Why we love the PS5
1. PS5 1st party exclusives
There are many reasons to love Sony's new flagship console but the top among them is the calibre of the 1st party games on offer. PS4 had astonishingly good exclusives such as God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man and oh so many more and PS5 looks only to add upon that. Though we're early in its life cycle we've seen Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, God of War: Ragnarok, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Final Fantasy XVI, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy Rebirth with much more to come in the future. These blockbuster 1st party games are often why I say to myself yes this is why I own a PS5 console. Having these in addition to fantastic third-party titles with such a high level of performance is hard not to love.
2. The PS5's performance and loading times
The performance of the PS5 is of such a high level that it can go toe to toe with very decently specced gaming PCs and at a price they cannot compete with; although at first the price seems steep coming off the old PS4 generation the reality is that the value is very high if you appreciate fantastic frame rates at high resolutions (4K 120Hz); which as someone who is primarily a PC gamer I certainly do.
Now let's talk storage and loading times because it's one thing that Sony has smashed out of the park compared to Microsoft's Xbox Series X flagship console. Load times going from PS4 to PS5 will blow your mind as you take advantage of the PS5's internal SSD which has read speeds of 5.5GB/s. Load times for games are so much quicker which just makes your overall gaming experience much more enjoyable; especially when you're dying repeatedly in Elden Ring to Malenia.
In addition, although the 825GB (1TB for Slim models) of internal memory does soon get eaten up rather quickly due to the size of today's games adding memory to the PS5 consoles is very easy albeit expensive. You have an M.2 SSD slot in your PS5 which fits some extremely fast SSDs which will not only keep up with your PS5 console but in some cases outspeed it. You can buy SSDs in a lot of storage configurations for this slot all the way up to 4TB but the higher you go the cost is quite extreme. Below is some information regarding SSD specifications outlined by Sony so keep these in mind when you're looking at expanding your PS5 memory.
- SSD Format: PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVME SSD
- Storage Capacities: 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
- Reading Speed: Minimum of 5500MB/s or faster
- Size w/ heatsink (L x W x H): 110mm x 25mm x 11.25 mm
- Heatsink: Required for controlling temperatures
3. Virtual Reality is a real focus for Sony
PSVR was a big hit for Sony back on the PS4 and Sony has now released its successor PSVR2 which will be compatible with the PS5 and has been reviewed very well. The original PSVR is also compatible with PS5 the only thing you will need to do is request a PlayStation Camera Adapter directly from PlayStation support. PlayStation VR is cheaper when you own the console than building a PC capable of running VR and going for some of the competitors such as the HTC Vive.
The PSVR2 innovates and improves on everything the original hardware brought as an approachable VR solution. The controllers are being overhauled to have adaptive triggers and haptic feedback first seen on the DualSense controller only enhancing your immersion when playing in VR. Also looking under the hood the specs are looking impressive with an OLED HDR display and 2000 x 2040 per eye resolution which is a serious upgrade from the 960 x 1080 resolutions used back on the original PSVR.
When it comes to games on the PSVR2 we've had Horizon Call of the Mountain be a day one exclusive which pits you in a 1st-person perspective, bow in hand taking on the machines of the gorgeous Horizon setting, and it's looking like a real premier VR experience that will be exclusive to the Sony platform. If you're interested in hearing more we've got you covered with all the PSVR2 deals and information.
