Maybe I misread/misunderstood? We'll need the link!
PS3 Firmware 3.0
- Thread starter Arwin
- Start date
Aye to that, they should really try to steal as much good idea from the competitors as they can.
Everyone does it.
Everyone does it.
Definately. This is the only way to survive in a competitive business setting, otherwise you will get killed by the companies that steals all your good ideas + implement their own good ideas and\or improve your ideas.
But i guess sony's arrogance might have something to do with this? I dont know. I dont know why Sony didn't learn anything from MS,aspecially considering how long after the X360 launched the PS3 got released.
They should have taken one look at the Xbox setup, realize how easy to use allmost everything is, and either try to make it as easy or perhaps even easier. Sony on the other hand seems to try to make things harder.
Alright, I just updated to 3.00 and was able to see for myself how bad it really is.
It is.
First of all, to clear some things up - the ticker in the top right can NOT be switched off. Anyone lucky enough not to have it, are simply logged into a PSN region that doesn't display one... yet. I usually log into my US account by default and it's there, and it's ugly. It's also very uninformative too...
Want examples?
"Get Your Playstation Network Card"
"Girlz Play Too" (WTF??!)
"Visit PlayStation Store"
"Check out what's hot on the video store"
"PlayStation Home Video - Welcome"
"Beloved PlayStation Titles"
...as if simply copying the top list out of the PSN store is actually going to make people open the PSN store more.
Then, there's that font size. It really makes you feel all SD again. Fortunately for me and others, I use a projector and have a huge screen. Now even my neighbours from across the road can see what's going on on PSN. Great!
I took some before and after pics (720p):
If you overlay the images, you'll see that there's not actually less information there (at least vertically), but the font still is significantly taller.
The biggest shocker however is with no doubt, the friends list. I'm sorry to say and no offence intended, but my PS3 now reminds me even more of the X360 XMB. Those grey boxes behind the friends list is down right an embarrasment. I just can't understand who in their right mind would give the OK to this.
After just ordering a new slimline PS3, I have to say I am not looking forward to it anymore. This effectivelly killed my excitment.
It is.
First of all, to clear some things up - the ticker in the top right can NOT be switched off. Anyone lucky enough not to have it, are simply logged into a PSN region that doesn't display one... yet. I usually log into my US account by default and it's there, and it's ugly. It's also very uninformative too...
Want examples?
"Get Your Playstation Network Card"
"Girlz Play Too" (WTF??!)
"Visit PlayStation Store"
"Check out what's hot on the video store"
"PlayStation Home Video - Welcome"
"Beloved PlayStation Titles"
...as if simply copying the top list out of the PSN store is actually going to make people open the PSN store more.
Then, there's that font size. It really makes you feel all SD again. Fortunately for me and others, I use a projector and have a huge screen. Now even my neighbours from across the road can see what's going on on PSN. Great!
I took some before and after pics (720p):
If you overlay the images, you'll see that there's not actually less information there (at least vertically), but the font still is significantly taller.
The biggest shocker however is with no doubt, the friends list. I'm sorry to say and no offence intended, but my PS3 now reminds me even more of the X360 XMB. Those grey boxes behind the friends list is down right an embarrasment. I just can't understand who in their right mind would give the OK to this.
After just ordering a new slimline PS3, I have to say I am not looking forward to it anymore. This effectivelly killed my excitment.
To implement party system in XMB, the easiest route from user perspective is to:
* Rename "Start New Chat" to "Start New Activities". Replace "Text Chat" and "Chat Room (Text Chat)" to "Play Room". This will allow people to create persistent XMB parties with built-in text chat and invitation mechanism. It's the same XMB chat room we have. Friends can join in midway, and there is no user admin overhead.
* Add Home's XML Game launching to the Play Room. This will also allow Home to leverage on the same infrastructure. XML Game Launching has been in place for a few months now. They will support it for all games in Home v1.3 (Next release). But not all games will allow direct launching into a session. When the game ends, the party will be put back into Home (or presumably the Play Room ?) automatically.
They are very close now, but then they were sidetracked to update the Information Architecture of XMB instead of wrapping up the party implementation first (or in parallel). >_<
Well, what's laughable to some is an annoyance for others. Guess it all depends, how frequently you use your PS3, what kind of setup etc...
