Category: PS5

Posted on

Don’t Despair: 9 Big PSVR Games Still Coming To PS4 (And PS5 Via Back Compat)

What’s around the corner for Sony’s aging headset? We find out with nine big PSVR games coming soon.

It’d be fair to say that things are looking a little gloomy on the PSVR front right now. News that native PS5 games can’t support the new headset, coupled with recent comments from PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan that called into question when and if PSVR 2 might arrive, have poured a bit of cold water over the platform.

But PSVR fans need not despair just yet as there are plenty of PSVR games coming soon.

Yes, PS5 is less than two weeks away and will be dominating the headlines from here on out, but the PS4 won’t be going anywhere just yet. In fact, consoles traditionally get some of their best games as their successors make their way onto the scene. Developers are more familiar with the hardware than they ever have been, and get some of the best results out of the tech.

That certainly seems to be the case when looking over the list of PSVR games still to come on PS4.

9 Big PSVR Games Coming Soon To PS4 (And PS5 BC)

We’ve picked nine big PSVR games coming soon to Sony’s headset. That includes some of the headset’s most anticipated titles like Hitman 3, long-awaited ports and a few other hopeful indie gems to look forward to. We’ll remind you too that you will be able to keep playing these games on PS5, provided they don’t have any issues, via the console’s backwards compatibility feature and that you grab the free camera adaptor for the PS4 camera. You can find out how to do that here.

Solaris: Offworld Combat – 2020 (Read Our review)

Firewall developer First Contact Entertainment brought its new arena-based multiplayer shooter to Oculus earlier this year, but has long planned to release a PSVR version too. The studio is well-versed with the platform, having achieved popularity with its Rainbow Six-inspired tactical shooter. Solaris’ Quake-style fast-paced battles, meanwhile, look perfect for the PSVR Aim Controller, which the game fully supports.

Hitman 3 VR – January 21st, 2021

One of two PS4 games with a PS5 version that doesn’t support VR (the other being No Man’s Sky), Hitman 3 finds itself in a strange position just two months away from launch. We wonder how PS4 will handle the game’s sprawling and intricate sandboxes with the added pressure of VR, and we’re not sure how DualShock 4-exclusive motion controls will work out either. That said, we can’t wait to get our hands on this all the same, especially considering importing levels will let us play the entire PS4-era Hitman trilogy inside the headset.

Ven VR Adventure – 2020

ven vr adventure gameplay screenshot

When Ven was first announced we had our doubts that newcomer Monologic Games could deliver on the promise of a lengthy third-person platformer. But, over the course of 2020, constant updates from the studio have reassured us at every turn – Ven’s looking like a rock-solid companion to Moss, Lucky’s Tale and Astro Bot. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before we know if it really delivers.

After The Fall – TBA

Vertigo Games’ long-awaited follow-up to Arizona Sunshine no longer looks like it will be touching down in 2020 (unless the studio is set to drop an imminent surprise), but remains one of the most promising PSVR titles. Cooperative, Left4Dead-style action has a lot of potential for VR and, though what we saw of the game in summer 2019 felt familiar, it would no doubt still please a lot of shooter fans. Hopefully we’ll see a deeper game come full reveal, but this already looks like one of the biggest PSVR games coming soon.

Blair Witch VR – TBA (Read Our Review)

This excellent VR port of the faithful horror tie-in came to Oculus Quest last week in time for Halloween, but developer Bloober doesn’t sound like it’s stopping there. In a recent interview with The VR Dimension, the studio confirmed it has plans for PSVR and PC VR too. No word on when we’ll see it, but it looks likely this will be a worthy addition to any PSVR library.

Sniper Elite VR – TBA

Though it’s been a long-time coming, Sniper Elite VR’s most recent trailer was promising enough for us to shake off any concerns about development hell. Rebellion’s long-running series looks like it will find a natural home inside headsets, bringing players back through time for top-secret stealth missions and, hopefully, some of the most authentic sniping gameplay we’ve ever experienced.

