Interface News Reporter | Cui Peng
Recently, Sony has launched a series of "new products" in the Chinese market, including the new PlayStation 5 (PS5 Slim) console, and the PS5 Accessibility Controller.
Since the second generation of the PlayStation console (hereinafter referred to as "PS"), Sony has adopted a strategy of pushing the mid-term revision and discontinuing the original product, and the mid-generation facelift model is uniformly named Slim, and this year's PS5 Slim (hereinafter referred to as the "new PS5") is no exception.
The new PS5 is a CFI-2000 model group, which is significantly different from the old model in terms of exterior design, volume size, storage space, accessories and official price, and will become the only PS5 model sold on the market after its launch, and the old PS5 will be rolled off the assembly line from official channels.
Interface News has experienced the new host and controller for a while, and put the purchase proposal first. The new PS5 is mainly suitable for the following types of users:
- Existing users who are still using older PS models such as PS4 or PS3.
New users who have other consoles but have never bought a PS console, or have never bought a console product and want to try the PS model.
New users who want to play Sony-exclusive games, so they can only choose the PS console.
・Although they already have an old PS5 model, they have sufficient funds and want to change to a lightweight system.
Along with the new PS5 console, Sony's accessibility device Access controller, which took five years to develop. For Sony, this is a "0-to-1" product and the first accessibility controller in the PS line. This product won the Gold Award for Good Design of the Year in Japan.
In the latest third-party statistics, the PS5 console has sold more than 14 million units. In order to further increase the number of users, Sony needs to take into account the needs of more players.
PS5 Slimming: The appearance has changed, the core is almost the same
According to Sony's official data, the size of the new PS5 has shrunk by 30%, and from the actual hands-on experience, it is indeed significantly smaller, and it is even more obvious in the upright state of the fuselage.
The weight of the new fuselage has been reduced by about 18%-24%, which is about 600g-700g of weight reduction, even girls with little strength can pick up PS5 with one hand.
Compared to the PS5, the white body of the new machine is divided into two parts, the upper part is a glossy material cover, and the lower part (such as the optical drive part) is matte material, which is similar to the material design of the original PS4.
The eject button of the optical drive has been moved from the black part of the old model to the lower part of the entrance of the new optical drive. In terms of accessory interfaces, the old PS5 was equipped with USB-A*1+USB-C*1 interfaces, and the new model has become two USB-C ports.
Replacing the USB-C port is a trend among major hardware companies in recent years, but if PS veteran players want to use the controller of the old model, they can only plug it into the USB-A port on the back of the machine.
The disc drive of the new PS5 disc drive version has been designed by Sony to be detachable, which is very friendly to new console users. For those new users who are hesitant to buy the digital version or the optical drive version, if they regret buying the digital version, they can directly buy a optical drive and install it without having to replace the entire machine.
Although the price of the new PS5 is cheaper than when the old version was first launched, Sony still makes up for the cost of accessories as much as possible.
The new PS5 comes with only a horizontal stand, and only two acrylic spacers, which can be inserted into the black waistline of the fuselage to place the console horizontally on the table.
More users may be Xi to placing the PS5 upright, but the new PS5 does not come with a disc stand like the old product, and users who want to put it vertically need to spend an additional 200 yuan to buy an upright stand.
The CPU and GPU memory configuration of the new PS5 is exactly the same as the old model, and the hard disk storage capacity has been increased from the old 825GB to 1TB.
Many users are worried about the impact on the heat dissipation performance of the host after the body size becomes smaller. However, the SOC of the new PS5 is the same as that of the PS5 (CFI-1200) model, which uses a 6nm process, which reduces energy consumption compared to the 7nm process of the original PS5, so the size of the heatsink required for the new machine is also reduced.
When it comes to running games, the performance of the new PS5 remains the same as the old one, with satisfactory smoothness and image quality stability.
It is worth mentioning that since the release of the first generation of products, Sony has been upgrading and iterating its own PS console. After the launch of this year's Slim version, the rumored whether and when the Pro version will be launched has become the next suspense.
Access controller that "sharpens a sword in 5 years".
