What will the PlayStation 5โs operating system be like? We know a lot about Sonyโs next-gen system, like PS5's SSD hard drive and PS4 backwards compatibility โ but we donโt yet know what itโll be like when you power it up. Modern systems like the PlayStation 4 have a main menu before you get into your game, allowing you to contact friends and connect to the PlayStation Store. However, it sounds like the PS5 will take things to the next level.
A patent published by Sony Interactive Entertainment last week discusses โinteractive interfacesโ, and it tallies with comments that architect Mark Cerny made to Wired last year. Effectively, the Japanese giant wants to erase the disconnect between the operating system and the game, putting elements of every titleโs user interface in the consoleโs main menu itself. Weโll allow the Marble Madness man to explain:
โWe don't want the player to have to boot the game, see what's up, boot the game, see what's up,โ he said. โMultiplayer game servers will provide the console with the set of joinable activities in real time. Single player games will provide information like what missions you could do and what rewards you might receive for completing them โ and all of those choices will be visible in the UI. As a player you just jump right into whatever you like.โ
What does this mean, then? Well, letโs say youโve got Call of Duty: Modern Warfare installed on your PS5. It sounds like Cerny is describing a scenario whereby, without even booting the game, youโll be able to see available mulitplayer playlists and activities directly from the PS5โs main menu. In addition, the console will show you which missions youโve completed in single player, and itโll allow you to jump into any one directly.
It sounds like a small thing, but by integrating the gameโs user interface into the consoleโs operating system, it means that youโll effectively be able to skip several steps in the traditional game booting process. Where you currently have to select a game, wait for it to load, select a mode, and select a level, youโll instead be able to select a stage directly from the PS5โs main menu itself. Speed and efficiency are crucial to the next-gen experience, it seems.
[source freepatentsonline.com, via wired.com]
Comments 60
Sounds interesting.
I'm inclined to say I like a degree of separation - and a lack of clutter.
The PS4's UI is the fricken worst. I dread accidentally pressing the "see profile" button in online games... 5 minutes, 10 deaths, and a kick for inactivity later and I want to smash my console into dust and snort the remains until my brain blue screens.
It takes so long to do anything, and I'm using a hybrid drive! What the heck?
I don't care about gimmicks, just let the UI be quick and clean, please! God!
I just hope it's a lot more fluid and lag free than the current dash. It's annoying that some files can't be deleted. I have a folder with stuff I can't delete in it named ps crap I don't want or need!
Sounds... That's the best Sony can do lately. I'm waiting to HEAR and hopefully SEE something of substance instead of empty words.
Minimal, modern, clean, fast. Do that and I'll be happy enough!
Sounds interesting - I hope they also add the time spent in each game too...
@BAMozzy I am also hoping for this feature.
Isn't this basically what 'Events' is on the current PS4?
What insight into what's gonna be great for the player !
@SegaBlueSky only SEGA can make you happy.
I'd be interested to hear whether its got a quick resume function. I suspect it will feature it, but don't think I've heard anything about it. Such a great feature on my Switch - One I never thought of before, but one that I can't really do without now!
@Dr-M Ha, you'd think so right? Modern SEGA tends to infuriate me more than anything though ๐
meh, no thanks, I want a streamlined UI that isn't slower than a snail
as long i dont need to see the 'you need to connect to internet' to see this feature message like on the ps4.
@ApostateMage it sounds more than that. It sounds like it actually is tied to the games itself rather than created by others. If you want to jump into Team Deathmatch on CoD for example, you don't need to load up the game, select MP mode, select TDM and go from there, you just see TDM on the section for CoD and click on that - it will then load you straight to the TDM online lobby without having to go through all the games menus.
It seems like it will also tell you what stage you at on a SP game, what level is next and what trophies can be achieved. Instead of loading in the game, going through the menu and 'resuming' your game, you just click on the relevant part on the dashboard and you are loaded straight into the campaign where you left off.
With the superfast SSD, the console is essentially loading up the game and the mode you want to be playing instead of having to load in the game and navigate the on-screen menus to then load in that part and will give you more information - like maybe how many players are active in the TDM mode, what trophies are available in the next section of the SP campaign you are coming up to etc all from the UI. If Capture the Flag is your 'favourite' mode but often under-populated, you can see that from the UI and may opt to play something different until more people jump in instead of loading up the game, loading up the MP area and checking the numbers there.
