Telling the Difference Between PS5 and PS4 Games Is Next-Gen's Toughest Puzzle

Version aversion.

Forget your hall-of-fame puzzle games like The Witness, because telling the difference between PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 titles may very well be next-gen’s greatest conundrum. First, we’ve got to sympathise with Sony a little bit here: this was never going to be an easy problem to solve. There are tons of titles on the PlayStation Store, and some of them now have PS5 and PS4 versions. All of these are handled differently: many have free upgrades, some don’t – it’s complicated. To make matters worse, you may own some releases on a physical disc.

Okay, with that caveat out of the way, clearly the Japanese giant has a bit of work to do here. It’s not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination, but it does take a bit of grey matter to figure out how it all works. So, allow us to explain: cross-buy titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which are available on both consoles, have a unified PS Store profile with the same key art and information. However, there’s a page for the PS5 version and a page for the PS4 version.

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GTA Online Tempting Players Back with Free GTA $1 Million Cash Injection

Rockstar wants to keep you away from those PS5 games.

Perhaps recognising that its playerbase may temporarily see a dip this week with the release of new consoles, Rockstar has gone crazy with this week’s GTA Online update, promising an injection of GTA$1 million just for logging in. All you need to do is join a multiplayer lobby before 18th November, then check back between 19th November and 25th November to collect the cash.

There’s more: with new Heist experiences right around the corner, the label has launched the Heist Challenge. “Play any Heist Finale over the next seven days to collectively steal GTA$100 billion as a community,” the Rockstar Newswire explains. “Should everyone come together and hit the target by November 18th, we’ll reward the entire community at large with a special new vehicle, free of charge for a limited time this December.” You’ll also get a badge of honour for participating.

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The New York Stock Exchange Celebrated the PS5 Launch, And It Was Weird

Bell end.

Of all the unusual marketing promotions that have occurred this week, we never expected to see Sony sponsor the New York Stock Exchange’s closing bell. But that’s exactly what it did, as Horizon Forbidden West protagonist Aloy sounded the alarm to signal the end of today’s trading.

Bizarrely, she wasn’t alone, as a man dressed as Ratchet from the Ratchet & Clank franchise watched on, presumably pondering which of his life decisions led to him masquerading as a Lombax in front of a bunch of businessmen.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Lets You Delete Modes You're Not Playing on PS5

Save some space.

We’ve all had a bit of time to accept that storage space management is very much a thing on the PlayStation 5, but now it’s down to both the platform holder and publishers to ensure we have the tools we need to better manage the content on our console. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has a really interesting solution: you can actually delete modes you’re not playing.

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Review: Astro's Playroom (PS5) - A Delicious Demonstration of DualSense

U R not Red E.

Is there an argument that Asobi Team is the most inventive Sony studio right now? The small sector of Japan Studio is certainly getting the most out of the platform holder’s hardware, as Astro Bot Rescue Mission proved by completely reinvigorating the classic 3D platformer on PlayStation VR. With its latest project, free PlayStation 5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom, the group has single-handedly demonstrated the power of the new DualSense controller – but it’s also concocted a love letter to PlayStation that will live with fans long after launch.

Unlike past efforts like Welcome Park and The Playroom, this complimentary content is less tech demo and more full game. Spanning four worlds and 16 levels, with a few additional secrets along the way, you can consider this a micro-campaign that will take you anywhere from three to six hours to complete. There are over 100 collectibles to discover, many of which can be observed in an interactive hub, which serves as a virtual gallery for PlayStation’s past. This is an experience for everyone, but those who recognise franchises like Jumping Flash will truly get the most out of it.

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Review: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) - Superhero Spin-Off Is Superb

Be greater. Be Yuleself.

Insomniac Games came out swinging with its first foray into the world of Marvel’s iconic wall-crawler, but this spin-off has even more vigour and verve than its PlayStation 4 predecessor. Booting – in less than 10 seconds, we’re eager to add – with a shot of protagonist Miles Morales on the subway, the release takes no time to set out its uber-cool stall, with the hero strutting down the vividly rendered suburbs of Harlem to a hit hip-hop song on his headphones.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is effortlessly awesome, but it’s also relatable in a way that all the best comic book stories are. In fact, it’s interesting how this is very much an origin story, when the Burbank-based developer was so eager to avoid that with its inaugural entry into Marvel’s world. The story picks up shortly after the events of the first game, and Miles is still very much trying to find his feet as New York City’s other web-slinger.

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Review: Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS4) - Epic Viking Adventure Buckled by Countless Bugs

The Raven still beguiling.

