The industry is still buzzing from last week’s reveal of the PlayStation 5. Sony further upped the ante by showcasing a range of exclusives. While nine of them were first-party titles – and included the likes of Horizon Forbidden West – another 14 were timed exclusives – like Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo. Exclusives have always been a big deal for Sony but Simon Rutter, PlayStation’s EVP of Europe, feels they’re more important now than ever.
Speaking to The Guardian, Rutter said that for the company, exclusives are “hugely important. More important, I think, than they’ve ever been. Through their proximity to the system’s designers, PlayStation’s studios are able to really extract the most out of the system performance and that’s a really valuable attribute for a platform holder to have.
“[PlayStation] can rely on a studio network that can really show off the innovations that we’re trying to put across…when the exclusives are as powerful as Marvel’s Spider-Man or Horizon, they are important games that people want to play.”
Rutter also picked out Gran Turismo 7 and noted how it would “benefit from almost every single technological enhancement that we have in PlayStation 5. The loading times will be next to nothing compared to what they have been in the past. Sitting in the cockpit, the 3D audio allows you to hear the thunderous roar of a Ferrari behind you or in front of you, and you can recognize the difference between that and the engine noise of a Maserati.
“Driving the car using the DualSense controller, you’ll have a different feeling in your hands from the smooth undulating tarmac of a racetrack, compared to the gritty sensation on a gravel track. Pressing a soft accelerator will feel very different than pressing on a stiff brake pedal or gear paddle.”
The sheer range of technology that the PS5 offers, along with Sony’s diverse portfolio, will help the console stand out in the coming generation. The above is only one scenario for the new DualSense – games like Astro’s Playroom, which is pre-loaded with the console, will provide haptic feedback for wind, shocks and other phenomenon. It remains to be seen how other titles will utilize it but the possibilities are immense.
The PS5 launches this holiday season. Along with Astro’s Playroom, it will feature titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Deathloop, Godfall and Bugsnax at launch. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.