Consoles such as PS usually require a controller to control the game, but for players with impaired or limited athletic ability, using a regular controller can be difficult. This customizable Access controller is designed to help people with disabilities have a similar experience when using a PS console, or for those who can't operate the controller smoothly, or who can only operate it with one hand.
After many days of experience in the simulation scenario, we believe that it has a high level of practicality, and players with practical needs can consider it at their discretion.
The design of the outer packaging also takes into account the accessibility factor. The seal on the box can be torn with one hand, and the internal clasp change is easy to open with one hand, and there are no complex stacks inside the box, so all accessories can be seen in front of the user.
The PS5 Access controller includes a controller, USB cable, 19 buttons, 3 joysticks, and 23 keycap markers. Under Sony's modular design, users can change the position of the joystick and all buttons according to their actual needs.
The Access controller comes with a total of 5 white keycaps that can be magnetically attached to the base. Players can use different joints such as the palms, arms, knees, and even feet to operate these buttons.
And because the size and height of different keycaps are different, players can rely on the sense of touch to judge their own actions without having to look down at the controller, which is close to the feeling of using a controller.
Sony seems to be so confident in how easy it is to get started, so much so that the manuals only give it a piece of paper — they assume that the user can fully understand how to set it up.
From the actual experience, after inserting the data cable into the body, each setting of the controller has a screen prompt. Whether it's keymapping or scheme naming, players just need to follow the guide and adjust it step by step, which is really simple.
Once the player has connected the Access controller to the console, they can map these keycaps to the function keys on a regular controller in the control center.
Then insert the keycap label that comes in the box into the surface of the key. These labels are made of soft material and have raised functional markings on the surface for easy user identification.
Users can set multiple buttons to the same function, such as the most commonly used X button, which can be set in two different positions for easy touching, or the long press function of a single button.
IN RACING GAMES, FOR EXAMPLE, SUCH AS SONY'S GRAN TURISMO 7 (GT7) AND EA'S NEED FOR SPEED, PLAYERS OFTEN NEED TO PRESS AND HOLD THE R2 BUTTON TO ACHIEVE CONTINUOUS ACCELERATION IN THE CAR, WHICH IS DIFFICULT FOR SOME PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. On the Access controller, the user can make a single click of the button achieve the effect of long press through the system settings. Players only need to operate the joystick to control the direction of the car, and operate the brakes.
However, the Access controller only has eight button areas (not counting the disc center area and joystick), so it can't completely replace a controller with a dozen buttons. When a gamer has more key control needs, it can be solved with another controller or controller and other peripherals, and the controller is also equipped with four 3.5mm external expansion sockets behind the base.
In the design of the joystick, there are spherical and ordinary button-shaped for users to choose. The joystick is designed with a slide rail, and the user can adjust the distance between the joystick and the base by pulling and pulling, and use the LOCK key to lock it at a suitable distance.
There is a non-slip mat under the base of the controller, which can significantly increase the friction between the controller and the table. From the actual experience, the Access controller can always be fixed on the desktop relatively stably and will not shake at will with the player's operation.
There is a file configuration button below the joystick, which supports three different configurations, and you can switch between different profiles with a single press.
This is very practical, players can set different button layouts according to different games (types), and need to switch between them with one click according to the game scene, similar to the one-click dress change settings in many games.
The only thing that's not good is that the initial setup takes a little longer, and the user has to determine the distance between the stick and the base, determine the type of button on the base, and the function of each button, and fix it within the system.
In the experience of interface news, the initial setup time is close to half an hour. For a completely new controller, this is also an inevitable consequence of personalization. Once the user has set it up to their liking, all they need is fine-tuning in the later stage, which is very convenient.
After setting up the controller, it is usually two or three days of long gameplay or a week or so of light gameplay to allow most users to fully adapt to the placement and use of these buttons.
The battery life of the Access controller is close to that of the controller, which is about 7-9 hours. It can be used with the Dualsense controller that comes with the console, or with another Access controller.
In the past two years, technology companies, including Sony, have paid more and more attention to accessibility, so that more players can experience the fun of technology products. According to Sony's consistent product line strategy, the launch of the Access controller may be just the first step for Sony, and it is expected to continue to launch such products after accumulating enough user feedback.