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by Dario Marchetti 13 June 2020 Is it a heron? Is it an air purifier? No, it's the Playstation 5. And maybe nobody expected it to be just like that. So light (visually), so out of the norm, so devoid of corners and edges. So divisive, that's it. Because if with the next Series X Microsoft has reiterated a design choice already experimented by the Xbox One S, then transformed into a full-bodied black parallelepiped closer to certain PC houses than to a classic console, from the Rising Sun they have instead cleared the cards, reviving the idea of ​​those curved lines that were already PS3, maliciously defined by some "the steak", but trying to give an alien / futuristic touch to the car.

Two-tone, as well as the new Dual Sense controller, with a black central body embraced by two white sails, which almost seem to arrive from the famous Himeji castle, Playstation 5 immediately separated the internet into ranks of worshipers and detractors, followers and haters, apocalyptic and integrated. And that's a good thing, because we have enough of the same little boxes. The most interesting thing will actually be to understand how much this design, purely aesthetic dimension aside, will improve the problems of these machines. In the internal architecture they look more and more like a real PC, but that with those PCs do not share, for obvious reasons, the same means. If additional fans, radiators, liquid cooling systems and gargantuan graphics cards enter a medium format case, the consoles must deal with practicality, ease of use and cost / benefit ratio. The PS4 for example, especially in the Pro version and with certain demanding titles, suffers from a thermal management that leads the fans to run like the reactors of a Harrier.

Playstation 5 will then come in two versions, both of which can be used both horizontally and vertically: one with a 4K Blu-ray disc player and the other without a slot, designed for an entirely digital world in which games will be downloaded and that's it. The second one should cost less, even if nothing is known about the prices, and have a slightly more pleasant design as it does not have the "belly" that houses the reader. This player will not only satisfy the collectors of games in physical format, but it will really serve much more as a support for lovers of high definition cinema. This is because the architecture of Playstation 5 revolves around a solid state disk conceived ad hoc, capable of moving and managing huge quantities of data, around 5.5GB per second, to provide 4K graphics at 120 frames per second with times of very small, if not noticeable loading. A Copernican revolution with respect to data read from optical disc or mechanical hard disk, as has happened up to now in the sector (Nintendo Switch excluded).

And if it seems like technical stuff, wait to see the results. To overcome the problem of loading data, over the years the developers have had to invent each one. In how many games did you have to put up with long climbs in the lift or to see your character forced to struggle to cross some narrow passage? All tricks to hide the loading of the next game area from our eyes. Solutions that developers will no longer be forced to use, to finally focus on the rest of the game. En passant, Sony has also shown some samples of titles such as the Spider-Man sequel, this time dedicated to the young Miles Morales, the return of Ratchet & Clank, always at the hands of Insomniac, the second chapter of the lucky Horizon and the highly anticipated remake of Demon's Souls, the PS3 title that started the Soulslike genre. In short, whether you like it or not, the most appetizing aspect of Playstation 5 (as well as the rival Xbox) remains that inside, as well as the software that will accompany the hardware. At the bottom of these choices depend the lasting success of such a machine, which must satisfy the extemporaneous player and at the same time the demanding one. Which often, in both cases, have these machines hidden inside a cabinet and not displayed on a table. Design matters, of course. But perhaps more for the intention behind it than for the aesthetic result. He will certainly not be the one to dismiss potential buyers, but perhaps he will succeed in attracting completely new ones. The war is just beginning, appointment for the Christmas holidays.