By Joseph Mitchell
With Sony’s PlayStation 4 launch being around the corner (literally, for American readers) the wonderful developers at Sony finally previewed the PS4’s User interface, for the first time a few days ago in New York. We have seen what it should look like before but earlier this week we got to see the PS4 up and running in all of its glory. Here is an outline to tantalize you and get your geek juices flowing while you await the release of Sony’s next home console.
With Sony’s PlayStation 4 launch being around the corner (literally, for American readers) the wonderful developers at Sony finally previewed the PS4’s User interface, for the first time a few days ago in New York. We have seen what it should look like before but earlier this week we got to see the PS4 up and running in all of its glory. Here is an outline to tantalize you and get your geek juices flowing while you await the release of Sony’s next home console.
Firstly the PS4’s UI will be taking a more social approach compared with the PS3’s well known and recognised XMB (XcrossMediaBar) interface. Upon booting the PS4 the user will be presented with a series of large high resolution images representing the player’s accounts, which will either be an Image of the player or an icon. The idea of this feature is to give multi-user systems a much nicer gateway into the main UI. If you happen to purchase a PlayStation Camera with your PS4, the PS4 will use the facial recognition to determine if the correct user is accessing the account (which will only need to be calibrated once during the account set up), so you no longer have to worry about a family member getting into your games and messing with your stats. If however you are the only user on the system you will be able to configure it so you can go directly into the main UI.
To add to the social aspect of the PS4 the messaging and party system has also been dramatically overhauled; supporting cross-platform messaging, picture, audio and real time text messaging between you and your PSN friends. Each party will be able to have a maximum of eight players across a multitude of platforms including; the PS Vita and any smartphone or tablet which has the PlayStation App installed on it.
The new interface will not differ too much from the PS3’s XMB, it will still be horizontal with a linear view and display all the core categories. The UI will feature a “what’s new” tab, this will basically be your PlayStation news feed giving you information on what your friends have been doing, status updates, captured video clips and in-game screenshots. The new interface promises to be more visually appealing than the XMB, giving a more interesting experience for the user.
The multi-lingual DayZ-playing Henry Bayle there, clearly enjoying the new interface.
The most impressive and notable feature of the PS4’s new Operating System is definitely its speed. From perusing through videos to loading the browser, the PS4 will execute each function almost instantaneously. Games on the other hand will probably take a little longer to load due to their size (PS4 games will averagely be a whopping 40+GB in size).
The function of the home button on the DualShock 4 has been impressively updated to allow multitasking while in game. It will still act as a shortcut back to the homepage. What’s so impressive about this lovely little button is that you will be able to move between your two most recent apps, even while in game! Double tapping the home button will allow you to seamlessly switch between game and app.
For the trophy hunters out there you will be pleased to hear that the PS4 developers have devised a new way to keep you hunting. There will still be the same bronze, silver, gold and platinum trophies to collect but now this addictive meta-game will tell you how rare the trophy is when collected. The trophies will range from common to ultra-rare. This will be determined through how many users have obtained the trophy through the PlayStation Network. For example, if people are playing a specific game and one trophy has been achieved by only a handful of people, this trophy will be classified as “ultra-rare” similarly if a trophy has been collected by the majority of players in the game it will be classified as “common”.
One final feature that stood out was the way movies and other media will be stored. To save that precious hard drive space on the PS4 (it sounds like you’re going to need it) all movies and other media will be saved to the cloud. Meaning you will no longer have to wait for movies and other media to download from purchases and rentals from the PSN store. Think of all that free space to fill up with games! Additionally users will be able to download updates while the PS4 is in standby mode and make purchases through the PSN store all through the PlayStation App.
There has yet to be any word on customisation with themes or other ways in which the homepage can be personalised but all in all, the new features are something to be very excited about. The PlayStation 4 will be released in the US tomorrow and in the UK and Europe on the 29th.
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