The Death of Character in Game Console Interfaces

PPaulHoule 4 days ago 46 commentsRead Article on vale.rocks

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Discussion (46 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

nottorp•about 3 hours ago

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_•about 3 hours ago

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•about 3 hours ago

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?

jareklupinski•41 minutes ago

> Do you hide the adult's controller?

the case for physical games: put the cartridge on the high shelf

tom_•about 2 hours ago

On first use of the controller after a reboot, you're prompted to select which user is playing. Saved games and achievements and whatnot are per-user.

If you've got a child in the household, you're expected to tag their user as such, which imposes some restrictions on their account. Then set up an access code on your user, so the child can't log in as you.

nottorp•about 3 hours ago

Which input device out of my total of one controller that is on?

On a console that has already asked me who's playing when I turned it on?

probably_wrong•about 2 hours ago

The console knows all that, but does the game know all of that too? I'm not a console developer but perhaps the game doesn't have permissions to know which devices are on, only which devices are sending key presses right now.

tom_•about 2 hours ago

Feedback regarding the ins and outs of the UX would be better directed at Sony rather than me. But it accommodates the case where you haven't connected the controller yet.

I can't remember if it's Playstation or Xbox that does this, but the game can start out in a sandboxed state, and explicit user input is required for the system to grant it access to the gamepad and the associated user.

fredoralive•about 2 hours ago

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.

rcxdude•about 1 hour ago

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

shakow•about 2 hours ago

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).

Forgeties79•about 2 hours ago

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.

ToucanLoucan•about 3 hours ago

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. It's like a spiritual carry-over from the Attract-Mode games used to have in arcades, and without even needing to put in a quarter. (Don't tell the game companies about that)

Pay08•about 3 hours ago

> 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.

iamtedd•about 2 hours ago

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•about 2 hours ago

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•about 2 hours ago

I'm not a console player (or an epileptic), does Sony's storefront really not tell you about health warnings?

ToucanLoucan•about 3 hours ago

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.

Forgeties79•about 2 hours ago

Blame the lawyers then. I imagine very few games do it out of genuine concern for those with epilepsy. Accessibility is an after thought as well for many devs.

I personally applaud any company that is attempting to increase accessibility and chooses to put up warning signs. I can press an extra button or two. It’s not the end of the world.

bfdm•about 2 hours ago

I wish this had 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.

andai•about 2 hours ago

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.

AlienRobot•about 2 hours ago

For a brief, a very brief moment, between beige Windows 98 and glass-like Windows Vista, we had a "fun" Windows XP. Thinking back it's a bit ironic. For most of history the OS'es didn't look fun, but it was that colorful one I'm most fond of.

towledev•about 2 hours ago

XP was dope. Long-as-hell start menu with 80 folders.

havblue•about 2 hours ago

The settings are a lot more intricate than they used to be, especially video settings. So I'm guessing a lot of the intent is to present the information as clearly as possible and call it a day. Direct users towards big pictures for the games and for the store and hopefully have a wizard for the user to get on the internet.

PaulHoule•4 days ago

"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.

cHaOs667•about 2 hours ago

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.

krige•about 2 hours ago

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

lunar_rover•about 1 hour ago

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.

Cthulhu_•about 2 hours ago

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.

sanex•about 1 hour ago

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.

functionmouse•about 2 hours ago

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•about 2 hours ago

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

luqtas•about 1 hour ago

so why not offer season passes and lootboxes for special UI on interfaces? /j

donatj•about 1 hour ago

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?

nixpulvis•about 2 hours ago

Nothing like going from Toonami to the original Xbox while drinking a green monster. Peak childhood right there.

asimovDev•about 2 hours ago

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.

fredoralive•about 2 hours ago

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.

2OEH8eoCRo0•about 3 hours ago

They also turned into ad billboards and digital storefronts.

thenfcm•about 2 hours ago

"Even today I can burn hours clicking around the Wii"

I mean, the menu's fine but its not that exciting

Waterluvian•about 2 hours ago

I can burn hours clicking around the PS5 UI.

No seriously, I’m lost. Send help.

chuchurocka•about 1 hour ago

It's our cereal box and shampoo...

dfxm12•about 2 hours ago

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!).