Playstation 5 Console Discussion

[Ronnie]

I wondered why I seemed to prefer the Xbox One achievement system, I didn't even realise the Playstation one didn't have levels! About time then. Hopefully there's a purpose to them apart from numbers going up...

[Sheikah]

I wondered why I seemed to prefer the Xbox One achievement system, I didn't even realise the Playstation one didn't have levels! About time then. Hopefully there's a purpose to them apart from numbers going up...

About the numbers going up, that's why I never saw the point in Gamerscore. Just a large number going up and up, which didn't really mean anything. The achievement system for me has always been about the number of Platinum trophies.

[Magnus]

50 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I wondered why I seemed to prefer the Xbox One achievement system, I didn't even realise the Playstation one didn't have levels!

That's probably because it already has levels, they're just adding more of them so it won't take as long to level up...

[drahkon]

So many will die just to cool the PS5

[Ronnie]

49 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

I wondered why I seemed to prefer the Xbox One achievement system, I didn't even realise the Playstation one didn't have levels! About time then. Hopefully there's a purpose to them apart from numbers going up...

About the numbers going up, that's why I never saw the point in Gamerscore. Just a large number going up and up, which didn't really mean anything. The achievement system for me has always been about the number of Platinum trophies.

That's definitely true, Xbox needs a Platinum equivalent. I thought you can redeem Gamerscore points for purchasing stuff, but I may just be making that up.

5 minutes ago, Magnus said:

That's probably because it already has levels, they're just adding more of them so it won't take as long to level up...

Sorry by levels I mean telling you how far into a specific trophy you are. Collect 5 Whatevers, if you've collected 3 it'll tell you on Xbox, not on Playstation (as far as I'm aware)

[Magnus]

13 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Sorry by levels I mean telling you how far into a specific trophy you are. Collect 5 Whatevers, if you've collected 3 it'll tell you on Xbox, not on Playstation (as far as I'm aware)

Yeah, I would rather have that than more levels, to be honest.

Sony's already ripped off everything else about achievements from Microsoft, so I'm not sure what the holdup is on this...

Edit: Looks like it might be on the way:

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Magnus

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Magnus said:

Looks like it might be on the way

Just got an email from Sony confirming it.

In other news: The PS5 teardown video is almost at 2 million views. Insane.

[Sheikah]

So many will die just to cool the PS5 [emoji20]

How long before the videos of people licking it, much like the Switch cartridges?

[Sheikah]

Sorry by levels I mean telling you how far into a specific trophy you are. Collect 5 Whatevers, if you've collected 3 it'll tell you on Xbox, not on Playstation (as far as I'm aware)

One cool thing that was done with Final Fantasy XIII on PS3 was that if you unlocked the platinum trophy you were able to download a special system theme from the disc (and I think there were others for getting some other specific trophies too). Would be nice to see developers do stuff like that again - and for Sony to encourage it.

In other news: The PS5 teardown video is almost at 2 million views. Insane.

But how many are Xbox fanboys wanting to see a PS5 get dismantled. [emoji14]

[Will]

11 hours ago, drahkon said:

Removing the side panels seems to be very easy. Good for those who don't like the colour and want to replace them eventually.

Really happy to see this. If new ones aren’t available at launch I’m tempted to buy some paint alongside my console and change these myself (I won’t of course as it’s way too much effort).

9 hours ago, Aneres11 said:

Change to the Trophy system. About bloody time too! 

New changes look great, looking forward to seeing what my new level is! This is still the thing I most wish Nintendo would catchup on.

After being unsure about my order last week I’ve decided I’m definitely going to keep it. Everything I’m seeing looks great and new consoles is something I don’t want to miss.

[Sheikah]

I've had time to watch the PS5 teardown video more closely now. One thing that struck me throughout is just how much more smartly (and painstakingly) designed the PS5 is compared to the Series X, which we saw torn down by Digital Foundry a few months back.

Everything inside the PS5 looked custom made and tailored to the design of the PS5, which revolves around heat dispersion. In contrast the Series X looked to more or less contain standard stock components. One thing I also noticed in the Series X video is how the airflow is blocked by internal components in a lot of places, as well as the case sides and even the stand.

Any negative thoughts people might have on the design and size of the PS5 should be vindicated by this video. It's really an impressive piece of engineering - the size of the heatsink and fan, and shape of the case all work together to dispel heat buildup. At the end of the day I would much rather have something big and unorthodox in my living room if it means I don't have a loudz overheating machine.

Roll on November!

[Will]

6 hours ago, Sheikah said:

Any negative thoughts people might have on the design and size of the PS5 should be vindicated by this video. It's really an impressive piece of engineering - the size of the heatsink and fan, and shape of the case all work together to dispel heat buildup. At the end of the day I would much rather have something big and unorthodox in my living room if it means I don't have a loudz overheating machine.

It’s an impressive piece of tech but I still find it to be the ugliest console yet. I’m definitely glad they’ve addressed some of the issues of the PS4 but I wish they’d have done it in a different way. Personally I’d much rather have the Series X if it was all based on looks.

