Unlike Xbox, Sony is revamping the user interface in the PlayStation 5. The new UI is built from the ground so that it can complement the hardware inside the console. The lengthy walkthrough released by Sony shows what it’ll look like when it launches next month.
Like PS4, the home-screen shows rows of installed or available games ready to be played. The showcase used Sackboy: A Big Adventure to demonstrate some of the key features of the UI. Users can now jump into different sections of the game using the UI; it can even help if one is stuck in the level. To achieve that, PS5 uses cards to show the users what the UI offers once you press the PS button. Sony calls this menu the ‘Control center’; it is always one PS button press away regardless of what you are doing. Once you are in the control center, the system offers many cards specific to the game you are playing. These cards offer information regarding everything from news to information about what level you are playing to even walkthroughs of different games. The new party system allows for much more than just voice chat. Party has now become a community where you can share your screenshots and gameplay, chat with friends, and even watch their gameplay. You can do all this while playing the game using PS5’s in-built picture-in-picture functionality. Sony says that all PS5 titles and some PS4 titles, especially the exclusives, will greatly utilize these features. Sony has also taken some cues from Xbox’s UI, mainly how games and media have their own space rather than the TV application present in the PS4. The media tab houses the entertainment content, which never comes in your way if your focus is on games, which is pretty neat. Lastly, Sony has gotten rid of the PlayStation store application. Rather it is integrated into the UI. You can search for any game and buy/download it directly from the home screen rather than getting into an app.
