The PlayStation is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and boy, do I feel old. As part of the festivities, Sony has added retro themes and a special boot-up screen to the PlayStation 5.
As pointed out by Radec on X (via VGC), when you start up your PlayStation 5, you are greeted with the original booting screen from the PlayStation 1. Also, you can customize the home screen to have design and sound effects that reflect the PS1, PS2, PS3, or PS4 era.
YOOO A NEW UPDATE FOR THE PS5 BRINGS BACK THE ORIGINAL PS1 BOOT UP SCREEN FOR THE 30TH ANNIVERSARYYou can also customize the home screen to have design and sound effects that reflect the PS1, PS2, PS3 or PS4! pic.twitter.com/3W9cVRmPWd
— Radec (@realradec) December 2, 2024
Sony has stated that, unfortunately, these nostalgic changes are only available for a limited time. This isn’t the only bit of bad news, either. As part of my duties as a journalist, I booted up my PlayStation 5 to test out these new features. I went with the PlayStation 2 overlay for the home screen because it is my favorite Sony console. Imagine my dismay when I noticed the theme covers up art from the games you hover over. It looks quite messy and amateurish.
Thankfully, these issues do not pop up with the PlayStation 3 and 4 themes. However, the fact the PlayStation 1 and 2 ones, in addition to the 30th Anniversary option, obscure so much is a failure on Sony’s part. It should have tested them out more before releasing them for public use. At least the beeps and boops from past consoles provide some retro comfort.
If you are still pining for the days when Sony treated the PlayStation brand better, you can check out a cool history lesson on its official website. You can view a thank you video from the company on YouTube, too. Marvel over when Naughty Dog was allowed to make games outside of The Last of Us franchise. I’m hoping the 30th anniversary celebration leads to more classic games being added to Sony’s digital storefront. There are so many Ratchet and Clank titles I never played!