23% Of People Didn't Realize The PS5 Has This Hidden Feature - Exclusive Survey
We're on the ninth overall console generation, and things are roughly where they were around 20 years ago. The two big names on the market are PlayStation and Xbox, with the Japanese console being on its fifth incarnation and the Microsoft-owned American effort being on its fourth. Both devices are incredibly powerful, have a range of exclusive titles, and choosing between them has probably as much to do with brand loyalty as it does raw features these days. While some features like the ability to buy digital copies of games, cloud gaming, and online play, are pretty obvious, consoles like the PlayStation 5 have a few tricks up their sleeves that not everyone knows about.
The PlayStation 5 launched almost two years ago, and for most of that time, the consoles have been pretty difficult to get hold of. The model's popularity combined with supply issues caused by the global semiconductor shortage means the PS5 doesn't usually sit on shelves for long, even after being on the market for 23 months. Scalpers have also had a bit of a field day, snatching up the PS5 units where possible and selling them for as much as double their MSRP. In an attempt to keep things fair, retailers like Amazon have waiting lists customers can join if they want to buy a PS5. However, if you're lucky enough to have one, you may not be getting the most out of your gaming device. A recent survey conducted by SlashGear found that people weren't aware of five of the console's useful features.
Over 23% of our readers could be missing out on discounted games
A SlashGear survey of 611 United States-based PS5 owners revealed that almost a quarter (23.08%) didn't know you could track the prices of games using your account's Wishlist. This could be due to the fact that the wishlist feature was initially dumped back in 2020. However, it was quietly brought back and can actually save you money on digital game purchases. Wishlist specifically tracks digital copies of games you are interested in, and can let you know when that item is on sale or has had its price reduced for any other reason. You can access the Wishlist feature by opening the PlayStation Store and selecting the white heart icon in the top right of the screen. You can add games to the list by selecting the "add to wishlist" option while viewing a game in the store.
Wishlists weren't the only feature our readers were unaware of; 22.42% of those surveyed didn't know you could use the PS5's Activities feature to load specific missions and game modes from your games library. Just under 20% were unaware that their controllers' DualSense features, including vibration intensity, can be modified or disabled. Just over 18% of readers had no idea that 3D audio was an option for their TV speakers, and 16.69% were surprised to find out that a mouse and keyboard could be hooked up to the console. This isn't an exhaustive list, and even if you knew all of this, the popular console has a bunch of other hidden features that you may not be aware of.