DualSense

PS5 vs Xbox Series X – The Complete Buyer’s Guide!

PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? Which one is the better Console and which one should you guys get? Well, spoilers, they’re both very good Consoles. You’ll be extremely happy with either of these two.

But, there are quite a few differences that might make you pick one over the other. We did a similar comparison back in March, but that was before we knew the Design of the PS5, or even the Games and Graphics reveals, so there’s tons of new details in this video.

So, without any further ado, here is the ultimate PS5 vs Xbox Series X comparison, covering the Design, Specs, Games, Graphics, Special Features and finally…Price.

Design

Starting off with the Design, the PS5 and the Xbox Series X couldn’t have been more black and white, literally. The Xbox Series X has this very elegant and classy look in all Matte Black. It is bigger and fatter than the Xbox One X, but that’s because of the massive Cooling System that this Console needs. 

In terms of the Ports, we have three USB Type A Ports, all are USB 3.2. We have one on the front and the other two are on the back. In addition, we have a HDMI 2.1 Port, which supports 4K120 as well as 8K60, an Ethernet Port and a Kensington lock so that you can lock your Xbox in place. This is very useful for public spaces, as well as the Expansion Slot for the first party SSD Expansions, which I’ll be covering in just a second. 

The Digital-Only Version of the PS5 is definitely the better looking of the two.

The Digital-Only Version of the PS5 is definitely the better looking of the two.

The PS5 on the other hand, is completely different. First of all, it comes in this really nice Matte White colour, with Glossy Black accents and a blue LED strip which I’m assuming would change its colour based on the different states that your PlayStation can be in, such as Rest Mode, Sleep, Powered-On and so on. Size-wise, the PS5 is gigantic. It is much taller than even the Xbox Series X and also taller than pretty much any Console ever made. It is also said to be very heavy at 4.8kg, however, the PS5 is slimmer than the Xbox. 

When it comes to the Ports, the PS5 features one USB C Port on the front, as well as a USB Type A. We don’t really know any other details and Sony hasn’t shown us the back of the Console just yet. It is safe to assume that it will have an HDMI 2.1 Port, an Ethernet Port, a PSVR 1 Port and likely even a PSVR 2 Port, which will allow the External Receiver for that to be connected. The PSVR 2 will be a completely wireless Headset. Also, I do expect a few more USB A Ports on the back. 

Now, there will be two models of the PS5, a Regular Version and a Digital Only Version, which lacks the Blu-Ray Drive. This Digital Only Version looks much better as it’s perfectly uniform. The Disc Version looks like it has this tumour that grew on its side, it doesn’t look good at all and it’s pretty obvious that when Sony designed the PS5, they designed the Digital Version first as that’s really the future. Speaking of models, there is a rumoured second model of the Xbox Series X just around the corner, this is the Lockhart / Xbox Series S, with this possibly having a very square and boxy design. Personally, I really do like both but I am leaning more towards the Digital Version of the PS5’s Design. Something about it just makes it look more futuristic and high-tech, I’m really into that.

Specs

When it comes to the Specs, both of these Consoles feature an AMD CPU and GPU alongside hardware based Ray-Tracing and a very fast SSD. So, you would assume that these Consoles are identical in terms of the Performance, but that’s not really the case.

The Series X splits its RAM into two chunks, at different speeds.

The Series X splits its RAM into two chunks, at different speeds.

CPU-wise, both feature an AMD Ryzen Processor based on the Zen 2 Architecture. These are basically Desktop class CPU’s that you would find in AMD’s latest offering. They’re both 8-Core Processors, however, the Xbox Series X is clocked at 3.8GHz, while the PS5’s CPU is clocked at 3.5GHz. Not only that, but Sony has confirmed that the PS5’s CPU will be running at a Variable Frequency, meaning that while the Xbox will be running at a constant 3.8GHz, the PS5 can go up to 3.5GHz, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it would run this high all of the time. This was apparently done so that the PS5 has more power to divert to the GPU, when needed. Otherwise, the CPU might consume a ton of power even when the Game itself doesn’t actually require that much. 

On the GPU side, both GPU’s are based on AMD’s new Navi/RDNA 2.0 Architecture, which isn’t even out for PC yet. The Xbox GPU has 52 Compute Units, or “Cores” that each clocked at 1.825GHz, while the PS5 has 36 Compute Units, clocked at 2.23GHz. This translates to the Xbox having 12.15 TFLOPS of GPU Compute Power, while the PS5 has 10.28 TFLOPS. That’s a 1.87 TFLOP difference. Fun fact, the difference between the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X was 1.8 TFLOPS, so this is quite significant. 

RAM wise, both have 16GB of GDDR6 Memory, but they’re both using it in a fairly different way. For example, the PS5 has a 448GB/s Memory Bandwidth for the entire 16GB chunk. The Xbox, on the other hand, has 560GB/s but only for 10GB, while the other 6GB are running at a slower 336GB/s. 

At this point, it seems like the Xbox Series X is superior, Performance wise, to the PS5, which is indeed correct. However, the PS5 does have one big advantage when it comes to the Storage. Both Consoles now have a Flash Storage Module, or an SSD, compared to the mechanical HDD’s that the current-gen Consoles have.

Microsoft have Proprietary Drives, but the PS5 allows Third-Party Support.

Microsoft have Proprietary Drives, but the PS5 allows Third-Party Support.

The Xbox Series X comes with a 1TB SSD, while the PS5 comes with a 825GB SSD. But, while the Xbox’s SSD has a read speed of 2.4GB/s, almost 50 times faster than what the Xbox One, the PS5’s SSD has a read speed of 5.5GB/s, 110 times faster than the PS4 and Xbox One’s Drive. I’ll go into more detail about why this is important when we get to the Graphics section of this video.

Now, with both of these Consoles, you will be able to expand the Storage if you really need to. On the Xbox, Microsoft will be selling Drives that they’ve developed in partnership with Seagate, which will allow you to add one extra Terabyte to the Console. 

Sony won’t be selling any first party SSD, instead, you will be able to buy any third party m.2 Drive and replace the Internal Storage with that. However, it will need to have at least the speeds of the Internal Drive. As of right now, there are no Drives that even match that speed. 

You can indeed connect External HDD’s to both of these Consoles, but you would not be able to play any next-gen Games from those as they’re simply way too slow. You can store your current-gen Games on those, which will be playable on both of these Consoles. 

Games

But the specs really don’t mean anything if there are no great games to take full use of them. So, what games are we getting for each Console? Well, this is where the biggest differences between these two Consoles really show.

‘Horizon: Forbidden West’ is just one of the many AAA Exclusives that Sony will have before there are any on the Series X (Source: Sony).

