Finally got a new PS5? 7 things you should do first

So you’ve finally got your hands on a PS5 – what are you doing now? Now that you’ve found a great place to put your fantastic new hardware, it’s time to install updates. Lots of updates. Before you can play anything, your console must download and install a major update that includes all of the changes that have changed since the console originally left Sony’s hands. Your controllers and games also need to be updated.

Now that all of these updates are out of the way and your new PS5 is ready for you, there are 7 things you should do.

Note: An “if” is assigned to the first two items in this list. If you don’t have an external storage drive or a PS4 / PS4 Pro and you are completely new to the PS5, you can skip to number 3 on this list.

See also: Sony PlayStation 5 review

Set a default download location for an external drive

If you have an external hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD), make sure it is set up with your PS5 before downloading games. While PS5 games need to be downloaded to the custom SSD in your PS5, PS4 games can be downloaded anywhere and continue to run.

If you want to take advantage of the enhanced graphics or performance of certain PS4 games, you should probably download them to the PS5’s internal SSD. If you’re playing a regular old PS4 game that hasn’t been improved in any way, put it on your external drive to save valuable space on your PS5’s SSD. Your PS5’s SSD only starts with around 667 GB of usable download space. Use them wisely.

You can set default download locations in your PS5 settings to ensure that you are downloading all of your PS4 games in the right location. In order to make your external storage drive the default download location for PS4 games, here’s what you need to do.

• Go to Settings> Storage> Extended Storage
• Then switch on Install PS4 games in extended storage

Transfer saved data from your PS4 or PS4 Pro

If you owned a PS4 or PS4 Pro before purchasing the PS5, make sure you have transferred all of your saved data. Then you can pick up exactly where you left off on your old console in-game on your new console.

It is not difficult to do at all, it will just take time to download everything. Here are the steps you need to take:

• Go to Settings> Saved Data and Game / App Settings> Saved Data (PS4)
• You can then choose either Cloud storage or USB drive depending on how you want to transfer your stored data.
• Wait until everything is transferred!

Download your PS5 games

The PS5 has been out for over a month, as have all of the launch games. By now, these startup games will likely have a major update package when you first install the game. With bugs, patches, content updates, and more, you might have to wait a while before you can play your new games.

Once all the updates for your console and controller are complete, you will be ready to download your PS5 games. Even if you don’t want to play right away, it’s nice if you download it and have it ready for you when you’re ready. To be honest, you probably want to play as soon as possible.

While you wait for your PS5 games to download, the other things on this list will keep you entertained.

Connected: Best PS5 games

Familiarize yourself with the new user interface and settings on your PS5

The new PS5 UI is much more convenient to explore and better organized than the PS4 UI. Make sure you allow time to check out the interface and all of the customizable features in your PS5 settings.

Game preset options

There are certain preset game options that you can select and the console will start each new game with these preferred settings. Here are all the presets you can customize:

• difficulty
• Performance mode or resolution mode
• First person view
• Third person view
• Subtitles and audio

The two biggest customization options are Difficulty and Performance mode or Resolve mode.

When you click on Difficulty, you have several options to choose from: Game Standard, Easiest, Easier, Normal, Harder, or Hardest. Of course, not all games have five different difficulty levels, but every new game you start will try to match the difficulty you have chosen as closely as possible.

Performance mode or resolution mode is pretty much what it sounds like. This setting allows you to prioritize whether you want your games to look their best or to perform the best. This essentially means that when a game has a mode where it looks amazing but at 30 frames per second and a mode where the resolution is worse but at 60 frames, you can choose which game you prefer per second. This applies to all games that give you this option.

To get to these preset game options, the following steps are required:

• Go to Settings> Saved Data and Game / App Settings> Game Preferences
• From this menu, choose which presets you want to explore and change your settings.

Customize the shortcuts for creating buttons

You can easily customize what the Create button on the DualSense controller does for you. If you want to take screenshots over videos or vice versa, check this setting and change it to your liking.

To get to these settings, go to Settings> Recordings and broadcasts> Recordings> Shortcuts for the “Create” button. From there, you can choose between three different layouts for the key assignment: Standard, Simple Screenshots or Simple Video Clips.

There’s a setting to press the Create button once, press and hold twice, and hold. Each button map layout simply changes the setting associated with each of those functions.

Check out: How impressive are the PS5 specs? Here’s what you need to know.

Turn on remote playback

If you want to stream your games from your PS5 to your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop or PS4 console, you need to make sure that remote playback is enabled in your settings.

To get to the remote play settings, go to Settings> System> Remote Play. From here you can turn remote play on and off, connect devices, and view your connection history.

Check your power saving settings

To get to your energy saving settings, go to Settings> System> Energy Saving.

This is where you can set how long your PS5 can stay inactive before automatically going to sleep. In this special setting you can set the times for playing media and games separately.

You can also check what features are available in sleep mode and turn them on and off. Then you can set how long it takes for your controllers to turn off when not in use: after 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes or not.

Visit the PS Store and add your favorite games to the wishlist

The PlayStation Store is now well integrated into your user interface and easy for you to enter and exit. If there were upcoming games in Sony’s State of Play that looked interesting to you, make sure you find them in the store and add them to your wishlist. You can also track games to make sure you have updates on the game.

PlayStation Store will likely upload news first when it comes to release dates, new features of a game, and more. So if there’s a game you’re really interested in, make sure you have a wishlist and follow it up on the store.

Browse through PS Plus and PS Now

The two subscription services Sony currently offers are PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. Both subscription services offer great discounts at different tier prices. The best part is an annual subscription for $ 59.99. If you can afford both, go for it. If you can only afford one, PS Plus seems to be the best bang for your buck right now and is essential to playing online.

When you subscribe to PS Plus, you get three free games each month and access to the Classics Collection. This Classics collection contains many PS4 classics like God of War, The Last of Us: Remastered, and more. Many of these games have been improved for the PS5, some even run at 60 frames per second.

Make sure to check out all of the games in the Classics Collection and download the games you want to play.

Then there is PS Now, a video game streaming service. You can download certain games to your console or stream them from your console or a PC. Games will fade in and out in PS Now. If you don’t want the service now, please check back occasionally to see if you’re interested in a game. If you pay month to month, it’s $ 9.99.

Play Astro’s game room

Astro’s Playroom is a free game that comes pre-installed on your console. So if you’re waiting for other games to download, you can play this one in the meantime.

This is such a cute game that if you’re not just looking to see the DualSense in all of its glory, then you should definitely play it. This game is designed to demonstrate all of the features of DualSense and does a fantastic job. In addition to the full use of the DualSense, Astro’s Playroom is an easy, relaxing game. Great fun exploring the world in Astros Playroom and finding all of the PlayStation Easter eggs scattered around the game.

Connected: The PS5 is good, but the DualSense controller really blew me away

And there you have it! Hopefully this helped you figure out what to do after you got your new PS5. Have fun exploring your new console, and congratulations on being one of the few lucky ones to get your hands on one.