Items tagged with ps5
The PlayStation 5, like previous generations before it, has been a runaway sales success for Sony. The console launched to good overall reviews, and gamers have been very eager to get their hands on the console to unwind during COVID-19 lockdowns. A perfect storm of chip shortages and incredible demand means that even six months after the console's launch, the consoles are still hard to find through retail channels and regularly sell for hundreds over MSRP on third-party marketplaces. However, Sony is reportedly well along in the development of future iterations of the PlayStation 5. The current console uses a custom AMD SoC that combines a Ryzen 3000-class, 8-core/16-thread CPU with a Radeon...
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Given the difficulty in finding a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S in stock, you have time to decide which one is the right game console for you. One of the factors that could play a role in that decision is what the exclusive game landscape looks like. Not every game gets released on every platform, and Sony's goal is to release more exclusive games on PS5 than any previous PlayStation console. As part of that effort, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) CEO Jim Ryan said the company has been "steadily investing" in first-party software for the PS5, but has not been making a lot of noise about it. "We have been quietly but steadily investing in high-quality games for PlayStation, and we will...
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It has been around five months since the PlayStation 5 came out, and for those who have been lucky enough to acquire one—the PS5 is in short supply, like the Xbox Series X/S and various PC hardware—Sony is now readying its first major system software update. With it comes expanded storage compatibility. More specifically, the update enables storing PS5 games on external USB drives, essentially giving players a way to expand their console's built-in storage allotment. After applying the update, PS5 owners will be able to transfer games from the console's internal solid state drive (SSD) over to an external storage device, or the other way around. Sony also notes that is faster to reinstall...
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Many people didn't know what to think of Xbox Game Pass when it initially launched for the Xbox One back in 2017, but it has grown to become a formidable and "sticky" feature for Microsoft's game consoles. For $9.99 per month (or $14.99 per month with Xbox Live Gold included), you get access to an ever-expanding library of 100+ games that can be played on your console or even streamed to your Android device. On the other hand, Sony has PlayStation Now and gives gamers access to over 700 video games streamable to your PlayStation console or PC. However, new PlayStation games don't launch on the service; you're reliant on your internet connection for the best streaming experience (since not all...
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Tomorrow starts a new month, which means that there will be a new crop of freebie games to download for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Although it will be April 1st, there is no fooling around when it comes to what Sony has in store for gamers. Kicking things off this month on the free list is Oddworld: Soulstorm. Interestingly, while the game will be playable on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles, only the PlayStation 5 version is free during April. So, if you're one of the lucky few that has been able to secure the next-gen console, enjoy it while it lasts. Oddworld: Soulstorm is a direct successor to Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty, released in 2014. The actual series dates back to 1997 with...
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A week ago, we brought you news from an incredibly reliable tipster that the PlayStation 5 would be in stock on Thursday morning. And sure enough, Target had a significant amount of PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition consoles that were available for in-store pickup if you were lucky. That same tipster, Jake Randall, has now confirmed when the next significant PlayStation 5 drop will occur. Randall teased the Amazon drop last week, and today he affirms that it will happen this Thursday (March 18th). The online retail giant will have a total of 46,000 consoles available to purchase, split between 18,000 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and 28,000 PlayStation 5 consoles. Randall...
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If you've been trying to score a PlayStation 5 since launch but have struck out at every possible opportunity, we've got some good news for you. It appears that Target is getting ready for a big console drop this later this week, so you're going to want to be on your toes in the early morning hours. According to console tracker Jake Randall, Target stores nationwide are starting to receive inventory for both the standard PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. For those that don't know, Randall has been on the money in recent weeks (and months) with PlayStation 5 availability, specifically from Target. So, when he says he has inside info, we listen. Randall notes that based on the...
