Today's PlayStation 5 reveal turned out to be less of a reveal and more of a presentation for developers to learn about what the console will be capable of, but there were some exciting things for players to latch onto during the presentation. Perhaps most exciting of all is what the inclusion of an SSD will mean for next gen load times, because if Sony is able to reach its goal, load times will be 100 times faster than they currently are on PS4. Although there are some truly astonishing PS4 titles out there right now, many of them are known for having pretty bad load times, so what might it look like if they were 100 times faster?
For those unaware, Mark Cerny of Sony held a presentation today (March 18th) titled The Road To PS5 in lieu of the cancellation of GDC (Game Developers' Conference) due to the Coronavirus. In the presentation, Cerny talks about all sorts of things, from the inner workings of SSDs compared to HDDs, GPU and CPU specs, and even the mechanics of the human ear, and although much of it made little sense to the average gamer, Cerny did say that Sony is aiming for 100 times faster loading speed on the PS5 console.
PS4 Games With Long Load Screens
The video above, posted in May of last year, shows load times for popular PS4 games compared to their supposed load times on the next generation PlayStation 5. Even in this video, it is clear to see that the load times are substantially faster, with many PS4 games clocking in at well over a minute of just loading screens, while the PS5 loads in one or two seconds, barely reaching five seconds for Grand Theft Auto 5, a game with infamously long loading screens.
A similar demonstration was shown for Marvel's Spider-Man, in which the same scene was loaded by both a PS4 and PS5 side by side. The result was staggering, as the PS5 loads Marvel's Spider-Man in under a second, a feat which took the PS4 Pro 8 seconds to do. What astute readers may notice, though, is that this does not match the 100 times faster claim. That is to be expected, as the console is still under development, but just how insane would load times be if they were truly 100 times faster than fans are used to on the current generation's PlayStation 4 console?
PS5 Will Load Games 100 Times Faster Than PS4
These faster load times are due largely to the introduction of a SSD, or Solid State Drive, to the PlayStation 5. Without going into too much detail, an SSD is similar to a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in many ways, but is both much faster and efficient as well as more expensive. Fans curious to know more can see the above video, in which Cerny goes into great detail about the inner workings of SDDs and how they will benefit developers and ultimately gamers utilizing the PlayStation 5.
In the examples before, the PS4 loads Red Dead Redemption 2 in just over a minute and 12 seconds. Compare this to the PS5's two second loading time and it is truly incredible, but even that is only 36 times faster. If the game loaded 100 times faster, it would only be on the loading screen for less than three quarters of a second (.72 to be exact). This is the case for game's which are known for taking quite some time to load, imagine the speed at which more reasonable PS4 games would load on the PS5. One of Cerny's dreams was to see PS5 games with no loading screens, and although it may be impossible to remove loading altogether, loading times might be cut so short that players literally can't see them before they are done.
What No Load Screens Means For PS5 Games
All this could have some interesting effects on PS5 games beyond just the convenience of sitting through less loading screens. For starters, developers are frequently forced to come up with ways to distract their players during long loading screens. The art during Grand Theft Auto loading screens or the classic loading screen tips are all there for a reason. Many in the comments section of the comparison video above cracked jokes about Grand Theft Auto 5's load screen art being skipped over completely, but this may become a reality.
Next generation games may not have need for loading screen filler such as art, tips, or watching Spider-Man sit on the bus, instead load times will be nearly instantaneous. Beyond this, there will also likely be more open world games, or at the very least, games that feel open world. Cerny talks about the potential for multiple GB worth of data to be loaded in an instant with the PS5, and this could seriously affect level design and world design, for that matter.
Cerny goes on to explain that there is "a whole subset of level design dedicated to" building levels with load screens in mind. He explains how certain areas in video games are intentionally lengthy in order to give time for what comes next to load, and while this approach works just fine and has flown under the radar of most gamers, it is a burden on game designers more than anything. If Sony reaches its goals for the PS5, players might see more streamlined levels and areas moving forward.
Much and more was discussed at Sony's The Road to PS5 conference, but this seems to be what affects gamers the most directly. Although there was some criticism since the conference failed to show the actual design of the PS5, a lot of other interesting information was revealed which should suffice to get fans excited about the upcoming console. With any luck, more information that is relevant to players will be revealed shortly, as the PlayStation 5 should be releasing relatively soon. Until that point, though, players will have to make due with the information given in this PS5 conference.