Sony patents ‘Gameplay Rewind’ button for controllers: how it works
Sony has patented a new universal controller button that could change the way gamers interact with games on the company’s PlayStation consoles. The new ‘rewind gameplay’ button allows gamers to revisit certain parts of the game that have already been completed and watch those sections, then return to playing the game live. Players may also be able to generate “bookmarks” while playing games, and the so-called rewind button would allow them to repeatedly access favorite parts of their games.
Sony patents ‘Gameplay Rewind’ button for controllers
A patent document (via Tech4Gamers) titled “Gameplay Rewind with User Triggered Buttons” describes a special button on the controller that allows users to generate a bookmark of the game they are playing. The device remembers these user-generated bookmarks, and the game played by the user should be able to generate them automatically as well.
Figure 4A shows the backwash button and Figure 4B shows the backwash interface
Photo credit: WIPO/Sony
Sony explains how such a feature could be useful for gamers. The company says a rewind button will allow users to “watch” recently played parts of the game, in case they missed instructions from a non-playable character (NPC).
For example, you could play Life is Strange: True Colors, where you go around a bar and talk to customers, report back to the bartender, and repeat what two people have ordered. If you pay attention when the customers talk to you, you can give the correct order, otherwise you may misunderstand. While there is no penalty for giving a wrong answer in this game, the rewind button could have potentially helped you in such a scenario.
Accessing past gameplay moments can be a challenge, and Sony says it involves hacking into an existing service to access a certain part of the game. The company adds that even if a player manages to record certain parts of the game, he or she will have to quit the game to access the content.
According to the company, gamers will be able to press the universal button during live gameplay and the console will display a new interface that offers playback-style controls, including a “rewind” option. Selecting the rewind option will show users a “subset of captured image frames from gameplay,” the company said.
These captured image frames can be manually (or automatically) marked and saved during gameplay. They will be displayed in order – in reverse order – when the player enters rewind mode, according to details shared in the patent document.
As a result, gamers can interact with previous moments from the game. For example, they can replay a certain section if they don’t remember an NPC’s instructions, or if they missed information shown by the game as they walked through an important area.
Sony’s patent document also suggests that users will be able to “interact” with gameplay moments in rewind mode, but there’s no information on how that would work. It’s worth noting that the existence of a patent doesn’t necessarily mean Sony will include support for such a feature on its controllers in the future.
