Yesterday's Road to PS5 livestream contained a wealth of new information about the PS5 specs, PS5 design, and much more, and Sony's family of first-party studios had a lot to say about what the architecture of the PlayStation's next-gen console means for the upcoming PS5 games, particularly those that will be exclusive to the platform itself.
Developers from Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, and elsewhere expressed genuine excitement at how the new PS5 SSD could revolutionize the way they develop (and we play) their games, with both co-game directors on The Last of Us 2 emphasizing the power it'll hold over the future of the industry.
Still tripping about this #PS5 SSD spec. Like, people don’t even know how big of a leap in terms of game design can be made, especially for 1st party that doesn’t have to design to lowest common denominator. By far the biggest leap in my career. Can’t wait.March 19, 2020
Most crucial part of the @cerny presentation imo. The SSD in the PS5 (and all the associated IO hardware) is going to fundamentally change how we design videogames by removing limitations we've been working around the last two gens. https://t.co/XDcj2BJ5gVMarch 18, 2020
A former Naughty Dog developer, James Cooper, however, wasn't too please when PS5 lead architect Mark Cerny used his work on Uncharted 4 as an example of the limitations of designing under the PlayStation 4's infrastructure...
I feel called out by this. I definitely built this layout in Uncharted 4. #PS5 pic.twitter.com/9f9r02yLgGMarch 19, 2020
I'm sure it's nothing personal, James.
Speaking of limitations, Cerny also used Sony Santa Monica's 2018 God of War reboot to address the PS4's infamous noisy fan issue, but the game's creative director Cory Barlog seemed to take the call out on the chin.
They totally do. 😉 https://t.co/4Cl7yFywbMMarch 18, 2020
PlayStation's first party developers weren't the only ones expressing interest in the latest set of spec reveals. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford's response suggests the inevitable Borderlands 4 could make good use of the PS5's new processing system.
This is great stuff. I’m very excited about that I/O https://t.co/rRz5efceMJMarch 18, 2020
Speaking to Mashable, Mediatonic CTO Adam Fletcher called the PS5 SSD "a really exciting step forward", suggesting "it'll mean having to make fewer compromises, and less smoke and mirrors to hide loading times, which ultimately will result in more immersive experiences for players."
"The great part is, unlike a lot of hardware improvements between console generations, this benefits literally every game,2 continued Fletcher, "whether AAA or indie, as no one wants players to have to wait to get into the action."
That said, not everyone is happy with how both PlayStation and Microsoft have been communicating the power of their respective next-gen consoles, particularly when it comes to the word "teraflop."
As a 15 year+ games programmer with 24 triple-A titles released on every Nintendo, Microsoft, and PlayStation machine under the sun, neither I nor anyone else in my field has *ever* used "teraflop" as a unit of measurement of any kind. Just drop the word, it's utterly meaninglessMarch 18, 2020
Hopefully now that Sony has got all its tech jargon out of its system, we'll soon hear more about the PS5 price, PS5 launch games, and more consumer-relevant details as the console nears ever closer to its Holiday 2020 release window.
There's still no word of a Coronavirus-induced PS5 delay, but there's no guarantee the continued shutdown of production pipelines and stock markets won't have an effect on PlayStation's plans. We'll keep you in the loop as soon as we hear anything more PS5 related.
For more, check out all the biggest new games of 2020 to keep an eye on, or watch our latest episode of Dialogue Options below.
