
Xbox has released a massive array of dynamic backgrounds on Series X and Series S over the past few years, and I've loved tinkering with them and finding new favourites along the way - I'm currently rocking the South of Midnight one!
That said, there's been some criticism that these dynamic backgrounds aren't exactly very dynamic, with most of them featuring extremely minimal movement. Sometimes, you have to look really hard to see what's actually moving.
Now, I'm not saying that's an awful thing, but I can't help but be a bit jealous of the new animated backgrounds that have just been released on PS5. Looking at a couple of examples on social media, there are some cool ones for the likes of Ghost of Tsushima and Ratchet and Clank that definitely stand out. Here's a look at both of those:
What's the catch though? Well, these new PS5 animated backgrounds are restricted to just the Welcome hub, which is basically a landing screen that's customisable - and unfortunately they don't appear anywhere else right now.
That's not a major downside by any means (after all, these are free backgrounds), but perhaps it explains why Xbox has struggled to make its backgrounds more dynamic on Series X and Series S. There's clearly only so much that can be implemented before it starts to affect console performance, and that's the last thing anyone wants.
It's unlikely that Xbox's dynamic backgrounds are going to change much before the end of this console generation, but would you like to see them evolved into a "2.0" style with more powerful hardware? Perhaps we could be allowed to customise them ourselves somehow? Or, do you just think they've been a massive waste of time?
Let us know your thoughts on Xbox (and PS5's) dynamic backgrounds in the comment section below.
Comments 19
The incredible backgrouds i get on my phone have zero impact on performance and with a lot less power.
The dynamic backgrounds in the videos are much better than the ones we have on Xbox for there dynamic effects 🤷
@GADG3Tx87 I just thought it was interesting to compare the two. It's not meant to be straight "news" by any means - more of a discussion topic than anything else.
I've a bunch of dynamic backgrounds for my PS3. Vastly superior efforts.
@GADG3Tx87
Put your handbag away, son. 😂
It's just slice of light hearted banter from @FraserG.
Id enjoy the Xbox ones more if the screen wasn’t so cluttered. It really annoys me. I just like simple and minimal
@PsBoxSwitchOwner
I don't have my Series S online (except when I'm considering buying something) and it's quite a difference how much clutter disappears.
I genuinely don’t care about backgrounds on my consoles these days. I want the shortest path from locating game to launching said game and I don’t need pretty pictures distracting me from that.
I don't mind the Xbox backgrounds myself. They're quite nice, and (yes) could be more "dynamic" but I'm never on the dash for more than a few seconds anyhow lol.
One thing I wish series x wise is you could leave HDR on all the time and it was used in the front GUI and 4K.
Meaning if you wished HDR would never switch off, the same as VRR.
What is interesting is the PS5 is the other way round from the GUI. HDR always on. VRR switch on/off when you go from GUI to game.
Not a big deal at all but just a nice touch.
i like ps5 main menu better visually than xbox, and also no adds. Beautiful pictures of games and stat like hrs played right there.
However, I despise how you navigate the menu on Ps. This is where xbox OS shines, along with guide menu - so convenient.
And Xbox still don’t have a gears of war theme which baffles me 🤷🏻♂️.
@FraserG
The system resources must be tighter than a gnats backside if a few megabytes can't be freed up to allow a bit more dynamism in the dynamic backgrounds!
Wonder what the actual specs are of available headroom are?
And if it can tweaked should the engineers want to.
Personally not a fan of backgrounds that move a lot when the focus, and information, is in the foreground. But each to their own
I like on PS5 that you can easily take a screenshot and use it as the welcome screen background. I did that with RDR2. It looks great. Could care less that it don’t move.
I dislike these backgrounds. They all look terrible in my opinion.
A plain black or white background is what I always opt for when the option is available.
Yea I’m rocking the new Demon Souls one on my PS5 tho since it was only rolled out to limited users I wonder why I was selected cause I’m not in the PlayStation Beta Program or anything lol
@HonestHick You can do that on Xbox aswell 👍
@Ricky-Spanish Yeah for sure, it’s a little different with the welcome screen on PS5, but i love the avatars on Xbox compared to PS’s. Overall both UI’s need some work for next gen but i like them both, however Xbox has the quicker Ui, less button presses.
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