Console/Storefront UI's: Impressions & Wants

[ksdixon]

why though, it is a game console; its main purpose is to run games. UI represents all the games on Home Screen in wonderful pictures. Themes seem impossible when the entire screen background changes based on games, icons changing per theme wouldn't be as meaningful as in PS4 also because the game thumbnails fill the entire home. What is left is settings icon at top right and trophy elements perhaps, so as single system wide design sensibility makes much more sense.

You can't change the color of the... Settings area. You're stuck on piss grey, or a darker piss grey if you turn on high contrast settings in accessibility area. Even just changing that to a few PS4 default color choices would help massively. They do give you some color options over in the PS App, mine is "Starlight Blue", but it's still darkened from where I would like it, but my point is PS5 theme-ing isn't even matching what the other PS hand is doing over here.

I actually hate the main PS5 UI, so whilst themes might not make much sense out on the main dashboard right now, I'm not adverse to at least suggesting info/layout rearranges so that they would make more sense.

I can't remember fully, but I believe there was a PS3 UI setting where when we hovered over a game, we only got the game splash art, not the games audio blarring out. They could re-impliment this idea, and add menu background music onto from menu color settings. PS4 never had this, but I always wanted them to split themes and SFX, as so many themes would have naff sound replacements. Selecting all three elements individually would lead to more player console customizability (and thus player ease of access/enjoyment). We're all guilty of getting the odd bit of 360 avatar clothing or a PS3 weed skin or something like that back in the day aren't we?

There's the idea of a nice little OS scattered to the four corners, like if you spend time capturing media or editing it on the console, but even then as an example, I'd perfer the way PS4 trimmed videos. PS5's version feels a hell of a lot more clumsy or inefficient.

Others who go looking at trophy percentages or friends lists on PS5 must be as sick of the grey as I am? C'mon! Half the OS feels like it's for mobile, shoving grey cards in your face like Youtube pop-up boxes. And the other half of the OS is this radically spaced out, floating on grey air text options like searching for a player's name, which feels like I'm navigating some slapass TV screen UI.

 

[PlacidusaX]

I want to hold the power button to shut down on the PS5.

 

[Darth Vader]

I want to hold the power button to shut down on the PS5.

If you're talking about the physical one, that's already a thing

 

[PlacidusaX]

Controller

 

[ksdixon]

This is my fave Xbox UI, personally.

 

[Box]

Let us have themes on console again, they sort of allow themes on the app for some reason but not the console

 

[FatKaz]

I preferred the ps4 stores navigation bar to the left.

I just like having alot of categories of the store visible.

Ps5 store ui icons take way too much space, the games are categorised in 2 way the navigation bar at the top, and then each row of games is also category, some of those categories aren't visible until you scroll down. Don't like it at all.

 

[rofif]

PSN is absolute nightmare. Both store and library.
Wants and needs? Do it all over again but good

 

[Remij]

PSN is absolute nightmare. Both store and library.
Wants and needs? Do it all over again but good

What's an example of a good one, iyo?

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

Themes and Folders on the main bar again that's the only things i want

I can't see the point of themes, games have their own background and mini "theme"... Maybe in the library, but then the bg is mostly hidden by icons and UI elements.

Maybe a couple of UI icons and colors could be customizable... I don't see it long enough to bring myself to care one bit about themes.

I'm probably too old because I used to care about the ability to personalize the UI of my devices. I'd spend hours changing icons on my phones/computers, going as far as designing some when they were missing.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

I preferred the ps4 stores navigation bar to the left.

I just like having alot of categories of the store visible.

Ps5 store ui icons take way too much space, the games are categorised in 2 way the navigation bar at the top, and then each row of games is also category, some of those categories aren't visible until you scroll down. Don't like it at all.

Yes, bring back the ps4 store... The ps5 one is just confusing at times, you don't even notice that you are in it.

Same for the UI and general behavior, the ps4 just made more sense.

 

[Vertigo]

I miss being able to rate games. User ratings from hardware from those who actually play/own is great info and unfortunate it’s missing on PS5.

 

[rofif]

What's an example of a good one, iyo?

Steam and pretty much only steam.

Store part:
-easy to serch through, see deals, connections between games, dlc and bundles. If you have part of a bundle, it is cheaper and so on. Everything is clear and filtrable. ON PSN, everything is nested. You go deeper and deeper and search function is useless. You can search for resident evil 2 and not see re2+3 racoon city bundle unit page 3-4 of search results... and only that bundle is on sale and not re2.

Library part:
-On steam you can categorize, search and do pretty much any filtering you need. You can type part of a title too.
-On psn, there is no way to see what games are your digital purchases, which are from subs, which you own on disc. There is onyl 1 filter but it's not reliable. And if you have a lot of games, you scroll forever.

 

[flaccidsnake]

I love steam, and the new gamepad UI. Tho navigating the store with a gamepad still has some quirks. When you click "Show More" to list more games and scroll a bit, you can easily lose your place and have to start from the beginning.

