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As we draw closer to the PS5's release date in late 2020, it's understandable that the rumor mill is working overtime. But, while some rumors hold a bit more weight than others, there are a few that need be taken with more than just a pinch of salt.
The latest PS5 'leak' posted on 4Chan is one such rumor, supposedly spilling a bunch of information on the PS5 reveal event which is expected to take place in February. The leak, which was reposted on Reddit, claims that the PS5 will be unveiled on February 5 at a PlayStation Meeting event for the media.
According to the leaker, the event will see Sony revealing the console's design and specs, several PS5 exclusives, a renewed focus on PlayStation Now, alongside the console's price and various other features.
- PS5 vs Xbox Series X: what we know so far
- Xbox Series X: release date, specs, design and launch titles
- Sony PS5 controller: release date, news and confirmed features
https://www.techradar.com/news/this-latest-ps5-rumor-sound-too-good-to-be-true
(Score: 2) by J_Darnley on Tuesday January 21 2020, @11:12AM (12 children)
I don't believe I would be able to put an original Playstation disc in the optical drive and play.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 21 2020, @11:44AM (2 children)
Agreed. Sony might let you download an original Playstation game from their servers and play it, though -- after you pay for it again, of course.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by chewbacon on Tuesday January 21 2020, @04:44PM (1 child)
Which would fundamentally defeat the claim of backwards compatibility in my book.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday January 22 2020, @10:28AM
Depends on who it's for. If you've already got an old console and a load of games, then that's one thing, but part of the appeal is for people who don't own any older PlayStations but liked some of the older games. The Xbox Game Pass, for example, includes a bunch of Xbox 360 games that I enjoy. I don't own a 360, so I don't have any older games, but the fact that I can play (some of?) the older games means that there's an existing catalogue for a new console.
I doubt that it will work with PS1 disks. They had the spiral the opposite way around to normal CDs as a copy-protection feature, so you'd need an optical drive with a reversible motor, which would put up the costs for a fairly limited use case. A lot of new games basically use the optical disk as a token to authorise you to download the game, so for PS2 and later consoles that approach could work for a lot of things, though supporting every game in an emulator seems challenging.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday January 21 2020, @11:44AM (5 children)
It probably means that ports of all games from previous gens will be downloadable and playable, or the console will emulate the previous architectures. Which is two gens of MIPS, and PowerPC/Cell, then x86.
If it's the latter, I don't see why it couldn't support reading from the original discs. Although a disc from 1995 should be in a museum, not your PS7.
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(Score: 2) by SunTzuWarmaster on Tuesday January 21 2020, @02:25PM
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Tuesday January 21 2020, @04:55PM (2 children)
Well, one reason could be that it might not have a drive...
--
Sometimes people want to have full conversations
in the morning. It's okay to ignore those people.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday January 21 2020, @07:48PM (1 child)
It's already confirmed to support spinning discs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_5 [wikipedia.org]
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(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 22 2020, @04:33AM
Sounds good if the compatibility bit is true!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 21 2020, @07:21PM
Great, now the theme music from Indiana Jones is going to be in my head all day.
(Score: 2) by Sourcery42 on Tuesday January 21 2020, @05:36PM
That is exactly what you can do on a PS3. Put in an old black bottomed disc and away it goes. Not sure about PS4 or this upcoming console.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 21 2020, @08:10PM (1 child)
Why not? All models of PS3 had support for playing original playstation disks, the original models essentially have backwards-compatible PS2 hardware inside them and later models support PS1 games through software emulation. The PS1 disks themselves are readable with standard CD-ROM drive. It would not be a big stretch to replicate this functionality on the PS5.
However I don't expect to see software emulation happening for PS3 game disks.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 22 2020, @04:50AM
Sony's PlayStation Classic [wikipedia.org] actually ships with a third-party open source PS1 emulator.
PS3 emulation [wikipedia.org] is still in its infancy, but they might be able to make something happen. Or they could try a Stadia-like approach using Sony servers. Or they could offer downloadable ports. Or it could just be a false rumor.
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