‘Horizon: Forbidden West’ is just one of the many AAA Exclusives that Sony will have before there are any on the Series X (Source: Sony).

On the PS5, you will have Exclusive Games. So, just like with the PS4 now, all new games made by Sony studios will only work on the PS5. That means that the next ‘Spider-Man’, the next ‘Horizon’, the next ‘God of War ‘and so on. The good news is that those games will look absolutely incredible and truly next-gen. The bad news is that you need to buy a PS5.

When it comes to the Xbox, things are entirely different. Microsoft says that for the first two years, there will be no Exclusives at all on the Xbox Series X. This means that any new Game that you will buy for the Xbox will work on the Series X, the Xbox One X, the Xbox One S, the Xbox One as well as on any Windows PC. So, the great news here is that you don’t really have to buy the Xbox Series X to take advantage of the new Games. The bad news however, is that the Games will not look as good as the Exclusives will on the PS5. There’ll be more about that when it comes to the Graphics. 

Graphics

So now, which Console will have better Graphics? This is also really tricky.

If you’re into cross-platform Games, such as ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Fortnite’, ‘Minecraft’, ‘Overwatch’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ or basically anything that works on both Playstation and Xbox, those Games will run better on the Xbox. Most of these Developers have already confirmed that the Xbox Series X will run their Games at a higher Resolution and higher Frame-Rates. In fact, Microsoft is aiming for a full Native 4K experience at least 60 FPS, with some Games even targeting 120 FPS. 

Footage from ‘Halo Infinite’ did not showcase the best of what the Series X can offer (Source: Xbox).

Footage from ‘Halo Infinite’ did not showcase the best of what the Series X can offer (Source: Xbox).

Sony, on the other hand, hasn’t really confirmed that they’re even targeting 60 FPS. Insomniac Games for example, the Developer of the next ‘Spider-Man’ Game, have confirmed that ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ will have a 60 FPS Mode. But, their Tweet is a bit strange and it sort of implies that you’ll have to choose between 4K and 60 FPS or if you want 60 FPS, you’ll need to have some graphical options disabled. 

Since the PS5 will indeed have Exclusives at launch, these games will indeed look true next-gen, while the launch Games on the Xbox Series X, since these are cross platform/non-exclusives Games, will just look like the current-gen in higher Resolution and at a higher Frame Rate.

Take a look at ‘Halo Infinite’, which we just got a gameplay reveal for last week. The game looks decent, it runs in Native 4K60 but the Graphics themselves just look like current-gen. Take a look at the Grass and the Lighting, now compare it to, let’s say, ‘The Last of Us: Part 2’ or ‘Ghost of Tsushima’. In these games, the Foliage Density is significantly higher. Not only that, but in ‘The Last of Us: Part 2’, you can even interact with the foliage to the point where you can bump into a Pine Tree and you’ll see the snow fall off of it. Also, pay attention to the Lighting and compare both of these to how it looks in Halo Infinite. Also, keep in mind that ’The Last of Us: Part 2’ and ‘Ghost of Tsushima’ are PS4 games, ‘Halo Infinite’ is a next-gen title.

Long story short, when you develop a Game, you have to develop it on the weakest common denominator and then let the more powerful hardware run that same Game at a higher Resolution and Frame-Rate.

Otherwise, if you develop the Lighting and the Physics on a higher-end Platform, porting that down is going to be incredibly difficult. For example, ‘Halo Infinite’ was developed on the Xbox One and then ported onto the Xbox One X, the Series X and then onto PC.

For a PS4 Game, ‘The Last of Us: Part 2’ looked truly next-gen (Source: Sony).

For a PS4 Game, ‘The Last of Us: Part 2’ looked truly next-gen (Source: Sony).

Luckily, Microsoft has also shown a few Games developed on the Series X, which would not work on the Xbox One at all, just the Series X and PC.  Those games were the new ‘Fable’, ‘State of Decay 3’, ‘Forza Motorsport 8’ and a few more. Finally, these definitely looked like next-gen Games.  Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t said when we’ll get these Games, but it seems like they will all come out after those first two years as again, these Games will now be “Exclusives” rather than Games that also work on the Xbox One series, in order to take full advantage of the hardware inside the Series X. 

So, at launch, cross platform Games will look better on the Xbox One X, while Exclusives will look better on the PS5 as the Xbox won’t actually have any until two years after launch. We don’t yet know to what extent cross platform Games run better on the Series X just yet, this is because the PS5 does indeed have that much faster SSD. If we take a look at ‘Star Citizen’, a Game that is actually a PC Exclusive, it has been fully optimised with SSD’s in mind and if you have an m.2 Flash Storage Module for example, that game can run at up to 20 FPS higher than if you were running the same Game, on the same platform, with the same specs, but on a HDD.

The speed difference between a HDD and a standard 2GB/s m.2 Flash Module is a factor of 40x. The speed difference between the PS5’s SSD and the Xbox SSD is only about 2x. This is not enough to give us 20 FPS or anything like that on the PS5, but likely something that can make this Performance gap between these two Consoles, look smaller.

Special Features

So what about the Special Features? Is there anything unique in terms of each Console that might make you pick one, over the other? Well, the Controllers are a pretty big difference here. 

The Xbox Series X Controller looks almost identical to the Xbox One X Controller, which is not necessarily a bad thing as that Controller was regarded by many as the best Controller on the market. This has been improved this time by adding a Dynamic Latency Input which is supposed to significantly reduce the Input Lag, making this Controller likely the best  choice if you’re into competitive gaming. 

Microsoft have very much taken the approach of ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’.

Microsoft have very much taken the approach of ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’.

However, the PS5’s Controller is a complete redesign. Not only that, but it also implements a Touch-Bar and Haptics Support similar to what we have on modern Smartphones, just on steroids. This will give you the ability to feel different surfaces in a Game, I’m really curious to see how well it works.

The Xbox Series X though, has a massive advantage in terms of Backwards Compatibility. It allows you to play Xbox One, Xbox 360 and even original Xbox Games, while the PS5 will only allow you to play PS4 games with the DualShock 4. Also, the Xbox does feature the Xbox Game Pass, which lets you play a selection of Games via a monthly subscription, which is pretty amazing if you just want to try some Games out. Sony does have PlayStation Now, which is also a monthly subscription, but this one streams Games rather than downloading them, so the quality is affected here. Some Games can indeed be downloaded though, but only a few. 

However, one big advantage to the PlayStation could be the new 3D Audio Engine. This is a hardware-based engine, which will immerse you significantly more into a Game by giving you 7.1 Surround Sound in all PS5 Games. 

