The (new) console war is declared. After Microsoft, Sony replied by revealing the price and release date of the PlayStation 5. While it will be necessary to wait until November 19 for the first deliveries in France, pre-orders have been taken by storm.
Price, power, games… The fifth-generation console differs from its predecessors in almost every respect. Discover 10 numbers (and dates) you need to know to be an expert on the new PS5.
17 years
On average, the PlayStation are replaced every 7 years. This does not take into account mid-generation consoles, which sometimes eclipse the original model. This was the case in 2016 when the release of the “Slim” and “Pro” models resulted in the shutdown of the original PS4, launched in 2013.
With more than 100 million units sold, Sony says the PS4 will remain a growth engine until 2022. The Japanese firm can afford to make a smooth transition thanks to a robust machine that remains fully functional in 2020.
2. November 19
Sony has lifted the veil on the PS5’s marketing schedule. The first console deliveries are guaranteed for November 12 in a handful of markets (United States, Canada, Japan, etc.). In France, the lucky ones will be delivered from November 19.
Microsoft is ahead of its Japanese rival, since the first Xbox Series will ship on November 10. Despite the health crisis, the two gaming giants are releasing their consoles in time for the end of the year holiday season, when video game sales are taking off.
3. 499,99 €
The standard PS5 is priced at € 499.99, while the “digital” version without a disc drive (games must be downloaded from PlayStation Store) is € 399.99. They are each accompanied by a controller of the latest generation.
In an interview with the Nikkei, Sony Interactive Entertainment Division CEO Jim Ryan explains that the “€ 399 model could [leur] allow to seduce an occasional audience that[ils] have never been able to touch ”. With this cheaper console, Sony hopes to attract a less fortunate audience, whose appetite for video games has been boosted by the confinement.
4.39 centimeters
39 centimeters is the height of the future PS5. With its XXL measures (390 mm x 104 mm x 260 mm), it becomes the most imposing console in Japanese, far ahead of the PS3. Microsoft is more moderate since its new Xbox Series X is satisfied with a cube 30 cm high for a surface of 15 x 15 cm.
In addition, the new PS5 weighs 4.5 kilograms, which also makes it the heaviest of video game consoles. For comparison, the original PS4 displayed 2.8 kilograms on the scale, which is almost 40% less.
5.100 times faster
Dixit Sony, the new PlayStation 5 is almost 100 times faster than the PS4. The manufacturer has opted for an SSD drive that will improve the user experience “With near-instant load times for installed PS5 ™ games”.
Before the official release of the console, reporter Takashi Mochizuki from Wall Street Journal had published a video comparing the load times of the game “Spider Man” on PS4 Pro and on a PS5 development kit. A spider-man whirlwind took 8.10 seconds on a PS4 Pro compared to… 0.83 seconds on the next-gen console.
6. 99 %
Sony has confirmed that 99% of the PS4’s (thousands) game catalog will work on the new PS5. To all PS5 owners with a PS Plus network subscription, the manufacturer will offer a collection of popular games on PS4. Among them, we can cite hits like “The Last of Us Remastered”, “Uncharted 4”, “God of War” or even “Batman Arkham Knight”.
7. 8K
With an ultra-powerful processor, the PlayStation 5 delivers high-quality graphics, even on 4K TVs. That said, Sony is already anticipating the rise of 8K screens by supporting this resolution via a pixel processing algorithm (upscaling). The rendering will obviously not be at the level of a native 8K image, but it will always be more pleasant to watch.
8. 0.5 Watt
In 2019, Sony announced that it was joining the “Playing for the Planet” program set up by the United Nations (UN) to fight climate change. In this regard, the manufacturer has reduced the power consumption of the new PS5: it now consumes only 0.5 W in standby mode, which is 17x less than the PS4 (8.5 W).
The president of Sony gave a startling figure: “If only a million users activate this feature [mode veille], this would represent a saving equivalent to the average electricity consumption of 1,000 American households ”.
This improvement could therefore have a significant impact if the new console sold as well as the PS4 (110 million copies).
9. 9 000 €
Truly Exquisite, a company specializing in luxury customization unveiled a series of PS5 … in 24 carat gold. This premium console is limited to 250 copies and is sold around € 9,000, depending on the model chosen. The UK company requires a deposit of 50% of the amount to secure the pre-order.
At that price, the company includes the console, two controllers, and a headset.
10. 15 minutes
It only took 15 minutes for the Amazon.fr site to be out of stock for PS5. The American e-commerce giant had deliberately delayed the opening of pre-orders to better manage its stock.
The craze for the new consoles is said to have exceeded all expectations, even as Sony Interactive Entertainment’s CEO Jim Ryan promised a larger stock than when the PS4 was released in 2013. At that time, the Japanese group had indicated to have sold more than a million of its PS4 within 24 hours of their launch on the American market.
Before Amazon, French merchants Cdiscount, Fnac or Micromania were also forced to suspend pre-orders of the new PS5.
In an official statement released days after the presentation, Sony publicly apologized for the chaos surrounding its launch.
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