People may already be tripping over each other to get their PS5 preorders in now that the price and release date have been revealed, but with just under two months to release, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the next-gen console. Arguably the biggest is the user experience, what the PS5 UI (user interface) will look like and new ways players will engage with the console beyond just playing games. Sony acknowledges they haven’t yet shown off those features, but promises “some really cool stuff to come.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan addressed the user experience in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz following the PS5 showcase yesterday. “We haven’t shown yet any of the user experience of the PS5, and there’s some really cool stuff to come on that,” Ryan said. “Within that, as the PS5 feature set becomes more sticky, and the way people make games are becoming more clever, more interesting… there will be opportunities for greater engagement, and greater time spent on the platform.” He stops short of saying exactly when we’ll finally get a look at how the user experience is changing with the PS5 UI and firmware capabilities, but with the November 12th release date rapidly approaching, there aren’t a lot of dates left on the calendar.
Numerous patents have hinted at potential features of the new UI, like creating save states for games and being able to jump directly to certain places in a game (multiplayer matchmaking, for example) right from the PS5 UI without launching the game first. The UI is reportedly 100% redesigned from the PS4, and an “interesting evolution,” though beyond a very brief tease of the startup screen, and a potential, but unverified leak, we have no idea yet what the PS5 dashboard will look like.
We’ve also yet to get the long-promised PS5 console teardown that Mark Cerny talked about in his March 2020 presentation. This teardown would purportedly show the unique and expensive cooling solution Sony’s using for the PS5. The physical design of the console obviously plays into airflow and patents suggest it uses liquid metal to dissipate heat.
The PS5 release on November 12 in limited regions, and November 19th everywhere else except China. The disc-based PS5 runs $499 while the all-digital edition is $399. Preorders for the console are live now if you can find a retailer that isn’t sold out.
