Paul Grenfell
ValeGame console interfaces used to be detailed and assembled with care. Now they’re nothing more than a collection of rounded squares.
I wrote about the death of distinct game console interfaces and how they all feel so empty and clinical now:
forrest@vale good words, enjoyed them. there is certainly some sort of digital gentrification going on. but not only digital, also hardwarical (yes, i just made that word up). consoles still look relatively unique, but what about phones? cars? television sets? how long until everything is like a white cube and/or rectangle? long live the Wii interface, the Motorola Flipout, the '94 Chevy Geo Tracker, the fucking SpongeBob CRT.
@f0rrest I’d argue the PlayStation is the only truly unique-looking console remaining out of the big three. I mean, the current Xbox consoles are about as bland as you can get. A sense of familiarity and cohesiveness is nice in moderation, but the growing lack of everything having its own identity is saddening.
Aunty@vale related: every "live service" videogame using the Netflix UI which actively sacrifices clarity and ergonomics in favour of mixing ads and into regular items and dedicating more screen real estate to highlighting the users cosmetics
@AuntyRed During writing I floated the idea of covering game interfaces but figured that it bloated the article too much and watered down the point. I think it’d be fertile ground for a follow-up, especially with clear examples in remasters and repackagings, such as Halo: Reach on the 360 vs Halo: Reach in the Master Chief Collection. I’m not much a player of modern AAA titles, so their interfaces seem especially abhorrent when I catch a glance of them coming from older games.
JaK
Jake in the desert@vale awesome read. And big agree. Woooo the Wii! 😂
Christopher Kirk-Nielsen@vale Lovely, lovely post. The PS2's ethereal beach noises are a core memory haha. I miss the XMB, despite its straightforward UI, it worked well and as you point out, the background gives it something (plus the orchestra!). That's luckily still present on the PS5 boot-up, but you're right in that it's all converging, visually. We're a console generation away from losing any personality whatsoever.