Price 

And finally, let’s talk about the price. So the prices have not been revealed as of yet, which means that the prices that I’m going to give you are based on leaks from some reliable sources. 

The PS5 is said to start at $400 for the Digital Version and $500 for the Disk Version. The Xbox Series X is said to start at $500, but we’ve also seen reports that Microsoft will also launch another Xbox, the Xbox Series S, which would start at around $300. However, the Series S will be considerably less powerful than the Xbox Series X, whereas both versions of the PS5 are identical in Performance. 

PS5 – Major Controller Updates, Pre-Orders, Price & More!

We’ve had some major PS5 updates over the past week, ranging from the first hands-on video with the DualSense Controller, to Pre-Order Updates, Performance Updates, Games, Graphics and so much more. So, get those snacks ready and here’s everything new in terms of the PS5!

Pre-Orders 

First things first, there were a ton of rumors that the PS5 Pre-Orders would start as soon as possible. These were mostly coming from Twitter leaker ‘IronManPS5’, previously known as ‘PSERebus’, who’s actually been very accurate in the past. He started tweeting that the PS5 Pre-Orders would start on Monday, 13th July. This, unfortunately, did not happen.

We then heard the news that the PS5 Controller would get a hands-on look on Friday, 17th July, and that that would also be when the Pre-Orders would start. That did not happen either. But luckily, in that hands-on video/interview that Geoff Keighley had with Eric Lempel, the Global Head Marketing of PlayStation, Eric debunked those Pre-Order rumors as false. He said that Sony will let their customers know, ahead of time, when the Pre-Orders would start. They wouldn’t just start out of the blue and catch everyone by surprise, which is the good news.

A more strict & direct approach from Sony, with the Pre-Orders.

A more strict & direct approach from Sony, with the Pre-Orders.

The bad news, or maybe this is actually good news as well, is that we now have confirmation that you would only be allowed to buy one PS5 per household as the stock would be quite low at launch. This was found by a Reddit user who was browsing the web page source code on ‘direct.playstation.com'. It seems that when you’ll try to add another PS5, you’ll get an error message saying that you can only purchase one Console. Now, in that code, it is revealed that Sony will also be adding labels on certain PS4 products that would be PS5 compatible, this includes Games and likely some PS4 Accessories as well. 

Speaking of Labels, we actually got to see the PS5 label that would be on Game Cases, the top left label that we’ve had on PS4 & PS3 Game-Cases and so on. For the first time, with the PS5, the Label is black & white, so no more Blue PS5 Logo or anything like that. Sony seems to have fully embraced the white & black colour scheme that they’ve introduced on the PS5 Console and the PS5 Controller. I do love the minimalist look they’ve gone for.

Finally, seen as how we’re talking about Pre-Orders and Boxes, both Nikkei and Bloomberg report that Sony is increasing the PlayStation 5 manufacturing by around 50% with aims of reaching 10 million units by the end of 2020. Just to give you guys an idea, the PS4 sold 4.2 million units in 2013. The PS4 was released on November the 15th, which is around the same rumoured released date that the PS5 is said to come out. 

The Gaming Community has increased significantly since 2013 and considering the price of the PS5, I do expect loads of users wanting to upgrade to the new Console. I don’t see twice the number of units sold as launch, compared to the PS4, I think that’s a bit too optimistic. But, if Sony manages to manufacture 10 million units of the PS5, that would solve the entire stock issue at launch.

Price 

Now, let’s talk about the price, ‘IronManPS5’ tweeted the full prices for not just the PS5 itself, but also the prices for the Accessories. Even though he was wrong in terms of the Pre-Orders, he was right in the past, numerous times. So, even if his price leaks are not 100% correct, they should at least be very close to the final retail prices. 

He says that the PS5 will cost $500, €500 or £450 in the UK. The PS4 Pro was priced at $400, the PS4 was also priced at $400, whereas the PS3 was priced at $500. This might seem like a lot, But do keep in mind that unlike a Smartphone, which can cost way over $1,000 and only used for two years or so, you would actually end up using a Console for a lot longer. This will probably be around five years or even more, which means that the $500 would be split into something like $100 a year, compared to $500 a year, which is what a high-end Smartphone would cost you.

The Digital Only PS5 may only come in at £350.

The Digital Only PS5 may only come in at £350.

This $500 is just for the regular PS5, here will also be a ‘disk-less’ / Digital Only version of the PS5, which is said to cost $400, €400 or £350, the same price as the PS4. The only reason why you would get the more expensive PS5 is if you have any disk-based PS4 Games that you still want to play on the PS5. I do have a few disk Games, but I bought all of those when the PS4 came out, then I started moving towards Digital Games. Those old games that I got on disk can always just be bought again from the PlayStation Store as they’ve gotten so inexpensive now. I personally think that I would be going with the Digital Only version, especially since I really do prefer the way it looks.

The DualSense Controller is said to be $60, €60 or £55. The Charging Station for these Controller, which can charge two of them at the same time, that’s said to cost $30, €30 or £25. The PS5 Media Remote will also have the same price. The PS5 HD Camera is said to cost $60, €60 or £55 and finally, the Pulse 3D Wireless Headset will apparently cost $160, €180 or £130. I would say that these are some very good prices, for both the Consoles and the Accessories. 

Controller Update 

Now it’s time for the big one, the Controller.

As I mentioned before, Geoff Keighley, who’s pretty well known in the Gaming Industry, was the very first person outside of Sony themselves and the Developers, who has laid his hands on the PS5 Controller. The first thing I took from the full video and interview with PlayStation’s Eric Lempel, was the actual size of the Controller.

We’ve seen some alleged leaked images of the DualSense, where it looked gigantic, but now Geoff has showed us a side-by-side image against the PS4’s DualShock Controller. While the DualSense is indeed larger than the DualShock 4, it is not significantly larger. Realistically, the size and the weight should in fact make it more comfortable than the DualShock 4 was, at least this is what Sony is saying.

The first ‘hands-on’ clip with the DualSense revealed it’s not quite as unwieldy as we may have first thought.

The first ‘hands-on’ clip with the DualSense revealed it’s not quite as unwieldy as we may have first thought.

We also got to see the bottom of the Controller for the very first time, which was something that for some strange reason, Sony has avoided showing. This made me think that maybe it was because Sony added two customisable Buttons there, just like the Back-Button Attachment on the DualShock 4. But now that we finally got to see the bottom of it, there are no Buttons at all, just a sticker.