Essentially it seems like you will be able to access directly from the UI and get more information too. I assume though that with Disc bought games, you would need the Disc in to instantly load up the area you want but maybe you will have the information on the UI to decide that maybe you don't want to play MP because its too quiet and don't need to put the disc in, load it up to find out and then have to quit, swap discs and try a different game - that info will be on the UI.
As someone who used to play a lot of MP, especially at the start of this generation when some lobbies were really low in numbers of active players, I would load up a game, load up the MP, see the numbers in a game mode and either quit to load up a new game or jump into a mode I wasn't really looking to play just because the numbers were there...
Yep, definitely needs to be fast and fluid. Its disappointing that seven years after launch the base PS4 has horrendous lag in menus and even more so in PS Store. In some ways it's slower and more irritating to use than the PS3 is now, and was at the seven year point in it's own cycle. Still amuses me that it took several major firmware updates just to get folder support as well. I still have a folder full of features I'll never use like the Browser etc as well.
Another user friendly feature would be, if the game and/or console is updated automatically overnight for example, when it boots back up to reload the most recent game and save that was suspended in rest mode. Gets annoying to have to reload large titles like RDR2 every time some patch or update made the PS4 restart since it was last played.
The idea is, put fewer barriers between the player and the game. Live up to that For The Players slogan a bit more. That includes on the PS Store - it's needed a declutter and speed boost for years really. Since that's the digital marketplace for buying games and ties into Sony's profits I'm surprised they haven't already... faster interface that's more pleasant to use with a better relevance filter (I.e. You Bought This, You Might Like This) results in more sales. Pretty simple business sense really.
I don't know if you could pause a game and quick resume at a later time. This seems a bit like that but I expect more from the last checkpoint. With the superfast SSD, you could load straight into the game from the UI - not have to load up the game and select the mode you wanted, wait for that to load and then resume playing, you would load directly into that part of the game.
@zekepliskin Does the PS4 not update in 'standby' mode? I know the Xbox One does but I tend to keep my consoles shut down when not in use so they wouldn't update until I turn my console back on anyway. Its not a feature I have utilised on XB1 or looked at on PS4 either
@BAMozzy Yeah it can update in rest mode but sometimes has to restart the whole console so when you resume it there's no game saved in memory. Seems like a small point but when it's happening a couple of times a week it seems like a subtle but relevant chance $onยฅ should be making for the PS5 so it's more of a seamless experience focused on the player.
Interesting, I hope there's default "continue last saved game" in menu for every games, so I can automatically playing the game last save straight from the games icon on ps5 ui.
All these novelties and still no sign of the wishlist? ๐ค
@dychomir This! I can't be arsed browsing the massive section of what's on offer - simply checking your wish list would save me a lot of time!
@beavis64 The 2TB hybrid drive I have installed has a faster speed than the stock HDD... It's just slow. Unless it's my "mistake" for using one of the features of the console?
What are you smoking my dude? ๐
It must be good if you don't notice Hell literally freezing over when trying to send a message during an online game, or pushing the PS button, or pushing L3 on a leaderboard. lol
I would LOVE to see all this in action (like 100+Million PS4 owners would to)
on what we know so far:
Series X output is a solid and consistent 12.15 teraflops, and according to digital foundry, with use of the SSD expansion slot, will go much higher as computation will be enhanced with the 2nd drive and variable ray shading. On the other hand, ps5 had variable clocks and will sit around 9 teraflops, not the 10+ number Mark Cerny fraudulently gave in his presentation. Sony's SSD may be quick, but, the GPU and CPU are slow, and will create a bad bottleneck issue. Also, tech specialist Austin Evens has said Xbox Series X is 20% more powerful.
Let me take a second to lement everyone trying to promote some console war. These are businesses, making money is the goal. Console sales make for decent conversation, but to these companies, don't mean much. Xbox's profitability this current gen; Xbox made billions more profit, including roughly 8 billion more in profit the last 2 years. PS4 may have outsold Xbox One over 2 to 1, yet Xbox has millions more Xbox Live subscribers then Sony has playstation plus. Add to that psvr's failure (under 5% attachment rate is definitely a failure), and having nothing remotely comparable to Gamepass.
Back to what we know....