 

[ksdixon]

I still hate PS5's sizing/use of space/color scheme.

 

[anonpuffs]

I still hate PS5's sizing/use of space/color scheme.

why

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

why

The yellow lines, they don't match the rest of the UI!

 

[ksdixon]

why

"content row" of games is far too small. Was better on PS4.

Then, there's soo much dead space on ps5 for the splash screen image, spiderman. Even the play button on the dashboard spacing is so low, it is in the space where the Quick Access (Control Center) menu puts it's commands on the float-on-top opened-status.



Is the dead space ratio of main page designed with in-game float-on-top Cards menu? Cause they should shove "cards" and "activities" throuroughly into a 2nd sub menu and stop them assaulting you every time you press/hold PS button.



Cards should be removed fully from front facing menu and placed within that new vertical menu that almost looks like PS4's quick menu (I think it's for activities? I can't remember atm and, can't find a picture on Google Images). This alone would allow for better information placement/positioning out on the main dashboard screen.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

"content row" of games is far too small. Was better on PS4.

Then, there's soo much dead space on ps5 for the splash screen image, spiderman. Even the play button on the dashboard spacing is so low, it is in the space where the Quick Access (Control Center) menu puts it's commands on the float-on-top opened-status.



Is the dead space ratio of main page designed with in-game float-on-top Cards menu? Cause they should shove "cards" and "activities" throuroughly into a 2nd sub menu and stop them assaulting you every time you press/hold PS button.

View attachment 2916

Cards should be removed fully from front facing menu and placed within that new vertical menu that almost looks like PS4's quick menu (I think it's for activities? I can't remember atm and, can't find a picture on Google Images). This alone would allow for better information placement/positioning out on the main dashboard screen.

This is not a spreadsheet program, this is a game launcher for a game console.

What you call "dead space" is not empty, it shows the game's image, with the icon below that displays more info than what your image displays.

Either way, for the use case we have here it's pretty good because it puts the content left, front and center and this is what you want.

 

[toadsage44]

I take issue with a lot of the PS5's UI elements.

1. The baked-in ads and completely unnecessary explore tab - get rid of explore and you just so happen to get rid of the ads. Apparently $500 + the cost of PS+ isn't enough for Sony since they feel the need to advertise to me constantly now.

2. Cards, cards, cards. Once again, we come back to ads, this time in the form of the explore cards. Thought you could escape being served useless ass? Guess again! If you're playing a game and press the PS button, get ready for another dose of ads. This shit is unnecessary in a $500 console.

3. As someone else said, the way they switched up the use of the PS button was very dumb. Back when I was still using my PS4 in one room and the PS5 in another room, it was confusing to go back and forth between them because I could never get used to what the PS button was supposed to do. I no longer have the PS4 so I guess this isn't much of a problem now, but I think it was fine with pressing the button taking you home and holding it to bring up a quick menu, so why flip flop it? Change for the sake of change is not the brilliance they think it is.

4. Speaking of the quick menu, this brings me to my next point: lack of customization. I'm going to pick on the quick menu specifically here, but the entire PS5 UI is sorely lacking in customization, and pretty much all the problems I've complained about could be fixed if they'd allow us to tweak the UI to our liking. Anyway, it would be nice if we could change/reorder which icons appear when we press (not hold...) the PS button. Personally, I have never used the switcher, voice, and sound icons on my PS5. I might have tested out switcher when I first got the console, but I simply don't find it useful at all, so what's the point in making it take up a spot if I'm not going to use it? The home icon is also a little redundant, since you can go home just by holding (not pressing...) the PS button, so I'd remove that too. The icons I use the most are the accessories, profile, and power icons. Almost every time I use the console, I use these icons, maybe profile to a lesser degree. So if they're not going to let me flat out remove icons, I should at least be able to move my most used ones to the left so I don't have to scroll through a parade of useless crap to get to what I want. I will say that I like the cursor memory on this quick menu. I often use my PS5 to watch stuff and I turn the controller off while doing so in order to avoid draining the battery while it's not being used and to avoid accidentally bumping the controller and messing up my media, so it's nice that if/when I have to turn on the controller to pause, the quick menu remembers that I was on the accessories icon last time I opened it up, so turning the controller off again is slightly faster. I know, I need to get the media remote and I'm planning on it.

5. Still on the topic of lacking customization, THEMES! According to my sources, the PS4 didn't have themes in its first year or two, but we're closing in on the 3rd year of PS5 and still no themes in sight. I suppose it makes sense, given the way they've designed the UI to have whatever game you're hovering on take up the entire screen, but I'd much rather have a nice dynamic theme like the tropical island and Firewatch themes that change their look dependent on the time of day. They used to give themes as a little bonus when preordering games, or even as an extra seasonal or event treat such as the holiday themes, which I loved. Now, we get nothing. I've seen this sentiment online before and as much as I hate to agree, Sony/PlayStation really seems to have become the Apple of gaming, and I don't mean that as a compliment.