Designed to be a more integrated experience, the PS5 UI appears less convoluted than that of its predecessor, and promises enhanced game.
Tapping the PlayStation button while in-game brings up the Control Centre, which displays what Sony are calling 'cards' to offer information such as updates, media, achievements, and what Sony terms 'activities'.
The latter is the most interesting, as it offers information on what you have to do inside the actual game, such as quests. Selecting one card will display objectives - the example given in Sackboy: A Big Adventure is finding objects - and also gives an estimate of how long it will take to complete the task. Some activities will also let you jump to a specific point in the game, too, for quicker progress.
Sony says this feature is 'part of plan to remove barriers to gamplay.' It remains to be seen how detailed these mini-guides will be, or whether all developers will use them in their games.
Sony also revealed that some Activities offer official game help for some titles, provided users have an active PlayStation Plus subscription. Players will then be able to bring up a guide, such as in the form of a video that they can pin to the screen or use picture-in-picture as you play.
Features such as party or chat requests pop up during play seamlessly, with no need to return to the home menu to set them up.
Bringing up the Control Centre in game will also let you see games that your friends are currently playing, and joining them is simply a matter of clicking on the card and then 'Join'. This will instantly launch the second game, without needing to close the first.
Tapping the Create button will being up the screenshot menu, where you can snap away or capture video at up to 4K resolution.
When you start up from a powered-off state, you'll be presented with a different menu, that retains the look and feel of the Control Centre. This Home screen is also where you'll select other games to play. Scrolling down will show you Activities, news, and more.
The Explore tab of the Home screen keeps you up to date with trending media from the community, general news and other content for the games you follow. Sony have revealed that not everyone will have this at launch, instead being trialled in the US at launch.
Finally, the Store is completely integrated into the system instead of being a standalone app as in the PS5. You'll find PS5 games and PS4 backwards-compatible games alike.
You can watch the full State of Play below. The PlayStation 5 hits stores on November 12, with preorders now open.
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