Geoff also mentioned that the Speaker on the DualSense had a wider range of sound, compared to the DualShock 4 Speaker and also the fact that the Controller had a nice hefty weight to it. The game that he got to test was Astro’s Playroom, which is a spin-off from the PSVR’s highly praised AstroBot VR game, just in non-VR this time. The game lets you fully explore the functionality of the Controller, test out the Haptic Feedback, the Touchpad, the Adaptive Triggers and so on. He mentioned how cool the Triggers felt now that the Game Developers could actually implement different levels of pressure in them so that when you draw a Bow, it would feel entirely different from when you would fire a Gun. I can’t wait to try this.

I was expecting Geoff to be blown away by the Haptics or at least talk more about them. He did mention how realistic the game feels but I was just expecting him to praise the Haptic Touch a bit more.

Speaking of Astro, I’m assuming that Geoff was indeed playing this on a PS5 unit, which means that he also got to experience the PS5 to some extent but he didn’t talk about that at all here. However, Eric, PlayStation’s Global Head of Marketing, did talk a bit about the PS5 itself. Aside from the Pre-Order news that I mentioned before, he did talk about how Sony believes in Console Generations and Console Exclusives.

Games 

This was in contrast to Microsoft, who will be enforcing Cross-Generation Compatibility for Games. So, any Games developed for the Xbox Series X, at least for the next two years, will also need to run on the Xbox One X as well as the Xbox One. I’ll talk about this more, in a separate video, so do Subscribe and enable Notifications for that. 

But until then, Eric made a good point here, saying that Games such as ‘Ratchet & Clank – Rift Apart’, would not even be technically possible on previous Consoles at all. This is because in this game, which is a PS5 Exclusive, you can instantly travel through different dimensions and take the fights from one dimension to another, which is only achievable thanks to the PS5’s insanely fast SSD, which is more than 100 times faster than the PS4’s Hard-Drive. Making this game run on the PS4 would involve changing the Gameplay and the Story of the Game.

‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ was not fully developed on the PS5, which may explain some of the apparent compromises (Credit: PlayStation).

‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ was not fully developed on the PS5, which may explain some of the apparent compromises (Credit: PlayStation).

Not only that, but if you make the game for the PS4 first, which you would do in a down-up development cycle and is how most Games are made, you would not be able to implement such ground breaking features.  Again, more about this in a separate video, but Eric does have a very good point. This is why the next PlayStation exclusive games to launch, such as ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’, ‘Ratchet & Clank -  Rift Apart’, ‘Horizon: Forbidden West’ and many more will only run on the PS5.

Speaking of Games, Insomniac games have confirmed that ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ would run at 60FPS on the PS5, sort of. They said that you would get to choose between a 4K Mode and a Performance Mode with 60FPS.

So, here’s the thing, we were all hoping that this Console generation would finally be a 60FPS generation. Microsoft have already confirmed that their standard would be 60FPS for Games and even 120FPS in some cases. We’ve seen some rumors that Sony was planning to do the same in all of the Games to be released for the PS5. However, judging by what Insomniac has said, it seems like while you can indeed play Spider-Man Miles Morales in 60FPS, you would have to downgrade a few graphical settings and apparently, the Resolution too.

Now, we don’t really know what these downgrades would be as of yet, but I would say that in the best case scenario, we can turn off Ray-Tracing to enable 60FPS. In the worst case scenario, not only will Ray-Tracing be disabled for 60FPS, but the Resolution would also be dropped to 1440p, or even 1080p, and then dynamically upscaled to 4K. Judging from Insomniac’s message, it is looking quite likely that we will have some drop in Resolution as well. 

Now, the good news is that ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ wasn’t fully developed on the PS5. It’s still using the same engine as the 2018 ‘Spider-Man’, just modified to take better advantage of the PS5. It will be only when games such as ‘Horizon: Forbidden West’ or the next ‘God of War’ come out, games which have been fully developed on the PS5 from scratch, that we might see 60FPS as a default on the highest possible settings.

For a start, it seems that Sony would be focusing on the highest possible Graphics first, and then the Frame-Rate. To be honest, even-though I’m personally disappointed in this decision, games such as ‘Last of Us: Part 2’ look absolutely breath-taking on the PS4 Pro, it honestly looked as if I was playing a PS5 game, it looked that good. So, I cannot wait to see what Sony has in store next.

If you look closely, you can still see a little bit of blue on the left-hand image (Credit: PlayStation Lifestyle).

If you look closely, you can still see a little bit of blue on the left-hand image (Credit: PlayStation Lifestyle).

Speaking of that, we actually had a recent leak from what seems to be a retailer that was listing a few Sony products. One of those products is a Black PS5 and a Black Controller with both having a red LED light, as opposed to the standard blue LED light that the White PS5 has. Now, we have heard many rumors that Sony is indeed working on different colour schemes for the PS5, one of them being black, so this could indeed be the real thing. I would expect Sony to give us an update on the colours as the pre-orders open. 

Personally, I do think that this image is fake. It does look very photoshopped, not even to mention errors such as the back of the Controller still being white, or the red light still having a blue glow on the Console. This is definitely fake. Regardless of that being fake, we’ve actually modelled our very own concept of the PS5, in black, and I’m definitely team Matte Black. I would definitely go for this option, should Sony give us the option at launch.

You can of course change the colour of the LED bar on the PS4, kind of. This was done by the system itself, based on the games. I’m hoping that with the PS5, we would also have the option to have custom colours, that would be quite cool!

PS5 (2020) - Everything You Need to Know!

So, just like that, Sony has showed us the actual design of the PS5, alongside a ton of games. Now that we know what it will look like, what games it will play and how well it would run those games, here are my thoughts on the PS5. This will be covering everything that Sony has talked about so far and why I’m really looking forward to the PS5.

Grab some snacks, and enjoy! 

PS5 Design

Number one probably sounds a bit lame because it is really the least important part of a Games Console, which is the Design.

Sony has had two major PS5 events, the first one being in March where Mark Cerny, the PS5’s Lead System Architect, talked about the specs and how the entire system was built. The second big event was just last week, when Sony revealed the full design of the PS5.

We’ve made a number of concepts of how we imagined the PS5 would look. We were also the first ones in the world to reveal an actual photo of the PS5’s DevKit, back in October 2019. I know that there are already a bunch of memes floating around but, I actually really like this Design. It kind of reminds me of Eve, from Wall-E. It’s got that very futuristic and minimalistic look to it, with that Glossy Black middle and then the two Matte White slabs surrounding it. You might remember me saying that the Panda Pixel 2 XL was my favourite colour scheme on any Smartphone and this is pretty much the same. You could say it’s the Playstation 5: Storm-Trooper Edition, I love it!

