PlayStation 5

About

The PlayStation 5 is Sony’s upcoming fifth installment in the PlayStation series of home video game consoles. Originally announced in 2019, the PS5 was unveiled in June 2020 and will launch with a disc and disc-less option. The official release date has not yet been announced but is slated sometime for the Holiday 2020 season. Official prices of both console variants have also not been revealed.

History

On April 16th, 2019, Wired^[1] published an exclusive interview with Mike Cerny, PlayStation architect at Sony, who announced the future launch of the next-generation console. Cerny revealed several technical specifications of the console, including support for 8K graphics, 3D audio, a solid-state drive and backward compatibility with existing PlayStation 4 games. Shortly after the interview, the console was dubbed the “PlayStation 5” by both news outlets and the gaming community.

On April 7th, 2020, Sony revealed the newly revamped PS5 DualSense controller on the PlayStation Twitter^[2] account, garnering over 84,000 retweets and 290,000 likes (shown below, left). The reveal also resulted in a wave of memes featuring the new design, mocked for its similarities to the Xbox controller. That same day, Twitter^[3] user wolfdb12 made a Spider-man Pointing At Spider-man meme referencing this likeness, gaining over 1,000 retweets and 4,700 likes (shown below, right).

On June 11th, 2020, Sony unveiled the design of the upcoming PlayStation 5 console during its livestream event, dubbed "The Future of Gaming." After it was uploaded to the official PlayStation YouTube^[4] channel later that day, the video (seen below) accumulated over 13.7 million views in roughly two months. Sony also announced during the event that the PS5 would offer both a disc and discless option, each sporting a white-and-black body.

Following the event's conclusion, the controversial aesthetics resulted in a series of memes and PS5 design parodies depicting the console as a WiFi router or reimagining it by photoshopping elements into different pop culture icons. One such example was tweeted by Twitter^[5] user glacear_ on June 11th, 2020. The tweet (shown below, left) depicts a WiFi router with two pieces of paper attached to either side, receiving over 7,000 likes and 2,000 retweets. On June 11th, 2020, Twitter^[6] user uncooldana posted a photoshopped version of the You Know I Had to Do It to Em meme (shown below, right), receiving over 31,000 upvotes and 7,600 retweets.

Online Presence

Since its confirmation, the PlayStation 5 has had a prominent presence online through various communities and fan pages. On Reddit,^[7] the /r/PS5 subreddit was created on December 14th, 2010, and has since grown to over 372,000 members in almost a decade.

On Facebook, the @PS5New^[8] page was created on January 4th, 2014, and accumulated over 168,000 followers in nearly seven years. The Facebook^[9] group for the PS5 was started on October 9th, 2019, receiving over 157,000 followers in roughly 11 months.

Related Memes

PS5 Design Parodies

PS5 Design Parodies, also known as PlayStation 5 Design Parodies, refers to a series of photoshopped images and memes featuring the video game console's promotional photos after Sony revealed the PlayStation 5 in June 2020 during a livestream event. Typically, these parodies mocked the PS5's likeness to various pop culture references or other existing technology. The trend quickly spread across several websites and social media platforms following Sony's reveal.

PS5 DualSense Controller

PS5 DualSense Controller refers to a kind of video game controller developed by Sony for the upcoming PlayStation 5. Upon its reveal, the controller's design, which is a fairly substantial departure from the standard controllers for the Playstation 2, 3 and 4, sparked jokes and critique.

PS5-Chan

PS5-Chan refers to a series of Moe Anthropomorphism fanart imagining PlayStation 5 video game console as a human being, usually as a young woman. Following the reveal of the console on June 11th, 2020, the fanart trend gained notable presence online, primarily on Twitter.

PlayStation 5 Logo

PlayStation 5 Logo refers to jokes about the unveiled emblem for Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 gaming and home entertainment console, which is virtually identical to the previous two Playstation logos.

Search Interest

External References