Despite the fact that it feels like the PS5 generation is really only just getting started, Sony is already making plans for the PlayStation 6. Yes, it’s true, the next-generation is already on its way. The PS5 generation had a strange beginning as it came out in November 2020. The console came during a time where tech companies couldn’t produce enough product due to shortages and supply chain issues. As a result, it would take almost two years for the PS5 to really become easily available at retailers. This slow start to the generation caused all kinds of other issues and made things feel abnormal.
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With that said, whether we like it or not, the PS6 is coming in the next few years, according to Sony. While the company hasn’t officially announced the console or even named it, PlayStation system architect Mark Cerny recently teased that the next console is a few years out and they’re starting to move towards that. We don’t really know what it will look like, how much it will cost, or what the overall goal is for the device, but we do have some ideas of features for the console.
5) Backward Compatibility Across Most or All PlayStation Consoles
Xbox set a high bar when it made games from every generation of the platform playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. While not every single game is playable, a lot of classics and major titles from the last 25 years are playable with relative ease. PlayStation, however, hasn’t quite cracked the code here. We’ve seen PlayStation offer streaming solutions or native ports of older games, but you can’t pop in a PS3 disc and play it.
While I fully understand that there could be difficulties going back as far as the PS1, at least creating compatibility with the PS3 would be a massive step forward. There are so many great games like Infamous, Resistance, and Metal Gear Solid 4 that are completely locked to that console because they never released anywhere else. This would automatically add hundreds of incredible games to the PS6’s library.
Additionally, making sure the PSVR2 works on the PS6 would be great as well. Even if PlayStation ends up deciding to ditch VR next-generation, this was still an expensive investment and it would be nice to make sure it works on another console.
4) Full Handheld Support
There have been rumors of a PS6 handheld for a while now. It’s expected to launch alongside the console itself and even have a docking capability similar to the Nintendo Switch. If PlayStation wants such a thing to succeed, it needs to have minimal compromises. By all intents and purposes, this should just be PlayStation’s take on the Steam Deck. No half measures, no weird cut offs.
Every game should work for it natively on the device, it should do everything a PS6 can do with limits to its graphical power, and it should be like taking your PlayStation console experience on the go. The PlayStation Portal and Xbox ASUS ROG Ally have both been devices that allow both platform holders to dip their toes into the world handhelds without committing too much. However, if PlayStation really wants people to adopt such a thing, it needs to go for it.
3) Quick Resume
One of the great features of this generation is largely exclusive to Xbox. It’s a feature known as quick resume and it allows you to pick up exactly where you left off in a game, even if you haven’t touched it in months or the console became disconnected from power. It’s genuinely magical and can cause a bit of whiplash when you boot up a game from 6 months ago only for it to act like you never really stopped.
PlayStation does have some version of this, but it only really applies to the last game you played. It would be incredible to see this expanded with the PS6 so that we can bounce back and forth between games with greater ease.
2) Better Form Factor
The PS5 is one ugly console. It’s big, it’s bulky, and it has a strange shape that makes it difficult to put into an entertainment center. It’s not an aesthetically pleasing console at all, even with attempts to reduce its size in revisions of the console. The PS4 was much better by comparison with its sleek, simple look that also made it fit easily into any entertainment center.
The PS6 needs to borrow more from the PS4 and less from the PS5 when it comes to how it looks and feels. However, PlayStation tends to shake things up pretty dramatically between each console so it will likely be a completely different design from either of those when it releases.
1) Commitment to PS6 Games
A big issue with the PS5 is a lot of people feel PlayStation and developers haven’t really committed to the generation. There are still so many people playing on PS4, resulting in developers still catering to that audience which leads to games feeling held back. The idea of a PS6 already feels really alarming because the PS5’s potential hasn’t been fully reached yet.
Even at the start of this generation, PlayStation was bending over backward to make games like God of War Ragnarok for PS4. With PS6, there needs to be a commitment to giving people a reason to invest in the new generation and making sure those who make that jump don’t feel held back. We need more games that take full advantage of the PS6’s power at a consistent rate. I really don’t want to see something like Physint on PS5 at all!
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