Anyway, I turned off my overscan completely now to compensate for the huge fonts... Looks much better, although the scrolling ticker is VERY annoying...
Anyway, I turned off my overscan completely now to compensate for the huge fonts... Looks much better, although the scrolling ticker is VERY annoying...
I think the basic problem is there are a lot more content on PSN now. They need a way to surface the latest and greatest. It's like finding good LittleBigPlanet levels. The "What's New" section is critically needed... may be not so for us savvy ones... but it is a necessary next step for others.
About 50% of PS3 owners are not online too. The icon spamming are there to encourage them to explore online.
About 50% of PS3 owners are not online too. The icon spamming are there to encourage them to explore online.
I will cry if i have to go through Home in order to have proper gamelaunching.
I dont want to have anything to do with Home. Home takes times booting up, and generally just makes you waste a lot of time in order to do the same stuff, like play arcade games. Id rather just select the game i want to play on the menu, and play it instantly, than booting up home and running to the appropriate space then launch the game.
I agree to a need for information. It's just the implementation that sucks. XMB has (had!) this beautiful open-plan space that doesn't want clutter. Thinking about it now, I reckon they could have just had scrolling text in the info space in the bottom right, gently scrolling upwards. It'd be low key and fit in. The problem with any form of advertising on XMB is it's a complete break from the design, and looks utterly out of place. The 'What's New' page is an acceptible compromise, allowing for garish colourful eye-candy to attract attention, but that's optionally intrusive - you don't have to look at it.
I've bought and paid for my PS3. I shouldn't be subjected to adware when i don't want it!
Personally I think the strategy is wrong. I know what's on PSN Store because every Thursday I have a look. Sony should just train the userbase to also look. IMO what's needed is a hook to get started with PSN. they should offer a free game or so with every PS3. Put a leaflet in the box offering PixelJunk Monsters, or maybe a code for a selection of titles, and tell the proud new owner to go online, visit the store and get their game. That experience alone will get them on and exploring. Then the content will sell itself and they'll want to know what's new and available.
I've bought and paid for my PS3. I shouldn't be subjected to adware when i don't want it!
Personally I think the strategy is wrong. I know what's on PSN Store because every Thursday I have a look. Sony should just train the userbase to also look. IMO what's needed is a hook to get started with PSN. they should offer a free game or so with every PS3. Put a leaflet in the box offering PixelJunk Monsters, or maybe a code for a selection of titles, and tell the proud new owner to go online, visit the store and get their game. That experience alone will get them on and exploring. Then the content will sell itself and they'll want to know what's new and available.
I am conjecturing that they can share the same backend like XML Game Launching. It's a flexible way to specify your game session (e.g., No. of people in the party, requested game modes, etc.)We should be able to reuse that without Home. The Home-savvy games are patched (or developed from scratch) to support the feature. The current XMB Chat room should be sufficient for most people.
Are you talking about the Ticker ? I agree that one is too much.
The extra "Playstation Store" icons in Video and Game categories can be better packaged (as described in my earlier post). Even for ad-adverse people, they need to find game from time to time. The other way to do this is to call them shortcuts/bookmarks. Again, it should be below the Game Disc icon.
I think "What's New" is great.
The Thursday training is still needed.
You can see the new icons as a spam, or a user convenience feature for people to jump to the relevant PS section in one step.
... or to push it one step further, a way to cluster PS3 owners together.
Alkohallick
Newcomer
Yeah but IMHO something was needed for the video side of things. After it launched ive only been there twice, not because of other free sources but because i simply forgot psn offered movies/videos.
It doesn't offer download movies in most countries yet! What it really needed was to have the content on offer from day one. But now Sony are catching up, they need people to be visiting the store.
Here's another idea that could work very well. Have icons for games and movies present listed in the thumbnails we know and love, but linking to the PSN store. This way you could transparently add a few choices in the appropriate XMB categories. Entering the game section should show a few games, highlighted to show they are store purchases and not available to play on your machine yet, in the game list, with your games underneath (perhaps the top two, BRD and most recent download, are kept as owned titles for convenience). Likewise when going into Movies for something to watch, a few offered titles with thumbnail trailers may be enough to catch an impulse buy. "Oh, they've added such-and-such at the Store. Wanna watch it?" without having to go looking and without intruding on the look and feel of XMB.
