While Google has made Stadia known to the world, the Nintendo Switch continues to sell well, and Microsoft revealed Project Scarlett at E3 2019, Sony has remained relatively silent on PS5 details. Hardcore gamers are hungry for info! We did have the reveal early in 2019 via Wired and Mark Cerny, but things have been quiet since then. It seems that Sony has been moving in the silence, however. New information shows that they are shifting their focus with PS5, looking to target hardcore gamers with big budget titles. To do that, they’re going to need new studios. Let’s dive in and see what this means for games on the PS5! Sony Eyeballing Studios For Big Budget PS5 Titles In a recent interview with Nikkei (which was translated by Gematsu), Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan mentioned that Sony is looking at merging and acquiring game developers. He didn’t mention anyone specifically, but he did have this to say: “Companies new to the games industry looking at the market with hope is something we definitely welcome. Sony Interactive Entertainment has 25 years of experience in the games industry and has big assets.” So clearly, Sony is not afraid to throw money around if it means getting quality developers under their belt. I can respect that, but it seems that they aren’t really looking for small time titles. No, Sony is apparently only interested in the big budget masterpieces that have earned them praise in the past. Further information from The Wall Street Journal reveals Sony’s intention to focus on hardcore gamers. Sony officials are reporting that the PS5 is going to focus on “high-quality games” instead of titles you can find on smartphones. This seems like a push to have higher quality titles, and less about edging out indie developers like some people are saying. Focusing on exclusives is smart, but with how many games come out each year, Sony can’t hope to have a full library of options unless they welcome a wider range of releases. I’d like to see the PS5 offer more exclusives for sure, especially if they have the same kind of quality we’ve seen this generation. However, I don’t want to see smaller budget titles go to the wayside. These games by small teams are often the most innovative, bringing new ideas to the table and stretches the boundaries of what gaming can become. Hopefully Sony doesn’t lose sight of these crucial contributors, and instead strikes a balance between AAA exclusives, and innovative indie creations. In the meantime, let’s talk about who Sony should be reaching out to before Microsoft makes any more big moves. 7 Studios Sony Should Purchase to Make PS5 Exclusives This is most likely a strategy inspired by Microsoft’s recent rash of game studio acquisitions. They’ve recently purchased Ninja Theory, Double Fine, Obsidian, and Compulsion Games to name a few. Sony should absolutely grab other top-tier developers while they can. This is the best way to expand their exclusive library in … Read More

Since E3 2019, we’ve all been wondering when Sony will hit back at Microsoft in regards to the PS5. After all, Microsoft showcased Project Scarlett and made some pretty big claims at their showcase. While Sony remains silent, the rumors do not! A new leak, courtesy of a prominent PC parts and benchmark leaker, offers some insight into the raw power of the PS5, including potential chipsets that will be used by AMD. Let’s take a look at what we’re dealing with, shall we? New Benchmark Points to Ultra-Powerful PS5 Here’s what we know for sure: Sony is using AMD CPU and GPU technology in the PS5. We don’t know the full specs, but we’ve heard a lot of talk about powerful things like ray tracing. The leaker here goes by the name of Tum_Apisak, and is well known in the PC crowd for leaking PC part codes and benchmarks. Their access to a CPU and GPU database led them to notice a Gonzalo APU Fire Strike benchmark. This is potentially the system on a chip (SoC) that AMD will use in the PS5, so naturally they leaked the info. While these results come from an engineering sample, they could represent at least a baseline of what we can expect. Breaking it down, here’s a screenshot of the most important tweet (in the event that it gets taken down): So we’re looking at something at least 4 times as powerful as the PS4. That’s solid, but how does it compare to other graphics cards? Well, the Gonzalo APU scored over 20,000 points. This is how it compares to other PC graphic card scores: 2070 RTX – 18,103 Vega 64 – 19,200 1080 GTX – 19,370 Gonzalo (PS5) – Over 20,000 2080 RTX – 21,892 Four times more powerful than the PS4, and in line with the top end graphics cards? That sounds like a good starting point! Keep in mind that it’s possible these stats could change before the final specs are revealed, but this kind of leap would be in line with Microsoft’s promises at the very least. What do you think? Do these benchmarks sound right to you, or did you expect more power from the PS5? Let us know in the comments! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 7/2/19

