Is this PlayStation teasing the PS5 startup sound and black DualSense controller?

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

We may have just had our first look at a black PS5 controller and our first listen to the PS5 startup sound.

A video with both the controller and futuristic sound were included in the announcement tweet for next week's PlayStation Future of Gaming Event. Sony also included an image of the controller at the top of its PlayStation Blog announcement.

So far, all the looks Sony has given us at the PS5 controller - officially called the DualSense - have been of a two-toned white and black model. It's difficult to tell for sure, but this silhouetted controller may be an all-black design. On the other hand, this could very easily be another "is this dress black and blue or white and gold" situation.

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The other point worth noting is the sound that plays in the video. It starts with the usual PlayStation dwoom sound (I'm going to assume that's its official designation) but then it transitions into a sort of ringing, reverberating, sci-fi orchestra thing. It sounds very much like the sort of audio effect that would play when you turn on a new console, but again, Sony hasn't said for sure whether this is the PS5 startup sound.

For all I know the PS5 will just say "Laurel" every time you turn it on. Or maybe "Yanny". It's the year 2020 and I can no longer be certain of anything.

Well, I do know one thing for sure: PS5 games won't be playable on PS4, because - as PlayStation's boss says - "we believe in generations".

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.