protests

See you Thursday, June 11 at 1:00pm Pacific time (9:00pm BST) for a look at the future of gaming on #PS5: https://t.co/9XJkXYProo pic.twitter.com/8EoN34UPdd

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 8, 2020

“We needed to step aside so key voices could be heard during this historic and important time,” PlayStation communications senior director Sid Shuman said in a blog post announcing the new event details.

He thanked fans for their patience and understanding about the postponement, though not all fans had been patient or understanding at the time.

Mr Shuman said the stream we’ll be watching on Friday morning is a prerecorded one, which

“eased the show’s production process during a time when many of our team and developers are working from home”.

He said that the stream will broadcast in 1080p at 30 frames per second (fps), but promised “the games you’ll see will look even better when you play them on PS5 with a 4K TV, as you’d expect”.

Sony will provide a first look at some of the games coming to the PS5 on Friday. Picture: Charly Triballeau/AFP

RELATED: PS5 specs revealed

The PS5, and its next-generation console rival Xbox Series X, is targeting 4K gaming at 60fps.

Higher frame rates allow for smoother motion, making games look better as well as making them easier to play.

The targeted resolution and frame rates should bring to consoles a level of detail previously restricted to expensive high-end gaming PCs.

But hitting that target will similarly require some beefy hardware, which could push the cost of the new consoles up.

The price hasn’t been confirmed yet, but rumours have been swirling after a purportedly leaked and since deleted Amazon UK listing.

That had the price at £599, around $A1090.

UK shoppers typically pay a little more than Australians for electronics like iPhones and laptops so a direct currency conversion might not be very accurate.

A price of $A999 would be slightly more attractive to the market, and in line with some of the prices we’ve seen near launch for new consoles in the past, but could be too expensive for many to rush out and buy one, especially in this economy.

Danny Zarka was the first Australian to plonk down a cool grand for the PS3 at its Sydney launch in 2007.

The PlayStation 3 launched in Australia at $999.95 in 2007.

The PS4 launched at a considerably cheaper $549 in 2013.

The economy was better at the time but console makers often sell consoles at a loss at the start of their life, subsidising it through the games that run on its platform and subscriptions for online services.

In March, Sony gave an idea of what technology will power the new console.

The PS5 will use the same 8-core AMD chip as the Xbox Series X, but will be clocked at a lower speed.

This makes it slower but could make it more stable, energy efficient and cooler.

Probably one of the biggest leaps in the new consoles will be the shift to considerably faster solid-state storage, which blows traditional spinning disk hard drives found in the current gen consoles out of the water.

Combined with software optimisations, both Xbox and Sony have said that shift will practically eliminate loading times.

Sony has also created a new 3D audio engine for more immersive sound, and encouraged viewers of tomorrow’s event to use headphones or good speakers so they can get some idea of those capabilities.

But the real focus of tomorrow’s event will be the showcase of new games expected to launch alongside the console, which will be a key factor for gamers weighing up which new console to buy.

Originally published as PS5 event: Sony PlayStation 5 price, games and specs predictions