Humanity – TBA

We were expecting to hear more from Humanity in 2020, but well over a year has passed since it was first announced now. Still, its ambiguous first trailer pictures a captivating world of possibilities in which thousands of tiny humans seem to react to your interactions. Exactly what we’ll be doing in Humanity remains to be seen, but we can’t wait to find out for one of the biggest PSVR games coming soon.

Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife – Early 2021

Jumping from the colorful worlds of Apex Construct and The Curious Tale Of The Stolen Pets to the gloom and doom of the World of Darkness universe was a surprise move for Fast Travel Games, but it’s increasingly looking like a natural one. The first VR game based in the tabletop universe, Wraith is promising authentic VR scares. We’re hoping this is an early highlight for VR in 2021.

Maskmaker – 2021

Developer InnerspaceVR earns a spot on this list just for last year’s excellent A Fisherman’s Tale alone. Fortunately, Maskmaker looks similarly fantastic, getting players to visit different fantastical biomes with magical masks. There’s still a lot to learn about this one, and we look forward to finding out more in the new year.

What do you make of the list of PSVR games coming soon? Let us know in the comments below!

Posted on

One Of PS5’s Incompatible PSVR Games Will Be Patched To Add Support

Around a month ago, Sony revealed a list of 10 PS4 games it has confirmed wouldn’t be backwards compatible with PS5. Of those games, two were on PSVR. But soon, two will become one.

Dual-wielding wave shooter DWVR will be adding support for PS5 via an update, developer Mad Triangles has confirmed to UploadVR. The team’s Victor Blanko noted that he hopes to have the patch live by the end of this month, though nothing’s set in stone right now. PS5 itself will launch November 12th in some regions and November 19th in others.

DWVR PS5 Support Confirmed

DWVR is a fairly traditional VR wave shooter, influenced by games like Doom. You dual-wield machine guns and gun down demons. All in a day’s work for the average VR headset owner. To play the game on PSVR you’ll need the PS4 Camera adaptor, which you can apply for for free if you already own the headset.

Sadly we haven’t heard if the other incompatible PSVR game, Crytek’s Robinson: The Journey, will also be patched to support PS5. Publisher Ubisoft has also called into question whether or not some of its PSVR titles, including Werewolves Within and Star Trek Bridge Crew, will be compatible with the console in a blog post that was taken down shortly after going live.

Backwards compatibility will be the only way to use VR on PS5, as new PS5 games cannot support Sony’s original headset. That means that PS4 games with PSVR support that are also coming to PS5 will not feature that support in the next-generation versions. These games include Hitman 3 and No Man’s Sky, the latter of which this week confirmed will offer the PS4 version to any PS5 customers, too.

Will you be checking out DWVR on PS5? Let us know in the comments below!

Posted on

Community Download: Do You Think Sony Will Release A PSVR 2 On PS5?

Community Download is a weekly discussion-focused article series published (usually) every Monday in which we pose a single, core question to you all, our readers, in the spirit of fostering discussion and debate. For today’s Community Download, we are focused on the evolving topic of PlayStation’s outlook on VR and if you think we’ll see an actual PSVR 2 eventually?

Over the last week a lot of news has come up regarding Sony, PlayStation 5, and the PSVR. As it turns out, not only does PlayStation’s CEO and President, Jim Ryan, think the future of VR is still a few years away at least, but it sounds like there won’t be any PS5 games with PSVR support at all. Both Hitman 3 and No Man’s Sky developers have indicated that PSVR support is only there for the PS4 versions of games — not the newer, more advanced PS5 versions. That’s a bummer.

When you add on the fact that Astro’s Playroom, a direct follow-up to PSVR’s popular Astro Bot: Rescue Mission has zero VR support it starts to paint a relatively bleak picture for the future of Sony’s VR commitment. 