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that Sony wiped the floor with Microsoft during the PS4/Xbox One generation. This came down to an early power advantage, but ultimately it was about Sony’s insanely good exclusives and Microsoft’s penchant for cancelling them (sorry Scalebound). E3 2019 felt lonely without Sony, so Microsoft decided to go big with their Project Scarlett announcement and teased some impressive specs. They also gave us a taste of next-gen graphics with the Halo Infinite reveal. Despite all of this, rumors are still saying PS5 will beat Project Scarlett. Let’s take a look! Buzz in The Press Says PS5 is Still More Powerful Than Project Scarlett If I’m being honest, I really wanted Sony to make some sort of surprise announcement at E3 2019, but they were totally silent. Microsoft filled the vacuum with a bombastic press conference that was, at times, breathtaking (pun intended). At the end, they talked about Project Scarlett, their next generation hardware. A sizzle reel showed developers talking about all the big points. We heard about an SSD, we heard ray tracing, we heard that it’s four times more powerful than Xbox One X, and we heard support for 4K. We even got ourselves a very nice look at Halo Infinite running on the new hardware. It was impressive, certainly, but is it enough to beat Sony? If you ask Andrew Reiner, executive editor of Game Informer, the answer would be no. Check out this tweet: Rumors before the show say the PS5 is more powerful than Project Scarlett, but we’ll see. — Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) June 9, 2019 He went on to say that developers were the source of this rumor, which is a good source to have if you’re talking about unreleased systems. It’s good press for Sony, but just how much more powerful would the PS5 be if they want to keep the price competitive? That’s too much to speculate here, but if Sony can edge out Microsoft again in specs and keep up the quality of their exclusives into the next generation, then us PlayStation fans have nothing to worry about. What do you think? Do you think PS5 will beat Project Scarlett specs when everything is revealed? Let us know in the comments! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 6/18/19

As the PS5 marches closer, we’re starting to see confirmation on upcoming games for the next generation! One such title, announced in May 2019, is Monstrum II. With a release date in fall of 2020, the developer has confirmed it is also in development for next generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles (to follow after the initial release). Monstrum II is a multiplayer horror game where players must navigate a procedurally generated map set on an abandoned 1970’s era sea fortress. A monster hunts you the entire time, and here’s the twist: The monster is controlled by another player! The Hunter and The Hunted Beyond the premise and confirmation that Monstrum II will eventually come to next generation consoles, we have a teaser trailer that sets the tone and style of the game. We do know that the game uses procedural generation, so the map will be different each time you play. The press release also mentions “monsters” so it seems there will be multiple foes to contend with. The original Monstrum from Junkfish Games was a hit when it was released in 2015, so this multiplayer sequel seems to be taking everything that made the first one popular and expanding it even further. The developers promise multiple solutions to the obstacles you’ll face in the game. These include using items to find hidden routes, breaking destructible objects, or even climbing around to get a better vantage point. Survivor players will also need to work together to find “important equipment” which may point to objective-based matches. The title reminds me of Evolve, which also pitted players against a monster, but this horror approach and procedural generation make it sound like a more focused experience. It comes to PC in fall of 2020, and we will see it on the PS5 some time after that. I for one will be keeping an eye out on this one! Any horror fans out there? Let us know what you think in the comments below!? Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 6/5/19

