As we approach the launch day of Sony and Microsoft"s next-generation consoles, information is starting to come out at a more rapid pace to build up excitement. Microsoft revealed the list of games that will be optimized for Xbox Series X and S at launch, and Sony has shared a video and blog post going over the PlayStation 5"s user interface for the first time.
The video shows a lot of what you"d expect, starting with the Control Center, which is quickly accessible by pressing the PlayStation button at any time. This interface will give users access to a handful of options such as online friends, notifications, and sound settings, but the most notable part of the interface here are the cards lined up above the menu.
These cards can contain a variety of things, such as news related to games the user is following (if they"re waking up the console on from sleep mode), and recent screenshots or videos they"ve captured. But the most interesting ones are the activity cards, which represent activities that can be performed within games, such as specific levels. These cards not only make specific activities more quickly accessible, they can also tell users how much progress they"ve made in a specific activity, and the amount of time left to complete it. Once expanded, these cards can also show additional objectives for the level, and if the player finds themselves stuck, developers can even provide hints for these objectives directly in the PlayStation 5"s UI.
Other elements of the UI that were shown off include a new party system, with notifications and messages showing up in an overlay over the game. Parties have new features now, and members can begin sharing their screen, while other members can watch their gameplay in picture-in-picture mode while playing their own game. Parties can also be used for sharing game captures like screenshots and videos, though you can also share them to Twitter if you prefer that.
We also got a look at the home screen (pictured at the top of this article), which is what you"ll see when you power up the console after turning it off completely. Here you can see your library of games, along with corresponding news or activities you can jump into. While media apps are also set to be available, they"ll be placed in a separate tab, so you"ll only see games when that"s what you want to focus on. The PlayStation Store has also been baked into the home screen as its own tab, rather than working like a separate app.
If you"d like to see all of this in action, you can watch the full video here.