Missed Out On PS5? Play The Simulator
The PS5 launch has been a bit of a mess, to put things lightly. Not only has at least one user encountered a bug that killed their PS5, but the initial batch of consoles sold out almost immediately. Fans who were hoping to get a PS5 on launch day have been left with the option of either waiting an undetermined amount of time or shelling out big bucks to scalpers online. That's where PS5 Simulator comes in, an indie VR title that captures all of the excitement of bringing your own PS5 home for the first time.
Polygon reached out to PS5 Simulator developer Alex Grade to ask what inspired the sim's creation. Grade responded, "I can't afford it any time soon. But I really want to have a PS5, so I made a game just for myself where I can imagine that I'm having a PS5."
Grade clearly wanted to enjoy the full experience of owning a PS5, including all of the set up that entails. PS5 Simulator literally takes players through the process of setting up their new PS5, including opening the box, disposing of all of the packing materials, untangling a bunch of wires, plugging the PS5 up to the TV, and switching it on for the first time.
According to Alex Grade, their cable management is truly terrible in real life, so that had to be included in the game, as well. Other bits of Grade's personal experience were also included in PS5 Simulator, including one truly annoying moment. Grade explained that WiFi had gone out while the game was in development, so that inconvenience actually became a featured moment within PS5 Simulator.
The game is currently available for free download through Alex Grade's Itch.io page, which also includes some amusing dev notes on the game itself. For instance, Grade quips that "[Isaac] Newton was not happy" about the physics engine in PS5 Simulator. The display image for Grade's game is a gif of the player angrily tossing a DualSense controller at the television.
The majority of the user comments on the game listing are positive, with many players seeming to understand the kind of levity that Grade was aiming for. One user wrote, "Awesome game! Pure genius!" Another person joked, "[A]t last I have a PS5." Meanwhile, a few people have had minor gripes about the physics in the game, with one person explaining that everything they walked into in the sim just kind of flew wildly across the room. To this, Alex Grade responded with another crack about how displeased Sir Isaac Newton was with the finished product.
While it is certainly not a proper replacement for the real thing, perhaps PS5 Simulator can give PlayStation fans a good chuckle while they wait for PS5 units to become more readily available.