A recent patent filing revealed that Sony is considering a dedicated "game replay" button for future PlayStation controllers. Some media reports claim that the button works similar to the "save state" feature in some emulators, allowing players to rewind and replay when they make a mistake in the game.
Tom's Hardware notes that the feature works similarly to some Nintendo Switch online games, allowing players to rewind your game to a certain point and then restart that section. For example, if you make a mistake while playing Mario Bros. and are about to die, you can back away to try to avoid the danger. The article also pointed out that games such as "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" natively support this feature.
In fact, the system allows players to replay buffered videos of previous games while playing the game. PlayStation 4 and 5 already partially implement this feature.
When playing games on PS4 and PS5, gameplay videos are stored in a 15-minute rolling buffer. You can press and hold the Share button at any time to bring up the option to view, save and share the last 15 minutes of gameplay footage. This all has to happen outside of the game, though.
Sony seems to want to change the current function of the "Share" button so that players can watch gameplay videos without leaving the game. The document describes a button positioned exactly where the current share button is (pictured above) that allows players to replay and watch gameplay videos while playing the game.
Illustration of a "rewind" screen overlay that provides playback control.
Here's what Sony said verbatim:
During real-time gameplay of a video game, a player may wish to review recently played portions of the game. For example, the player may have been given some important information to perform a mission, such as when a non-player character (NPC) provided details of a captured object (such as a weapon), with attached instructions to take the object to a specific location. At some point during real-time gameplay, the player may have forgotten some or all of the information and may therefore wish to revisit recent gameplay... Accessing recent gameplay while playing a video game is difficult for players and requires hacking into existing services to view the gameplay of interest.
The patent then outlines the current method of viewing gaming videos, highlighting how cumbersome and disruptive this method is for players. The patent then details how to create a more user-friendly integrated experience.
The system will allow players to create "bookmarks" to rewind to that point to review details -- such as the beginning of a mission or adventure. They can also simply go backwards from the current point in the game. When the player presses the "Back" (currently "Share") button, an overlay appears on the screen to facilitate these actions. The overlay offers several options for creating bookmarks or clips, as well as browsing the video forward or backward. It sounds like players will also be able to view their past games while playing them - most likely picture-in-picture or pinned to the side, since that's how multitasking currently works (video above).
This is just a patent application. We can't guarantee Sony will implement this technology. However, as mentioned above, it is not difficult to implement. The hardware is already present on current controllers, and parts of the video buffering system are already largely present. In addition, the PS5 user interface already allows players to pin tips and YouTube strategy videos to the side of the game screen for viewing during gameplay (above). Sony calls this system "Card".
To implement the patent, Sony would simply create a native graphics card that uses the PS5's existing buffering solution and any ancillary software to drive the system. Additionally, since it runs natively and doesn't require developer support, it can work with any game, just like current buffering systems.