Here's another idea that could work very well. Have icons for games and movies present listed in the thumbnails we know and love, but linking to the PSN store. This way you could transparently add a few choices in the appropriate XMB categories. Entering the game section should show a few games, highlighted to show they are store purchases and not available to play on your machine yet, in the game list, with your games underneath (perhaps the top two, BRD and most recent download, are kept as owned titles for convenience). Likewise when going into Movies for something to watch, a few offered titles with thumbnail trailers may be enough to catch an impulse buy. "Oh, they've added such-and-such at the Store. Wanna watch it?" without having to go looking and without intruding on the look and feel of XMB.
I think there is room for improvement on the artistic design on things. The what's new shouldn't need to have its own background, the friends list is functionally sound but looks ugly. But the core seems fairly solid so I think they can improve the functionality. Don't forget also that movie download will be out there for the bigger European countries before the year is out, and the smaller countries not long after.
I've been through just about all the settings and noticed that the older consoles do in fact also get the Bitstream audio output option! I was wrong on that one. Tried it out immediately and it works great - it's nice to see the receiver tell me what kind of output I selected, so that if I cycle through the audio options during BluRay playback the receiver tells me what I"ve selected. I do however get a slight feeling that the PS3s LPCM output is better than what the receiver makes of it (also a Sony).
I've been through just about all the settings and noticed that the older consoles do in fact also get the Bitstream audio output option! I was wrong on that one. Tried it out immediately and it works great - it's nice to see the receiver tell me what kind of output I selected, so that if I cycle through the audio options during BluRay playback the receiver tells me what I"ve selected. I do however get a slight feeling that the PS3s LPCM output is better than what the receiver makes of it (also a Sony).
Can you mention few examples?
I have a 360 and I cant think of anything that it does better other than the party/friend invites, easier to get to play with your friends online and easier to view other players.
Everything else I see it as being overdone visually and in terms of user interface.
Yes, I am surprised Sony brutalized the XMB visual identity. The animated theme is more than sufficient to give XMB a refreshed look. There is no need to do more there.
I like Shifty's last suggestion too, especially if they apply it to Internet Bookmarks.
Yeah! Thats something I wanted Sony to do since its launch. A great deal of people had no idea about PSN or Blu Ray or what the PS3 offered in general.
Ok Blu Ray is something that is becoming known easier. But PSN offers an extensive service that many have no idea about. There is a learning curve
There are still people who buy PS3's and can not understand what PSN offers or its importance.
And I would have loved it if Sony did what they did with the original Playstation.
Offer a demo Blu Ray disk with game demos, tech demos, and guidance videos to the beautiful entertainment experience that the PS3 is supposed to offer from various angles.
That Demo1 disc on the PS1 was a BEAUTY to behold and explore.
Truly marvelous. That thing hyped the console even more with actual tangible products. The presentation, applications, videos and games chosen were top notch in the disc.
But Sony just slapped the PS3 in a package and let the consumer guess all the functions that no one was familiar with on the PS1 or PS2.
I still cant believe how many people I meet that have no idea about all the features the PS3 has. They only know "disk in tray->play game". And what games? There is a whole service that can give them a great taste of games available on the console. The PSN is a great place to get the customer to meet the PS3 deeper. But they just cant guess everything.
That's it, eh? Sony would do well to remember this is a games console first and foremost. The fact that at version 3.0 of the firmware, going on 3 years after its release, and they still have not gotten that right is very telling of the struggles going on with Sony's direction and management.
Yeah thats it. My PS3 serves its gaming purposes nicely and I am satisfied as much as my 360 in terms of games if not more. Thats the only thing missing. What else does it offer extra? Besides partying and forcing me to pay for online gaming?
The slim comes packed-in with a Blu-Ray disc introducing the system, PSN, etc., from what I've read.
I haven't heard any comments about how good the disc is or what's on it, though.
