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The PlayStation 5 officially launches 'holiday 2020'
Sony is offering up more drip-feed details about its next-generation console, but the major points are that, yes, it will be called the PlayStation 5, and you'll have to wait till the end of 2020 to play it. We also got the first new details on new controllers for Sony's next games machine. Think haptics. A few of 'em.
Recommended Reading: The ICE surveillance playbook
How ICE picks its targets in the surveillance age McKenzie Funk, The New York Times Through the lens of officers operating in the Pacific Northwest, The New York Times explains how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) collects information on possible targets. That includes monitoring social media accounts and tapping into "the world's largest privately run database of license-plate scans."
Sony’s E3 happened without you noticing
Sure, Sony says it's skipping E3 this year, but let's take a look at the facts. Within the past eight weeks, the company has unveiled the PlayStation 5, teasing out details about its upgraded architecture and 8K capabilities, and clearly delineating the start of a new console generation. A buzzy new trailer for one of PlayStation's most-anticipated exclusive games, Death Stranding, dropped two weeks ago, complete with a release date (and details about a $200 collector's edition that comes with a life-sized pod baby). That's not to mention the things that Sony is doing during E3. PlayStation is hosting its annual Days of Play sale this week, and even though it isn't holding a press conference, it's making headlines at other companies' shows. Final Fantasy VII Remake is a major title at E3 2019, as Square Enix just revealed a release date and fresh details -- and it happens to be a PlayStation exclusive. And that's just the start. Turns out, Sony doesn't have to actually attend E3 to do E3.
Xbox's biggest competitor isn't PlayStation
Stop me if you've heard this one before. At E3 2013, Microsoft tripped over its shoelaces as it tried to justify the unexpectedly high price and complex ecosystem of its upcoming console, the Xbox One. It required an internet connection and locked purchases to specific accounts, disrupting established resale and game-sharing processes. On top of that, executives were repeatedly dismissive of fans' concerns. When Phil Spencer, then the head of Microsoft Studios, announced a $500 price tag for the Xbox One, the E3 audience gasped and fell silent. Hours later, Sony took the stage. Executives presented their new console, the PlayStation 4, as the balm to Xbox's burn. It didn't need an internet connection to function, used games would play just fine, and titles wouldn't be tied to online accounts, making sharing easy with physical discs. PlayStation boss Jack Tretton announced the PS4's price of $400 and cheers exploded throughout the stadium.
Sony envisions 'clothes' with haptic feedback for PSVR
Sony might have grander virtual reality ambitions for the PlayStation 5 beyond a headset and traditional controllers to let you play games Ready Player One-style in a body suit. It filed a patent for a VR glove with haptic feedback, and suggested it may even bring the tech to other clothing, meaning you could potentially "touch" an in-game item when you pick it up, feel every blow in Call of Duty or get a sense of what it's like to be sacked in Madden.
PlayStation 4 sales finally slow down (updated)
Sony is warning that it expects to make even less profit in the next year, as PlayStation 4 sales slow down and it invests in its replacement. In the last year, 17.8 million consoles were sold, less than the 19 million sold in 2017. The PS4 is approaching a major milestone — there are currently 96.8 million consoles out there, buoyed by 36.4 million PlayStation Plus subscribers, adding crucial monthly revenues to Sony's accounts.
Console gaming is at a crossroads
Sony and Microsoft have been walking the same path for nearly 20 years, when it comes to gaming hardware. Instead of leaves, shiny silver game discs dangle from the trees, while black and white boxes of varying sizes line the underbrush, covered in decades of debris and Doritos dust. Both companies know this trail well -- but it's about to split in two.
Sony reveals first PlayStation 5 details
It's no secret that Sony is working on a new PlayStation console. Last October, for instance, company president Kenichiro Yoshida said it was "necessary" to have "next-generation hardware" after the PlayStation 4 Pro. Sony has been understandably hush-hush since then, shifting the spotlight toward its next batch of exclusive games, such as Days Gone, Dreams, and The Last of Us Part II. Today, however, we have some cold-hard facts about the PlayStation 5 -- or whatever Sony decides to call its new gaming box.
Kutaragi looks forward to PlayStation 4, 5, and 6
Everyone reading now is likely to be significantly older (and thusly worse at video games) by the time they're actually released, but the legendary departing Kutaragi-san told EE Times, "As a matter of course, I have the vision of Playstation [sic] 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network." Proud father of some of the best selling game consoles of all time apparently looks forward to seeing his ideas for PlayStations 4, 5, and 6 all come to be; obviously specifics were nil, and not much more than that to be heard since we're sure it's still all conceptual, pie in the sky stuff right now. But it's still kind of funny to imagine what the PS6 will be like, and just how accurately it will replicate sensory perception over its SIXSENSIS neural-link compared to those totally obsolete last-gen 2020-era consoles.
