Sony had a lot to live up to with the release of the Playstation 5 (PS5). The Playstation 4 (PS4) was both critically and commercially acclaimed and had a huge impact on the gaming industry. The PS4 had a catalog of best selling games that many fans adore and had the previous most successful console launch in history, which was recently beat by the PS5. Sony had to do something bold for the next generation of gaming consoles, so they made sure to make the PS5 a console to remember.

   The PS5 is huge. The console is closer to the size of a computer tower rather than a typical console, and it sports a striking black and white color scheme that makes it look like a sports car and a UFO all mixed in one. These cosmetic decisions made by Sony could be seen as positive or negative from different points of view. Most consoles in the past were designed to blend into a home, so they would have a very basic and muted design, while the PS5 seems like it was designed to be the centerpiece of a room. The size of the console may even make it hard to find a place to put it in the typical entertainment center. The design Sony went with was intended to make the PS5 stand out, and it certainly succeeds at that, but the futuristic design is incredibly subjective: many will love it, and many will think it is an eyesore.

   One of the biggest selling points of the PS5 is the new Dualsense controller. In previous years, the Playstation’s controllers were called the Dualshock, and there were four versions of the Dualshock, each corresponding with the four other Playstations. The changing of the name was not just for advertising; it is indicative of how innovative the new controller really is. The Dualsense uses new technology to its advantage to make games feel even more immersive than they ever have been before. The controller sports haptic feedback vibration and new adaptive triggers which makes varios actions in a game feel completely different. A good showcase of how much this new controller can affect the way it feels to play a game is Astro’s Playroom which comes free on all PS5 consoles. When walking on different surfaces in the game the controller vibrates differently due to the haptic feedback. For example, while walking on dirt in the game the vibration stimulates the feeling of dirt moving under your foot, but when walking on glass the vibration is sharp and quickly changes from the left to right side of the controller. When using a bow and arrow the adaptive trigger is much harder to press to simulate pulling back on a bowstring, but when firing a gun, it is more of a quick click to make it feel like the pull of a trigger. The Dualsense truly is a next-generation piece of technology and has set a new benchmark for future gaming controllers.

   While it is expected that a new video game console would have better graphics, the PS5 once again took it a step further. The console has the ability to play games at 4k resolution and uses ray-tracing, a relatively new feature in the console gaming world, to make games have more realistic lighting and reflections. Not only does it have better graphics, but even better loading times due to its new SSD. When playing on the PS5, loading screens are practically non-existent, and it takes mere seconds to load up a game. The SSD does not only benefit the PS5 while playing games, but it benefits its user interface (UI). Moving from a game to the home menu is the easiest it has ever been, and the system’s UI is a new take on the PS4’s already simple design and it works wonderfully. The console also has a new cooling system that gets rid of one of the PS4’s biggest faults: the loud hum of the console’s fan. The PS5 is almost silent, and can only be heard occasionally. These new features in the console’s hardware make gaming an even more immersive and frictionless experience.

   The PS5 has redefined what a console can do. Its new controller is innovative like no other, and the new things the console is capable of is making the future of gaming look bright. The Playstation 5 truly makes play have no limits.