Picture the scene: you and your battle-hardened Viking clan are storming a huge Saxon fortress. You've smashed through the main gate, torn your enemies to pieces in the courtyard, and now you're racing towards the central keep. A degenerate king waits inside, surrounded by his finest warriors — but they're not going to stop you. A few perfectly timed parries do the trick, and their blood-soaked bodies litter the floor. The despot rises from his throne for one last duel. He puts up a decent fight, but with your adrenaline gauge full, you unleash your most powerful ability and send him reeling. What's left of his health bar evaporates as you bludgeon him into submission, and you're prompted to finish him with a special move. All of your hard work is about to pay off — you've spent the last eight hours liberating a whole English kingdom in order to reach this pivotal moment — but unfortunately, he collapses on the spot. Your kill animation still plays, however, as if your opponent is still standing — your Viking hero triumphantly shoving his or her blade into nothing but thin air.

What should have been a moment of profound satisfaction has been ruined by yet another bug. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is quite possibly the buggiest game that we've played since the disaster that was Fallout 76 at launch.

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Sony Sent PS4 Queue Hero a PS5 Ahead of Launch

Because he can't queue right now.

Due to the pandemic, Joey Chiu can’t queue for a PlayStation 5 right now. However, he’ll still be one of the first to enjoy Sony’s next-gen console, as the Japanese giant sent him a system ahead of this week’s launch. Alongside the device, the company included a commemorative plaque, which reads: “First in line for PS4. First in line for PS4 Pro. Patience is a virtue. This is for you. Play has no limits.”

Joey, as you can imagine, was pretty stoked to receive the package. “Okay, this is 100 per cent the craziest thing to happen,” he wrote on Twitter. “This is insane.” A happy chap, then.

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Sony's Trotting Out the Celebs Ahead of PS5's Launch

Tons of new Resident Evil 8 gameplay.

After months and months of silence which left even us feeling uncharacteristically antsy, Sony has pulled together the PlayStation 5’s marketing campaign right on time, and it’s basically in full-on turbo mode at this point. Example: the platform holder’s trotting out celebrities like Naomi Osaka and Michael B Jordan to share their first thoughts on the format.

In the initial video, tennis superstar – and reigning US Open champion – Naomi Osaka talks a little bit about how PlayStation keeps her company while on tour, before digging into Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Resident Evil Village. This is our best look at Capcom’s new survival horror yet actually, with a ton of new gameplay on show.

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Here's Why DualSense PS5 Controller's Face Buttons Don't Have Their Iconic Colours

Blank slate.

Have you wondered why the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller doesn't have the usual blue, red, green, and pink colours on its face buttons? The X, Circle, Triangle, and Square buttons are synonymous with the PlayStation brand, having appeared on every one of Sony's controllers since the very beginning. As well as those famous shapes, the buttons have always had that colour code — until PS5, of course.

So, why are they all greyed out on the new controller? PlayStation's senior art director, Yujin Morisawa, gives a simple explanation in an interview with Washington Post.

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PS5's Design Was Originally 'Much Larger' Than the Final Product

"I actually had to shrink it down".

PlayStation 5 is notoriously big. So big, in fact, that people are worried where it'll fit in their homes — it is, after all, the largest home console ever made. It's not the end of the world, of course, and hey, you should count yourself lucky. According to PlayStation's senior art director, it could've been even bigger.

Speaking to Washington Post, Yujin Morisawa, the man responsible for PS5's design, says that initial plans were bigger than the final product. "In the beginning, when I started drawing, it was much larger even though I didn’t know what engineering was going to do," he says. "It’s kind of funny that engineering actually told me it’s too big. So, I actually had to shrink it down a little bit from the first drawing."

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PS5 Uses Much Less Power Than PS4 Pro

Energy saver.

Good news for the environment and your electricity bill: the PlayStation 5 is much more energy efficient than its immediate predecessor, the PlayStation 4 Pro. According to analysis published by Eurogamer.net, the next-gen system uses as little as 1.3W when in Rest Mode with all of its features enabled, compared to 5W of the PS4 Pro.

That rises up to 36W when you’re downloading a game in the background, but Sony’s mid-gen refresh gobbled up 50W under the same circumstance. This is a consistent theme: at its main menu the PS5 uses 47W compared to 63W on PS4 Pro, and when playing a backwards compatible title like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it posts 107W compared to 147W.

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The Last Guardian Runs at 60FPS on PS5, But There's a Catch

Only possible with disc version.

PlayStation 5 backwards compatibility has turned out to be a feature much better than what some parts of the internet expected, to the point where it is actively improving PlayStation 4 titles with frame rate improvements and resolution boosts. One such title is The Last Guardian, which along with Assassin's Creed Unity, can actually run at 60 frames-per-second on the next-gen console. There's a catch, however: this is only possible with a physical copy of the game.

Demonstrated by YouTuber NX Gamer, an unpatched version of Famito Ueda's PS4 project will run at 60FPS rather than half that if you have downloaded updates — it appears to be very close to a locked frame rate too. This is because patches which take the experience past 1.00 introduce a framerate cap that locks The Last Guardian to 30, meaning you can't push past that stat despite the native power of the PS5. So, if you've ever wanted to play the game at double the framerate, all you need to do is grab a physical copy of The Last Guardian and install it once Sony's next system arrives. Just don't download any patches or updates and you should be good to go.