Other reasons why Xbox Series X is superior are:
*Xbox has always had superior online infrastructure
*Xbox has always had the overwhelming consensus best controller in gaming
*the announcement that if you subscribe to Gamepass Ultimate not only do you get access to over 200 games, but the DLC for all of them as well
*the fact that MLB the Show is coming to Xbox so for the sports fans, there will actually be a good baseball game for the first time in a decade. Sports fans no longer have to buy a playstation just for baseball.
*Xbox has actual back compat all the way to the OG Xbox with HDR that works with games that have never even had HDR in them, while ps5 just has access to a few dozen ps4 games using emulators.
*Xbox has 1TB of storage, plus storage expansion that you can actual use, while ps5 has 825GB, and no options for storage expansion.
*Xbox will encourage free upgrades to next gen version of games with Cyberpunk 2077 already on board, while Sony will very likely make it's users re-buy better versions. I mean, that's what they have a history of doing after all.
My conclusion:
Xbox Series X is clearly the superior option. It's really not debatable. Sony has really dropped the ball, and hasn't really been competitive since Xbox One S was released. When Phil Spencer says the best place to play is Xbox, it's not just hyperbole. Sony continues to hide everything about the ps5. No form factor, no controller, no real information besides an overly long presentation trying to convince the public their specs aren't inferior.
It didn't work.
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe
Are you trolling, my friend? Of course it's debatable. Let us now debate!
1. How have those teraflop figures been worked out when the actual devices don't exist in the public domain.
2. "Xbox made billions more profit." Microsoft, not Xbox. It's an important distinction.
3. "Xbox has millions more Xbox Live subscribers then Sony has playstation plus." Have you got anything to back that up - because that seems absurd.
4. "PSVR's failure." Is having the best selling VR device available on the market a failure?
5. "...having nothing remotely comparable to Gamepass." Have you heard of PlayStation Now?
6. "Xbox has always had the overwhelming consensus best controller in gaming."
Nope. The Xbox 360's control pad was significantly better than the DualShock3 but the Xbox One's control pad is a notable step backwards and the DualShock4 is much the better control pad of the two.
7. Your point about MLB the Show as a reason why Xbox is 'superior' is as astonishing as it is baffling.
9. "while ps5 has 825GB, and no options for storage expansion."
Not true. Cerny confirmed the options for storage expansion on the PS5 - and it isn't proprietary.
10 "Sony will very likely make it's users re-buy better versions. I mean, that's what they have a history of doing after all." - As do Microsoft. This is likely something that both companies will address. Whether by intent or competition, it will still happen.
11. "My conclusion:
Xbox Series X is clearly the superior option. It's really not debatable. Sony has really dropped the ball, and hasn't really been competitive since Xbox One S was released."
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe well of course it's not debatable.. you have to be receptive to logic and differing wants, needs and even opinions in order to have a debate. You clearly made up your mind before we knew the first thing about either console, and are too ignorant to acknowledge even subjectivity
My conclusion:
You shouldn't use the word conclusion. It implies intelligent analysis, which is nowhere to be found in your comment
@KleebanKliban everything I said is factual. It can't be debated because there is nothing to debate.
@DVS your #1 point, the answer is yes. People have been hands on. The specs are out, the dev kits are out, final versions are out. Nothing I said is anything less than fact, and the end is labeled clearly MY conclusion. Seems to me those 2 letters put together, M+Y, tell any reader that opinion follows. Arguing facts is a sign of insanity. I won't debate you on the rest of what I put as there is nothing to debate. Facts are facts, and regardless if you believe them to be or not, they are. Sorry reality is too much for you, but not my problem.
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe Are you certain you are understanding precisely how Cerny explained the variable clock? You should make sure before you throw out accusations of fraudulence.
The only thing quoted directly from Cerny during the presentation is that it will be running at its peak TF output under almost all circumstances, but in the most demanding circumstances it can reduce speeds. Then Cerny went on to specifically say that it can reduce speeds by only โa couple of percentโ in order to reduce temperature by 10%.
There is no 10% reduction in the clock, that is a false narrative that is going around and is directly opposed to what Cerny delivered in his presentation. If you reduce it by merely a couple percent, it would go from around a 10.28 TF to a 10.08, not 9 TF. People are confusing his claim of a 10% reduction in temperature, to a 10% reduction on the clock which is what you would need for it be 9 TF.
