Thursday, September 22nd 2022
PlayStation 5 2024 Revision to Feature Detachable Optical Drive
An upcoming hardware revision of the Sony PlayStation 5 (PS5) that's slated for 2024, reportedly unifies the two current models that the console comes in—one with a Blu-ray drive, and one without. The PS5 currently comes in a model with an optical drive that's popular in markets with slow Internet connections, and targets those who prefer physical copies of their games; while another model completely lacks an optical drive, and is available in markets with fast Internet access, and for those who keep digital libraries of the games they bought.
The 2024 revision would unify the two designs, and feature a modular form-factor, where the optical drive can be optionally purchased (or is part of bundles). This drive slots into the console's body, and connects to it via a 5 Gbps USB-C connection. This way, Sony saves on costs from having to do separate production runs for the two models, and earn some revenue on the ODD. The current digital-only PS5 model comes with a firmware-level restriction that prevents you from plugging in aftermarket USB Blu-ray drives, or even connecting one to its mainboard's SATA interface.
Sources:
Tweaktown, Insider Gaming
The 2024 revision would unify the two designs, and feature a modular form-factor, where the optical drive can be optionally purchased (or is part of bundles). This drive slots into the console's body, and connects to it via a 5 Gbps USB-C connection. This way, Sony saves on costs from having to do separate production runs for the two models, and earn some revenue on the ODD. The current digital-only PS5 model comes with a firmware-level restriction that prevents you from plugging in aftermarket USB Blu-ray drives, or even connecting one to its mainboard's SATA interface.
29 Comments on PlayStation 5 2024 Revision to Feature Detachable Optical Drive
What both Sony and Microsoft need to do though is find a way for people to transition to digital whilst keeping ownership of their physical games. This was the only reason I got the full PS5, I own just too many physical PS4 games to write the costs off. On my Series S its starting to bite a little bit re-buying a few games, although I am still in clear profit vs buying an X.
Finally their online stores need to become competitive vs physical prices. This would encourage take up of the digital system.
no reason it couldn't also connect to a PC (an easy disposal outlet once you discontinue the console) such truth - Sony is a lot better than Nintendo's permanently-overpriced e-shop, but put to shame by more aggressive prices from Microsoft and Steam
Valve doesn't care abut profit, for the $400 unit, but everyone else has to!
Why can't people buy the lower spec Xbox series S, and slap any old USB DVD drive onto it?
My oldest digital content is on the Xbox360 and Steam, all of it is still available, Nintendo are the outlier not the example there as well. I have seen promotional DLC pulled for licensing reasons, but that of course was digital only content so would also apply to physical games.
At least with something like a PS2, we can mod them and sideload games once the consoles abandonded with zero chance of ever getting new content - the series S is basically a streaming app waiting for a killswitch day to arrive
I'm starting to get the feeling we're regressing in terms of hardware. Things had to get small, but now they're only going bigger. GPUs, consoles, chips, what's next? Smartphone gaming 2025 is back to this:
Exactly this.
I'm on a total and complete ban wrt cloud based gaming. Not happening. I'll buy games left and right, and if needed I'll get them 'portable' in whatever way necessary. But I'll NEVER. EVER. Rely on cloud for any content I deem reasonably important. We can look at on-demand video for a quick look at what's bound to happen, and in fact it already happens in cloud gaming services too: you're a plaything of commerce, in the end its not cheaper, its not more convenient, and you don't control the content in any possible way. Not the what, not the how, not even the when - which is very ironic if you consider the on-demand nature of it. You don't even really control what you want to pay. If you're invested in a few games on the service, and suddenly it says you're paying 20% more next renewal, what will you do? Stop playing, or pay a price you never really asked for?
Its the same bottomless pit as renting a house. You're not building, you're just spending. Whereas if you buy one, you start 'building' even by just living your life. There isn't a single tenant in the world that can defend renting houses is somehow preferable unless they're totally lazy or bound to the bottom of the social ladder. So why would you rent anything else you can also buy, especially if you can buy it much more easily?
Also, consider all the accounts you have to your name. They represent value, make no mistake. In my gaming lifetime I've managed to make over 2K$ just by selling MMO accounts I stopped playing. I've played WoW for 2,5 years for free, as in, break even over the whole playtime/sub. And for a slew of other games, all those cash shop purchases got largely recouped, resulting in near free entertainment for thousands of hours. Allods Online: 600 EUR (complete P2W game... and I was winning, had a legendary infinite respec thingy that was worth 250 EUR alone, and level 8 runes or whatever, so near top end). Dungeons&Dragons Online: 350 EUR. The list goes on... All you gotta do is register email to the new owner :)
The same thing goes for your Steam, EGS, GoG accounts. No longer gaming? Worth selling. I know there are some here on TPU that hold several EGS accounts and snatched all the free games for that exact purpose.
portable 5.25" USB ultra hd drives are rare and expensive as hens teeth
They should have said "External Optical Drive", which directly implies it can be unplugged...
I don't mind the idea of a detachable pen... sorry, drive but I sure will mind it a lot when the only option is digital purchases and unfortunately this idea is just another step in the slow boil process, the optical drive can't cost them more than a couple dozen bucks, it's not that major a difference in the bom.
It's a driveless console just like this PS5 and the series S, and i'm well aware of the damn stupid risk that when they abandon it, it'll be totally useless if i don't know how to add my own content to it