Japanese influencers and journalists getting hands-on with PS5

Japanese influencers and journalists getting hands-on with PS5

Japanese influencers and journalists are going hands on with the PS5 this weekend.

They’ll get to preview Astro’s Playroom, and share the experience with their audience. Although we’ve seen this same game demoed by Geoff Keighley back in July, that was more of a preview of the new DualSense controller than the PS5 itself, which we haven’t seen much of at this point.

Western audiences have now seen various demonstrations of the Xbox Series X over the last week, as Microsoft has been quite transparent leading into their next-generation launch. Journalists and influencers were sent preview units to test out backwards compatibility, and show off the fast loading tech courtesy of the SSD. It seems that a second wave of consoles was sent out as well, as more influencers are boasting the Series X online. It’s nice to see Microsoft express confidence at this time, and the transparency is something I personally appreciate very much. 

PlayStation, on the other hand, has been a lot more secretive about their console, and their plans moving into launch. Sure, Travis Scott was seemingly given a PS5 after posting an image of the DualSense controller on Instagram. This will certainly be effective for marketing to a wider audience, but the core fanbase is still waiting for demonstrations from enthusiasts, as many questions are left unanswered. Little details around backwards compatibility, how the UI works, and any new quality of life features that often come with a new generation are mostly unknown. We’re less than 6 weeks away from its initial launch, so I would expect to see more quite soon. Seeing influencers go hands on in Japan leads me to believe that western media will get the same previews sooner than we think.