Ghost of Tsushima - Just Got A Ps5. Watch This First. Ps5 Setup, Tips & Tricks, Everything You Should Know
Intro
If you just got a PlayStation 5, then congratulations. I hope you really enjoy it. I think you're in for a treat, but more so, you've come to the right place because this is going to be a proper PS5 starter guide.
Ps5 stand setup (you need it!)
Let's begin by explaining the PS5 stand situation. I know some are getting a little confused by this thing, but there's a reason why your PS5 came with it and why it's one of the first things you take out of the box.
You should really be using it in a vertical orientation. Because the PS5 is tall and top-heavy, it will easily slide around surfaces or get knocked over by accident. The stand keeps it planted to avoid any mistakes like that. In a horizontal orientation, PS5 wouldn't sit flush, it would awkwardly sit with weight distribution.
While hitting the corners, the stand allows it to sit elevated and level, so when holding the stand, you can rotate those rear hooks from left to right. Those are the two different positions. For vertical, you slide it to a line with the impression in the middle, and on the bottom you'll find a little secret door that reveals a screw.
For under your PS5, you can remove a small plastic cap and pop it into the bottom of the stand for storage. For horizontal, rotate the hooks into the other position, and look at the back of your PS5 on the bottom white panel. You'll see a collection of large PlayStation buttons. This indicates where you want to center those rear hooks. You attach them that way and then you're done .
Where to place your ps5
Yes, the PlayStation 5, for all intents and purposes, is thick. It's really big, so yes. Be mindful of where you place it. If it's a tight squeeze between a TV stand and a cabinet, try to find a different spot for it. You'll want, at a minimum, a space where there's room for heat to exhaust out of the rear.
This console does have a great cooling solution this time around versus the PS4, so it will be much quieter, but if it can be helped, give it room to breathe to avoid any excessive wear .
Ways to transfer ps4 games to ps5
When it comes to starting up your PS5, you can begin the process of transferring over your PS4 games and saves, and there are a few different ways to approach that.
You could simply reinstall them separately and utilize PS+ cloud saves, or transfer them over wifi with both the PS4 and PS5 plugged in, or you can transfer them over via an ethernet cable connected between the two. The transfer speed will be a lot faster this way, or if you've been using an external drive on PS4, that will pretty much be plug and play on PS5, and you can continue playing PS4 games right off of.
Why you should get an external drive
Speaking of which, here's a really good tip right now: your PS5 out of the box comes with roughly 667 gigabytes of SSD storage.
PS5 games have to be saved and played from there, so if you've got a lot of PS4 games too, it's worth it to invest in an external drive. If you don't have one already, use it purely for PS4 games so you can save space on your SSD. This is especially because external HDs or even external SSDs are really affordable in that situation, so you can easily grab a one or two-terabyte drive without spending too much.
Also, and here's a few other things to note, if you care about hiding unsightly cords and drives, you can utilize one of the rear USBs to hide them, and also, in the PS5 storage settings, you can set it so that anytime you install a PS4 game, it goes right to your external drive first. And finally, another benefit of the external drive is that if you do still have too many PS5 games, you can transfer them to the external drive as cold storage. Meaning that you can't play them, but it will be a lot faster to move them over there, keep them there for storage, and then move them back to the internal drive to play them, rather than say, deleting the game entirely and reinstalling it or downloading it all over again, Another thing to keep in mind with storage is that some games can be trimmed down a bit.
Delete certain parts of a game
It's notoriously well known at this point that Call of Duty is a huge storage hog, but you can hit options on it and select Manage Game Content. This is where you can delete certain modes that you no longer play or need anytime soon to save space, and this works for a few games that allow you to trim them down like this.
You can also see that if you need it, there's the option to download additional languages as well.
Additional ps5 storage (m.2 ssd)
That's where you can buy a compatible m.2 ssd that you install on your PS5. This is much easier than you think, but it's still a little more involved, so if you are unsure of how to approach this or want more info.
With the heatsink, you install it in the expansion bay and format it for use from there.
Use the supplied hdmi cable
Next up, if you have a TV that can do 120 hertz, then you need to make sure the HDMI cable you're using is hdmi 2.1 compliant, and thankfully your PS5 does come with one, so just as a precaution, don't use the existing cable that you have unless you know it's 2.1 compliant, use the supplied cable, and that way you'll be all set to play compatible games at 120 frames per second .
Set your 3d audio profile & mic status
Once you're set up and on the main menu, here are a few things that I would recommend: Head to settings and set your 3D audio profile. You can use any connected headphones and pick the sound profile that sounds the most real to you. You'll want to adjust this as needed for when you play any PS5 games that will utilize 3D audio.
You'll also want to alter your sound settings so that, by default, your microphone status is off when you log in. For some reason, the setting is turned on by default, and even if you don't have a headset on, your dual-sense controller has a microphone built in now. It works pretty well, but the last thing you'd want is to start playing online, and not realize you've actually got a microphone on .
3d audio for tv speakers
Let's say you don't have or want to use headphones. Maybe you just use your standard TV speakers. That's fine too, because there's a setting to enable 3D audio from your TV. You can turn this option on in the audio output settings, and when you do, make sure you measure the acoustics. What this will do is use your controller's microphone to measure the acoustics of your room, and it will adjust your 3D audio accordingly.
Control center tips
one thing you'll start to get accustomed to is the control center. This is like your PS4 quick menu, except on PS5. It's a single press instead of a long press. So if you want to go directly to the home screen, hold the ps button. And in case you missed this on the introduction screen, hit the options button to rearrange the icons to your liking.
