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Sony sucks at OS design

ShapeGSX

Member
What is wrong with the PS4 OS design again?

Verical scrolling. Lots and lots of vertical scrolling.

Information density is really low, too. There's a huge screen, but only a small portion of it is actually used for what you are looking at.

The settings are a complete mess. If you are looking for one particular setting, good luck finding the right category for it.

There's a reason that Sony is abandoning it. It just doesn't fit a modern console's user interactions.
 

Cwarrior

Member
PS1 os = Lol what an ugly clunky sight

ps2 = still poo

PSP os - Xmb greatest os to come out of sony simple clean, nice and orderly fashion easy on the eyes.

PS3 - XMB but now once you start downloading content it starts to run like shit keeps on freezing to load, if your ps3 is at least 9 months old then may god help you cause soon or later it will drive you insane.

PS4 - Looks like one big clusterfuck looks like that new shitty new ps store, 10 steps back from xmb design.
 

Dead Man

Member
Verical scrolling. Lots and lots of vertical scrolling.

Information density is really low, too. There's a huge screen, but only a small portion of it is actually used for what you are looking at.

The settings are a complete mess. If you are looking for one particular setting, good luck finding the right category for it.

There's a reason that Sony is abandoning it. It just doesn't fit a modern console's user interactions.

They are? Good.
 

S¡mon

Banned
I think Sony's PS3 design is actually quite good. The problem is the lack of RAM which (unfortunately) heavily slows down the OS, resulting in longer loading times (and thus annoyance).

I haven't used the PS4 OS yet (obviously), but I hope it's good in both intuitivity and speed. I'm a bit worried that it is 'too much', but Sony's software is really getting better and better by the year. Also, a console is much more than a dedicated device for gaming these days. Both Sony and Microsoft realized that with the PS3 and X360, and they both seem to realize that today after, what I call, the 'smartphone boom'.
 
I think it's a bit unfair to judge PS4 OS without at least seeing a decent length video of it in action in real time. Hopefully we'll get that at Gamescom.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I'm not a huge fan of the XMB. Definitely prefer the 360 dashboard--other than the stupid ads of course.

I'm just a fan of having pages of tiles and no scrolling with in pages. Works well on computer destktops, tablets etc. A lot of my preference is mainly just being used to it I guess.

Really though, I don't care that much. I don't use my consoles for anything but gaming, so as long as I can quickly find and launch the game I want to play from the first screen that pops up after powering on, I don't care much about the rest of it.

Some things like background downloading need streamlined though. I wish on PS3 I could just set it up once to always just poweroff when a download is done when I turn the machine off vs. having to check that box to start background downloads in the store, quit to the XMB then go to shut down and check the box to turn off when done, and then hold button again to turn off controller.

Huge PITA vs. 360 where you just enable it once and then I can just start a download and turn off the console however I want (usually with my harmony remote) and it will turn off the controller and the system will shut down when the download is completed.

I'm only getting a PS4 next gen, so I hope they streamline some stuff like that. Also, have they said if it will work with IR remotes? I'd love for my harmony remote to work with it instead of having to use the controller for everything (or buy a remote adapter).
 

dr_rus

Member
PS3 OS UI is the best console OS UI there ever was. I'm actually sad that PS4 UI is moving away from XMB. They could've built on top of that instead of going with generic as fuck metro-styled UI made of squares and rectangles.
 

zeopower6

Member
Verical scrolling. Lots and lots of vertical scrolling.

Information density is really low, too. There's a huge screen, but only a small portion of it is actually used for what you are looking at.

The settings are a complete mess. If you are looking for one particular setting, good luck finding the right category for it.

There's a reason that Sony is abandoning it. It just doesn't fit a modern console's user interactions.

They said PS4, btw...
 
PS3 OS UI is the best console OS UI there ever was. I'm actually sad that PS4 UI is moving away from XMB. They could've built on top of that instead of going with generic as fuck metro-styled UI made of squares and rectangles.
Same here. I like the minimalist approach. I'd just add more context sensitive options and customization.
 

nickp

Neo Member
OP: How about some credentials followed by an objective and reasoned breakdown of what's wrong with Sony's designers and why?
 

Claneko

Member
I always thought they were overall cleaner, more professional looking that the likes of Xbox. I prefer the more minimalist, less busy OS designs. Gamecube had a pretty cool OS as well.
 

tci

Member
OP: How about some credentials followed by an objective and reasoned breakdown of what's wrong with Sony's designers and why?
He's not wrong though...

