**Update – Despite PlayStation postponing the June 4th, 2020 PlayStation 5 reveal for a damned good reason, this doesn’t change my “Wants” from the event. If anything, this just gives me time to ponder a few more things I’d love to see.**
We’re a few days away from the upcoming PlayStation 5 Livestream, which is scheduled to take place on June 4th, 2020 at 1 PM PST / 4 PM EST. As a gamer, I’m excited to see that Sony is finally going to show us not only games but possibly the PlayStation 5 as well. As such I’ve put together a little list of things that I’d love to see from the pending event. While I’m sure not everything I’m looking forward to will come to pass, here’s to hoping at that least one or quite possibly more of my wants are revealed.
That said, this is what I want to see during the PlayStation 5 Livestream.
At least three new IPs
One of the main reasons that the PlayStation 4 did so well was due to the amazing game catalog from PlayStation’s first-party studios and exclusive 3rd party titles. Bloodborne, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Drive Club (even though the game had a terrible launch window), Nioh, God of War, Uncharted 4 / The Lost Legacy, and so forth. Those titles along with several others are what drove millions of gamers to purchase a PlayStation 4. With the PlayStation 5 releasing this Holiday 2020, PlayStation should be aiming to recreate that magic.
Especially since they won’t feature cross-generation first-party games once the PlayStation 5 is released. While we know about several third-party PS5 games, we know nothing of the first-party games. They’re going to want something new, exciting and that says “This PlayStation 5 and you can only play these games here”. Something a couple of new IPs would do quite nicely.
The rumored Horizon Zero Dawn sequel
There’s no doubt that Horizon Zero Dawn was a risky IP, but one that turned out to the breath of fresh air that the PlayStation 4 needed. We got a bow-wielding heroine, mechanical beasts to terrorize, a gripping storyline, all of which helped the title sell like hotcakes; over 10 million copies have been sold to date. Not only that, but it’s also the first PlayStation 4 exclusive title that’s making its way over to the PC later this Summer 2020. With all that being said and done, PlayStation would be fools to not announce the sequel to this gem. Especially since there have been multiple rumors of the game being in development. There’s the confirmation from one of the voice actors from the original game as well a the deleted tweet from Guerrilla Games, looking to fill a position for a next-gen only title.
I’d be surprised if we didn’t get some sort of announcement, or even a surprise look at a Horizon Zero Dawn 2 sequel during the Livestream.
That Resistance sequel we’ve been asking for
While Microsoft had the Halo and Gears of War series, Insomniac managed to create a similar gritty and SCI-FI first-person-shooter series in Resistance. Exclusive to PlayStation, the series managed to provide PlayStation gamers with a nearly identical experience, and even at times one-upping the Xbox titles. Just when Resistance 3 turned the FPS genre it’s head with a grippy story, amazing gunplay, and a dark tone, the series just vanished. There hasn’t been a Resistance title on the PlayStation 4 and the series remained on the older consoles. Given that Insomniac was busy with both Marvel’s Spider-Man, Sunset Overdrive, and more recent VR title, Stormland, I can understand why.
After skipping an entire system generation, it’s time for Resistance to make a glorious return. Seeing how Insomniac is either busy with a new Marvel’s Spider-Man title, here’s hoping that they are also planning on either a Resistance sequel, reboot or even a remaster. Honestly, I’ll take any of those.
The return of something old
Without a doubt, PlayStation has a huge catalog of older classics that are near and dear to many of us. Some of which have been rumored to make a comeback, but never seemed to materialize, while others eventually did. Among those that didn’t was a favorite of mine and a popular PlayStation meme. That’s right, I’m talking about RIDGE RACER. The original high adrenaline racer that we couldn’t stop playing for one reason or another. Since Bandai Namco lost interest with the fans after they outsourced their one flagship title to Bugbear, who went on to create two of the worst Ridge Racer games of all time; Ridge Racer Driftopia and Ridge Racer Unbounded. Both of those games put the fail nail into the coffin of the arcade racer and the arcade racing genre for most of the generation.
Back in 2019, there was a rumor that Bandai Namco was getting ready to revisit the series with a new entry for the Nintendo Switch. Which seemingly was canceled for one reason or another. While it was a rumor and nothing could be confirmed, if the title was once being developed for the Switch and then canceled, would it be too hard to theorize that perhaps it wasn’t canceled but shifted to another platform? How great it would be to see Ridge Racer announced as a PlayStation 5 title? Sure it may not happen, but I could dream.
While I’m talking about the return of something old, we can’t dismiss Demon’s Souls. For some time now, BluePoint Games has been teasing gamers with cryptic messages about this next-generation title they’ve been working on. All we know is that the original game was fairly popular and that it’s their biggest remaster they’ve ever worked on. As the studio has worked on several PlayStation exclusive series such as God of war, Gravity Rush, and Shadow of the Colossus, it’s not to far-fetch to assume that Demon’s Souls is what they’ve been working on. Then there’s the job positing that mentioned they were remaking a classic title for the next generation of gaming systems.
We are passionately at work remaking a classic for current-gen game systems, growing our capabilities as a team and raising the bar for what fans anticipate from us.
Demon’s Souls is exclusive to PlayStation and seeing how Fromsoft was has worked on Sekiro, and the currently in development Elden Ring, they couldn’t be responsible for it. But a studio who’s cranked out one successful remaster after another, well BluePoint Games has shown they have what it takes.
PlayStation’s equivalent of Xbox’s Smart Delivery
Let’s be honest, Microsoft is on to something with thier announcement of Smart Delivery. By having consumers being able to purchase an Xbox One version of an upcoming or existing game, and being able to get a free update for the Xbox Series X is a great value. So far we know that Cyberpunk 2077, Halo Infinite, Dirt 5, and Scarlet Nexus are all Smart Delivery games.
Not only does it generate instant goodwill, but it puts consumers’ minds at ease at purchasing a game for an existing console and not worrying about having to re-purchase it again for the next generation. It’s been seen over the last few years that Sony has been slow to adopt features such as Cross-Play, much to the dismay of gamers, so having something like this could be a reach. Yet, if they did manage to release a similar feature, I feel it would help sell more PlayStation5’s…. not that they need the help.
Let us see the hardware and price
While Microsoft has been keen to show off the Xbox Series X and by now there’s not a single gamer who doesn’t know what it looks like. Sony hasn’t been as transparent and no one outside of official circles knows what the console looks like. That needs to chance and Sony needs to give us a look at the PlayStation 5. I don’t care if it’s for a few seconds, or not even powered on. They at least need to show it. Not just the DualSense controller, the HDMI cable, or the power cord. We need to see the entire system!
While getting a peek at the system would be great, so would having a price. We all know the PS5 is going to cost at least $499, but after Jim Ryan’s recent confirmation of the Holiday 2020 launch, it seems like it could cost quite a bit more. But how much more is the question that many of us are asking? With both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X potentially launching around the same time, gamers are looking at quite the sticker shock if they’re planning on getting both consoles, or even a 4K TV/monitor. So knowing how much the PS5 is going to cost would help many of us get prepared.
Well, those are my wants, and I’ll have to wait to see if any of those come to pass. What about you? Are you looking forward to the PS5 Livestream or are you aren’t confident that the PlayStation 5 is for you? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to know.
