OK, so, the Playstation 5 reveal event happened online yesterday night and we finally got to see the new look, next-generation Playstation 5 and Gran Turismo 7 in all its next-generation glory. Playstation has clearly aced the design language and the new controller has a number of enhanced features that will make gaming even more immersive. Great. We also got to see next-generation gameplay. Now, Sony is saying the PS5 is a generational leap in terms of power and performance. Every new game console is, by definition, a generational leap. 

Consoles have always been underpowered compared to the average desktop PC. A console such as the PS4 is a specialist at pushing 3D visuals out of the box. But PCs have always been able to push graphics to the limit but to do so will cost a fair amount of spare change. The PS5 steps closer to an entry-level gaming PC which typically retails at around £950.00 GBP.

However, industry speculation has mooted a possible price point of between £450 £500 for the PS5. It may well be closer to £850, because the PS5 uses some expensive componentry. If it does retail for £450 Sony will be making a loss on the hardware and recoup that loss through software sales. Nevertheless, we got to see a number of games and of particular interest was the trailer for Gran Turismo 7, with a bit of gameplay.

I must admit, initially, I wasn’t blown away, the live stream was broadcast on YouTube in low definition so the graphics looked last gen. So I waited until the video was uploaded properly and re-watched it in 2K and it looks awesome. First off, it appears that Gran Turismo 7 has re-introduced some menu elements from earlier iterations of the game. Such as the Tuning Shop, a career mode.

But the menus and the sub-menus, Tuning Shop, etc are all well and good, what interests me is the online mode because that’s where I spend most of my time. But taking a look at the graphics, it may not look like a next-gen leap, but it is. If you look closely. Games are made up of polygons, basically millions of 3-dimensional straight lines. 

You can see these ‘straight lines’ in the PS4 version of Gran Turismo, especially with the vehicle modeling. The polygon count on the PS5 demo of Gran Turismo 7 is so high that the vehicle interior and exterior modeling displays not a single straight line. in other words, the PS5 does indeed have the generational leap in power that Sony is boasting of, and probably a lot more.

And if you want further evidence of the PS5’s power you only have to look at the rearview camera, highlighted above, from inside the vehicle. It renders at a higher rate than the cockpit view from GT Sport on the PS4 and it proves beyond doubt that I will be placing an order for the PS5. 

Gran Turismo is the only driving game on a console that gets close to a pure PC sim-racing experience. Yet it can also accommodate classic arcade gameplay which means it caters to a wide variety of gamers. There is no other console sim-racer that can match the quality of production and software engineering of Gran Turismo.

However, it must be noted the first games released for next-gen consoles are in many ways technically inferior to later releases. Primarily because game developers subsequently learn how to extract even more from the console hardware. This means there will a Gran Turismo 8 in about 1 or 2 years that will look and play even better.