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.
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:
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
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.
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!