[Sheikah]

2 hours ago, Will said:

It’s an impressive piece of tech but I still find it to be the ugliest console yet. I’m definitely glad they’ve addressed some of the issues of the PS4 but I wish they’d have done it in a different way. Personally I’d much rather have the Series X if it was all based on looks.

I would much, much rather have the PS5 purely from an engineering design perspective. For me there is just no comparison between the two systems when you see them torn down. It's kind of crazy to see how much effort and thought has gone into every part of the PS5 design when watching the teardown video (even the stand is a appreciable piece of engineering). I wasn't expecting much when I started watching the video but by the end I was really, really impressed. And I'm not someone who is usually interested in the nitty gritty tech stuff.

For me I'll take the look and size of the PS5 if it means having a system designed to be run cooler, and quiet (impressions are suggesting the PS5 runs much cooler).

I mean, look at this (Series X). The design looks as though there is very little customisation. It looks almost as if it has been filled with stock parts and that they have been more or less layered on top of each other:

It's not just the design though, the cooling doesn't look anywhere near as comprehensive. With the PS5 the case is designed to dissipate heat all along the unit and the heatsink takes up something like 40% of the internal space. The PS5's horizontal fan also blows to both left and right sides of the console when upright (the Series X's fan meanwhile is situated at the top).
 

You've also got this stand on the Series X which can't be removed which is effectively blocking a vent, even if you position the console sideways and don't need to use the stand:

 

For anyone with even a mild interest I really would recommend watching Digital Foundry's teardown of the Series X and Sony's teardown of the PS5. The customisation and thought that has gone into the PS5 is abundantly clear to me, but I don't get that impression at all with the Series X.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Sheikah

[Ronnie]

Is the PS5 customisable or do do just mean the parts are custom built (surely true of both consoles?)

You could equally say that for a console that's more powerful, the Xbox Series X is impressively engineered to be full of that much tech, especially for a device that's not too far off half the size of the PS5 (6.86l v 10.14l).

As for the tear-downs I spend more time looking at the outside of a console than the inside or touching it to see which one cools slightly better. If anything the PS5 just looks worse the more I see it. One is the ugliest console I've ever seen and the other is a lovely minimalist box I would much rather have out on display. But at the end of the day, that's a subjective opinion and the look of a console isn't that big a deal anyway.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Ronnie

[Cube]

6 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

the other is a lovely minimalist box

You mean the incredibly ugly monolithic box that looks like someone has chopped a cheap PC in half?

6 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

You could equally say that for a console that's more powerful, the Xbox Series X is impressively engineered to be full of that much tech, especially for a device that's not too far off half the size of the PS5 (6.86l v 10.14l).

More powerful on paper, but the more custom parts of the PS5 means that paper isn't everything and the PS5 could very likely be more powerful from an real life results standpoint.

[drahkon]

Ah, so we're back to "my preferred console looks better, and your preferred console is ugly"?

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by drahkon

[Sheikah]

18 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Is the PS5 customisable or do do just mean the parts are custom built (surely true of both consoles?)

You could equally say that for a console that's more powerful, the Xbox Series X is impressively engineered to be full of that much tech, especially for a device that's not too far off half the size of the PS5 (6.86l v 10.14l).

As for the tear-downs I spend more time looking at the outside of a console than the inside or touching it to see which one cools slightly better. If anything the PS5 just looks worse the more I see it. One is the ugliest console I've ever seen and the other is a lovely minimalist box I would much rather have out on display. But at the end of the day, that's a subjective opinion and the look of a console isn't that big a deal anyway.

I think you're trying to be a bit disingenuous with that question, as it's pretty clear from looking at the photo of the Series X innards what I'm getting at. If you look at the parts inside the Series X (e.g. the disc drive) these look like completely standard off-the-shelf parts. At the very least, even their custom parts have not exactly been designed and spaced with airflow in mind. Not just that, but the design ethos of the Series X seems to have been to more or less layer parts on top of each other like a compact PC, without actually putting much thought into airflow and heat dissipation. It feels as though a lot more thought and customisation of the individual parts and design has happened with the PS5. Just look at the PS5's motherboard for instance, with the spacing of modules on it.

You're making the point that the Xbox is more powerful but then it has reduced airflow and cooling...that's not a good combination then, is it? There are already many reports of how the Series X gets very hot during use and that's just when it's playing BC games.

I don't share people's obsession with the size and appearance of the unit, especially after seeing the impressive teardown - would people really rather have a machine that overheats and gets noisier in place of it being smaller and more box-like? Who even looks at their machine while playing games? I don't, but I certainly hear it.

Edited October 8, 2020 by Sheikah

[Will]

I agree with you, @Sheikah, it is a more impressive piece of tech (imo) than the Series X. I’m set on a PS5 and a PC for exactly the reasons you outline - I can build something myself that will be far more powerful than the Series X, in the same form factor, and that combo will give me access to everything.

