Sony was finally about to share something big with its fans and the gaming community when it announced a PS5 showcase for this week. Unfortunately, a controversial incident from early last week prompted the manufacturer to cancel it as a form of support for the ongoing protests. So far, the Japanese gaming brand is yet to share actual gameplay footage of titles running on the PS5. Nevertheless, a tech demo for the Unreal Engine 5 from Epic Games was supposedly a showcase of the console's cutting-edge SSD.

Shortly after Microsoft officially revealed details about the Xbox Series X, tech pundits were able to interview the developers behind the new machine. Aside from the evidently more powerful specifications, it brings to the table, it was reportedly equipped with advanced storage technology that allows it to save multiple game states and even survive a reboot. This made consumers question how Sony hopes to outdo its rival.

However, after an in-depth presentation hosted by lead system architect Mark Cerny, it shed a little light as to how Sony plans to maximise the PS5's capabilities. While most of what was discussed left regular folk with more questions than answers, tech-savvy individuals, on the other hand, were excited to see it in action. Nick Penwarden, Epic Games VP of engineering, pointed out that the custom SSD of the PlayStation 5 is "truly special" as reported by Tom's Guide.

"The ability to stream in content at extreme speeds enables developers to create denser and more detailed environments, changing how we think about streaming content," describes Penwarden. "It's so impactful that we've rewritten our core I/O subsystems for Unreal Engine with the PlayStation 5 in mind."

Sony unveils the DualSense controller for PS5
The DualSense comes in a dual-tone white and black shell, which could be a hint of the console's colour scheme when it launches. Photo: Sony

If developers learn to properly take advantage of its speeds, this could virtually reduce load times. Moreover, it would permit game studios to build expansive environments and never worry about slowdowns or graphical tearing. On paper, the PS5 is certainly less powerful than the Xbox Series X, but it might make up for with other notable features such as 3D audio. Additionally, the new DualSense controller also promises next-generation haptic feedback and more.

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