
Just in case you haven't seen it yourself, Sony released a PlayStation 30th Anniversary update for the PS5 this week, which added themes based on past consoles, and a full-on recreation of the iconic PS1 startup screen.
Players are greeted with said screen upon powering up their PS5 — but there's a catch. Both the themes and the boot screen are only available for a limited time.
We expected there to be a backlash, and guess what? It's happening. Social media sites and Reddit are absolutely packed with fans who want the themes and startup screen to remain beyond the anniversary celebrations.
Case in point: we hosted a poll right here on Push Square, asking readers whether they'd like to keep the PS1 startup, given the choice. An utterly overwhelming 96% of voters said they'd "love to keep it", with only 4% saying they prefer the PS5's regular boot screen. Almost 3,000 votes have been cast at the time of writing this article.
Honestly, it'll be a shame to see these nostalgia-driven additions fade away, never to return. It would be nice to have the option of keeping them around, at least. Sadly, we doubt that Sony will change its stance — although stranger things have happened.
Do you see any real reason not to keep the themes and PS1 startup screen? Try to reason with the Japanese giant in the comments section below.
Comments 55
There is absolutely zero reason to not keep these permanently
With every console, they take a bit more of our ability to personalise it away.
It's awesome and a cool way to customize your system a bit more. They should even consider going one step further and let us pick different startups. I'd love to hear the tune up of the symphony for PS3 again on a PS5!
Wish they would announce a showcase or state of play
They're gonna take em away after the "limited time" is over then reintroduce them as themes for us to buy lol
If the PS5 Pro ever gets jailbroken, day one I'll do that to my 30th Anniversary Pro just so I can keep the classic bootup screen forever.
They should give us an option of whether or not to have it play, and just keep it permanently. I am loving the new themes also, so I say keep those for SURE
Kind of annoyed the boot screen animation is almost complete before my TV starts its output.
@LifeGirl Yeah so about the PS1 and PS2 not having a customisable UI. And how the PS5 has interchangeable faceplates that surpass the physical customisation options of any other PlayStation.
I love the touch of Sony doing this but I think the themes look bad. They just don't work with this UI in my opinion because the big game artwork is supposed to be your "theme".
Is it cool yes but it will become less special the more I see it so it's better off not staying forever
@AgentGuapo yes I have a Sony TV with Bravia sync so when I turn the Playstation on the TV comes on with it and by the time the TV's turned on I'm lucky if I actually see it
@Dampsponge can you not just turn off hdmi link on the ps5 , or does that not work
If we can't get these permanently, can we be able to get themes and color changes again?
Don't know why they would limit this when they already did all this work. My only other gripe also is I wish these were dynamic and not a PNG and didn't take a third of the screen, a bit pushed up more. But these are nice!
I personally would love to keep them and hope they just do. But I can see how they might not want to, at least from the perspective of not keeping the “30th Anniversry” going and the look of the overlays ruffling the feathers of whomever it was that gets the say about advert being priority #1 of the UI, sadly. But at the very least I’d love if they quietly left the toggle option of keeping the OG boot and splash. It’s like mainlining nostalgia straight into my veins to hear and see that. I’ve actually stopped putting my PS5 in standby just to hear it.
I'm a habitual Rest Mode user and it seems like the PS1 start up does not work on Rest mode. Kinda disappointing but understandable.
I'm pretty pleased with the themes though. Love the PS2 color scheme and sounds. The overlay image blocks a tiny bit too much of the screen though but that's a minor complaint.
It should be permanent. If you get tired of it you can just not use it
@get2sammyb They could at least keep the quick dashboard design when you press the ps button and especially the sound effects.
The problem is they have been so limited in offering personalization that this is like water to a woman dying of thirst. You can't just take the water bottle back and pretend like it's fine. What I want them to keep are the sounds specifically, I haven't even really seen the startup screens because I put my console in rest mode, or when I turn it on it's faster to start than my TV is- so I don't even witness the startup.
All of them should stay it marks Sony console legacy and should be available
@Veritas7Ax For me it seems to cut the actual Diamond off completely and just suddenly loads the PS symbol and the back end of the music
@LifeGirl seriously it's ridiculous. I still use the 20th anniversary theme on my PS4. Honestly how they didn't see the backlash coming is beyond me, just how out of touch are the executives at sony nowadays. Maybe they will allow this and then be all, " see we listen to feed back".
@AgentGuapo Same I've only got to hear the full thing when it updated the feature first time and then now it's cut off the diamond and it's just the PS symbol and back end of the sound
@Keyblade-Dan there is unfortunately for the iconic PS1 launcher "Sony computer entertainment" bit anyway as that's part of the ps5 boot process and would require different firmware from the base to remove it if users didn't like it and wanted to go back to the default launcher.
There's no way you can pick and choose that at a whim. It's baked in to the firmware update released a day or so ago.
There's no reason however, not to keep the themes as they run at "run time' so can be changed at user discretion.
@Nakatomi_Uk are you perhaps loading from sleep mode as it only goes through fully when it's in a powered down state.
If they get rid of them. This is a massive L. There is absolutely no good reason to keep them limited.
One of my biggest gripes of the PS5 is the inability to personalize the menu. I loved the PS3 personalization and the PS4s. I want to post my screenshots permanently on the background, not just on the welcome page.
