While Microsoft has been making headlines with the Xbox Series X's quick resume feature, Sony seems to have a few tricks of its own in store for the PS5

A new patent has been discovered that closely resembles the PS5 user interface, and if this is the final design, or something close to it, there are some interesting developments ahead

The patent description explains that the UI "places multiple icons on the home screen representing multiple pieces of content associated with a single application" and that "the multiple icons display mutually different content"

This is as opaque as the patent itself, but the attached diagram shows how it actually works:

It appears that simply selecting a game from the home screen does not activate it; Resetera's GoFreak analysis shows that a simple first panel party management options, as well as additional frames to jump to the next level, see hints about the mission ahead, and check where your friends are in the game If one of the icons is for a particular mission and a friend is playing, the icon will be highlighted and can be tapped to see more information about that activity"

The top of the screen shows a list of active friends, and the UI appears to allow tagging "close friends" The appearance of the thumbnails changes depending on what they are doing, whether they are live streaming or messaging you

The patent is very new, dated September 17, but the graphics in it look rather dated Surely Sony could have at least put the PS4 on the document rather than something like the first generation PS3?

How much of a game changer this is will remain to be seen until we see it in action Also, if the PS5's ultra-fast SSD technology dramatically reduces load times as Sony hopes, it could make the current generation of consoles seem very old and very fast

However, some questions remain One is where additional content will be pulled from For example, if YouTube tutorials were automatically linked to games, new titles would suffer because no one would have time to upload anything Not to mention the embarrassing potential for inappropriate content to surface

Alternatively, if it is created/curated by a developer, it could become an additional burden on the company and not be deemed worth the time This could be a killer feature technically, but one that no one will be talking about in a few years

This could be just a small part of the PS5's UI, and PlayStation chief Jim Ryan is certainly enthusiastic about what's ahead He told Gamesindustrybiz, "We haven't shown anything about the PS5 user experience yet 'In the meantime, as the PS5 feature set becomes more robust and the way people make games more clever and interesting, there will be an opportunity for greater engagement and more time spent on the platform

It doesn't take long to figure that out: the PS5 will launch in the US on November 12, just 54 days from now, and even pre-orders on Amazoncom are in jeopardy