PS5 has a nifty new settings feature that will make life a lot easier
Revolutionizing the user experience
Sony has been absolutely killing it with the PS5's promotional run. By advertising the console's incredible SSD speeds, graphical power and a slew of exciting launch titles, the hype for PS5 is reaching its peak.
Now that the console is less than a week away, Sony is divulging more intimate details relating to the user experience. In an ambitious move, the company has revealed that PS5 will allow users to edit game settings on a system-wide scale.
But first, if you're interested in the power of next-gen, be sure to check out our PS5 review.
- Xbox Series X review: The most powerful console in the world
- Xbox Series X vs. PS5: Which console is right for you?
- Best Black Friday deals 2020: Early sales you can get now
These new settings were spotted very quickly in Sony's "PS5 - Recommended Settings" video by Twitter user Shinobi602. This video doesn't go over this settings menu in detail. However, we are able to discern certain info just from the screenshot.
The five options available here are Difficulty, Performance mode or Resolution Mode, First-Person View, Third-Person View, and Subtitles and Audio.
Difficulty is automatically set to Game Default. We're also unsure what the available choices are here, especially because most games can have anywhere from two to five difficulty settings. At the very least, there's likely a "Highest Difficulty" and "Lowest Difficulty" preset.
Performance Mode or Resolution Mode is self-explanatory, allowing the player to pick between Performance Mode (60fps, 1080p, ray tracing likely off) versus Resolution Mode (30fps, 4K, ray tracing likely on).
Stay in the know with Laptop Mag
Get our in-depth reviews, helpful tips, great deals, and the biggest news stories delivered to your inbox.
Third-Person View and First-Person View could have a wide selection of options, but it'll probably be used for things like inverting the camera, determining field of view, and changing sensitivity.
Subtitles and Audio will be helpful to those who either love or hate subtitles. It's probably also used to determine the language of choice or accessibility options which allow the user to change the colors of the text.
This feature may not seem like a big deal, but it'll help save us a lot of time. When players start a new game, they typically navigate to the settings menu to ensure everything looks OK; this new feature could make that process obsolete.
My only worry is that these features won't work as well on third-party titles. It seems like Sony will be encouraging its first-party developers to ensure those games work optimally with the system-wide settings, but this could become a bit awkward when it comes to indie titles.
Self-described art critic and unabashedly pretentious, Claire finds joy in impassioned ramblings about her closeness to video games. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Media Studies from Brooklyn College and five years of experience in entertainment journalism. Claire is a stalwart defender of the importance found in subjectivity and spends most days overwhelmed with excitement for the past, present and future of gaming. When she isn't writing or playing Dark Souls, she can be found eating chicken fettuccine alfredo and watching anime.