But I also agree with you, @Ronnie, the PS5 is super ugly and I really don’t want to have to look at it in my living room. Unfortunately I’m going to have to because it’s so insanely large I can’t put it in my cabinet.

9 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

I don't share people's obsession with the size and appearance of the unit, especially after seeing the impressive teardown - would people really rather have a machine that overheats and gets noisier in place of it being smaller and more box-like? Who even looks at their machine while playing games? I don't, but I certainly hear it.

I’d have liked a better compromise between the two. From what I’ve heard the Series X is fine on the cooling so I don’t know that Sony had to take things as far as they have. It shouldn’t come down to a choice between a terrible looking console that runs cool and a good looking console that burns the house down - I think Microsoft got it right on this one. 

[drahkon]

5 minutes ago, Will said:

t shouldn’t come down to a choice between a terrible looking console that runs cool and a good looking console that burns the house down

For me it'll be: A nice looking console that is insanely good at cooling (apparently).

Then again, @Glen-i just told me that I have no taste so...who am I to talk...

[Sheikah]

3 minutes ago, Will said:

I’d have liked a better compromise between the two. From what I’ve heard the Series X is fine on the cooling so I don’t know that Sony had to take things as far as they have. It shouldn’t come down to a choice between a terrible looking console that runs cool and a good looking console that burns the house down - I think Microsoft got it right on this one. 

There are plenty of reports of Series X getting very hot (being referred to as "like a fireplace"), and this is just when playing BC games. We have no idea what it'll be like when playing intensive Series X games.

More to the point, heat will be a limiter to performance and potentially longevity. As a result of the design we could well see Series X making a fair bit more noise further down the line, especially once it starts to get filled with dust.

[Will]

2 minutes ago, drahkon said:

For me it'll be: A nice looking console that is insanely good at cooling (apparently).

Then again, @Glen-i just told me that I have no taste so...who am I to talk...

Gonna have to agree with him on this one!

But of course, different people like different things and it’s great for those who do like it. I think maybe I’ll feel different once I can get some less in your face... fins(?) for it.

4 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

There are plenty of reports of Series X getting very hot (being referred to as "like a fireplace"), and this is just when playing BC games. We have no idea what it'll be like when playing intensive Series X games.

More to the point, heat will be a limiter to performance and potentially longevity. As a result of the design we could well see Series X making a fair bit more noise further down the line, especially once it starts to get filled with dust.

I guess I hadn’t paid enough attention to the reports on it, but yeah, taking a quick look it’s definitely concerning on how hot it seems to get. I guess at this point they may not be running with optimized software and so it will be better once we get the retail versions of the machine. I did read one article that said - “The console is emitting heat like crazy. It’s almost like a fireplace shaft. You can heat up your flat with it” - maybe that’s a feature for some parts of the world?

[drahkon]

2 minutes ago, Will said:

Gonna have to agree with him on this one!

But of course, different people like different things and it’s great for those who do like it.

I also like the Series S/X design.

SO? WHAT NOW?

[Will]

2 minutes ago, drahkon said:

I also like the Series S/X design.

SO? WHAT NOW?

NO! You’re doing it wrong. Pick one console and absolutely hate everything about the other one.

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, Sheikah said:

I think you're trying to be a bit disingenuous with that question, as it's pretty clear from looking at the photo of the Series X innards what I'm getting at. If you look at the parts inside the Series X (e.g. the disc drive) these look like completely standard off-the-shelf parts. At the very least, even their custom parts have not exactly been designed and spaced with airflow in mind. Not just that, but the design ethos of the Series X seems to have been to more or less layer parts on top of each other like a compact PC, without actually putting much thought into airflow and heat dissipation. It feels as though a lot more thought and customisation of the individual parts and design has happened with the PS5. Just look at the PS5's motherboard for instance, with the spacing of modules on it.

You're making the point that the Xbox is more powerful but then it has reduced airflow and cooling...that's not a good combination then, is it? There are already many reports of how the Series X gets very hot during use and that's just when it's playing BC games.

I don't share people's obsession with the size and appearance of the unit, especially after seeing the impressive teardown - would people really rather have a machine that overheats and gets noisier in place of it being smaller and more box-like? Who even looks at their machine while playing games? I don't, but I certainly hear it.

1 hour ago, Cube said:

More powerful on paper, but the more custom parts of the PS5 means that paper isn't everything and the PS5 could very likely be more powerful from an real life results standpoint.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how things turn out in reality. My post was more suggesting that both boxes are impressive in different ways... Microsoft has managed to cram a lot of tech (potentially more) in a much smaller box, PS5's build is impressively tailor-made so that everything works well together. 

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

Ah, so we're back to "my preferred console looks better, and your preferred console is ugly"?

No, we're bringing up how we think the PS5 is ugly. Simple. I'm getting one and I'm not getting an Xbox at launch, so it's nothing to do with what you're suggesting. 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Ronnie

[Aneres11]

1 hour ago, Will said:

NO! You’re doing it wrong. Pick one console and absolutely hate everything about the other one.

Lol the amount of this everywhere is crazy.