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Sony's PlayStation 5 launched back in mid-November with two configurations: the standard PlayStation 5 with a Blu-ray drive and the disc-less PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. No matter which you select, you'll get an 825GB SSD with just 667GB leftover for your games and other data you wish to store. Some people saw this as a liability compared to the Xbox Series X, which comes with a slightly larger 1TB SSD (802GB useable), but Sony has one critical advantage. The PlayStation 5 can expand its storage via an open M.2 slot inside the console, and better yet, it can use a garden variety PCIe 4.0 SSD. However, Sony didn't enable this functionality at launch and has been mum about the timeline for allowing...
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While it was never going to a launch title for the PlayStation 5, development studio Polyphony Digital had every intention of wrapping up work on Gran Turismo 7 this year for a 2021 release by publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment. That is no longer going to happen. Covid-19 has thrown a wrench into those plans, causing the highly anticipated game to be delayed until sometime next year. The latest installment in the popular racing simulation series was formally introduced last year during the PS5 reveal event. A launch video showcased the game'ss high resolution graphics with real-time ray tracing effects, and even teased onlookers with some footage of actual gameplay on the PS5. If you missed...
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In 2016, PlayStation launched PlayStation VR, bringing virtual reality into many gamers' homes. Since then, Oculus and Valve have come out with new headsets, overall technology has improved, and the PlayStation 5 is now the "must have" console for gamers. Over four years later, Sony is announcing the next generation of PlayStation VR for the PS5, likely arriving next year. Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President, Platform Planning & Management for PlayStation, made a blog post today expressing his excitement for the future of VR with the PS5. He explained that once the headset is released, it will enable "the ultimate entertainment experience with dramatic leaps in performance and interactivity."...
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Earlier this month, we talked about a class-action lawsuit that was being formulated against Sony's PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP, the law firm that sparked the lawsuit, alleged that the Dual Sense controllers were prone to joystick drift, which means that the controllers "will automatically register movement when the joystick is not being controlled and interfere with gameplay." Now, the teardown experts at iFixit have revisited the DualSense controller following this new legal action to see what's going on under the surface. Most importantly, iFixit describes that the basic joystick mechanism has not been updated with this next-generation...
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The latest generation game consoles from Microsoft and Sony lean heavily on PC hardware, and that includes the core components—both sport a custom system-on-chip by AMD comprised of Zen 2 CPU cores paired with RDNA 2 GPU cores, to enable ray-traced visuals and gameplay at up to 4K. There are some key differences, though, between the custom chips and their PC brethren. Some of those differences are visible in a set of detailed die shots of the PlayStation 5's SoC. Let's talk about the core specifications before getting to the die shots. The PS5 is an impressive console kit featuring an 8-core Zen 2 CPU sporting a variable clock speed up to 3.5GHz. On the graphics side, 36 compute units based...
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It's a rough time to be a gaming or PC enthusiast these days. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a crushing demand not only for new gaming consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but also for PC hardware like AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and GeForce RTX/Radeon RX graphics cards. It's bad enough that enthusiasts are having to fight each other (and bots) in queues to purchase newly-launched hardware, but now some shipping couriers are adding another wrinkle to this already stressful situation. There are ever-increasing reports of gamers having their successfully-purchased hardware snatched away from them before it even gets to their doorstep. A recent reddit...
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Back in late December, we reported on some troubling issues that Sony PlayStation 5 owners were having with their DualSense controllers. At the time, it was reported that the adaptive triggers -- which are the hot new feature of the DualSense controller -- were prone to failure. The problem seemed to mostly stem from a rather undersized spring used for the controller's triggers. However, the DualSense controller is now coming under fire for a separate issue. The law firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP is investigating the potential for launching a class action lawsuit over joystick drift with the DualSense controller. Joystick drift is nothing new in the gaming world,...
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It should come as no surprise to anyone that pent-up demand for next-generation consoles has been immense. Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have been hot-sellers ever since they launched in mid-November, and now Sony is giving us some insight into just how strong demand has been. The company revealed that it shipped 4.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles during the October through December quarter. Interestingly enough, that 4.5 million exactly matches the number of PlayStation 4s that Sony sold during that console's Q4 2013 launch. Sony said that it shipped just 1.4 million PlayStation 4 consoles during Q4 2020, which represented a 77 percent decrease year-over-year....