Compared to the Xbox Series X, the Xbox has a more mature and classic look, which some may prefer. I like both actually, but I just think that the PS5 would look a bit more interesting and futuristic in my Living-Room, whilst the Xbox would just blend in better. Also, a few people have calculated the actual size of the PS5, based on the Disk-Drive size and the USB Port, and it turns out that it’s actually massive. It dwarfs the PS4 Pro, the Xbox One X and even the Xbox Series X. This makes it, I believe, the tallest Games Console ever made.

This is how the PS5 stacks up to its predecessors & main competitor (Credit: The Verge).

This is how the PS5 stacks up to its predecessors & main competitor (Credit: The Verge).

Now, the Xbox is more of like a box, so it is fatter than the PS5, which is tall and thin. The good news is that you can indeed use the PS5 on its side as well, which would make it look even weirder. In a way it kind of resembles our latest concept, on its side. But you can use it in any Orientation that you wish, just like you can with the Xbox.

Something that I was really not expecting to see with the PS5, is more than one model. We’ve heard the rumors that Microsoft is planning at least two models of the Xbox Series X, with Lockhart and Scarlett, but unlike the Xbox, the PS5 will have two models that would have identical performance between them. The only difference is that the less expensive one does not have a Blu-Ray Drive in it, which in my opinion also makes it look so much better and so much more uniform.

Here’s something that I want to clarify, just because of how insanely fast that SSD is, you would not be playing any games from the Disk Drive. They would just be there for the sake of you not having to download the actual games. In some cases, maybe Game Developers would store some game assets there, but I don’t even see that being the case as the speed of the Blu-Ray Disk Drive is 27MB/s, compared to the 9000MB/s or so that the SSD inside the PS5 is said to be. So, in this case, the only reason why anyone should get the disk-version of the PS5 is if you really want to play your old PS4 games and you have those games on disk. That’s literally the only reason. 

Now, just a few more things that I want to cover here. I do love the blue LED light-strip that Sony has added towards the top of the PS5, I think it looks gorgeous and we can also see the Ports now. It seems like on the front we get a USB A and a USB C Port, alongside what looks to be two physical Buttons, likely the Power Button and the Disk-Eject Button, on the model that has a Disk Drive. The other one seems to be lacking this second Button. Unfortunately, Sony hasn’t showed us any photos of the sides or the back, so we don’t know what Ports we’ll have there, but at least when it comes to the front, easily accessible Ports, both USB C and USB A are there.

Sony has also released a teaser trailer of the PS5’s UI and they said that it will be completely re-imagined and that no single Pixel will be left untouched. I really do hope that they don’t change it too much as the PS4’s UI was already regarded as the very best. It was easy to navigate and very easy to understand. I just hope that they don’t ruin that for the sake of redesigning it. 

Controller

The second thing that I’m really looking forward to, is the brand new Controller.

You see, rather than Sony calling this the DualShock 5, they decided to go for a brand new name, the DualSense. There’s actually a very good reason for this name. The main feature of this new Controller, aside from the new Design that I’ll cover in just a minute, is that it has a full Haptic Engine built into it.

We can’t wait to get our hands on this… literally (Credit: PlayStation)

We can’t wait to get our hands on this… literally (Credit: PlayStation)

On high-end Smartphones, like the iPhone 11, Pixel 4, Galaxy S20’s and many more, you get a Haptic Engine which gives you the impression that the Buttons that you see on the screen are actual physical Buttons that you can actually feel. The new DualSense controller now does just that. It can apparently mimic the feel of sand, grass, water, dirt and more, immersing you so much more into the game. The Haptic Engine on Smartphones today are already incredible, so having an even better Haptic Engine in a device such as a game Controller should definitely be game-changing.

Sony also added Adaptive Triggers to this Controller, meaning that the Triggers would provide you with a different level of resistance based on what you’re doing in a game. This way, weapons in Modern Warfare for example, would actually feel very different and in combination with the Haptic Engine, they should feel closer to firing a real weapon.

We also have a USB C Port, which not only means that you can use any charger to charge this Controller, but you’ll also be able to use an external Battery Bank. We now have a built-in Microphone, so that you can chat with your friends without the need to plug in Headphones, which of course can still be plugged in using the dedicated 3.5mm Headphone Jack. We still have a built-in Speaker as well. We also have a brand new Magnetic Connector for adding Accessories, possibly that Back Button Attachment, which should be launching at some point.

Finally, there’s the Touchpad in the middle, pretty much the same Buttons as before, just renamed, and then the dual-tone black and white design, which resembles the Design of the actual PS5 Console.

Accessories

The next thing that I’m really looking forward to, are the Accessories.

Aside from the Console and the Controller, Sony has also teased a few of the Accessories that you can purchase to go with your PS5. There’s a DualSense Charging Station, which allows you to charge two DualSense Controllers at the same time using that proprietary Magnetic Charging Port on the bottom, so no need to fiddle around with cables.

3D Audio has been something that Sony has mentioned a lot with the PS5, so this headset will be the best way to experience it at launch. (Credit: PlayStation)

3D Audio has been something that Sony has mentioned a lot with the PS5, so this headset will be the best way to experience it at launch. (Credit: PlayStation)

We also have a brand new HD Camera, which interestingly enough does have two Camera Modules. This makes me think that this would be used for the PSVR Tracking as well, or at least for some 3D functionality to some extent.

We also have one new Wireless Headset, the Pulse 3D, which would be the best way for you to experience 3D Audio on the PS5. Up until now, Sony has had a few models of their own Playstation Headsets, this time it seems like they only want to have one model, which I’m totally for.

Sony is also adding a new Media Remote as an Accessory, which will allow you to control and use the PS5 just like you would use a Smart TV Box. From the looks of it, it seems that it has four Buttons that look like they can be remapped into possibly any App that you want, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime video and so on. 

I’m pretty sure that even more Accessories will be added in the near future. There’s a new PSVR coming out in 2021, which will be a pretty big deal and we’ll likely see more colours of the Controller and possibly even the PS5 itself, not too long into the distant future either. 

Specs

Right, now onto the good stuff, the Performance. The PS5 is a gigantic leap in Performance over the PS4 and even the PS4 Pro.

In terms of the CPU, it comes with a Desktop Class AMD Processor, based on the Zen2 Architecture. We have an Eight-Core CPU at 3.5GHz, which is just light-years more powerful than the old Jaguar Architecture that we got in the PS4.

