Developers share how the ultra high-speed SSD and Tempest 3D AudioTech will bring PS5 games to life
The next generation of games is nearly upon us and for the PlayStation 5, technology is taking the forefront, bringing us immersive experiences that will be seen and felt by the players. The developers have been singing praises about the DualSense controller and this time around, a couple of other features like the ultra high-speed SSD and the Tempest 3D AudioTech engine sound like something they are extremely excited about as well.
Check out this short promotional clip about how upcoming games will be using the PS5 as the platform to push out new worlds and experiences:
For Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Creative Director Brian Horton is extremely excited about the SSD as it will allow them to “quickly load and display more detailed assets. This should lead to the city looking better than ever, and this is just the beginning for our team unlocking those possibilities.” Miles should be able to get in and out of the action just as fast, saving the neighborhood one thug at a time.
Creative Director Gavin Moore knows you’ll be dying a lot in Demon’s Souls and with the SSD, the game will be able to “load data at blistering speeds, bringing you straight back into the action to avenge your many deaths.” Hey you died, here, die again!
Hitman 3 will also take advantage of the SSD as it will allow for “blitz-fast load times” to give the player more time to make survey and make experiments for the perfect kill, says Mattias Engström, Game Director for Hitman 3.
Have you seen the new gameplay from Ratchet & Clank? Pretty awesome if you ask me, seeing as Rift Apart is one of the more concrete examples of the power that the PS5 can bring to the table. “The SSD and custom I/O architecture around it allows us to send players across dimensions with near-instant speed. It fundamentally changes the rules and allows us to think about ideas and game designs that are only possible on PS5.” says Marcus Smith, Creative Director for Insomniac.
Speed is one thing, but Audio is another facet of immersion that is sometimes not given enough attention to. Returnal will definitely be makung use of 3D audio because it can help “with the player’s situational awareness, and make it more intuitive for players to pinpoint the locations of nearby enemies or incoming projectiles in the heat of combat.” says Game Director Harry Krueger.
Horizon Forbidden West will also be taking advantage of Tempest 3D by playing “sounds in such a way that players will be able to locate the machines around them with greater ease, which is great for situations in which you find yourself surrounded or just want to sneak on machines.”
Horror is one genre that will fully utilize 3D Audio and Resident Evil Village will be taking that “key feature to really push the next-gen experience with PS5. It’s almost as if 3D Audiotech was made specifically with horror games in mind.” says Jun Takeuchi, Executive Producer for Resident Evil Village.
A game like Marvel’s Avengers can also make use of 3D Audio by taking “the actual positions of the audio and ensure we get them to the PS5 3D Audiotech engine and significantly improve your sense of being in the world. And all that is just with your headphones, without needing complex surround stereo systems.” says Jurjen Katsman, Studio Head at Nixxes.
All of this sounds pretty exciting and we can’t wait to actually experience this in a couple of months. Hopefully. Maybe. Sony, pre-order details