The Future of PSVR

To be clear: it does seem like, at this moment, they’re still committed to the future of VR. Ryan had positive forward-looking statements and we’ve heard from them in the past about allusions to a new headset. But with PS5 launching in less than two weeks for the US we don’t really have any indication of what their VR plan is for the console. That’s potentially troublesome for the state of consumer confidence in PlayStation’s future as a VR platform.

Given all the new revelations of the past week: Do you think Sony will ever actually release a PSVR 2 for PS5? Will this be like the PSP <-> PS Vita in terms of a successor? Or will PSVR go down as a forgotten platform like the PS Vita is now?

PlayStation 5 & PSVR

Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

Posted on

No Man’s Sky For PS5 Includes PSVR-Enabled PS4 Version Too

If you buy the PS5 version of No Man’s Sky when it launches alongside the console later this month, you’ll also get the PS4 version for free, developer Hello Games has confirmed to UploadVR.

This is especially important for owners of Sony’s PSVR headset, as the native PS5 version of the game won’t support the device. You have to play the PS4 version to access the PSVR support.

Hello Games announced the next-generation version of its space sim last week, confirming that anyone that already owns the game on PS4 will get the PS5 upgrade for free. On PS4, you can play all of the game inside the PSVR headset but, as Sony confirmed to us last week, PS5 games can’t yet support the PSVR headset yet. That means that, despite No Man’s Sky on PS5 getting big upgrades to visuals and performance, the PSVR support will be missing.

The same is true for IO Interactive’s upcoming Hitman 3, which launches on PS4 and PS5 in January. Only the PS4 version of the game offers PSVR support. We’ve reached out to IO to ask if they will offer the PS4 version to PS5 customers too.

Offering the PS4 version for free to anyone that also buys these games on PS5 will at least avoid customers buying them, only to discover they can’t access it in VR at all. No Man’s Sky also lets you transfer your save data from PS4 to PS5 so, theoretically, you could download both versions, play in VR on the older PS4 version and then upload your save data to the PS5 version when you’re ready to make the jump. It’s not clear if you could then send your PS5 save back to PS4, but we’ve asked Hello Games for clarity.

Don’t forget that you’ll also need a specific camera adaptor to connect your PS4 camera to the PS5 to use PSVR. You can’t use the new HD Camera launching alongside PS5. Sony is giving the adaptor away for free if you already own the headset. You can apply for it here.

Posted on

Ubisoft Sparks Confusion Over Bridge Crew, Werewolves Within PS5 Compatibility

Ubisoft has sparked a little confusion over three of its PSVR titles and if they can work on PS5 or not.

Last week the publishing giant posted an update detailing its support for next-generation consoles, PS5 included. In that post, the company listed a number of titles that would not be backwards compatible on PS5. Included in the list are three PSVR games: Star Trek Bridge Crew, Werewolves Within and Space Junkies. Other Ubisoft PSVR titles like Eagle Flight weren’t listed, however.

Ubisoft PS5 Backwards Compatibility List Sparks Confusion

However, since posting that list the company has removed the post and informed multiple sites that “there may be inaccuracies involving the Ubisoft titles that will be playable on PS5.”

So, what exactly is going on? A month or so ago, Sony revealed 10 PS4 titles that wouldn’t work via PS5’s backwards compatibility function. It was thought that these games were the only titles that outright wouldn’t work on the console, but Sony did advise players to test out games for themselves, as they may encounter unforeseen issues.

Could it be that Ubisoft’s own testing flagged up some issues, leading the company to label them as incompatible on PS5? Or are there more PS4 games that don’t work on PS5 than Sony originally let on.

Ubisoft is yet to replace its article with updated information, so it’s hard to tell. It would be a shame, though, to lose more PSVR titles playable on PS5. We already know DWVR and Robinson: The Journey won’t work on the new device. Not only that but PS5 versions of cross-generation games with PSVR support will also only support the headset via old PS4 editions.

That said Space Junkies, an online zero-gravity shooter, was already dead in the water, having ceased updates last year. Even if it does work on PS5, then, it won’t have much of a life there. Are you hoping to play either Bridge Crew or Werewolves within on PS5, though? Let us know in the comments below!