@Majin_Deicide - truth is that I would happily pay for this
@LifeGirl How could you personalise the PS1 and 2? What really happened is with each PlayStation they added the ability to customise it and then recently they took it away. 60% of Playstation consoles had zero customisation. If you want to customise your system, why not get a PC? The whole console deal is incredibly limited control but, at least in theory, you exchange that for a really simple user experience. Don't get me wrong, I'd like themes too, but it's an odd complaint about things that are basically budget PCs defined by their total lack of user control.
“60% of Playstation consoles had zero customisation.”
Well only PS1, 2 and 5 don’t while PS3, 4, PSP and Vita do, and I think we can forgive 1&2 but to take away the option for 5. That’s a different story.
I've been rocking the PS3 theme. I love how the ribbon design gives some depth to the UI, it allows the game icons to stand out a bit more. Just like everyone else, I'm hoping that Sony keeps these permanent.
I would love it if Sony let us keep them. I wouldn't mind paying for it; just don't get rid of them. They are awesome,
@get2sammyb Glad you said it mate 😅 I'll add that the UI Image overlay (the PS2 one at least) looks really blurry as well.
Keep the Boot Up (toggle in the Settings) and keep the Themes BUT only the Overlay/UI Changes present when bringing up the PS Button Menu and of course, most importantly to me, the UI SFX/Chimes/Clickety Clacks 😂
Sony are braindead so I expect this wonderful harmless feature to be ripped out of our hands like a toy from a toddler.
I want the boot to stay, but i want to be able to turn off the themes.
There's no reason why they have to be limited.
Seems like doing limited anniversary deals is par for the course. How many special anniversary consoles did they make? Like 5000 or something? And these themes and start up animations cost very little. Oh Sony.
Come on Sony. Don't be a Scrooge and let us keep the themes.
I'm happy with the standard PS5 startup and theme. Not bothered about the temporary themes tbh. But having them as an option is good for those who like them.
I’d pay 4.99 one-time to keep it.
So I totally recognize the feels when the PS boot screen+music came up... and I'd fully support that. However, the actual changes to the UI looked pretty awful if I'm being honest. I don't know... I think they've gone for a very specific design language (good or ill) but I'm not sure just opening it up will actually work with it.
Could be wrong... but so far I thought the themes detracted in almost every way. Once again - the boot-up sequence was epic however.
@get2sammyb I feel the same. I’d be happy with the boot up music
@lazarus11 yes but then the TV remote won't work for watching Blu-rays
In all honesty, these themes were completely unimpressive. After trying them each for a few seconds, I went back to the PS5 one.
Choice is good and i'm all for keeping them for those that want them. Though personally after using them for a few days I might just turn them off. The PS1-PS4 themed UI overlays are a bit messy, it's clear the whole UI was never designed with this in mind. And the PS1 startup screen though a lovely novelty just delays how fast I can boot up the PS5 and get back to playing games.
@get2sammyb Thing is, Sammy, as I and others have said, the PS3 XMB had game artwork AND themes.
Hover over a game and if it had artwork (or a mini-video) it'd show up. If a game didn't have one, the theme would remain visible.
And let's face it, the XMB is a much better interface that the default PS5 one - the only reason the PS5 one looks like it is is to promote sales on the PS Store but it is a big mess.
The thing is, they've now admitted that themes for the PS5 are something which are completely possible, so why haven't we had them from the beginning?
Personally, I think most of these themes suck, the PS1 theme is particularly hideous. However, all they need to do to fix some niggly bits is to reduce the size of the headers and footers slightly, and add toggles for transparency, or reduce the game 'theme' so it doesn't lay behind the header.
I choose the PS3 theme in the end because the header is slightly transparent by default, but I also think the clock part is too chunky, and I don't like the icons present at the right hand side of the footer.
@Matroska there's been some level of customization for almost 20 years. That's the entire time span some people have been gaming. So yes, the PS1 and PS2 were static in this regard but I think we all felt like improvements were being made without sacrificing the simplicity but now it's like Sony just up and did a 180. Sure we could all get PCs... or Sony could continue it's not too recent trend of letting people customize their equipment.
As in this case they already put in the time to develop the themes, just leave them as an option. Makes no sense.
@Dampsponge Orrrrrr..... Hear me out: Give us the option to turn it on or off? Or is that no bueno too?
This should read:
Weekend players (or players that are only allowed on thier systems for about three hours a week by thier controlling partner or parents) still think it's a pretty neat to see the PS1 logo (or more likely just the 30th anniversary screen as the PS5 cocks up the HDMI handshake)
The rest of us who play daily are pretty much done with it's jarring fanfare, especially through a large surround system!
People addressing themes.
They were withheld as they were a good way to jailbreak the systems.
As for the ps2 not having a custom screen, it did, in a very unique way. Those rectangular columns were your unique save data, visualised. If you don't understand, look it up. You might be surprised
@themightyant This! You tell the frequent gamers, as the thrill is pretty much worn off from the lengthy loud intro.
@jorel262 12,300 numbered pros, and too many slims to be considered limited at all..
@Nakatomi_Uk that's a slow hdmi handshake. Probably the TV, not much you can do about that unfortunately..
@themightyimp2
Your comment should read:
I'm still wet behind the ears and have no concept of how amazing it was to hear that boot up for the first time in the mid 90s
And I play daily and I also I have a very large surround sound system and restarted my PS5 6 times last night just to appreciate how awesome it sounds
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