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Count yourself lucky if you managed to snag an Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, or either of the PlayStation 5 consoles at regular price, because they have all been extremely hard to come by. Supply is just not able to keep up with demand, and scalpers only exacerbate the issue. That's the bad news. The even worse news? Console shortages will likely persist for the next several months, and potentially into the second half of the year. What's the problem? It really just boils down to not making enough CPU and GPU silicon to power these latest generation game systems. The guts are similar—both the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 are built around custom AMD hardware based on the company's Zen 2 CPU and...
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Late last year and early this year, gamers have been faced with a minimal stock of consoles and computer components. This in part due to extremely high demand, bots, and scalpers trying to get their hands on tech. It seems that the scalpers have gotten crafty in recent months, as some were able to buy PlayStation 5s before they were even available to the public at U.K. retailer Argos. This is incredibly disappointing for legitimate console buyers and a warning to retailers to harden their defenses against scalping. Earlier today, U.K. gamers saw the PS5 in stock at Argos for an incredibly brief period, which is par for the course these days. Furthermore, the retailer's app and the website were...
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As we all know by now, Sony's PlayStation 5 is a hot ticket item for gamers. Like the competing Xbox Series X, the both versions of the PlayStation 5 are routinely out of stock from retailers, and they easily sell for twice their MSRP (or greater) on online marketplaces like eBay. However, an even more exclusive line of PlayStation 5 consoles was made available this past Friday. These consoles weren’t provided by Sony, but instead came from a company called SUP3R5. Rather than the white and black motif that we see with the standard console, SUP3R5 instead has gone for what it calls an “Anniversary Edition” design, which is solid black to recall the PlayStation 2. ...
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November 2020 saw the introduction of four next-generation game consoles: the PlayStation 5/PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and the Xbox Series X/Xbox Series S. While the Xbox Series X is technically the most powerful of the bunch with respect to its CPU and GPU specs, it's the PlayStation 5 that has garnered the most attention due to exclusives like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and its new DualSense wireless controller. The DualSense controller has drawn particular attention for its adaptive triggers, which can vary their resistance if game developers decide to take advantage of the feature. For example, in basketball games, the triggers might be harder to press to fire off the perfect...
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Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that it has been incredibly hard to find next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony anywhere in stock. Of the newly launched models, the Xbox Series S has been among the easiest to find, while both models of the PlayStation 5 have been the hardest to obtain. The Xbox Series X is somewhere in between. With that being said, if you've still be striking out when it comes to obtaining a PlayStation 5, help is on the way. According to a report from DigiTimes, Sony shipped around 3.4 million PlayStation 5 consoles during its first 4 weeks of availability (which represented the highest total ever for a PlayStation console). However,...
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If you own a PlayStation 5, you’re among an elite group of gamers that was able to lay hands on the hard-to-find next-generation console. The PlayStation 5, like the Xbox Series X, has been in short supply ever since it launched in early November, and the inventory situation hasn’t gotten much better as we approach close of 2020. One of the defining features of the PlayStation 5 is its DualSense controller, which ditches old school vibration motors in favor of haptic feedback, and introduces new adaptive triggers. The adaptive triggers are particularly noteworthy, as they can vary their force based on in-game parameters. For example, as your player tires in a basketball or soccer...
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The latest generation game consoles are some of the hottest selling items this year. Whether you are looking for a PlayStation 5 (with our without a baked-in optical drive), Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S, your chances of waltzing into your local Walmart or Best Buy and walking out with one on a random basis are slim. What can you do? Well, with Christmas now just a few days away, the odds of getting a next-gen console for the big day decrease with each passing moment. However, not all is lost, potentially. There are some things you can do to tip the odds ever-so-slightly, and perhaps snag one before a scalper can get their grubby hands on one, only to flip it for an inflated price on eBay or...
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