With the GPU, we get AMD’s brand new Navi 2 Architecture, which isn’t even out for PC at the moment. The GPU offers 10.28 TFLOPS in GPU Compute Power, making it 5.58 times more powerful than the PS4’s GPU and 2.44 times more powerful than the PS4 Pro’s GPU. If those numbers don’t seem high enough, in reality they’re actually even higher as RDNA with ‘X’ amount of TFLOPS is actually significantly more powerful than what it would be on GCN, with that same amount of TFLOPS.

The SSD is sure to be one of the PS5’s biggest advantages over the Xbox Series X, those numbers are just ridiculous. (Credit: PlayStation)

The SSD is sure to be one of the PS5’s biggest advantages over the Xbox Series X, those numbers are just ridiculous. (Credit: PlayStation)

I’m not going to go into a super amount of detail into the specs as I’ve already covered those in a previous video, but what you need to know for now is that the CPU, in combination with the GPU, will give us true 4K gaming at 60FPS with support of up to 120FPS , as well as 8K support too. Not only that, but we’ll get things such as Ray Tracing support for extremely realistic shadows and insanely detailed 8K textures in games that would look like real-life photos. We’re also going to get 3D Audio on a hardware level, which when combined with that new Pulse 3D Headset, should give you the most immersive audio experience in gaming yet.

Epic Games has demoed their brand new Unreal Engine 5, running in real time on the PS5. Here we saw some of the most amazing graphics ever on a Console or even PC. However, this new Unreal Engine 5, which is launching in 2021, will also run on Xbox and PC as well. So, those graphics are coming to the other platforms, not just the PS5.

Performance-wise, the Xbox Series X is superior to the PS5, there’s been quite a few Developers that are currently working on games for both Consoles that have said that. However, the PS5 is much easier to develop games for and also has a much faster SSD with up to 9GB/s Compressed, when compared to 2.4GB/s that the Xbox Series X will have. The PS4 had a HDD with a Transfer Speed of around 50MB/s, so the SSD inside the PS5 is 180 times faster!

This allows for zero loading times in games and more importantly, the ability to change the game’s Design based on the SSD speed entirely. For example, in Spider-Man you have to take the Metro when you’re fast-traveling. On the PS5, that option could be removed entirely and you could also jump inside of buildings instantly, without having to transition to a loading screen just to load the assets. So, this is where the biggest advantages to the PS5 are, the SSD and the Controller.

And of course, there’s the games!

Games 

In terms of the games, what you need to know is that all of your PS4 games will work with the PS5.  If you do have the ‘Digital Only’ Version of the PS5, you might have to re-purchase the disk games that you had, Sony hasn’t confirmed this but it is very likely that this will be the case. However, if you have the Blu-Ray Disk Drive version of the PS5, you will be able to just slot in a PS4 disk and play it on the PS5.

Now, aside from just playing PS4 games, most of those PS4 games will also run much better as the PS5 will feature a Boost Mode. Essentially, the PS5’s GPU has a PS4 GPU built into it, this is how it can natively run PS4 games. However, it can also increase the clock-speeds of that GPU above of what the PS4 could do, which is what Boost Mode is. This means that you will get higher Frame-Rates as well as increased Resolution for your PS4 games. If Developers also release a patch, we would even get PS5 specific features that would take advantage of that SSD and that extra Performance.

Ok, but what about PS5 exclusive games? Well, unlike Microsoft, who will not have any exclusive games on the Xbox for at least the next two years, Sony will. In fact, most of the games that they have announced are PS5 exclusives and that’s actually a very good thing. It means that they are all fully optimised for the PS5’s hardware, rather than having to make compromises in order to support older systems as well. The first game that they showed was Gran Turismo 7, with full Ray-Tracing support and running in 4K at 60FPS. At least this is what the video itself was encoded at. The graphics looked good but I wouldn’t necessarily say that they looked completely mind blowing. Still, I’m pretty excited to see this game in person.

‘Horizon 2: Forbidden West’ & ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ were a couple of our personal favourites, although GTA V received a less than welcome reception. (Credit: PlayStation)

‘Horizon 2: Forbidden West’ & ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ were a couple of our personal favourites, although GTA V received a less than welcome reception. (Credit: PlayStation)

We then got a preview of the next Ratchet & Clank game, this looked like a Disney film, it looked like true next-gen. The unique thing about this game is that you can jump into a rift and get instantly teleported into a new world, a new dimension, with all assets being loaded instantly. There’s basically no loading time at all. This is why having this game run on the PS4 would be impossible without having to re-design the game-play element of it. The PS4 would not be able to load those assets that quickly.

GTA 5 was also announced and this seems to be a re-master of the PS4 re-master. The trailer has a ton of dislikes and I can definitely see why. This was already going to be supported on the PS5, thanks to Backwards Compatibility. All this is basically just a patch to increase the Resolution and Frame-Rate with a few high Resolution textures being added. However, it seems to be a much smaller change than what the PS4 version was to the PS3, as Rockstar hasn’t really shown us any side by side comparisons. The trailer that they uploaded was in 1080p, so I do understand why these dislikes are here.

There is a new Spider-Man game coming though, this is called ‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’, which apparently is a standalone game and not an expansion. It is, however, in the same universe as the 2018 Spider-Man game and apparently this is coming out by the end of the year. It will be one of the first games to be released on the PS5. The graphics looked good but again, they didn’t look as good as the Unreal 5 Engine demo, they just looked to be at a higher Resolution with higher textures and effects quality. Also, for some reason, this trailer was in 4K but only at 30FPS, which I really hope isn’t the case for the final game. 60FPS is really the target for this generation of Consoles and if there’s a game that needs 60FPS a lot, that’s definitely Spider-Man.

Finally, the game that wowed me the most was definitely the new Horizon game - ‘Horizon 2: Forbidden West’ and this is where we can see true next-gen graphics on the PS5. It’s a pretty big leap over the already incredible looking Horizon Zero Dawn, but unfortunately we do not have a release date for that just yet.

Of course, these are just the very first games of this generation. Future games will utilise the hardware even better and they will deliver some even more outstanding graphics, these are very likely to include: GTA 6, Spider-Man 2, the next God of War and so on. 

The PS5 - Finally Revealed!

So…here it is.

We have finally got our first look at the PlayStation 5, nearly 6 months after Xbox first showed us the Xbox Series X at last years’ Game Awards. Sony has certainly kept us waiting and they left it right to the very end of their 75 minute showcase to reveal the final design, although there were a few teasers scattered between the Trailers.

