It's finally starting to feel like the next generation is happening! With Microsoft having announced price and release details for its Series S and Series X consoles, here's hoping Sony follows suit tonight as part of its PlayStation 5 showcase. Join us live from 9pm BST for all the action.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Jeez what are you lot doing here already?
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Haven't you got anywhere better to be on a Wednesday night? Because I certainly haven't.
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Kami: Oh good, I'm awake from my blackout in time for this. Evening all!
Hullo Kami. Grand to see you as always!
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And hello all of you. I'm quite excited for this one.
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Because we're at the business end of things right now - no more target gameplay nonsense. No more vagueness.
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A release date, a price, and some games running on next gen hardware. That's what it should be about tonight.
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(cut to me getting increasingly angry in my shed in about an hour's time as we see another pointless CG trailer cut to a forlorn cover of an 80s classic)
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Ah well, let's just enjoy each other's company if it ends up going that way. Ill-advisedly I have already cracked open a beer and am getting HYPED.
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IanHigton: Oh hello!
don't remember inviting you here
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(hello Ian!)
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I'm almost embarrassed to say as it exposes me for the hipster that I am.
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But it's a Doozy from Villages, my local brewery in Deptford. It's one of those trendy IPAs that all the kids love these days.
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(I'll move onto some Gadds porter - something more appropriate to someone my age - soon after)
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So, predictions.
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Well, in an ideal world it'd kick off with a brand new Ridge Racer that came bundled with a raytracing enhanced, 120fps and 4K remake of the original.
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I do like the idea of getting an early glimpse of what Ueda-san's up to - credit to DrDollarPHD for that.
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Something that serene would segue nicely into the next section, a playthrough of the first level of Gradius 6 - with Gradius 5 designer Hiroshi Iuchi at the helm alongside his colleagues at M2.
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Oh yeah, and then finish on that. Obv.
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Rumour round-up, for what it's worth - Final Fantasy 16 will make an appearance with the shocking news that it's a PlayStation exclusive.
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A new Silent Hill is about to be unveiled.
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And there might be a different colour PS5 other than the white one we've seen already.
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I reckon we might just get two of those three, but let's see.
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XrodOne: Listening to cricket?? And I thought watching it was bad enough
Oooh I nearly got the banhammer out then. No-one disses Test Match Special in these parts!
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peterfll: Martin, do you EVER get a break or do they leave it to you to write EVERYTHING on EG these days? Not that I’m complaining, but I’m concerned about your work/life balance?
THIS IS HOW I RELAX.
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Also I'm having a beer and hanging out with some nice people here on the internet while we wait to see some lovely new video games - like I'd want to be doing anything else right now.
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Preach!
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I'm about to head to the fridge and get another beer. Anyone want anything?
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[STARS]TyranT: Hopeful for WipEout anyone?
Just me then :(
Well, Pacer is out tomorrow...
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slowdog1976: mini pork pies please martin
I ate them all last night *sadface*
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theguy: If they start with GTA again I'm getting an Ouya
I sort of hope they open with GTA6 now, condemning you to a life with an Ouya.
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I'm back!
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And now I'm curious - do they do bigger bags of Scampi Fries?
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I adore them - the only downside is the bags are too small, and I'm too greedy.
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Worried I'd just open all 24 packs, pour them into a big bowl and then binge on them one night while watching random YouTube videos in my shed.
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Actually that sounds like a banging night. Ordered.
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Are they even biscuits though? Clue's in the name (we are all still about Jaffa Cakes here).
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Just under five minutes to go.
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WHY AM I SO EXCITED.
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I should probably load up the stream somewhere.
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Ah here we go.
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Where do they find this music.
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Indeed. It's becoming increasingly strange to see games being sold on their high fidelity visuals making their very public debuts at such low quality.
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Thank you for clearing that up.
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Sorry, got sidetracked there. Did it start?
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(Yes it bloody well did, with a quick montage of everything we saw last time out at the PS5 reveal).
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And straight away it's a PC build rather than a look at next gen hardware in action.
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Still, here we go.
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And they're opening with the biggie -Final Fantasy 16.
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It looks a lot like classic Final Fantasy/FF14.
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And I for one could not be any happier.
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And it's from Creative Business Unit 3 - so it's Naoki Yoshida's team, even if he's not helming it himself.
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What more could you want?
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Oh, that Amano artwork.
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And there it is - it's a console exclusive on PlayStation (that's also coming to PC).
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Well, what an opener.
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And everything we see from here on out will be captured from a PS5.
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Starting with Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
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I think after the slightly confusing debut of this Sony's going to be keen to show the PS5 difference with this demo.
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(Though again watching at 1080p in a window on my PC, it's not particularly easy to see that difference).
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I GOT THAT REFERENCE!
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INSOMANiAC: Tell us the price for gawds sake.
That'll be the closer, surely.
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Nemesis: FIRST NIPPLES
Good spot! Great nipples, too.
