Back in the olden days we didn't have hard drives in our console, we had to use these things called ‘memory cards’ to save our progress. Otherwise you’d have to start from scratch every single time.
These days it's all about the hard drives, or SSDs in the case of the upcoming next-gen consoles, because we can’t run modern games off a disc anymore. But limited space means you’ll probably want to expand it, and for prospective PS5 owners we’ve just got an idea of how much that might cost.
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With the launch of the PS5 just weeks away, retailers are already getting into position to make sure they have everything gamers need to get themselves set up. And Walmart seems to have SSD upgrades ready to hit the shelves too.
PS5 SSD price spotted at Walmart it begins.Thanks EJ #PlayHasNoLimits pic.twitter.com/diC5wC3iekOctober 22, 2020
If that tag is legit, it means the price of a 500GB PS5-compatible SSD will only be $115 (plus tax), which isn’t too expensive. It’s more than the cost of an equivalent SSD for a PC, but the PS5 is likely to need amore specialised hard drive - and specialised means price increases.
However, at $115 per 500GB, it still works out about the same as you’d need to spend on a 1TB expandable storage drive for the Xbox Series X.
The only issue here is we don’t know all that much about how the PS5's storage expansion will work. Sony has let users swap out hard drives since the days of the PS3, and judging from the PS5 teardown video it’s not quite the same this time around. The storage expansion slots are right under the cover, but it's still not the kind of thing that you could do on the fly. Comparatively, the Xbox Series X's expandable storage cards are a simple plug 'n' play external drive.
Considering the PS5 has an 825GB SSD, which seems to only offer 625GB of space, you’re going to want to upgrade. The good news here is that the price is slightly less than what Microsoft has to offer, though it doesn't quite make up for the fact there's no option to play PS5 games from an external USB drive.
For now it’s good to see that PS5 SSDs are coming, and soon. The only question we have is who is making the drives. The more companies that produce PS5-compatible drives, the more competition there is. That leads to inevitable price decreases that you just wouldn't get when just one company is involved. Here's hoping.