The PS3 UI actually made me not use the Playstation Store for like 6 months, because the text was unreadable with the current background. Also one of the reasons I rarely go there. And that is just the beginning of the terrible design choices.

- When you choose the latest PS news, the entire theme changes.Ignoring your settings all together.
- The categories doesn't look though out at all. Why so many with only 1 sub menu? While some have 5+ or even more.
- Cache, cache , cache.. Why don't cache the data so that it needs to be updated each time you for example visits a user profile? This goes for all other content as well.
 
I was never a huge fan of ps3 UI. I always thought the pre-metro xbox UI was the greatest. A lot of the freezing complaints i'm reading seems to me to be a RAM limitation of ps3 amirite?
 

Portman

Member
The Playstation's was basic but it got the job done. I really enjoyed the PS2's design, especially the way it entered the menu and the sound effecs/ambience on the menus. The PS3's (and PSP) is excellent in my opinion, very easy to get to what you're after. It does get a little bhard to manage once you get a lot of stuff but since it scrolls faster if you keep going it only takes a few extra seconds to get to the bottom of the list.
 

zeopower6

Member
Ps3 fans have beer googles on if they like ps3 interface.

It's pretty much the same as the PSP's interface which was really great too. I wish they went with something like the XMB for the Vita in a way... the bubbles are just so far off from that sleek design :(
 

Odrion

Banned
The annoying thing about the XMB is that at some point it seemed like every Sony device used that design, made the OS a little less special to me. :[

edit: Also it totally wasn't made with downloadable games in mind. Once those lists get long, they get looooooooooooooong.
 

link1201

Member
I think the PS4 UI is looking much better than what Sony has offered in the past. I agree though with the OP that they have a lot of room for improvement. I am happy they seem to be abandoning the XMB...that was weaksauce.
 
I think the main issue with sonys os is they cant seem to settle on one unified design

The ps3 xmb I didnt mind as when I booted up my psp it was the same sort of layout. .fast foward to now...
The vitas os reeks of apple has shitty colour colour design and navigation has been dumbed down too much.

The ps4 interface reminds me of a mid 2000 flash website...waaay too much blue and too many things going on.

An interface on a game machine should be simple and snappy...it should not feel like a webpage.

In saying that xbone is borderline in terms of interface....too many fucking adds and apps apps apps
 
OP: How about some credentials followed by objective and reasoned breakdown of what's wrong with Sony's designers and why?

It would be unprofessional to give credentials and an objective breakdown on a public forum. Just believe him when he says it's awful.
 
I always hated the PS3 UI design (XMB). I was more of a fan of the different Xbox 360 approaches. I'm quite shocked the PS3 design gets any love in this thread.
 
PS2's was pretty damn sexy actually, and plenty-well thought out for what it did. It might be my favorite console GUI.

I would sometimes leave the clock going on the TV when not gaming.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I don't see why people need to be designers or give details on why they don't like an OS.

Who cares? It's just personal preference. What one person likes and feels intuitive, feels clunky to someone else. And vice versa.

I'm not big on the XMB or Xbox Dash as they're both too busy and complicated for someone that does nothing with their consoles but play games.

I'd prefer a simple OS that was just a single screen and let me put my games, apps (to hide them) etc. in folders. Something like the 3DS OS is fine for me. I just want my game collection organized and quickly accessible, and non-gaming stuff easily hidden/ignored as I don't use it.

Now things like the friends list, store etc. are different. Layout of those matter and I'm pickier about those but those are separate from the broad OS issues I'm talking about above. I do hope the PS4 has a better pop-up menu for getting to friends list etc. from within a game. I much prefer the pop-up menu on 360 to the PS3 system of jumping back to the full XMB.
 

Quasar

Member
Whilst I do really like the XMB and its minimalism (much more than any version of the Xbox interface), there's certainly more to an OS than an interface.

And the non interface stuff is where the PS3 OS struggled. Not including or adding delta updates for one was insane.
 

J-Tier

Member
PS4's isn't just a mock-up? Many changes could happen between then, and release on something as simple as graphic design.
 

Cat Party

Member
I'll just add my name to the pile re: the PS4 UI looks bad. UI has been a problem for Sony since long before Playstation, though.
 

mollipen

Member
Verical scrolling. Lots and lots of vertical scrolling.

I'm assuming you're talking about the PS3's interface (not the PS4, as you quoted), and if so, do you use the XMB's category functions? I have my games sorted in PS3 Games, PS3 Retail Games, PS3 Retro, PS2, PS1, Minis, and those folders make sorting and finding things a huge help.