We’ve linked the main event above but if you want to check out the entire livestream, check out the official PlayStation YouTube channel for Gameplay & Trailers for games including:

Screenshot 2020-06-12 at 14.37.50.png

  • GTA V - PS5 Edition

  • Spider-Man - Miles Morales

  • Gran Turismo 7

  • Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

  • Project Athia

  • Stray

  • Returnal

  • Sackboy

  • Destruction Allstars

  • Kena

  • Goodbye Volcano High

  • Oddworld: Soulstorm

  • Ghostwire Tokyo

  • JETT: The Far Shore

  • Godfall

  • Solar Ash

  • Astro’s Playroom

  • Bugsnax

  • Demon Souls

  • DEATHLOOP

  • Resident Evil 8: Village

  • Pragmata

  • Horizon: Forbidden West

We also saw two separate models of the PS5, a standard model with a 4K Blu-Ray Drive and a Digital Edition, without any form of Disk Drive at all. We still don’t have word on a price for either model or an exact release date, but one thing that we certainly know is that this is going to be big, in every sense of the word.

We’ll have a video up on the channel next week, so make sure you’re Subscribed and have that Notification Bell turned on so you don’t miss it!

PS5 (2020) DualSense Controller - This Will Change Everything!

Sony has introduced their brand new PlayStation 5 Controller. However, it’s not actually called the DualShock 5, like we all expected, but instead it is called… the DualSense.

We got hundreds of requests to make a video covering it. So, here are not just my thoughts on the PS5 controller, but also how it compares against all the previous Controllers that Sony has ever released. Without any further ado, here is the history of the PlayStation Controller. 

PlayStation 1 Controller

Originally released back in 1994, the Playstation 1 Controller was the very first Gamepad that Sony ever released and they bundled this with the original PlayStation.

Something about this just doesn’t look right.

Something about this just doesn’t look right.

It was based on the Nintendo Super NES Controller’s design, featuring four Directional Buttons as well as four Action Buttons, but instead of Sony using letters for their Action Buttons, they decided to use shapes. The ‘X’ would represent a ‘Yes’, the ‘O’ would represent a ‘No’, The ‘Square’ would represent a sheet of paper and was originally designed for being the Info Button in games, and the ‘Triangle’ represented the Point of View (or Dialogue) Button. However, unlike Nintendo’s Super NES Controller, Sony decided to add a second pair of Shoulder Buttons (L1, L2, R1 & R2). Fun fact, the US variant of the PS1 Controller was 10% larger to account for the larger hands that the average American has, compared to the average Japanese person.

Dual Analog Controller

The Dual Analog Controller took the shape that were are all now very familiar with.

The Dual Analog Controller took the shape that were are all now very familiar with.

Now, you might have noticed that something was missing from the original PS1 Controller, those were the Joysticks. Well, they were actually only added in 1997, three years later, when Sony introduced the new Dual Analog Controller. This was, for a most part, just a PS1 Controller with Dual Joysticks added to it for “more refined controls in games”, according to Sony. The Shoulder Buttons were now larger, especially the R2 & L2 Buttons. More importantly, Sony also added an Analog Button, which was used to switch between different modes. 

There were three modes that this Controller had. There was Digital Mode, which disabled the Joysticks, Analog Mode, which enabled the Joysticks, and then finally we had the Analog Joystick Mode, which emulated Sony’s separate Analog ‘Flight-Stick’ accessory. The Dual Analog Controller was indeed a pretty big upgrade and really the first ever upgrade we got in a Sony Controller.

DualShock

The DualShock 1 added those famous Vibration Motors.

The DualShock 1 added those famous Vibration Motors.

In November of the same year, Sony released another Controller, which they called DualShock. The main change from the Dual Analog controller was the fact that Sony added Vibration Feedback in order to immerse you more into the game.

Now, each game had to support Vibration Feedback, things such as punching a character, or doing an action in a game like opening a door, would trigger this vibration. Nintendo already had this with the N64’s Rumble Pack, but Sony decided to step it up a notch by adding a Vibration Motor in each of the Hand-Grips, rather than just having one main Vibration Motor.

Not only that, but these two Motors didn’t require a separate Battery to work, like Nintendo’s Rumble Pack did. Instead, they just worked inside the Controller and they were powered by the Controllers cable. So, that was pretty big, games started implementing Vibration Support heavily and we all know how important this is today. The other change that the DualShock brought to the table was even bigger Shoulder Buttons, compared to the Dual Analog.

DualShock 2

Next up, we have the DualShock 2. Originally introduced in 2000, the DualShock 2 was launched alongside the PlayStation 2. 

Pressure Sensitive Buttons opened the door for developers to experiment with games even further.

Pressure Sensitive Buttons opened the door for developers to experiment with games even further.

The main change was that the entire Controller was now black, as opposed to the grey look that we’ve had since the original PS1 Controller. Aside from this, some users reported that the Vibration Motor felt stronger in the DualShock 2, although this was never confirmed. But what we did indeed get, were Pressure Sensitive Buttons.

Essentially, aside from the Joysticks and the Start, Select, Analog, L3 and R3, the rest of the buttons were all pressure sensitive. Meaning that rather than just registering a value of ‘1’ when pressed, it would register anything between ‘0’ and ‘1’ from the moment you rested your finger on it.  This was extremely useful in Racing games, where you could accelerate just a tiny bit by only lightly pressing the Shoulder Button.

Sixaxis Controller

In 2006, with the introduction of the PlayStation 3, Sony launched the DualShock 3. Actually, just kidding, it was the Sixaxis Controller that came first.

This was the first PlayStation Controller that was completely wireless.

This was the first PlayStation Controller that was completely wireless.

Design wise, it looked almost identical to the PS2 Controller, which was released six years prior. But, the biggest change here was that it was completely wireless. You still had a cable that you would use for charging and you could keep it connected if you wanted to do so, but the Controller itself could now be used without a cable at all. It would work just as well as before.

On top of this, Sony added 6-axis Motion-Sensing Technology, hence the name of their Sixaxis Controller. This meant that the Controller could feel Rotation and Translation across the X, Y & Z axis, allowing you to, for example, control a Car by just using the Controller as steering wheel, or control a Plane by using the controller like a Yoke. It was pretty cool! 

Unfortunately, the Sixaxis functionality didn’t end up being used as much as Sony had hoped. Even to this day, 14 years later, there are very few games that do make full use of it. Also, fun-fact, Sixaxis was a palindrome, meaning that if you reverse the word, it would still spell Sixaxis. Also, Sony removed the famous Vibration Motors entirely from the Sixaxis Controller, due to a patent dispute that Sony was having.

Aside from this, the Analog button was replaced by a ‘PlayStation’ Button, which would just take you Home. The Sixaxis also included finer Shoulder Button precision, compared to the DualShock 2 Controller. 

DualShock 3

Just some of the many different iterations of the DualShock 3.