Posted on

Watch: PS5 DualSense Controller’s Impressive IMU in Action

We talked earlier this week about the impressive haptics and IMU in the PS5 DualSense controller, and now we can show you what it looks like in action.

While the PS5 DualSense controller doesn’t currently allow for position (6DOF) tracking, its rotational (3DOF) tracking is very impressive thanks, apparently, to a stellar IMU inside. We broke down why we were impressed earlier this week when we went over the controller’s features:

[…] Sony seems to have found some ultra-precise IMU because, even without any external reference point, the DualSense controller seems almost devoid of drift. That’s counter to my experience with PSVR devices in the past. Even with external tracking from the PS4 camera, I’ve noticed plenty of drift from the headset, PS Move, and PS Aim in various games.

While playing in ‘Cooling Springs’ in Astro’s Playroom the game allowed me to ‘inspect’ an object I found by rotating my controller in space, which would then rotate the object on screen. This gave me a good chance to test out the DualSense motion tracking.

No matter how violently I tried to shake and twist the controller, the on-screen object never lost its ‘forward’ direction—even without an external camera aiding in the tracking. I even sat the controller down in a random orientation for 30 minutes, and then compared the position of the object before and after, and found hardly any change. This shows that the controller’s IMU has very little internal drift and noise.

And now we can actually show you this in action:

You’ll surely notice the latency in the video, but considering this isn’t a VR application (and therefore not tuned for latency) I’m not terribly worried about that.

The really impressive thing we’re seeing here is the controller seems to remember its forward direction with absolutely no problem, even without an external point of reference. With PS4’s DualShock controller (as well as PSVR, PS Aim, and PS Move), the PS4 camera provides the external frame of reference to ensure the devices can maintain an absolute forward direction.

From an IMU alone, knowing a device’s downward direction is pretty trivial because gravity offers a strong directional force which can be detected reliably by an accelerometer. While a gyroscope can reliably tell you when an object is rotating around its axis, it’s still doesn’t have any explicit understanding of ‘forward’, which means its susceptibility to drift is equal to its margin of error.

While not as strong as gravity, there is another force that can be used to help reliably maintain a forward heading: the Earth’s magnetic field. Some modern IMUs incorporate magnetometers to do just that, and it seems like the IMU in the DualSense controller may now include a magnetometer—or perhaps a much more precise one than was available previously.

Although the PS5 DualSense controller doesn’t currently support 6DOF tracking, knowing that Sony already seems to have a great IMU locked down means that future VR input devices from the company stand to benefit, as we explained earlier this week:

Little known fact about VR tracking systems: the IMU does the bulk of the tracking work, even for 6DOF tracking. While an external frame of reference—like a camera for inside or outside tracking—is important for correcting drift over time, it provides comparatively infrequent updates (on the order of 60Hz) compared to the IMU (typically around 1,000Hz).

That means that a good IMU is essential to a highly accurate 6DOF tracking system. And from what I’ve seen with the DualSense controller, Sony has picked a darn good one.

The post Watch: PS5 DualSense Controller’s Impressive IMU in Action appeared first on Road to VR.

Posted on

PlayStation CEO: ‘The Future Of VR’ Won’t Arrive In 2021

In an interview with The Washington Post’s gaming vertical, Launcher, Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation President and CEO Jim Ryan said in an interview published today that he does not believe VR will be a “meaningful component of interactive entertainment” for some time still. According to him,”the future of VR” won’t arrive until after next year. This potentially means no new PSVR 2 headset until at least 2022.

The Future of PlayStation VR

The interview is all about immersion and how the PS5 hits your senses more directly by using 3D audio and the DualSense controller’s impressive haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. As explained in my editorial this week, the controller is extremely impressive and bodes well for the future of VR haptics and interaction — that is, assuming it’s ever used for VR gaming in the first place.

