Sony reveals new PlayStation details

After confirming a new gen console back in April, fans have finally been given a hint about what is coming.

Sony has revealed details of its new PlayStation game console overnight. Picture: Charly Triballeau / AFP)

Sony has sent PlayStation gamers around the world into shock, confirming the name of its next generation console as the PS5 and giving players a rough release date and a tease of the new controller.

After confirming a new gen console in April 2019, PlayStation confirmed in its blog overnight that its new console would be called PlayStation 5 and it would be launching in “holiday 2020”. So from this, gamers can probably expect that they will be able to get their hands on the PS5 in time for Christmas 2020.

Sony also gave some details about the new controller for the PS5, which looks to have at least two new features.

PlayStation 5 launches holiday 2020. https://t.co/zCTReBOlzm #PS5 pic.twitter.com/MkLVV8geCL

— PlayStationAU (@PlayStationAU) October 8, 2019

The first is haptic feedback to replace the rumble vibration of previous controllers, giving players a broader range of feedback. For example, Sony says that crashing a car in a game will feel different to making a tackle in a sports game.

The second new feature is what Sony is calling adaptive triggers in the L2/R2 buttons, allowing players to “feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain”. According to Sony, these two new features combined will give players a more powerful and realistic gaming experience.

Wired was given an exclusive look at the new controller, saying it looked “an awful lot like the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller” and confirmed that it would also be moving to a USB-C input for charging as well as having a larger battery and improved speakers.

In an interview with Wired, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan and system architect Mark Cerny also gave some new details about the console’s hardware. Clarifying on previous comments, Mr Cerny confirmed that the console would contain ray-tracing acceleration in the GPU hardware to help with “complex lighting and sound effects in 3D environments”.

Here Is The Leaked PlayStation 5 Dev Kit!!!! Most Developers Already Have It!!!!🎮🎮🎮🎮 #PlayStation5 #PlayStation

Credit: @charlieINTEL pic.twitter.com/kTEDHPw0rR

— 4 Gamers Gaming (@4GamersGaming1) October 8, 2019

Sony also confirmed that the new solid state drive (SSD) would drastically improve load speed and efficiency, while games will also take up less space. The PS5 will also use standard 100GB Blu-ray discs — interesting considering the impending rise of video game streaming services.

Can’t wait! pic.twitter.com/sdefDVA2q3

— Matt Hope (@MattHope4) October 8, 2019

After skipping E3 in 2019, where Microsoft gave details of its upcoming new gen console “Project Scarlet”, these details of Sony’s new PlayStation 5 feel long overdue but very welcome. Keep your ears open for more details in the coming months.

Wilson Smith is a video games writer @wilson_smithdt

Originally published as Sony reveals new PlayStation details