Just some of the many different iterations of the DualShock 3.

Less than a year after the new Sixaxis Controller was launched, Sony had managed to settle the patent battle against Immersion (who sued them) and because of this, they could use Vibration Feedback once more.

So, Sony released the DualShock 3, which was really just a Sixaxis Controller with the added Vibration Feedback. Aside from that, it was pretty much identical to the Sixaxis. Sony did end up releasing new colours for the DualShock 3 Controller, including White, which looked absolutely stunning. This the very first time that Sony would release multiple colour variants of their Controllers.

DualShock 4

Then, in 2013, when Sony launched the PS4, they also launched the DualShock 4. Unlike all of the previous Controllers, which all looked pretty much identical, the DualShock 4 was actually the first major change for a PlayStation Controller.

The Handles were now more rounded, longer and overall, the entire Controller was much more comfortable to hold, compared to any of the previous ones. The Joysticks were now Concave, as opposed to Convex, like the previous ones were. Personally, I did find them way more comfortable compared to the DualShock 3 Controller for example.

But, as well as this, the DualShock 4 also had some other gigantic changes. It removed the Start & Select Buttons and added a massive Touchpad instead, which could recognise multiple fingers at the same time. This was a capacitive, rather than a resistive, touch surface. It was pressable as well, so it acted as an extra Button. 

Unfortunately, just like the Sixaxis Motion-Sensing technology, the Touchpad didn’t really get used by games at all, aside from some exclusive games such as ‘Little Big Planet’ and ‘Astrobot VR’. Most games use it as a Button for the Map or the Highscore, acting in the same way as the Tab Key on PCs.

Compared to previous generations, this was a huge design leap.

Compared to previous generations, this was a huge design leap.

The other big change was that the back of the Controller had a big LED Strip. The main purpose of this was that the PlayStation 4 Camera could track its movement, you could use it in games this way. Following the PlayStationVR’s release, the light was also used by the PlayStation 4’s Camera to track the moment of the Controller, in VR. Aside from this, the light would also change its colour based on certain events in a game. For example, if your Health would run low, the light would turn red, but if you were at Full Health, the light would be green. 

The PS4 controller, also added a Speaker for sound effects. It also added a proprietary Connector for connecting things such as a Keyboard Attachment or the new Back Button Attachment. It also added a 3.5mm Headphone Jack, which allowed you to connect any set of Headphones to it, you would hear the audio from the games directly from your Controller with no noticeable lag at all. That was incredible and definitely my favourite feature ever, in any Controller. We also got a new Options Button for bringing up the Options Menu in games, as well as a new Share Button for taking screenshots and video recordings of your Gameplay. We also got a microUSB Port, a change from the miniUSB Port that we had on the DualShock 3 Controller.

Sony also expanded on the success that the coloured versions of the DualShock 3 received by releasing even more colour options for the PS4 Controller. We also saw limited editions of the PS4 that also came bundled with a limited edition Controller.  All of these improvements made the PS4 Controller a massive technological leap, compared to its predecessors.

DualShock 4 Pro

The latest version that we can currently get our hands on. This was a small tweak to the existing design.

The latest version that we can currently get our hands on. This was a small tweak to the existing design.

When Sony launched the PS4 Pro in 2016, they also released an updated version of the DualShock 4. It was still called the DualShock 4, but this was the PS4 Pro version of it. This now reflected the Light-Bar onto the Touchpad as well, so that you could also see it more easily. It also included the ability to use it via a wired USB connection, with even lower Latency than when connected wirelessly, and it also featured an improved Battery Life.

DualSense

Finally, the latest Controller that Sony has unveiled, is the Playstation 5 Controller. Interestingly enough, rather than this being called the DualShock 5, it is called the DualSense.

Design wise, just like the DualShock 4, the DualSense embraces a completely fresh design style. This time, coming in a dual-tone colour scheme. The one that Sony has showed us came in White, with Black Accents, but we do expect Sony to launch even more colour options. There will very likely be a Black Controller with White Accents as well as a few more colour variants as well.

Aside from the colour scheme, the shape of the Controller is now very different as well. It resembles the Xbox One Controller much more than ever before. It is bigger, heavier and according to Sony, it feels more premium than ever before. We still have the same Buttons as before, but all those Buttons have a glass enclosure, which again is similar to how they look on the Xbox. So, gone are the coloured Action Buttons that we’ve seen for so many years now.

The ‘Options’ and ‘Share’ Buttons are still there. The ‘Share’ has been renamed into the ‘Create’ Button but it still acts the same way. They have also been rotated slightly to make room for the larger Touchpad. Which still has the built-in LED light, but it now surrounds the Touchpad rather than being underneath it. 

Something about the DualSense looks a little familiar.

Something about the DualSense looks a little familiar.

In case you’re wondering about that back LED light, that now seems to be gone entirely, which means that the PSVR 2 will very likely use a very different tracking technology. We’ve seen multiple patents on this before, where Sony would be using a laser-based tracking system for the PSVR 2. But anyway, that’s not said to be released until at least 2021.

Another change that the DualSense comes with is USB C Port, a change from the microUSB Connector, meaning that now you can use a Smartphone charger, a Laptop charger or pretty much anything, to charge the PS5 Controller. Battery Life has been improved significantly, according to Sony. They’ve also added on-board Microphones, meaning that you can now chat without having a Microphone plugged in. Of course, the 3.5mm Headphone Jack is still there, in case you do want to add some Headphones. 

Now, let’s talk about the big changes here, the ones that will affect your Gameplay. The first ones are the brand new ‘Adaptive Pressure Sensitive’ L2 & R2 Triggers. Just like pulling a Bow-String or an actual Gun Trigger, they will be harder to push, the further you push down. This does sound very similar to what Microsoft added in their Xbox One Controller.

The biggest change, and the reason why this is called DualSense, is that it features a full Haptic Engine all throughout the Controller. Ok, but what is this exactly? You know how on modern Smartphones, such as the iPhone 11, the Pixel 4, the Samsung Galaxy S20’s, the OnePlus 8 and many others, we have an improved Vibration Motor that gives you a tactile response, whenever you press a Menu or Action Button? It essentially gives you the impression that you pressed a physical Button. Well, the PS5’s Haptic Feedback would be similar, just on Steroids. According to Sony, the Haptic Feedback is so good that you’ll be able to feel the textures on different roads. You’ll be able to feel mud, asphalt, ice and more, or even feel how different Guns shoot. From what I’ve heard, this is an absolute game changer. 

So, there you go. This is how far we’ve come from the original PS1 Controller and I’m personally really looking forward to trying the PS5 Controller out!