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I don't know much about Spider-Man so don't really know what I'm watching. It's nice and shiny though.
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It still looks like Spider-Man to me, but I gave up on the first game after *that* thing happened in the story and it all got quite hard.
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Indeed - on a proper screen I'm sure it's quite the next gen showcase.
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Don't do this to me.
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MrSomeone: Do you think this is the gen where we'll finally see completely destructible scenery?*
*We're not, are we?
It might be more the design challenge than the technical one that's holding that back.
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There we go - Holiday 2020 is all it says, but of course the PS5 launch date is coming later.
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I hope.
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Next! It's Warner Bros./Avalanche with...
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That little wizard boy I guess?
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Tiel: So--which launch titles of the past have blown you away.
I start with Mario 64
This and always this.
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This one has been awaiting reveal for quite some time, for reasons which are probably obvious.
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And while it's hard to see how the game will shake out, the bits that look like gameplay sure do look nice.
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Nemesis: Good luck on the character creation screen !
...
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It's coming in 2021, and I do think that's the most next-gen thing I've seen to date.
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Raven Software next - so it's Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War.
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And we'll get a playthrough of a single player level. I *might* turn my speakers down for this, because it's probably going to get loud.
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Also this.
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Yup, it's a Call of Duty campaign - though this one does offer more open-ended levels that seem almost Metal Gear Solid 5-esque in nature in this.
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Maybe that's just because it's raining, he's got a gravelly voice and there are binoculars tho.
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This looks like what the Fast & Furious game should have been.
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But obviously with real cars and not a remote control one.
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Actually would be well up for Fast 9 being all about them using nothing but tiny Tamiya remote control cars though.
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Anyway, that was CoD.
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There'll be a multiplayer alpha coming this weekend on PS4.
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Next!
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It's Resident Evil 8.
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Which I *don't* think we've got a really good look at yet, beyond its reveal trailer.
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It's a very gothic take on the series, complete with a beautiful animated fairytale.
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Yes!
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Sadly no real gameplay - at least not yet.
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Nor a release date beyond a vague 2021.
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Ah well, here's Arkane's Deathloop.
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And yes, this looks like a very, very good time - I'm much more convinced by this than I was the last showing.
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In fact, I'm positively pumped.
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Exactly!
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Oh man, The Club.
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I'm seeing so much more Arkane now in the ingenuity of the systems.
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I will play this game. A lot.
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Q2 2021 - it's a PlayStation console exclusive. And it honestly looks like it could be game of the year material.
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Yes please, basically.
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Now, what's this?
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Ah, it's Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition - a next gen glow up I'd imagine with some extra content.
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Nemesis: Nope
Yup.
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(I loved Devil May Cry 5 - it felt like a classic PS2 game, which meant it was a bit hoary in places but also played like a dream).
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And it's going to be there at launch on PS5.
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NEXT!
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Oddworld!
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(as you might be able to tell from my silence, I've never played an Oddworld game before).
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Looks fun though!
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Right, next - I think it's going to be GhostWire: Tokyo.
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No I'm an idiot, it's Five Nights at Freddys.
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Your kids will love it.
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Now then...
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Demon's Souls.
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This looks like the Demon's Souls I love.
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Oh yes it really does, but in the most beautiful way.
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I thought it all looked a bit too colourful last time around, but I'm more than reassured by this look of it in action.
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Don't it just.
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It looks great and it plays... Well, we know how it plays, and it's sodding excellent.
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Miyamotosan: Two minutes to give us a price and a release date...
It'll be the boss we encounter at the end of this demo.
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Hahaha *cries*
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Did they screw up the font of the 'You Died' screen though? LIVID!
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(I'm buying a PS5 to play that).
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Right then, one minute to go.
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And we're getting a sodding Fortnite trailer.
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And this - the PlayStation Plus Collection, perhaps Sony's answer to Game Pass.
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It looks that way.
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Indeed it is.
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Come on then.
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Release date.
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Price.
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Let's do it.
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It looks like someone's artexed the inside of that PS5.
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Nasty.
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Anyway, November 12th release date - or the 19th here in the UK (how could you betray us like that Jim).
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And a £449 price point.
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For the primo edition that is - £360 for the digital edition.
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And here's a God of War tease to see us out.
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God of War Ragnarok - a 2021 release, but we're not yet treated to gameplay.
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And that is a wrap.
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A good show, no?
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And that price point for the digital edition will have Microsoft worried.
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Well I'm getting them all because I bloody love video games, me.
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But there's enough in that to make the PS5 a tasty proposition for those on the fence.
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Also I really, really want to play Deathloop.
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That was the Silent Hill reboot. Sorry.
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Now that all that is out the way, we can get to the fun stuff in the next few weeks (oh my god it is just weeks) until launch. I can't wait.
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Thanks as ever for joining me. I'm now going to sit by the front door and wait for that delivery of Scampi Fries to arrive.