Creating the Next PlayStation Experience

A Little Bit of Background

For over half of my life, I’ve spent hours cd cvswept away to far off virtual worlds full of magicks and strange creatures. Ever since my first interaction with video games when my parents purchased a cheap knock off system I can’t even remember the name of in the early 90s, I’ve been enamored by the industry. Over the years I’ve drifted back and forth from the industry. Sometimes I would go years without seriously playing anything before becoming sucked into the next entry in one of my favorite franchises. I’ve been hooked again ever since Nintendo released the Switch and Breath of the Wild. Soon, the long awaited (and rumored) remake of Squaresoft’s 90s hit Final Fantasy VII hit the PlayStation 4 and I was all in once again.

Fast forward to September 2020. While the world seemed to both be burning and being flooded all at he same time and the country pulling at its proverbial seams, the world of console gaming was eagerly awaiting more information on the upcoming new generation of consoles and we got it. Microsoft announced a second new system, Sony finally revealed pricing for their newest PlayStation, and both would be out by the end of November.

While Microsoft has given multiple blog posts, videos, and interviews about not just the hardware improvements involved in their next generation of systems but also the software and services changes as well. While we haven’t had any news on that front from Sony, I decided to try my hat at it and see what I could come up with.

I started this project by taking a look at the past. What had Sony’s software looked like up to this date? While the original PlayStation and it’s followup the PlayStation 2 had a simple boot picker, Sony decided to expand their systems capabilities starting with the PSP and it’s award wining XMB or XrossMenuBar (read Cross Menu Bar).

The XMB was so successful, it would go on to become the system UI for Sony’s next game system, the PlayStation 3 as well as it’s range of Bravia TVs for almost a decade but it wouldn’t stay that way forever. Sony was already hard at work on what would come next and they moved in two seperate directions. The PS Vita, follow up to their PSP line of portable system used a new bubble based UI called LiveArea which would also move to Sony’s Bravia TVs for a short period of time. The PlayStation 4 on the other hand began using what Sony would call “The PlayStation Dynamic Menu” a simplified take on the XMB.

Somewhere between the infamous XMB and the Dynamic Menu seemed like a good place to start.

The content pages look similar to what you would see on the current PlayStation 4 and it’s Dynamic Menu. These menus use full use of the screen with beautiful picture and video previews to immerse you in the content.

Much like the XMB, this new interface features both vertical and horizontal input allowing you to quickly move to the content you care about most (This is a concept I followed with into the reimagining of the PlayStation Store too.)

The PlayStation 4 also includes a “Quick Menu” which can be accessed by holding the PlayStation button. I decided to beef up this Quick Menu to become more like a notification center/shade from modern smart phones. In here you can access media controls, messages, party chat, and more. I also used slide over panels for the information screens for content such as games and the navigation for the PlayStation Store.

Microsoft didn’t stop with the introduction of a new Dashboard and Store they’ve even come out swinging when it comes to services with the announcement of their Bethesda acquisition. To many people’s surprise, Microsoft has gone on record that they do not plan to change console release plans for both existing announcements and future releases. Basically just like Cuphead and Ori which are Microsoft published games available on other consoles, Bethesda may continue to make games for Sony’s consoles as time goes on.

Unlike Sony, Microsoft has been making a transition from a hardware and sales competitor to Sony to focusing on games as a service with the introduction of Game Pass. The Bethesda purchase is more likely a move to secure those games for Game Pass than some sort of console exclusivity. Microsoft has even likened their ambition to services such as Netflix which are platform agnostic.

Which brings us to where I hope and picture Sony could really take advantage of the situation by leveraging it’s generations of market dominance into long lasting profits and partnerships with their former rivals.

Just like Apple, Microsoft, Steam & Epic, Sony makes a percentage of every sale made through the PlayStation Store. Sony needs to take a better look at the missing profits that could be made by offering and facilitating subscription transactions for services such as Xbox Game Pass & EA Play. The stipulation I would make is that all games available to download for free on these services must also be listed on the store for purchase. On one hand Sony both makes money from the sale of the same and the subscription as well as adding a great list of formerly Xbox exclusive games to it’s platform. On the other Microsoft gains access to the 80+ million average systems sold per generation.

The final piece of the puzzle would be for Sony to repurpose their existing PlayStation Now service to a competitor of Game Pass offering classics from the PlayStation catalog of Sony published classics.

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