If you have evidence that Cerny is lying Iโm open to it but otherwise, there seems to be a misunderstanding of what Cerny said in the speech and people are drawing their own conclusions from it.
Iโm sure someone like @BAMozzy would know about this much better than I do.
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe PSVR contributed to pushing VR software further than it would be at this point otherwise, and helped devs to get significantly more revenue for their games than they would on PC alone. Sony invested in pushing various studios further with VR, even 3rd party studios behind Skyrim, Borderlands 2 and Resident Evil 7. Sony even released exclusives like Astro Bot and Firewall Zero Hour which are widely considered best in genre
PSVR is not just a success, it is the leading mid to high tier HMD each year, despite the fact that there are far fewer PS4's in the wild than gaming PC's capable of VR. Try getting that percentage haha. PSVR literally defines the current height of VR success. Yet you suggested PSVR is "definitely" a failure.
Please, if you are going to pretend to be analytic, learn to view things in context. 5% on a test is failing. 5% of a giant customer base adopting a niche, optional peripheral in a medium's infancy is a phenominal achievement far beyond anything you will ever achieve, and to think they did it with such low end hardware.
Ongoing support for PSVR on PS5 is already confirmed. The first iteration of PSVR has sold more units every year and it hasnt even begun to approach the software peak PS5's extra power offers, and that's before PSVR2.
This is all very embarassing for you, I know, especially after double downing on having only posted "facts". If anyone asks how you got shutdown, just blame coronavirus
Just hope they change the ui, i hate how messy and obstrusive the ps4s menu is.
So many windows and icons all over the place, it drives me crazy. Id much rather have something clean, small and minimalistic. Or better yet let us have options and be able to customize our menu etc.
@Dan_ozzzy189 Well with the SSD the PS5 has, that would make it basically lag free, no?
@taylorsparks294 my xbox 360 didn't have an SSD and that dash never lagged. There's no reason for the ps4 dash to be so dreadful. I do believe they'll get this right though.
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe
You sound like the only one trying to promote a console here. Most of what you said is just wrong and
'will sit around 9 teraflops, not the 10+ number Mark Cerny fraudulently gave in his presentation.'
Is ridiculous implying you know better than Cerny or call him a straight liar.
Edit
'everything I said is factual. It can't be debated because there is nothing to debate.'
Do you realise you sound like a fanatic?
IGN would be a better outlet for your little console war.
I quite like the PS4 UI. Only very occasionally it will get sluggish, but you are talking about a system that is over 5 years old so that is gonna happen. Not sure if I like the sound of what is explained for the PS5, but I will wait to see more info before making any kind of judgement.
@Constable_What Modern Warfare really gets my PS4 if i do that. Rather a clean and fast OS then all kind of options i dont use.
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe My conclusion is you made a few straight out lies and i like my PS4 controller more. ๐
So please crawl back under your rock. I always notice that some people react a certain articles.
@Flaming_Kaiser His name certainly suits him.
@InsertUsername Its somewhat sad if you see a new name that signed up yesterday and this is his first response. ๐
@Flaming_Kaiser I just picked that game up during the sale, and yeah my PS4 REALLY doesn't like multi-tasking when I'm playing that game. I think it's because of all the floating UI elements onscreen. I remember Cerny explaining that simple graphics are more taxing on the PS4 which is why the fan speeds up so damn much, and that the PS5 wouldn't have that same issue.
@LeTHaLMiGRaiNe
Stating things as "fact" while also trying to hide behind your conclusion as an opinion, and also stating that your opinion isn't up for debate, is relaying information in an intellectually dishonest way. Not to mention you are downright wrong in a couple of your "facts".
The PSVR is the best selling VR on the market, and is not a failure. It has a lot of support exceeding that of any VR system at around its price range.
The PS5 has a slot for an NVMe SSD slot for expandable storage, and it also has support for USB HDD.
You may not think your information is debatable, lol, but it can be scrutinized, can be rightly criticized, and is EASILY contradicted.
It Smells Like Here's More Anti SONY, Than Real Fans.
