Sony Interactive Entertainment is set to reveal the PlayStation 5 this coming Thursday, June 11th 2020 at 1:00pm PDT (https://blog.playstation.com/2020/06/08/updated-time-this-thursday-see-the-future-of-gaming-on-ps5/). With this reveal event just one day away, there is no better time than now to put together a wishlist for it. What features do we hope to see in the PS5, what games are we expecting to be revealed as well, are there new or updated services expected, etc.

Features

Backwards Compatibility

Standards have been set already by Microsoft with their backwards compatibility both with the current and upcoming generations. While Sony has been strongly in the lead during this generation in terms of units moved and not needed to worry about this feature much, going into the next generation though this needs to be addressed.

“Forward Compatibility”

Again Microsoft has set the standard expectation for what this new generation should be, buy Madden 2021 on your XBOX One, get it on your XBOX Series X. Sony would certainly be wise to have the same plan in place as much as possible. Partner with third party developers and publishers and help lower the risk for players.

Reasonable Pricing

The PlayStation 3 was hopefully a lesson learned by Sony, $599 while not unreasonable, was a price-tag too high for many initially and optically was a rough start to that generation. Seemingly that lesson was learned and applied with the PlayStation 4 having released at the $399 price point. It would be perfectly reasonable for the PlayStation 5 to have an increased launch price, hopefully it can come in at $449 or less, but I feel as long as it stays under $500 it should be received in a positive way.

Console Exclusivity

We have certainly seen that exclusivity is on the decline, but making a splash here would be big. The most obvious one is who will get the Call Of Duty timed exclusivity for the coming console cycle. Microsoft had it for the 360 vs. PS3 era, Sony had it for the PS4 vs. XBOX One era.

Games

Horizon Zero Dawn sequel

This seems to be one of the most likely launch date/window for the PS5 in terms of first party games, or possible a Spiderman sequel. With the the original title having released back in February of 2017 this would seem like the first party title that has had the most time to be in the works.

Return of SOCOM

Not feeling very confident in this one, but would love to see Sony bring this beloved series back. The online squad based shooter genre is a whole lot stronger and more popular than ever, I believe the series would be welcomed back in a big way.

Spiderman sequel

Much like with Horizon Zero Dawn, Spiderman seems like the most sure fire series to get a followup title. Now there has been much less time in between release and now, with Spiderman coming out in September of 2018, but one would assume that this game is coming.

Third Party Titles

What third party titles will pop up during the reveal event? Madden NFL 2021, NBA 2K, seem like they would pop up in a sizzle reel, Call Of Duty seems likely, hopefully there will be plenty more and maybe even a new game reveal or two. And with Assassin’s Creed has already appeared as a feature with the Microsoft events, this might keep it from appearing here

Services

PlayStation Plus

Doubtful there will be much info in regards to PlayStation Plus during this reveal event, but eventually it would be great to know/hear the updates to this service. Considering the service used to deliver up to six titles a month ( two per console) down to now just two titles a month. What will be done

PlayStation Network

With the price increase and feature decline over this past generation with PlayStation Plus, what has Sony done to invest into increasing the quality or improve standards moving into the next generation of the PlayStation Network. After finally working out a solution to PSNid name change ordeal, it would be great to have Sony continue to address issues/concerns with the PSN.

PlayStation NOW

While PlayStation NOW already is a pretty good deal with access to over 800 titles for $9.99/month it seems that the general consensus is that it’s not a great deal especially in contrast to XBOX Game Pass. Can PlayStation pitch this service as the value it already is, and furthermore can they add enough value to it where it will be see as an equal or rival to Game Pass. Perhaps access to not only more games, but giving users access to much newer titles on a regular cadence.

Tune in tomorrow to see what is revealed, and feel free to comment your hopes of it and afterwards your reactions.