Microsoft hoped the use of Kinect voice commands would make this process more seamless, but the company's eventual unbundling of the costly Kinect from the base Xbox One package limited this use case.Įven in useful cases, like Netflix streaming, the Snap column often left a lot of wasted empty space on the TV screen. That said, the need to constantly switch back and forth from the "snapped" app to the main game window to actually do stuff was awkward at best and borderline unusable at worst. There were some examples of game and app makers using the feature cleverly, too, such as a snappable version of puzzle game Threes that fit completely in the narrow Snap window. Instead, Microsoft's Mike Ybarra tweeted yesterday that the removal of Snap is intended "to improve multitasking, reduce memory use, improve overall speed, and free up resources going forward for bigger things."įurther Reading Xbox One review: More than a game console, less than a living room revolutionIn our initial review of the Xbox One back in 2013, we were big fans of the ability to snap Netflix or Hulu to one side of the screen while playing a particularly mindless Xbox One game. This isn't quite akin to what happened last year when Sony removed certain Vita apps because the company didn't want to put in the effort to support underused features anymore (though that might be part of it). The system menu described will also provide statistics and a video clip based on the user’s previous gameplay session.Fans of multitasking on game consoles will be sad to learn that Microsoft is planning to do away with the Xbox One's much-ballyhooed Snap mode, which lets users plant an app in a column on the edge of the screen while they're playing a game or using another app. The patent describes a system which may determine that the user has been repeatedly attempting to overcome a challenge within a particular portion of a game, and decide to provide hints for the current gameplay on the system menu. The patent suggested the feature could display dynamic content such as a Trophy the player is trying to unlock or a friend’s game activity, and boot them directly to relevant content.Īnother patent uncovered this month suggested PS5 could use machine learning to provide not just dynamic menu options, but game hints based on players’ actual gameplay. The feature would allow users to launch directly into a multiplayer match, specific game chapter or mode directly from the operating system menu, instead of having to boot a game and then progress through a series of menus. In October 2019 PS5 system architect Mark Cerny claimed PS5 would feature a “completely revamped” interface which would allow players to boot directly into multiplayer games and display joinable online activities in real-time.Įarlier this year Sony filed a patent for ‘Direct Gameplay’, a likely PS5 feature that will allow players to jump into specific parts of games straight from the console’s home menu. The feature was eventually removed in 2017 to help improve OS speed, but also coincided with Xbox’s steer away from positioning the console as a multimedia device.Īlthough a glimpse of the PS5’s boot sequence was teased during this month’s PS5 reveal event, most of what is known about the console’s menu system has come from interview comments and patents. Microsoft included Snap mode with Xbox One launch consoles as a method for users to watch TV or run an app side-by-side with a game (or vice versa). It would also allow players to share gameplay clips or change music tracks without being pulled out of the game they’re playing.Īccording to the patent, users would be able to change the layout of the sub-screen to something reminiscent of Xbox One’s former Snap mode bar, and switch between controlling each screen by pressing the PlayStation button. The feature described in the patent would allow players to simultaneously play a game, whilst displaying a video in a separate picture-in-picture element. That’s according to a new Sony Interactive Entertainment patent published this week, spotted by TheGamePost, which describes a feature that allows users to display a sub-screen of content alongside a different type of main content. PlayStation 5 could include a multitasking feature similar to Xbox One’s canned Snap mode.
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