author: Bart Swiatek
PS5 Fully Compatible with PS4; 120 FPS Possible?
In an interview for CNET, Jim Ryan, PlayStation brand manager for Sony, shared several new details about the next console of the Japanese manufacturer.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- PS4 and PS5 will share the same Friends list;
- The new Sony console will allow you to launch games from PS4. After saving the game we will be able to continue playing on the older platform;
- The device will support a refresh rate of 120Hz;
- Sony is satisfied with the success of PSVR.
Sony brand manager Jim Ryan was recently interviewed by CNET about the next console for the Japanese giant. It turns out that PlayStation 5 will offer a number of interesting features, including complete backward compatibility with current generation hardware (PS4 and PS4 Pro) and support for screen refresh rate of 120Hz.
Smooth jump from generation to generation
The platform is supposed to allow for so-called Cross-generational play. We will be able not only to run older games (which, as we know, will work more smoothly), but also to continue playing on the older device, after saving the game on PS5. The new hardware will also allow us to use the existing list of friends - the decision to purchase the console will not mean cutting yourself off from your circle of virtual friends.
"Whether it's backwards compatibility or the possibility of cross-generational play, we'll be able to transition that community to next-gen," Ryan said. "It won't be a binary choice about whether you have to be ether on PlayStation 4 or next-gen to continue your friendship."
4K and 120 FPS? Theoretically possible
The boss of PlayStation brand also said that the SSD, which are supposed to allow instant data loading, would be part of a standard PS5 model. By the way, we learned that the console will support 4K resolution with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which in theory may enable us to play in 120 fps - of course not in new productions. Jim Ryan didn't want to say when we'll know more details about the new machine's specifications - but more information will certainly start to come. Sony wants the company's communication with its fans to be clear on this matter.
"We wanted to make sure that the PlayStation fans had clear and unambiguous information from us instead of garbled nonsense third and fourth hand -- some of it true, some of it perhaps certain times less true," Ryan explained. "This is just the start of the unveil process."
What about PlayStation VR?
Jim Ryan did not want to answer specific questions about the successor to PlayStation VR goggles, however, he stressed that the company still believes in the success of virtual reality. The PSVR helmet is now in the hands of every 20th PlayStation 4 owner and the CNET editor considers this a decent result.
The current generation of VR has exceeded our expectations. When you step back and look at it -- and this is the way I like to look at it -- one in 20 of the people who found the money to go out and buy a PlayStation 4, and all the games and peripherals that they enjoyed with that, have also found the money to then go buy the PlayStation VR and all the games and peripherals that go on top of that. And I feel good about that," we read.