In the aforementioned interview, Jim Ryan seems rather unconvinced on the promise of VR despite PSVR selling over 5 million headsets:

“I think we’re more than a few minutes from the future of VR,” Ryan said. “PlayStation believes in VR. Sony believes in VR, and we definitely believe at some point in the future, VR will represent a meaningful component of interactive entertainment. Will it be this year? No. Will it be next year? No. But will it come at some stage? We believe that. And we’re very pleased with all the experience that we’ve gained with PlayStation VR, and we look forwarding to seeing where that takes us in the future.”

Admittedly, his stance isn’t all that surprising. Just a month ago Ryan was quoted as saying that VR is still an “unproven space” but that he is “intrigued and really excited by it.”

To be clear though, Ryan is not saying that there are no plans for a PSVR 2 or that they’re giving up on VR. If that were the case they wouldn’t have funded a AAA-budget scale Iron Man VR platform exclusive project this year and wouldn’t be releasing an adapter to continue PSVR access on PS5 — even if the PSVR is aging very quickly.

Read More: Everything We Know About PSVR 2 So Far

They seem to be playing the long game here and will likely release a new device when it’s ready to make a significant leap forward, likely in late 2022 if I had to make a prediction.

We’ve heard from developers that they’re confident in the prospect of a PSVR 2, Sony’s job listings allude to a future device, and their own internal R&D teams have given talks about the future of display technology. Not to mention the multiples times they’ve explained that a new headset announcement won’t happen near PS5’s launch. They’re likely aiming to just clear the air and let the PS5 breath on its own first, just like they did with the PS4.

What do you think of Ryan’s quotes here? Should PSVR fans be concerned? Let us know down in the comments below!

Posted on

Editorial: Lack of PSVR Support In Astro’s Playroom Is A Huge Missed Opportunity

Astro’s Playroom makes an extremely convincing case for Astro Bot to become a legitimate mascot for the PlayStation brand as a whole. And yet, despite his previous game being a VR exclusive, this one’s VR support is conspicuously absent.

Go to this time stamp (3:00) in the video above to see some Astro Bot gameplay and  DualSense controller impressions

From the bit that I’ve played so far, basically just the opening ‘Cooling Springs’ level (full playthrough here), Astro’s Playroom seems like a really excellent game. It follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the excellent PSVR-exclusive Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, and brings a bright, cheery, and colorful 3D platformer adventure to life. It’s a genre that’s often neglected these days, but it clearly still has a lot of life left over.

In Astro Bot on PSVR (for PS4) the DualShock 4 controller and PSVR headset itself were used in a litany of novel ways. You could headbutt objects in the environment to interact with them, dodge things thrown at you, or sometimes lean and peek around corners to find hidden collectibles. It was a great showcase for why not every single great VR experience needs to be a first-person action game.

When Astro’s Playroom was revealed, as a free pack-in for PS5 no less, we noted the lack of VR support immediately. Ever since The Playroom VR and then the subsequent full-fledged Astro Bot game, he has felt like a VR mascot. But now, he has left the immersive realm behind — sort of.

psvr headset ocean descent easter egg astro bot astro's playroom

There are plenty of references to PlayStation’s past throughout Astro’s Playroom. In the Cooling Springs level alone I found 3D model replicas of every iteration of the PlayStation 3, as well as the Navigation Controller and the PS Move Sharp Shooter rifle — the predecessor to the PS Aim Controller. These collectibles are known as “artifacts” and I’d be willing to bet there are plenty of VR-focused artifacts to find as well.

The opening beach environment has floaties in the shapes of PlayStation symbols, other bots litter the background of levels re-enacting scenes from iconic PlayStation games, and the entire premise of the game is that you’re adventuring into the inner-workings of a PS5 itself. It’s very meta, very silly, and extremely charming.

Hands-On: DualSense PS5 Controller Feels Like A Preview Of The Future Of VR Haptics

Yet, despite the lack of formal support, it would be inaccurate to say Astro’s Playroom is a sign Sony doesn’t care about VR. If anything, the litany of Easter Eggs (like the fact that Astro himself will put on a VR headset if you idle the controller for long enough) proves Sony recognizes VR as a core tenant of the brand. Or at least that it’s top of mind enough to not forget about.

