Few consoles can claim to have generated the amount of buzz that the PlayStation 5 has since it debuted. A striking departure from the PS4's design, the PS5 is bulky and feels out of place on most entertainment centers. And yet, the demand for the system is still so high that it's nearly impossible to buy one. Now, a year has passed and the PS5 is celebrating its first birthday.
Launched on November 12, 2020, the PS5 has had a relatively smooth launch, not including the supply issues. While there have been some kinks here and there, owners haven't had to worry about widespread bricking issues or major PlayStation Network outages ruining the fun. It's also one of the biggest leaps that fans have seen in hardware for a single generation, making vastly better load times and visuals a reality.
The PlayStation 5 Software Library
The PS5 launched at an interesting time, as the coronavirus pandemic made it unsafe to venture into stores for a console and hopeful buyers had to compete against bots to find one online. However, those lucky enough to get one have now had a year of new games, both exclusive to the system and a healthy smattering of cross-gen releases. However, 2021 has also been a year with a heap of game delays, pushing much of what players were planning to dive into all the way to 2022.
That being said, there was still plenty for owners to play throughout the year, with major exclusives like Returnal, Ratchet and Clank, and Demon's Souls offering dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of content for players to enjoy. Plus, there were lots of major third-party games to round out the list, with some of the defining ones being cross-generation releases. It may have been lacking Horizon Forbidden West, but it's still not a bad lineup of games. There was something for just about everyone.
Looking forward, there should be plenty more for fans to get excited about too, with Sony's October State of Play being host to a number of big announcements and new trailers. While not all of those games will be landing in 2022, there's a genuinely stellar forecast of games launching in the future, and that should be enough to get fans excited about what's to come. That's assuming that all of those projects are as good as marketing is leading players to believe, at least.
The PS5 DualSense Changes the Game
Of course, the PlayStation 5 wouldn't be nearly as impressive if it failed to innovate on its hardware. Nowhere have the improvements been more clear than with the DualSense controller, which Sony has turned into one of the PS5's key selling points. In fact, the DualSense may be one of the most innovative controllers ever made, enhancing gameplay experiences in ways that were difficult to imagine just a few years ago.
The DualSense's adaptive triggers are worth pointing out, in particular. While not every game has used them, and not every game that has used them have used them well, the adaptive triggers add an entirely new level of immersion. The most common example has likened it to drawing a bowstring, with the adaptive triggers adding their own special tension to the experience as players pull the bowstring back. It's a difficult feeling to imagine without putting hands on it directly, but it makes a massive difference in how games feel to play.
If there's any feature deserving of more support in the future, it's far and away the DualSense controller. While certain games have done interesting things with the DualSense, there's still a ton of untapped potential for developers. Immersion has always been an important aspect of gaming, and engaging the senses are the best way to build on that immersion. While gamers used to jokingly state that smell-o-vision will be the next level of immersion, it's clear now that touch will be an absolutely huge element of how gamers interact with video games in the future.
A Console No One Can Buy
Of course, while the PS5 has dazzled fans thus far, it still has one major drawback. Hopeful buyers have not only had to compete with strained supply lines due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also an entire army of bots gobbling up consoles as they come available simply to have them be resold at huge markup. While the cost of resold consoles has steadily been shrinking, recent reports indicate that supply shortages won't be ending any time soon. In fact, Sony has just cut the number of PS5 units being made to deal with such shortages.
That's all to say that the PS5, unfortunately, is going to remain hard to get for the foreseeable future. It's been frustrating for fans that simply want to purchase the latest and greatest hardware available, and those that are only casually in the gaming world stand virtually no chance of getting a console without an absurd amount of luck. It's a difficult pill to swallow for many, as the number of PS5 console exclusives is only going to grow as time presses on.
Unfortunately, there's no real way to guess when the console will become more available. Fans can hold out hope that they'll someday see them decorating store shelves with just as much availability as older systems, but they'll simply have to hang tight until then. Buying from a reseller only encourages bad habits, so it's a rock-and-a-hard-place situation.
Supply issues aside, though, those that are able to get their hands on the PS5 will likely look back fondly at the last year. There's a lot of promise on the horizon for the system, and that's a great thing for owners. And, above all else, hopefully the PS5 has a very happy birthday.
The PS5 is one year old today.