PS5, one year later

PS5

PS5 is one year old: the new generation Sony console arrived in American and Japanese stores on November 12, 2020, and then also landed in Europe a few days later. Twelve months of unquestionable success, with over 13.4 million units sold, but also of enormous and unprecedented problems of availability of its components that have made PlayStation 5 one of the most desired and difficult to find electronic devices ever.
In the same way, a first year that has been able to give us videogame pearls, demonstrating the strength and talent of PlayStation Studios but necessarily bowing his head in the face of the difficulties of an international situation that has forced the postponement of many projects, some of which of great importance in view of the weeks we are experiencing, sensationally devoid of exclusive first parties.

The launch

PlayStation 5, the two models of the PS5 console have been launched on the market in two different versions: one equipped with a disc player and available at a price of € 499.99, the other designed exclusively for the use of digital content, therefore without a disc player. available at a price of € 399.99. An unprecedented strategy for Sony, perhaps still premature: the bulk of the users were not and are not willing to give up the possibility of turning to retail when necessary, nor to abandon the old PS4 game collection, fully compatible with the new hardware.

In this regard, PlayStation Plus subscribers who switched to the next-gen console immediately received a special gift, the PS Plus Collection: a digital package consisting of eighteen games, which includes products such as Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, The Last of Us Remastered, Days Gone, God of War, Bloodborne, Persona 5, Resident Evil 7 biohazard, The Last Guardian and more.

Then, of course, there was the fascination of the new hardware to unleash the enthusiasm: a design that undoubtedly divided the fans, with a style that incorporates neo-futurist architecture and important volumes; but under the body a level component, with Zen 2 processor, Navi GPU and above all a very fast M.2 NVMe SSD with reading speed equal to 5.5 GB / s. And then the DualSense controller, revolutionized compared to the DualShock and capable of offering not only excellent ergonomics, but also some interesting features, from haptic feedback to adaptive triggers.

The launch of PlayStation 5 was the greatest always for a Sony console, despite the great difficulties of organizing it in the middle of a pandemic and the availability factor already quite pressing when pre-orders are opened, sold out within a few minutes. Buying a PS5 at Christmas 2020 wasn't easy, to put it mildly, but it was just the beginning for a situation that has continued over the months and could last until 2023.

The games so far

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the most successful launch game for PS5 While aiming for a cross-gen approach in many ways distant from the initial declarations of the Sony management, on the front of PS5 games it started very well and continued to be supported very convincingly; but having to give up, as mentioned, some important exclusives that didn't have time to come out in 2021, specifically God of War Ragnarok, Gran Turismo 7 and Horizon Forbidden West.

The launch line-up of the console has seen the presence of titles such as the extraordinary remake of Demon's Souls, available only on next-gen, the excellent Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales with also the remaster of Marvel's Spider-Man, the fun platformer Sackboy: A Great Adventure and then again the third parties with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Watch Dogs: Legion and DIRT 5.

Returnal, a combat sequence During the first quarter of 2021 instead, the action stealth Hitman 3, the spectacular Ultimate Edition of Control, the remasters of Nioh and Nioh 2, as well as the next-gen versions of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Marvel's Avengers and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time! have arrived. The only Sony exclusive, Destruction AllStars, launched directly in the PlayStation Plus catalog, in truth did not completely convince, raising some doubts about the first party catalog after the glories of the launch.

Perplexity that, however, is are melted like snow in the sun in April, in front of the surprising Returnal: the roguelike-style third person shooter developed by Housemarque, which was the prelude to the acquisition of the team by the Japanese house. An excellent start to the second quarter, which closed even more convincingly with the release of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, also an exclusive PlayStation 5 among the most anticipated.

Deathloop, one of the best PS5 exclusives In the midst of Resident Evil Village's rock-solid gothic horror, Genshin Impact phenomenon, next-gen versions of Judgment, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, DOOM Eternal and A Plague Tale: Innocence. Excellent forerunners for a summer that saw the arrival of Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, the paranormal adventure The Medium, Lost Judgment, the excellent remaster Diablo 2: Resurrected and two amazing exclusives like Deathloop and Kena: Bridge of Spirits.

As mentioned, the autumn period suffered from the lack of further first party productions, but on the multiplatform front the games were absolutely not lacking: we witnessed the debut of Alan Wake on PlayStation with the remaster, to the arrival of Back 4 Blood with its Left 4 Dead-style cooperative mechanics, to the excellent tie-in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ... and the rest is recent, very recent history.

The future

PS5, the detail of the logo on the chassis If the first year of PlayStation 5 was undoubtedly a great success, despite all the difficulties that still exist, the second year promises to be even better. Sony is doing everything possible to remedy the lack of components that has recently led to a cut in production, and in the course of 2022 we should finally begin to perceive a change of course in this sense.

It will however be above all a period of great, very large outputs; starting from February, which promises to be the richest month ever for videogame enthusiasts. In those weeks, titles such as Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring, Dying Light 2: Stay Human and the reboot of Saints Row will make their debut.

Horizon Forbidden West, one of the most anticipated games of 2022 Not even time to catch your breath and will also arrive Gran Turismo 7, the awaited next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077, that of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and then in the course of the year Forspoken, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the remake of Dead Space, God of War Ragnarok, Gotham Knights, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel's Midnight Suns, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy XVI, Marvel's Wolverine and Pragmata. be really enthusiastic: we have left behind us twelve months of excellent releases and extraordinary sales, despite everything, and we are preparing to live as many with a smile on our lips, in the company of a platform that has been able to conquer even the skeptics over the course of the his first year of life.

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