But ultimately that’s what makes it all the more frustrating that Astro’s latest adventure is missing the peripheral that helped make him so lovable in the first place. In my mind, Astro and VR are intrinsically linked. Playing Astro’s Playroom without a VR headset just feels incomplete. Like an imitation of something else.

I miss being able to lean in and wave at my little buddy or lean around corners scoping out enemies. I miss how interactive it felt and that feeling that I was right there in his world with him. Seeing him through the window of a TV screen just isn’t the same — even in native 4K resolution.

Generally, I feel like the lack of VR support here, from a studio that has made VR a bit of a specialty in recent years, is just an enormous missed opportunity. I can’t think of a reasonable reason to not put in optional VR support other than Sony decided it wasn’t worth the time, and that’s a shame.

Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions here and once the PSVR 2 arrives there will be another new Astro adventure or, at least, VR support added to Astro’s Playroom. Maybe.

At the end of the day Sony appears to be adapting the character to appeal to a broader audience by removing the shackles of a VR headset and I think they’re going to succeed in that regard — but I just hope it doesn’t come at the cost of their support for VR as a medium.

Astro’s Playroom will be included on every PlayStation 5 console for free and is a great showcase for the new DualSense PS5 Controller — we highly recommend you play it if you get a PS5.

Posted on

No Man’s Sky PS5 Confirmed, But PSVR Support Comes Via Backwards Compatibility

No Man’s Sky PS5 and Xbox One Series X versions have been confirmed.

Hello Games’ popular sci-fi sim will arrive alongside both consoles on their respective launch dates in November. Each will be a free upgrade for existing owners and each comes with a host of improvements.

No Man’s Sky PS5 Confirmed

For example, Hello Games is promising richer worlds with more objects on planet surfaces (an upgrade that will also be coming to the PC version of the game) and improved shadows, draw distances and other elements. Consoles will also run in 4K at 60fps, and base building has been expanded whilst load times have been reduced. Check out the trailer above.

However, when it comes to PSVR support on PS5, Hello Games told us integration will be available “by virtue of the backwards compatibility functionality.”

We’ve reached back out to the studio to confirm this, but the wording seems to suggest that you’ll need the PS4 version of No Man’s Sky to access the PSVR support on PS5. The developer did not reply by the time today’s embargo lifted.

This is the latest piece of the puzzle that suggests that PS5 games won’t natively support PSVR. Hitman 3, for example, is coming to both PS4 and PS5 too. The PS4 version features full support for the headset, but listings for PS5 don’t confirm support. All developer IO Interactive has said thus far is it’s “looking into” how PSVR players can access the game.

You can play old PS4-era PSVR games on PS5, but you’ll need to use your original PlayStation Camera (not the new one releasing alongside PS5), which itself needs an adapter Sony says it will send out for free, and your old PS4 controllers.

No Man's Sky PS5 first-person

Furthermore, you can’t use the DualShock 4 with new PS5 games, and the new DualSense controller doesn’t seem built for PSVR’s camera tracking. We’ve reached out to Sony multiple times for confirmation of playing PSVR in full PS5 games, but the company has never given us any clarification.

For No Man’s Sky, the next-generation version caps off a year of plentiful updates for the game. Over the past 12 months the game’s seen living ships (pictured in the next-gen screenshot above), graphical updates and even horror-themed levels.

Will you be checking out No Man’s Sky PS5? Or will you be sticking to the PSVR-enabled version? Let us know in the comments below and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

 

Posted on

PlayStation 5 Unboxing: Sneak Peek At The Next-Generation Of Console Gaming

The moment is finally (almost) here! The PlayStation 5 is just a couple of weeks away, but we’ve already got our hands on one provided by Sony. In the video and photos below we’ve unboxed the PS5 and have lots of details about how it looks and feels, as well as what the new DualSense PS5 controller is like.

