After what I feel was longer than necessary (felt the same with Microsoft), the PlayStation 5 showcase has finally come, and we have prices and dates! PlayStation 5 launches November 12th in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. The remaining countries can expect it on November 19th. As for price, the PlayStation 5 will be $499 and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will be $399. Here is a link to PlayStation Blog that covers this plus some.

While I don’t think Sony had much of a choice with the $499 price tag on the PlayStation 5 to compete with the Xbox Series X, that $399 price tag for the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition was a smart move. Just too clarify for those that might not know, the only difference between these two PlayStation 5’s is that the more expensive version has a disk drive for physical media, and the less expensive one doesn’t, digital only. Other than that, the exact same hardware is powering each one. You can’t even compare the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition with the Xbox Series S. This is going to be Sony’s biggest strength this next generation. To be honest, I really hope Sony put more effort into producing the Digital Edition as I expect that to be the hotter console. I’ve already moved to all digital, so that would be the one I’d go for to be honest (and sorely tempted).

Now, as for the Showcase, if you missed and want watch it, here is the YouTube recording skipped ahead to where it actually starts:

As for my thoughts, it was a decent showcase. While no huge surprises for me considering all the predictions I kept seeing, it was nice to see certain titles officially confirmed. The big games that caught my attention that were officially announced were Final Fantasy XVI and a new God of War. What I also appreciated was the fact all but one of the titles shown included gameplay running on a PlayStation 5. To be honest, they looked nice. Spent a lot of time during the Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales paying more attention to the details than watching what was happening. Had to watch it twice. I was also excited to finally see some gameplay for Hogwarts Legacy. There were some other nice titles highlighted, but the ones I linked were the ones I enjoyed the most. Was a little surprised not to see new Horizon Forbidden West gameplay though.

Sony also announced what is one of their takes on backwards compatibility with their new PlayStation Plus Collection announcement. With this service on the PlayStation 5, gamers will get digital access to some nice PlayStation 4 titles right off the bat. Based on the video, it isn’t streaming either, you can download them, which is nice. However, I’m expecting to hear more regarding backwards compatibility outside of this new service. Sony still has time; but this is where I do feel Sony is still lagging a bit on.

In all, I think Sony did a decent job covering some ground I felt they lost to Microsoft. While I don’t think they have completely caught up, that $399 price makes a significant impact. That alone makes me feel that Sony will have a strong launch. I still feel that the Xbox Series X will do fine as well though at this point. In both cases, neither really have any unique launch titles. Yes, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West are exclusive to PlayStation; but it was officially announced today in that PlayStation Blog I linked in the start of my blog that they will also launch on PlayStation 4. They will run much better on PlayStation 5; but they are still not PlayStation 5 exclusives. Doesn’t seem like we will see any true PlayStation 5 console exclusives until 2021. Not to mention some of those titles are also releasing on PC, like Final Fantasy XVI. This primarily impacts my decision as I have a PlayStation 4 and a decent gaming PC, so I feel less likely to jump on the PlayStation 5 launch party. Regardless, I still feel that Sony will have a strong PlayStation 5 launch.