Discussion

The Death of Character in Game Console Interfaces

2OEH8eoCRo0: They also turned into ad billboards.

nottorp: It's also the games. Let's count them:1. A collection of logos of the 30 studios that contributed to the title somehow, skippable or not.2. A bunch of EULAs that you have to click through at least on the first run.3. An epilepsy warning that you always have to click through. I'm looking at you, Paradox and Vampire: Bloodlines 2. (For the record, I bought it extremely cheap, not at the launch price.)4. On Playstation at least, the silly "press any button" screen. Why can't you give me the menu directly?5. Another silly warning "this game has an autosave function". You may have to click through it or not.6. If Rockstar, try to trick the user into launching the online component every time.

tom_: The Press Any Button screen is there so the game knows which input device is being used, and therefore (one way or another) which user, so it can apply any parental control/accessibility/etc. options required.

BoppreH: I've seen computer games where any input device is accepted, and on-screen instructions refer to the last type of device used. Seemed like a good idea. And how does input-based parental control work? Do you hide the adult's controller?

Pay08: > An epilepsy warning that you always have to click through.That sounds amazing. Yeah, it's annoying, but I'd imagine it's much safer for epileptics.

ToucanLoucan: Yes, BUT: Ubisoft's is not actually a click through and the amount of text on it means they show it for quite a long time, with no way to click past, and THAT is fucking obnoxious.I'm quite glad those warnings exist, don't get me wrong. I am not en epileptic, please do not try and force me to read your 3 paragraphs about epilepsy kthnx.

ToucanLoucan: I would argue it's also just a tradition of the medium at this point. And tbh most games I play would feel weird without it.

asimovDev: I was greatly disappointed to learn back in 2020 that PS5 didn't even support themes. The only customization it offers is disabling / enabling sound and changing a background to a screenshot for one of the menu items which is a dashboard (with customizable widgets at least) with your friends' activities, new store arrivals or whatever you choose.Changing to an appropriate theme when there were holidays or when I beat a good game that stays in my mind was something that I didn't know I would miss once switching to a new generation.

functionmouse: Cool interfaces don't make billions of dollars. Match-3 games and microtransactions and season passes and skinner boxes make billions of dollars.You understand, right?

nixpulvis: Yea, we gotta teach kids how to use e-commerce sites, so the games should feel like Amazon.

shakow: Many games can just swap devices on the fly (from the top of my mind, Elden Ring, Witcher 3, Lords of the Fallen, Dirt Rally).

fredoralive: It does now have a limited set of themes based on previous consoles. Initially a 40th anniversary special feature that ended up sticking. But yeah, it’s a bit odd we’ve gone from Sony providing the tools to make your own theme with the PS3 to basically nothing with the PS5.

Forgeties79: This gets a little rickety when you have permissions tied to input devices, which is not uncommon in households with young children.Also for some games it’s just generally buggy.

PaulHoule: "When I powered on my Xbox Series S for the first time... It felt no different from Windows 11."(1) No accident (2) Ever see a Windows phone? That was the whole idea.

krige: Windows Phone had a damn lot more personality than android or iphone back then, let alone now.

Cthulhu_: TBH they have accessibility to keep in mind - visual contrast, screen reader support, etc.I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, but I've yet to find a great example of something that is both accessible and full of character.

cHaOs667: But the Windows Phone UI had sooo much personality - every phone looked different, showed different information etc.My own phone changed every couple of months and it feld sooo good to have the changing tiles with information, pictures etc. I was a huge fan of the concept.

thenfcm: "Even today I can burn hours clicking around the Wii"I mean, the menu's fine but its not that exciting

Waterluvian: I can burn hours clicking around the PS5 UI.No seriously, I’m lost. Send help.

fredoralive: Games having a title screen where you “Press Start Button” is a slightly odd convention going back to the arcades, even on games where there’s only one set of controls.

iamtedd: If I were an epileptic, I would appreciate seeing the warning before I buy the game, not once I've launched it. Which, by the way, invalidates Sony's return policy.

nottorp: Do you think epileptics really need to be told every single time they start the game? I’d bet they’re as annoyed as non epileptics.