We even got to try some of Astro’s Playroom, the non-VR pre-installed free sequel game to excellent PSVR exclusive Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. For more specific details on the controller and what we think about its implications for VR, check out this article here.

Enjoy the full unboxing video here:

First up, a few notes. If you’re reading this near the time it was published then that means we’re still under embargo. We can’t show you any games running on the system, other than a small section of the non-VR Astro Bot sequel, Astro’s Playroom, which you can see in the video above. Plus, we can’t even turn the thing on in any videos or photos. This is an unboxing only situation.

ps5 playstation 5 boxes received

PlayStation 5 Unboxing

The box itself is surprisingly economical with very little waste and everything appears to be biodegradable, which is nice. Inside the larger box is a small, horizontal box that has the power cord, HDMI cord, USB-C cord for charging and syncing the controller, and the stand used to lay the console on its side. If you lay it down without the stand it’s quite wobbly, so the stand helps it stay firmly in place.

Also there’s a little thing called the DualSense PS5 controller in this smaller box within a box. We’ll go over that more later and in this separate hands-on impressions article.

Enjoy this gallery of photos for some looks at the PS5 console. We’re not allowed to show you what it looks like turned on yet or give any impressions about the hardware itself, so pictures will have to do for now:

ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console ps5 playstation console image ps5 playstation console image ps5 playstation 5 console unboxing ps4 pro size comparison ps5 playstation 5 console unboxing ps4 pro size comparison ps5 playstation console image ps5 playstation console image ps5 playstation console image ps5 playstation console image

At the bottom of the box is the enormous PS5 console itself. It’s very heavy and thick. The back has two USB ports, an HDMI port, power cord connection, and Ethernet port. That’s it! No PS Camera port at all, instead you’ll have to get an adapter. We still don’t even have one ourselves for Sony, but we’re going to assume it’s a USB converter plug of some kind.

The front of the console has a USB port, USB-C port, eject button, and power button. We only have our hands on the actual disc version of the PS5, not the digital edition without a disc drive so we’re not sure what they did with the spot where the reset button is on that one.

Visually, you probably either love it or hate it. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of middle ground. I’m not a big fan of it personally, if for no reason other than it’s obnoxious to look at, sticks out like a sore thumb, and does not easily blend in with or fit inside of entertainment centers. That being said, it matches the PSVR headset very well stylistically which is pretty neat.

 

dualsense ps5 controller unboxing box video

DualSense PS5 Controller

We’ll keep this section brief because, as stated, we’ve got a whole separate article breaking down our thoughts on the PS5 DualSense Controller what it could mean for the future of haptics in VR controllers.

The design is quite different from what we’ve seen over the past 20+ years. The DualShock 1-4 all have very similar designs with little variation, so the DualSense is a pretty major departure. Notably, the hand grips have edges now and are more angular rather than being rounded like in previous controller iterations.

However the biggest change is the inclusion of what’s known as the adaptive triggers and a very precise reactive rumble feature. The adaptive triggers work by changing how much resistance is presented based on what you’re doing in a game. The best example I’ve seen so far is in the Cooling Springs level of Astro’s Playroom, which you can see a little bit of in the video up above. When you take the form of this springy robot, you pull down on the trigger to charge it up then release to launch. When pressing it down I can feel the increased resistance. It’s hard to describe, but feels amazing in practice.

Another example is how the haptics work. Depending on what I’m doing or what I’m walking on, the controllers actually has micro-vibrations in really precise ways that change the texture of the feedback. I can imagine this sort of things being used to really increase immersion in VR games with motion controllers.

ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console port ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console face buttons ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller ps5 playstation 5 console unboxing dualsense controller ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console port ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console ps5 playstation 5 dualsense controller console d-pad

Stay tuned here at UploadVR for more PS5 coverage over the coming weeks. We haven’t gotten the chance to try PSVR with PS5 yet, but we’ll have plenty of footage and impressions as soon as we are able to share.

Let us know if you have any questions down in the comments below!