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King Oddball, Undead Horde Grab PS5 Versions

Trophy lists reveal releases.

Here are two more PlayStation 5 games to look forward to: King Oddball and Undead Horde. Both already released for Sony's current-gen console, publisher 10Tons is seemingly taking advantage of the new system's launch by thrusting two of its titles back into the limelight. Their PS5 ports are all but confirmed by Trophy listings on Exophase, meaning these releases are very much happening. Maybe they can be cheaper experiences to pass the time between the console's launch line-up and the first batch of games arriving in December and 2021.

We actually reviewed King Oddball upon its 2014 release on PS4, awarding it a 7/10. Undead Horde, meanwhile, is "a necromantic action game with elements from action RPG, strategy and hack'n'slash". There's no word right now on if these re-releases will include any PS5 specific enhancements or not. Either way, it's two more titles to look forward to.

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Sony Stresses Japan Is of Utmost Importance After Report Claims Company's Interest Has Drifted

PS5's focus elsewhere.

Sony’s said that its “home market remains of utmost importance”, after a Bloomberg report claimed the company’s interest in its native Japan is waning. The platform holder is now largely run by Europeans, while its headquarters have moved to San Mateo in the United States. All of this, combined with dwindling home console sales in the territory, have culminated in the firm’s “attention drifting away”, according to one analyst.

Bloomberg reports, citing a “senior figure” within PlayStation, that management was disappointed by Japan’s performance with the PlayStation 4. As a result, the article claims that the region has been side-lined in the planning for the PlayStation 5’s launch, with local retailers hinting that they’ve received a hardware allocation barely any bigger than the PlayStation 3. The system is set to release in the region next week, while Europe will have to wait until later in the month.

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PS5 vs PS4 Pro Fan Noise Video Eloquently Makes Its Point

It's pretty quiet.

The PlayStation 5 is not silent during gameplay, but it’s just about as quiet as you can possibly imagine. While writing our PS5 review, we strained to listen to the system, just so we could paint an accurate picture of how noisy it is. The bottom line is that its gentle hum is lightyears better than the PS4 Pro’s aggressive puffing.

This video gets the point across better than we could, though:

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's PS5, PS4 Bonuses Are a Bit Embarrassing

Two extra loadout slots! Bonus Battle Pass skips!

Sony, as you know, is the principle marketing partner for the Call of Duty franchise, which means every-so-often Activision must walk a tightrope between not p*ssing off its fanbase while still providing PlayStation with some extras. In the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, it means PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 owners will be the only ones to get access to the new two-player Zombies Onslaught mode.

That’s downright frustrating for fans on other formats, no doubt – but there’s more, and this is where it begins to get a bit embarrassing. If you purchase a Battle Pass on either PlayStation system, you’ll get an additional five tier skips compared to players on other platforms, allowing you to unlock that season’s gear and goodies quicker.

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Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate's Mileena Smiles for PS5, PS4 Trailer

Open wide.

Toothy Tarkatan Mileena is joining the roster of Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, and here’s your first look at character in action. As you’d expect, there are some seriously grim moves here, including one where she licks her opponent – before chomping at their flesh. She also has some pretty potent specials in her arsenal, like the ability to turn invisible and surprise her foes.

The purple-clad creation of Shang Tsung will be available as part of Kombat Pack 2, or will be included at launch as part of the Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate compilation bundle. Remember, there’ll be a free PS4 to PS5 upgrade regardless of which version of the release you own, although you’ll obviously still need to cough up for the new characters.

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Star Wars: Squadrons PS5 Patch Pales in Comparison to Xbox Series X Update

Other EA updates outlined, including Apex Legends.

Electronic Arts has detailed the sort of enhancements PlayStation 5 owners can look forward to when it comes to its range of titles, and the results aren't entirely consistent. Apex Legends appears to come out on top the most with a performance and resolution boost up to 1440p, with even more upgrades set to arrive next year. However, Star Wars: Squadrons is being left out in the cold on PS5. It receives improved lighting, while the Xbox Series X is treated to support for 120 frames-per-second and a 2160p resolution if you decide to halve it. Why on earth that is? We don't know.

Elsewhere, The Sims 4 will boast of improved load times and a smoother frame rate, and the same goes for UFC 4. EA states it will detail what the next-gen upgrades for FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21 entail at a later date. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered won't receive any special treatment on PS5 whatsoever.

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DualSense Controller Dock Looks Like a Tiny PS5

Cute and useful.

Out of all the PlayStation 5 accessories announced thus far, the DualSense Charging Station is probably the one that gets the least amount of attention. It’s a convenient item, of course: it provides you with a way to not only display two pads, but it also keeps them powered up so you’re always ready to play.

How about this for cute design, though – it looks like a miniature PS5. You can get a better look courtesy of Cellypdx on Reddit, but here's a preview:

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