Sony has been ahead of the curve for a while now in the console war—but nothing in the future is certain. Microsoft has definitely been upping its game, and Sony is going to have to commit itself to making one heck of a powerful console if it wants to win the next generation.
But specs aren’t everything—there are other features which are equally important for Sony to embrace if it wants to stay ahead of Microsoft. While PS4 is more solid than Xbox One overall, in some respects, Xbox One is superior. So Sony has some lessons to learn from the competition.
Here are 5 features which gamers are demanding to see from PlayStation 5, and which Sony is going to need to include to continue to be the reigning console champion.
7. Backwards Compatibility
Arguably the lamest thing about PlayStation 4 all around is the fact that it is not backwards compatible. So all of those amazing games which you spent piles of cash on for PS3 cannot be enjoyed on your PS4. What a way to punish gamers for making an upgrade.
Xbox One meanwhile is backwards compatible. That’s right—Microsoft has managed to be less evil than Sony. Microsoft is notorious for failing with this kind of thing. The fact that they have bested Sony here is a real embarrassment.
PlayStation gamers love all the incredible games they have purchased over the years, going clear back to those they were able to enjoy on their original PlayStations! Yes, we love new things—but we also love replaying our favorite classics again and again. And since we paid for them, it should be our right.
So please, Sony—get this one right. Bring full backwards compatibility to PlayStation 5!
6. 4K Blu-Ray Drive
Why on earth doesn’t the PlayStation 4 include a 4K Blu-Ray drive? Even the PlayStation 4 Pro is missing one. This seems like such an obvious feature to include, and its absence is inexplicable. Seriously, what were they thinking?
For goodness sake, it was Sony that helped pioneer Blu-Ray. Yet it is Microsoft that has bothered to include it in the Xbox One X and the Xbox One S. What company lets its competitor get ahead of it by using its technology?
We can only guess this has something to do with the obsession with getting us all to give up our discs forever. Sorry to break it to you, Sony, but it isn’t going to happen. Yes, digital storage is convenient in some respects, but nothing replaces the security of holding a physical disc in your hand—especially with fears of losing net neutrality looming over us, not to mention issues with digital licenses.
5. Cross-Platform Play
You know that exciting moment when you buy the game your friend across the country has been raving about for ages—only to realize you cannot play together because you are on a PS4 and they are on an Xbox One?
Suddenly, what was a great moment because a total letdown instead. You were looking forward to finally having an awesome way to connect, but you’re going to be playing all by your lonesome instead.
What excuse does Sony give for this nonsense? Jim Ryan once told Eurogamer, “It’s a commercial discussion between ourselves and other stakeholders.”
Right … blame the stakeholders. And sure—their concerns are valid and important. But what about the actual gamers who buy your products?
Ryan addressed this too—sort of. He said, “We’ve got to be mindful of our responsibility to our install base. Minecraft – the demographic playing that, you know as well as I do, it’s all ages but it’s also very young. We have a contract with the people who go online with us, that we look after them and they are within the PlayStation curated universe. Exposing what in many cases are children to external influences we have no ability to manage or look after, it’s something we have to think about very carefully.”
Okay … so blame Minecraft and the children. There are ways around this sort of thing though. Offer different settings for different games. Make parental controls available, etc.
Some developers actually have bothered to put in the code to allow cross-play between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One … but all of that hard work has gone to waste because of Sony’s ridiculous policy. Let’s hope they fix this so we can finally play with our Xbox friends!
4. Improvements to Cloud Services
Sony does offer cloud services for PS4, but they are pretty paltry. Take the video upload options for example. You can share on YouTube or Facebook … but that’s it. There are no other choices. Why isn’t there an option like Xbox One’s OneDrive?
And what if you want to save your games to the cloud, instead of filling up all the space on your PS4? You can do it, but downloading them again involves going through the Settings menu. It is really convoluted. If there were an automated process, it would be so much easier.
3. Native 4K
How annoyed were you when you found out that PlayStation’s 4 Pro’s “4K” wasn’t actually genuine, native 4K?
Not everyone necessarily is going to make a fuss about this. But some of us can tell upscaled 4K apart from native 4K, and we want the real thing. Sony has had more than enough time to get this squared away, so it better be a feature on PS5.
2. The Ability to Upgrade Your Existing Console
If you own a gaming PC and a better graphics card comes out, you can buy it and install it in your PC, ramping up its capabilities. That is the beauty of owning a gaming PC.
The console world doesn’t work this way. First the original version of a new console comes out, i.e. PS4. Then some upgraded versions like the PS4 Pro are released. These feature more powerful specs for a better gaming experience.
What if instead of doing it this way, Sony designed the PlayStation 5 so that it functioned more like a gaming PC, and you could add or remove certain components?
Sony could for example release new graphics cards as technology moved forward—and you could buy the graphics card and replace your old one instead of replacing your entire console.
Doing the math on this, Sony probably would think it wouldn’t pay off. After all, they can charge more for console upgrades than parts upgrades.
But not everyone is going to bite when an upgraded console comes out. A lot of people who are unwilling to purchase a new console would be more than willing to purchase a new component however.
For those who do not want to open up their consoles and switch parts in and out, Sony could continue to sell upgraded consoles.
1. USB Ports That Are Actually Functional
https://s3.amazonaws.com/tank-war-room-www/assets/editorial/2017/08/PS4-USB-Ports.jpg
I actually dread trying to get my USB drive plugged into my PlayStation. I know it’s a small complaint, but ugh … First of all, the port is so far back it is hard to reach. Secondly, it is so thin that half the USB drives I have don’t have a shot at jamming into it.
Sony, please put in full size USB ports, and make them easy to reach on the PS5. We just want to back up our data and get back to playing. We don’t want to strain ourselves trying to get our drives in while worrying we’re going to break something.
Bonus: Two More Features We Really Want in the PS5
Originally this list was supposed to just have 7 features, but it is almost impossible not to come up with more. So, Sony, if you want to go above and beyond, please consider the following requests.
#1: Security We Can Actually Feel Confident In
PSN was subject to one of history’s biggest data breaches. While 2-step verification is finally available, it is still hard to feel secure about account data and payment information. Let’s hope Sony finally pulls it together with security during the next console cycle.
#2: Enhanced Return Policy
We can easily return games to Steam, so why can’t we do the same thing with PlayStation? Well, you can—but only if you didn’t download it. Ugh. Can’t we have more of a trial period to decide if we like something? Games are really expensive!
So now you know what we’re looking for with the PS5. If Sony can actually make all these improvements, the company will have a real shot at continuing to dominate in the console war!