The PS5 launch is happening tomorrow: here’s what to expect

Sony announced on June 8th that its upcoming PlayStation 5 event has been rescheduled to tomorrow, June 11th at 1PM Pacific time (9pm BST; which is the same time if you are watching from Nigeria). You can expect it to be streamed on PlayStation’s official channels on Twitch and YouTube and find it via other social platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook.

The event which had earlier been slated for June 4th was rescheduled, in line with the company’s decision to “allow more important voices to be heard” at this time which also coincides with it’s apt colour themed announcement [and re-announcement posts], to Sony joining other tech companies around the world like Amazon and Twitter, that have also sensitively deployed dark themed posts and dashboards, in solidarity against racism and police brutality.

See you Thursday, June 11 at 1:00pm Pacific time (9:00pm BST) for a look at the future of gaming on #PS5: https://t.co/9XJkXYProo pic.twitter.com/8EoN34UPdd

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 8, 2020

pic.twitter.com/yI4MYEDz4C

— Amazon (@amazon) May 31, 2020

So, it’s 1 day to go to this major event which is expected to run for ” a bit more than an hour”. To thoroughly enjoy this event while watching, this essential starter kit is a must have:

1) Substantial data and great internet quality, as: “The pre-taped program will be broadcast at 1080p and 30 frames per second“.“The games you’ll see on Thursday will look even better when you play them on PS5 with a 4K TV, as you’d expect”.

2) Quality Headphones: “It’s also best if you watch while wearing headphones, if you can — there’s some cool audio work in the show, and it might be harder to appreciate if it’s pumped through your phone or laptop speakers”.

PS5: Anticipation vs Reality vs Reality Check

The buildup to this event since 2019 has revealed more precise details about the PlayStation 5 but if you missed that, here’s what to expect from the PlayStation 5, what is still kept under wraps and what many gamers are looking forward to:

Design Console and new DualSense Controller

The build of the design console hasn’t been revealed with hopes that it would be on Thursday but its new DualSense controller has.
Highlights of this DualSense controller include: “adaptive triggers” to feel the tension of your actions when you play; an integrated microphone; a USB-C port; and a new “create” button, which will offer “new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world”. With an overall drive to deliver a new feeling of immersion to players that will captivate more of their senses along with PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, while interacting with the virtual worlds in PS5 games. This comes alongside Sony’s decision to consider how the components would fit into the hardware, without giving it a bulky feeling and to lessen the weight of the controller as much as possible as new features were added.

Specs

The PS5 will feature a custom eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.5GHz and a custom GPU based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture hardware that promises 10.28 teraflops and 36 compute units clocked at 2.23GHz. See more on the specs and a breakdown of technical details on gamesradar.com

What gamers want to know:

Here’s a compiled list gotten from personal conversations on what gamers from Nigeria would be looking out for at the event tomorrow.

• Graphic fidelity of the new console (I.e. Just how better the graphics of the upcoming PS5 are compared to the PS4). To see the same game played on both consoles for easier comparison and to see new upcoming games sampled on the PS5, to see how they look and move. It’s all about getting a sense for how ‘chassis’ the graphics are.
• More Accessories that enhance the playing experience.
• Internet of things. What other perks might one enjoy apart from gaming exclusively and how meaningful would those perks be in enhancing lifestyle?
• The expandable future of the PS5; features that will be added to it down the stretch and its play value. How long is it expected to be a premium form of entertainment as a gamer before the next iteration of gaming (presumably PS6) comes along?
• The list of gaming titles to expect to enjoy on the PS5. Which ones are returning stalwarts (i.e. known & played on earlier PlayStation editions); which ones will be new to the PlayStation universe and quite importantly; which ones will be exclusive only to PlayStation? Factoring in the drive to entice more fans and away from direct gaming rival consoles.
• Price of the PS5 & which retailers (if available at the moment) to get the best package deals from.

On a much lighthearted and competitive note we can expect these on the timeline tomorrow and in months to come:

• Xbox vs Sony Banter. PlayStation’s direct gaming rival has been Microsoft’s Xbox consoles for a while now and it’s expected that ‘rival’ fans of consoles would turn up the heat and go head-to-head.
• Memes to accompany this.
• A lookout out for how the console fares in its early service with regards to bugs, glitches and defects that may require a recall by the manufacturer.
• Anticipated conflict that may arise from bragging rights to early ownership of a PS5 vs a re-release of a newer and improved console based on track record.
• Generally, gamers just having fun!

Here’s a demo reported by The Verge where Epic Games showed off a jaw-dropping PS5 demo as part of its announcement of Unreal Engine 5.