Remember about four months ago when every internet user and their dog was worried by the fact Sony had yet to unveil the PlayStation 5 user interface? That was a grand old time in the comments sections here on Push Square, but we finally managed to get over that hump in October with a surprise State of Play presentation that revealed all. Well, almost all. The likes of playtime tracking and questionable Trophy implementation were left for us to discover. A few months after the PS5 launch then, we want to know if you’ve incorporated these new features into the way you play. Are you using Cards to quickly jump into a game or firing up a multiplayer match from the home screen? Has Game Help aided you in solving a difficult puzzle? And are you sharing your screen with friends while playing other PS5 titles?
On this page:
How Often Do You Use PS5 Cards?How Often Do You Use PS5 Game Help?How Often Do You Use PS5 Share Screen?
How Often Do You Use PS5 Cards?
It’s tough to avoid the new PS5 Cards system, appearing every single time you press the PlayStation button in the very centre of the DualSense controller. This feature allows you to jump between certain activities, such as side missions in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Archstones in Demon’s Souls. The idea is to get you playing the content in question quicker than ever by circumventing open-world navigation or lengthy load screens that would have traditionally extended the time it takes to reach that particular objective. Cards can also detail roughly how long it will take to complete the chosen task as well as list the objectives needed to progress through an area. It’s the developer’s choice to take advantage of this feature, however. Not every PS5 game available uses Cards right now.
You don’t need to already be playing a next-gen title to make use of the Cards system though — they’re accessible right from the PS5 home screen. The idea remains the same though, Sony wants studios to serve up exciting content to its players from the moment they turn the system on. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, for example, allows many of its playlists to be selected before the game is even booted. Then you’re in a multiplayer match in no time at all, skipping load times and advertisements.
The PS5 Cards system is in your face pretty much all the time, but how often do you actually use the feature? In the handful of weeks the console has been a part of your setup, have you been using Cards to quickly navigate the latest titles? Do you regularly kickstart an online bout from the PS5 home screen rather than loading into the multiplayer launcher and then selecting a playlist?
How Often Do You Use PS5 Game Help?
The PS5’s new Game Help service is inherently linked to the Cards system, but we think it’s an important enough feature to consider on its own. Select games, including Astro’s Playroom and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, offer aid in certain situations if you become stuck. The feature is designed to cut out the middleman where players search the internet for walkthroughs and strategies, instead providing tips and tricks in the game itself. Simply select the task at hand from the PS5 UI and a video will be displayed in-game, detailing how to find a certain collectible or beat a specific enemy. It’s an impressively quick and seamless process that even gives our own comprehensive and spoiler-free guides a good run for their money. A lot of effort on the developer’s behalf is required to get them up and running for a game, however. You also need an active PS Plus membership to gain access to the feature.
So, instead of a quick Google search to find out what you need to do next, have you chosen to use PS5 Game Help as a replacement? How often are you using the feature? Will you now always choose to take advantage of Game Help rather than surfing the web for the answer you seek?
How Often Do You Use PS5 Share Screen?
The final PS5 feature we shall touch on is Share Screen, which allows you to place a friend’s gameplay onto your own television set whilst continuing to do or play whatever you want. It’s an evolution of what Sony attempted on PlayStation 4, now allowing you to keep playing games as well as observe what a buddy is doing at the same time. This has its uses in multiplayer matches as your teammate’s perspective can be viewed alongside your own. Or, if you want to sit back and relax and watch a partner play your favourite title remotely, the option is there while YouTube videos take up the big screen. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy shows how it’s done in the image above.
Again, though, are you actually using the PS5 Share Screen feature on a regular basis? Are you watching your friends’ gameplay often enough to know how they’ll react to certain situations or are you still very much in the dark? Would you use it more if a friend wanted to show you the latest PS5 game that you haven’t purchased just yet?
Make sure to vote in each of our three polls, and then expand on your thoughts concerning the new PS5 UI features in the comments below.
Source: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/01/talking_point_how_often_do_you_use_ps5s_new_ui_features