I've Never Had Any Issues With (UI LAGGING).....
ex : While Playing ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ (Silent)
The Only Thing, That I Don't Like is (The System Sound / Ding, Ding, Ding)
@Dan_ozzzy189 try rebuilding your database. Turn ps4 OFF
Hold ps4 power button until 2 beeps (10-15secs)
Select rebuild database from options
Only takes a couple minutes and if you've never done it could make a big difference in irritating things like that
@BLOB have you ever tried to message a friend while in a game? It takes FOREVER
@Tmw1984 it's a new pro and new external drive. Can't see why it is so laggy.
@BLOB I'm not one of those. Just because you've never had any issues doesn't mean they don't exist. My friend also has this problem and he's insanely up on tech and works in IT, it's just poor. Sony need to vastly improve the slickness of the ui and dash. It's far too sluggish. Much like their TV ui' 's.
I just hope it won't take 10 seconds to load the friends list and your own profile, etc. It's gotten worse on PS4 and they have never improved that.
@Constable_What I think the UI looks really nice but with the more taxing games you see its really struggling. And that store its a joke how slow it starts up. I love my PS4 but their are some annoying issues. I even think they should revamp the whole store its such a mess. And Come on give me a wishlist on the PS4/5 store i hate the crappy online store its a nightmare to navigate.
@Flaming_Kaiser If the PS Store wasn't so unbelievably slow it'd be fine, it's fine on my phone and it looks similar, just for a phone. The website even has a wishlist I think!...
@Tmw1984
I Did, of course.
With a PS4 Pro & PS4
PS4 PRO = NO Lagging.
PS4 = Sometimes
1 TB hard-drive
But last night...
I've been playing Dreams. (Makes a lot of noises)
๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ (Still Silent)
Remnant From The Ashes (Silent)
Weird!
@Dan_ozzzy189
Then, The Only Reason Could Be The Serial Numbers
Newer Versions แดสแดสsแดแดแดษชแดษด 4 แดสแด Work Better, With Some Games.
Dreams! (makes noise)
๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ (Silent)
Remnant (Silent)
๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (Silent)
Borderlands Awesome Collection (Silent)
@Constable_What Its a joke that they cant include all the same things on all platforms. If its on the Phone/PS4/PC it should all work and look the same.
@gollumb82 Words are substance. People were complaining about lack of information on Ps5. So Sony gives them 52 minutes of it and then people complain it's not how they wanted it. Do you think Mark Cerny is lying? Microsoft revealed almost all there is to know about series x 8 months before both consoles come out. They had to get next gen started asap because they got so trounced this generation. Microsoft has no good games coming out this gen. Sony has two monsters. Sony does not need to show everything right away. I was one of the few people that enjoyed Cerny's Ps5 tech talk. It made me realize what a genius he is and that we are in for a real treat with Ps5. I'm sure the substance you are looking for, i.e. games and it's form will be revealed soonish. Along with a few surprises!
@Flaming_Kaiser The hardware engine the PS4 uses has trouble rendering simple geometry. It's why in games with onscreen maps or floating UI elements the fan sounds like it's gonna shoot itself through the roof and into the sun where it'll only be marginally less hot.
The PS5 has dedicated CUs to render that simple geometry, so in theory, the UI will run a lot better and be a hell of a lot more seamless.
Although, I could have misunderstood what Cerny said during the Dev Livestream.
@Exlee300p
I get you. I wasn't complaining for the sake of it. It's just that I don't enjoy all this teraflop talk and tech mumbo jumbo. We live in the day and age of incessant teasing before anything is actually shown. Maybe this is the problem and I was just venting. Luckily, I'm in no hurry as PS4 still has much to offer, like you said.
@Constable_What My biggest issue is that you get some games in the PS3 graphics setup and the broken images its just really bad. Just fix up the store and clean it up.
@Constable_What Lets hope you are right. ๐๐
@Flaming_Kaiser Oh yeah, you're right! That's just bad. I really hope they clean up the store for PS5. Can't wait for PS5 to be honest. I love my PS4 Pro, but I need an upgrade, I'm getting sick of sluggish my Pro is... I must've gotten the sh** end of the stick when it came to silicone.
@Tmw1984
I do, yes. (Open quick)
I think that the only reason why I've got no Issues..
It's because I changed Resolution at 1080p (in PS4 Settings) Plus (Silent Console/ Better Frames / Better Shadows"Details - 4 some games / Faster Loading) - - Activate Boost Mode & Supersampling-- ๐บ
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