Of course, Sony mucks up that organization in two big ways. You used to be able to also sort installer bubbles, which you can't anymore—that can cause a long list of items to be under your Games tab. They then also have no option for sorting alphabetically, which is one of the dumbest omissions I've ever seen.

Still, I really like the XMB in a lot of ways. If you take a few moments and actually tag your content with categories, then the experience is much nicer and easier to find what you're looking for.
 
What's the problem with the vita OS? Everything is readily available, there's great multi-tasking, it's quick and clean. Consult an eye doctor, your ocular faculties need assistance.
 

zeopower6

Member
The top white friends icon and the huge orange box are ugly and they serve no purpose,not to mention they look like the PS3 icons now that is a lazy design

The box is probably What's New and the top white icons seem to possibly be shortcuts to the Store, Friends, and Settings from left to right.

The fact that they're so similar to the PS3 ones are probably to keep the general design of the icons uniform between the PS3/PS4.
 

dezzy8

Member
I wish Sony would stay with the XMB, but I understand why they're changing it up. It's more pleasing to the eye with the pictures and the colors and stuff.
It might even attract more people to the console.

Some guy on my friends list said that he prefers the new PS Store over the previous one because it looks better. Even after acknowledging that it's really slow as shit. Some people like eye candy over functionality.
 
I started to think about this. At first I was o well don't care what the front end looks like. Now I am thinking about how XMB is same for better or worst since the PSP launch. I hope PS4 is better then it looks because I don't want to use that for 8 years :(

BRING XMB BACK SONY!!!!

The bubbles on PSV and PS4 :(
 

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
The PS3 finally got the UI "looking nice", but it's not intuitive at all. The fact that it takes you forever to find anything is just horrid. Compare that to the xbox's (changing) UI and the really simple Wii one. While neither of the others are perfect, you generally know to look through the list. Also, it's usually really obvious in those what to do to play your game. The fact is that the PS3 one (especially on the starting screen) was far more complicated, and was just really small text.
 
I would have been satisfied if they kept the XMB on PS4 and gave you the ability to create sub-folders. The playstation store on the other hand should be reverted back to about two years ago when it was actually functional.
 
I would have been satisfied if they kept the XMB on PS4 and gave you the ability to create sub-folders. The playstation store on the other hand should be reverted back to about two years ago when it was actually functional.

Yea...I think it was worth trying to upgrade. They never even tried. PSV w/XMB would have been awesome too. It always felt calming coming to my PS3 after the busy XBOX dash.
 

zeopower6

Member
The PS3 finally got the UI "looking nice", but it's not intuitive at all. The fact that it takes you forever to find anything is just horrid. Compare that to the xbox's (changing) UI and the really simple Wii one. While neither of the others are perfect, you generally know to look through the list. Also, it's usually really obvious in those what to do to play your game. The fact is that the PS3 one (especially on the starting screen) was far more complicated, and was just really small text.

I always wonder about the posts that say things like this... is the XMB really not intuitive? Is it really that hard to figure out how to play your game?
 

Reg

Banned
I always wonder about the posts that say things like this... is the XMB really not intuitive? Is it really that hard to figure out how to play your game?

I always thought the xmb was easy to use. Never had any difficulty playing games or finding particular settings.
 
I always thought the xmb was easy to use. Never had any difficulty playing games or finding particular settings.

Seriously, my MOM figured out the XMB and the friggin controller without my help to find Netflix and she habitually asks me about the Avast "Just got updated" box every time it pops up.
 

Vyer

Member
ps3 xmb has been their best effort to date, but that's not saying much once you look at the other Sony offerings.

A shame they went away from what sort of worked with the PS4.
 
I always wonder about the posts that say things like this... is the XMB really not intuitive? Is it really that hard to figure out how to play your game?

It breaks one of the key principles of UI design, which is to use visual size, positioning, and relationships to convey importance. On XMB, everything is presented as being exactly as important as everything else; areas with a lot of content get cluttered (like the PS3's setting menu), and mostly-useless functions (like the twenty-seven random tools you can use on a PS3 to interface with PS1 memory cards, PSPs and Vitas, Sony content services no one cares about, etc.) get elevated to unnecessary prominence.

The 360 Dash has a ton of problems of its own (especially related to inefficient and confusing usage of space, or garbage content like food ads), but the core model of their Metro revamp of pages with large frequent-use items and options to drill down is a lot more efficient and navigable.

Seriously, my MOM figured out the XMB and the friggin controller without my help to find Netflix and she habitually asks me about the Avast "Just got updated" box every time it pops up.

God, that fucking box. Whose idea was it to have the damn thing talk to you out loud by default?
 
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