This is probably the last big unknown that we had to know about PlayStation 5. Sony has just officially shown the first images of the interface that will accompany the new console on November 19, some images that finally reveal the appearance of the menus and their different functions.
PS5 UX: The interface in detail
From the hand of Hideaki Nishino, today we have the pleasure of knowing what we will see on our screens (hopefully we can have a monitor with HDMI 2.1), and that is that the presentation video shows us the so-called Control Center and the new menu of start of PlayStation 5.
The demo begins by starting the console from sleep, at which point PS5 will greet you with the profile selection menu. Once the profile is chosen, the menu will give way to the Control Center, with a game running in the background: Sackboy: A Big Adventure .
Welcome to the Control Center
The Control Center will consist of cards, and we will access it when we have a game running. The cards will show very useful information related to the game, such as the percentage of progress of the game, the different levels that we have to overcome, news related to the game, screenshots taken in the game and even clues in the form of screenshots and short videos shared by other users.
This last function will be supported by the community to create a kind of social network of guides and tricks that we can consult at all times during the game, something that we find very interesting and that will surely give a lot to talk about. Are you stuck in a puzzle? Take a look at the community and find the solution. Mind you, the feature will only be available to PlayStation Plus subscribers , and will appear in some games, not all.
Each of these cards will show content exclusively related to the game that is kept running One of the most important cards is called Activities, which will be in charge of offering a summary of the progress made in different parts of the game, and may even receive an estimate of the time we have left to finish that part of the game. But the most interesting thing is that depending on the game, even some activities will allow you to go directly to that part of the game just by selecting them, taking advantage of, of course, the spectacular loading times of the console.
At the bottom of the screen we will find a row with shortcuts of the most common options of the system, being able to access them without having to exit the game. We can keep an eye on system notifications, see which friends are online, turn off the console and much more. And of course, return to the main menu.
A familiar main menu
Unsurprisingly, the PS5 home menu will look familiar. The brand has managed to leave the essence so that the user feels comfortable from day one, offering a clean and quite light interface that feels quite comfortable and easy to interpret.
As always, we will have sections with the latest games run and installed, and that will be where information on each one is displayed, such as related news, activity cards that are viewed from the Control Center, clips, available DLCs and much more. These sections will also be enjoyed by applications (such as Netflix or Plex) and backward compatible games that arrive from PS4.
However, the prominence is taken by the Explore section, which will be the place where all the content of all the games is gathered. This menu will be seen both in the main menu, as in the Control Center and in the PlayStation mobile application. Unfortunately, it will only be available in the United States at the moment, so the rest of the world will have to wait a little longer for it to be implemented.
An integrated store
Obviously, the PlayStation Store will be visible in the main menu, and as a novelty, this time it will be an integrated function within the system, and not an independent application, so its operation will be faster, and we can search for and buy PS5 games more easily than ever.
