We know that Sony’s planning to streamline the PlayStation 5 experience by creating interactive widgets for games to take advantage of. On current consoles, for example, you have to load up a title and then select the multiplayer component before you can hop into a match. Next-gen will change this, as you’ll be able to bypass in-game menus by selecting exactly what you want to do directly from the system's user interface.
A new patent, however, hints at how far the Japanese giant intends to take this general idea. It proposes a software solution whereby players could be informed how long on average it’ll need to play to complete the next objective. It’ll also then make suggestions that could potentially optimise your playtime, such as using a specific resource. If you’re having difficulty to complete a section, then the console will surface hints or tips.
This all connects to the PlayStation AI speculation that’s been circling for some time now; effectively, it appears that the PS5 will include an Alexa-esque component, where you’ll be able to seek help from the console if you get stuck. We have to imagine a lot of this stuff will be optional, but it seems Sony wants to streamline your time with its system, which is a noble pursuit considering so many of us lead extremely busy lives.
[source freepatentsonline.com]
Comments 34
All these recent patents for stuff like this just seem weird to me.
Imagine if this were used to try and sell you microtransactions.
"Your estimated time to complete this level is 2 hours. If you buy the Enemy Reduction Pack, your estimated time to completion could be 1 hour."
Not saying they would do this, but it's possible some publishers might. It could be awful.
as long as it keeps in mind not to publish spoilers
from a busy man perspective I'm happy about that
I mean I'm not sure I'd turn this on, but as someone who doesn't have as much time to play as I used to, I appreciate the general idea.
Sometimes you've only got 30 minutes or so to play, so it'd be nice to know whether you'll have enough time to complete the next level/chapter/objective.
@Jake3103 it will not be that bad but you can bet it'll suggest items you can only buy
This feels like getting annoying adverts/pop ups, no thanks Sony.
@get2sammyb exactly, sometimes I don't continue playing because I don't know if the next mission will be an hour or 10 minutes
@Gilvin Yeah, it's just an example off the top of my head given to show a possible use case.
@Jake3103 I think that's something they definitely could/would surface. The backlash online would be insane, but I wouldn't really have a problem with it as long as you could completely disable it.
I like this, I usually check howlongtobeat.com to see how much time I need to set aside for playing games on my backlog, having this from os level access seems nice.
@wiiware I often check howlongtobeat.com as well. I quite like the idea of a similar outlay on the dashboard showing the average completion time of the game, etc. I'm not keen on the idea of it "optimising" my play of a level, though. I don't even want that sort of thing suggested.
Games are great because you can play however you like at your own pace. This implementation shown here would encourage people to play optimally on a section-by-section basis to save time rather than just enjoy the experience and take it as it comes. If it's optional, fine – I'm clearly not the right person for this. I do worry about the possibile implication with microtransactions, however, because pacing a game to sell advertised packages would affect all of us, regardless of whether or not we choose to have such a feature on display.
@TrueAssassin86x No, why?
This is good for people that want it, but not for me. I like to play games naturally and don't really care how long a game is supposed to take to complete it. Plus I can totally see how some publishers could start exploiting it with paid microtransactions.
“PlayStation, how long will it take to complete this section of the new Metal Gear game?“
“Estimated gameplay time 10 mins. Estimated cutscene length 6.43 hours"
When I see things like this it makes me frustrated that PlayStation are potentially wasting development resources & money on features that 80-90% of gamers will not use.
@Jake3103 It depends on the developers I think, ea and ubisoft maybe will use this for their mtx system in their games but I don't think sony will add mtx on the next god of war or horizon zd.
I think it's good if gamers don't have to go to other places when searching info on games, like I rather ask playstation ai (if ps5 has it) how long the game/chapter will last rather than go to howlongtobeat on my phone.
Eww, no. I would hope that this feature is optional. Whilst I do use how long to beat, I normally use it before I start a game to get a rough idea of how long I will need to play the game. I would not like the idea of being told how to play the game whilst playing the game. Hooray for backseat gaming!
It'd be cool if the PS5 could have a "snapshot save" option where you can have a kind of quick save anywhere in the game that lets you pick up where you left off at a later time, to help out the peeps that can only play in small sessions.
I know the PS4 can kind of do that with the power saving mode, but an actual quick save feature so you can do it across 5 or so games.
As someone with very limited game time, I think this is an awesome idea, as long as it can be turned off.
That’s clearly a scheme to sell microtransaction guys... please show a little backbone and talk about it in your articles...
It's just a patent. Lots of filed patents never get used.
If this thing was a reality, then I'd turn it off. It seems kinda annoying.
Sod that, part of any game's charm is getting lost for hours in its wonderful worlds.
It's like that line in some sites telling you "Hey, you smart guy with a lot of interesting things to do, reading the following article will take 2 minutes of your precious time! You have been warned, you smart guy with a lot of interesting things to do!"
The UI and the games is the thing I'm looking forward to the most after its performance and sound of the machine. I hope the UI doesn't look childish like the PS4 one.
Some people will irrationally lose their sh*t over this, regardless. You just know it.
If it's in the UI and it's only suggestions and/or can be disabled, it's not something any rational person should have a problem with. Even if it says, "This will take you approximately 30 minutes to accomplish; 10 if you buy this DLC", so what? It's merely a suggestion.
You can bet your bottom dollar some publishers will abuse the hell out of this to squeeze more money out of you.
Plus with the PS4’s standby ability, you can just stop playing single player sessions whenever you want.
Upon thinking about this being used to push microtransactions and stuff, I am reminded of this clip from Ready Player One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPE85Jogjw
I mean, I know it is extreme and about ads, but it is somehow on point.
@wiiware
Didn't know that existed, will check it out thanks.
I do often wonder how far it is to the next save point. But at least we have standby mode these days.
This will finally let us turn games into solely execution challenges and remove all problem solving elements. Maybe in the far future they'll take it one step further and we'll be able to throw a game on in the background and it'll just play itself so we don't have to and we can just watch it happen. Like some sort of watching a story happen thing. Wish there was a word for that.
Wouldn't be surprised if this is a direct link to the ps store for dlc and micros. Also, there will be no way to turn it off, think the Singstar advert that appeared on people's ps3 that you couldn't delete 😂
I'm not a huge fan. Largely because I feel like a game shouldn't always tell you that information so directly, it should have surprises.
I wonder how the resources will cost that enable you to complete the game quicker?
I swear to god if theres some voice or other pop up interrupting my games FOR ANY REASON then that honestly might be a deal breaker to not buy the system. Gaming is about immersion imo.
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