I’m still pinching myself, but it seems like this is reality, and the PS5 is almost here! Now that Sony has begun talking about the technology in the new console, other industry executives have also been chiming in. Among them are Toshihiro Nagoshi, director of the Yakuza series, and Todd Howard of Fallout and Elder Scrolls fame. Let’s take a look at what these major players are saying about PS5! The Director of Yakuza and Fallout/Elder Scrolls Discuss PS5 Beyond the price and release date, everyone wants to know what the graphics will be like on the PS5. Gematsu was able to translate the latest Sega-Nama broadcast and revealed some of the Yakuza Director’s comments about PS5. Nagoshi discussed the new Yakuza game and offered some impressions of the PS5, saying: “The processing power of PlayStation 5 is incredible. So when we try to think of new gameplay that will realize its full potential, I’m not really sure what aspects of existing machines we should translate. If you would pour its power into graphics, it’ll be the best that we’ve yet to see, and I think everyone is thinking about in what way we should use this power.” That’s high praise indeed! Sony has been making big promises surrounding 8K, SSD technology, and ray tracing, so it seems like they are backing up these claims with raw power. Nagoshi goes on to say that he believes we are returning to the “programmable era.” The new consoles will be easier to use and develop for. He even mentions machine learning and artificial intelligence as examples. Over on the other side of the world, Bethesda Director Todd Howard sat down with IGN to discuss next generation gaming, and learning from prior mistakes. “They’re doing the right things,” howard said, “The things everybody is doing, in my mind, no one is screwing up at the starting line, which some people have done before.” Red Ring of Death, anyone? Glad to hear things should be smooth for the next gen. Howard also said that new technology will help RPGs like the ones he works on “tremendously.” He points to the much shorter load times and alternate business models. He struggled to “not break NDAs,” as he put it, so Todd had to stop himself a few times. It’s clear he’s seen a lot more than he’s willing to let on. The overall impression, according to him, is that “it’s going to be awesome across the board.” Over to You! Oh yes, it will. What are you most excited for on the PS5? Let us know in the comments! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 6/5/19

You may have heard about the partnership announced last week between Microsoft and Sony. It was an unprecedented move for both companies that caught everyone off-guard, including Sony’s own PlayStation team. While high-level deals like this stay a secret from the public and lower levels of the corporation, you would think PlayStation’s own team would know what’s going on. Needless to say, people weren’t happy. PlayStation Team Panics in Wake of Microsoft News The exact nature of Microsoft and Sony’s partnership has to do with the Azure cloud platform owned by the manufacturers of the Xbox. The goal is to co-develop game streaming technology and host some of PlayStation’s online components on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. This comes after years of Sony developing its own cloud streaming service, PlayStation Now. You can probably imagine how this news struck the PlayStation team. They were reasonably afraid that their work was in jeopardy or their efforts were going to be in vain thanks to a decision well above their pay grade. According to anonymous Sony employees who spoke to Bloomberg, managers had to calm down team members and assure them that the work they were doing on the PS5 wouldn’t be affected by this news. The deal, while shocking, makes sense. Microsoft’s Azure platform is among the largest in the world. It would cost billions of dollars and countless hours to even try to match the growth and speed of this platform. In the end it boils down to “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Some argue that Sony is also afraid of what Microsoft and Google are doing with game streaming, so this could be a way to get into the latest tech without the wait associated with building up their own solution. Sony shares also went up a noticeable amount after the announcement. This points to a smart move on Sony’s part. According to sources from Sony, they tried to deepen their collaboration with Amazon Web Services, but couldn’t come to an agreement. This led to the talk with Microsoft. It’s not ideal to work with your competitor, but Sony doesn’t have many choices when it comes to cloud servers. Ultimately, the tech is the foundation, but the games will decide who the true winner is in this partnership. Sony has massive exclusives, but Microsoft has been buying up studios for the same purpose. Regardless of how it plays out, this next generation is going to be very, very interesting indeed. What do you think about this partnership? Does it make sense, or do you think Sony jumped the gun? Let us know in the comments! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 5/20/19

Will the PS5 be the ultimate King of gaming consoles? We say YES! What do you want to see in the PS5? What improvements do you expect with the CPU, GPU, RAM, Dualshock and overall design? Post your comments below.

Quick Redesign for XBox fan’s shirt after PS5 Announcement… How would you change the shirt? Comment below!?