Pay08: I drop and pick games back up after a long time very frequently, I'd certainly appreciate it if I were affected. Plus, what about borrowed/Steam family shared/whatever games?

dfxm12: I miss when you turned on your console and booted directly into the game. Sony's XMB is a terrible UI. Things are unintuitive to find and take forever to get there even when you do know where you're going. Something like the NDS UI is at least fast and easy to use, aided by the touch interface. However, I bought a console to play games, not to click through a bunch of settings (that's what a PC is for!).

bfdm: I wish this has shown the modern interface for contrast with the others.I have no idea what the current Xbox UI looks like, so while I appreciate the legacy console examples I would have liked the reference point.

chuchurocka: It's our cereal box and shampoo...

nemomarx: Which consoles/ systems use the controller to determine which account is active?At least on the switch you just have accounts in the upper left and switch between them regardless of controller. Is it a Sony implementation?

lunar_rover: What truly made Wii/DS and Wii U/3DS era Nintendo OSes great are the built in games and mechanics that extend into other games as well. Loved collecting houses in ACNL and receiving Wii Mails from a Toad.

sanex: I mean they don't HAVE to, unless there's some law I'm not aware of can't they just say "sorry not sorry colorblind people" or something. The MBAs will say HAVE to because maximizing shareholder value.

rcxdude: With arcades it at least makes sense because it puts the game out of demo/attract mode.

Forgeties79: I’m not trying to be difficult but this is very easy to search and the combative tone is unnecessary. I can tell you firsthand my Xbox does it, but that doesn’t really do anything for you because you already doubt me for some reason. You should still look it up to confirm it for yourself. You can tie users to controllers and set that for login. It’s a documented, widely used feature. I get that may sound ridiculous to you but it’s been standard for years.

nemomarx: I don't mean to be combative, I've just genuinely never used a console with that. The perils of mostly using PCs and Nintendo ones, I guess? If it's standard with both Xbox and Sony that does cleanly explain the press any button screen, although I wonder why they leave it in for the PC ports.

GuB-42: > Match-3 games and microtransactions and season passes and skinner boxes make billions of dollars.Only if they have a cool interface.What make people play a match-3 game over another match-3 game that has the exact same gameplay? It is the way it is presented.What are the most popular microtransactions? Cosmetics.Why are people buying season passes instead of just content DLCs? Again, mostly cosmetics.Cool interfaces make money. I don't know why they stopped doing it for the console itself, they have their reasons, I guess.

toast0: In the US, the ADA says you have to make reasonable accomodations, and it allows for private enforcement, so it's generally followed.

donatj: When I got my Switch years ago my reaction to the UI was basically "This is it?" It felt like an un-styled working prototype. My thought was "Nintendo rushed this thing out the door to stay in business, surely they'll add some character over time" as they had done with the 3DS (the 3DS started out good but got better).Nope? I'm still waiting. The only real big change they made was the introduction of their terrible virtual cartridge licensing system.I genuinely hate the Switch home screen. I would rather be booted into the "More Games" UI instead of this dumb horizontal scroll of a handful of most recent games and then having to scroll over to pick "more games". If you want to be minimal, at least make it easy to pick the game I want. I've got a 65" TV, give me the grid, not 4 titles at a time!Most of all, BRING BACK THE FUN. Colors, music, silly interactions. Sure, add the option to turn it off, because a vocal minority hate that stuff, but how many of us have the Wii store music burnt into our brains?

kiyundai: I'm so disapointed in the switch, had it day one and i'm still waiting for all the fun features of the 3ds...Spotpass and the mini games were fun, the stickers and theming were fun It sure was gimmicky and sprinkle with some utx, but we truly lost something with the switch

kridsdale3: This loss of easter eggs in software, along with the rise of enshittification, both have the same source:Software used to be made by Programmers, with taste and opinions, according to their talent and personality, in solo or small groups. Now they are run by Project Managers and Data Scientists chasing KPIs through engagement measurement tools and AB tests.Fun easter eggs cannot be justified. They are cut. Personality doesn't move the metric as much as the mean / common denominator most basic thing. That's what ships.All software and web content has gone this way in the last 13 years or so.

andai: The other day I mused, "software used to look like an alien space ship. Now it looks like paperwork."I wasn't even thinking of the Xbox when I wrote that, just software in general in those days. Feels like everything had depth, character, texture...But reading this article, man the Xbox sounds amazing! I need to buy one now.

Ferret7446: Humans get used to everything, and surprisingly quickly. It'll only take a few months for even Chthulhu to become mundane

Forgeties79: I wouldn’t consider it a “peril.” You have to turn it on, it’s not a default setting. It’s a useful feature for some.I don’t use it personally but tbf my Xbox has also been pretty much collecting dust for probably 2 years now.

xgkickt: For games, it’s a legal thing. Ever since the Hot Coffee debacle, we are not allowed to hide content, all of which has to be approved by legal.

asimovDev: oh yeah, it turns out I even had one of these themes enabled (PS3 one). I got so used to it I forgot it's not how the console usually looks. Still a far cry from custom icons and animated backgrounds