The PlayStation 5’s SSD and Tempest 3D Audio Engine promise to be game changers, allowing developers to do things that are obviously not possible on the current console generation.
A new post on the Official PlayStation Blog details how developers will be able to take advantage of the new console’s features for their upcoming games. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Creative Director Brian Horton highlighted how the SSD will allow faster loading for more detailed assets.
Beyond near-instant loading and fast-travel, the SSD and its speed allow us to more quickly load and display more detailed assets. This should lead to the city looking better than ever, and this is just the beginning for our team unlocking those possibilities. It’s a fundamental change that we can’t wait to take more advantage of in the years to come
Gavin Moore, SIE Japan Studio Creative Director, highlighted how the PlayStation 5 SSD is being used in Demon’s Souls not only as storage but also as memory, which will allow players to get straight back into the action after dying.
As developers [of Demon’s Souls], we are already changing the way we think about the SSD. We see it not just as storage but also memory, utilizing the speed of the SSD to load data at blistering speeds, bringing you straight back into the action to avenge your many deaths
Ari Arnbjörnsson, Returnal’s Lead Programmer, expects to see developers make use of more subtle SSD benefits, which will impact games considerably, possibly making the concept of “levels” a thing of the past.
A bit further into the next generation, I’m expecting we’ll start seeing developers make more use of the not-so-obvious benefits of the SSD. This is what excites me the most! What does it mean for developers when everything can be loaded from the disk that fast? Will we even need the concept of “levels” anymore?…. The possibilities for this tech are exciting for me as a developer, and exhilarating for me as a gamer.
Speaking about the PlayStation 5 Tempest 3D AudioTech Engine, Guerilla Games’ Creative Director Mathis de Jonge stressed how it will allow Horizon Forbidden West to play sounds so that players will be able to locate the machines around them in with greater ease.
Now with the PS5 console’s Tempest 3D AudioTech sound engine we’ll be able to play sounds in such a way that players will be able to locate the machines around them with greater ease, which is great for situations in which you find yourself surrounded or just want to sneak on machines
The PlayStation 5 Tempest 3D AudioTech Engine also seems to have been created specifically to improve the next-gen horror game experience, according to Resident Evil Village Executive Producer Jun Takeuchi.
Audio is a key feature to really push the next-gen experience with PS5. It’s almost as if 3D Audiotech was made specifically with horror games in mind. It used to be that in order to get that spatial audio, players would have to invest a lot of their own time and money. Now, just putting on a headset, they can get a full 3D audio experience
Together with the new statements from PlayStation 5 developers, Sony released a brand new trailer highlighting the console’s immersion features. You can find the trailer right below.
The PlayStation 5 console launches later this year worldwide.
