With the PS5, a new generation of games has arrived – complete with huge leaps in processing power, a host of next-generation features like super-fast SSDs, the revised DualSense controller and the start of a list of PS5 games to play.
But for those who want to play the long game, there is another console worth keeping in mind – the PS5 Slim.
Slim editions of PlayStation consoles have been around for nearly as long as PlayStation itself. There was the simplified ‘PS1’ version of the original PlayStation console, with the PS2 Slim, PS3 Slim and PS4 Slim consoles all following new iterations of the beloved gaming machine.
In each case, the strategy has been practically the same: after a new console was on the market a few years ago, Sony figured out how to offer the same specifications in a more compact format, even with a small cost reduction, with all the benefits to enter a console generation a little later in its life (having a reinforced game library, for example).
While the launch of the PS5 is too new for a PS5 Slim to be announced or marketed yet – ‘Slim’ models are generally launched three years after a new iteration of the console – its existence seems quite certain given the history of its lean predecessors. And there are many reasons to wait until this new iteration is launched.
It is no secret that PS5 consoles are not so easy to find today – and if you have not yet gotten a PS5 or PS5 Digital Edition for yourself, you are likely to wait until the end of 2021 for wider availability.
While you wait, it’s worth thinking about the benefits of not having a PS5 console right away, especially if you wait three years before a PS5 Slim is released. We will start with the most obvious: size.
Sizing up
The design of the PS5 has been quite controversial from the start. Some love the science fiction design, the cover-like sides and the aesthetic of the tall vampire woman; others consider it an unpleasant thing that doesn’t fit in the ordinary media cabinet without sawing the console in half.
I fall into the last field; it’s the same reason why I’m still tempted by the Xbox Series S, with its compact form factor making it the smallest Xbox ever made. When you buy a video game console, you are choosing to have it in your eyes almost every day of your life, and nothing spoils a carefully crafted decor than a two-tone spaceship going out at high speed.
We measured the PS5 at 38.8 x 8 x 26 cm (H x W x D), which is even larger than the bulky PS3 – although the curved surfaces make it difficult to get an accurate measurement.
It is made to attract attention, to be sure, but for many it simply will not be at home in its current form. A PS5 Slim could offer a more elegant and compact form that, if not as small as the S Series, could still make owning a PS5 less about making a visual statement and more about playing next generation games.
Game system
It may be smart to wait until 2023 to opt for the PS5 console family as well. At that point, we’ll have seen three years of PS5 exclusives and enhanced PS4 games, which means there’s no shortage of great titles to play.
Along with launch titles like Astro’s Playroom and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, we will have seen God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden Dawn, Ratchet & Clank restarted and a series of other PS5 games that we don’t even know are in the pipeline.
There will certainly be more 4K games to play, which means you’ll be able to make better use of the PS5’s 4K features – and it also gives TV makers more time to make sure their screens are really optimized for next generation consoles. . Support for HDMI 2.1, which allows 4K / 120 Hz to pass through and usually comes with VRR (variable refresh rate), is still largely limited to expensive devices, and good gaming features will come to even cheaper TVs in the years to come .
It will also be clearer whether the PS5 or Xbox Series X won the exclusives. While Sony won this argument quite definitively in the last generation, Microsoft’s acquisitions and the increased focus on original games may begin to bear fruit in the coming years.
This is very difficult to say at the beginning of a console generation, as software strategies are still coming into focus – and flagship Xbox Series X games like Halo Infinite are yet to be released – which console platform really pays off. this time.
Ending the twists
Let’s not forget that a Slim console has a chance to improve the PS5 in several ways. The PS3 Slim, for example, was not only two-thirds the size and weight of the PS3 – it also consumed about 40% less energy and featured a redesigned microprocessor and cooling system that made the machine quieter and cooler.
Although I don’t expect to see anything as drastic as the Xbox 360 ‘red ring of death’ – which blocked my own 360 console, as well as its first replacement – minor problems have a chance to be fixed on successive hardware. Given that the DualSense PS5 is subject to the same drift problem as Nintendo’s Joy-Cons, we hope that work is going on behind the scenes to prevent this in the future.
Of course, the PS5 offers a major update for the PS4 and PS4 Pro. But for those who want the best version of the PS5, instead of the first model that Sony could launch, there may be better things ahead.
What if there isn’t? Well, the current PS5 will certainly be cheaper then.