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PS3 was peak modern console UI. No-nonsense, easy, clear, fast. Was so happy when I first tried RetroArch to find that their default simply copied the PS3. The

PS3 was peak modern console UI. No-nonsense, easy, clear, fast. Was so happy when I first tried RetroArch to find that their default simply copied the PS3. The store was terrible, though. Their Cell “supercomputer” could play advanced 3D games, but couldn’t handle rendering a web store. Chalk it up to the amazing ability of web UI and JavaScript to make everything feel slow. They should have stuck with a native UI for that generation, I’d bet it lost them lots of sales. Practically unusable.

garaetjjte 2y ago
It was fine before. I think they changed it to the current abomination when PS4 launched?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- vundercind 2y ago
  I had one way before the PS4 and never found the store usable. Super slow, apparent OOM crashes resetting scroll state, all kinds of pain, for years prior to the PS4.
  - garaetjjte 2y ago
    That one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOO6xg254A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOO6xg254A Maybe it wasn't best thing from usability perspective but I don't remember performance problems with it.
    - vundercind 2y ago
      Oh wow—I don’t even remember that one. Wonder when they replaced it? I didn’t have one at launch, but didn’t think it was that long after that I picked it up.
      - garaetjjte 2y ago
        It seems October 2012: https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/11/sony-unveils-redesigned-playstation-store https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/11/sony-unveils-redesig...
- xattt 2y ago
  The store was originally a native app for the first couple of years. Whenever the Ribbon UI went to the one with sparkles, the store went to a crappy web UI that was unbearable to use. I love seeing bits and pieces of the original UI that were clinging on by necessity, namely the firmware upgrade screen. It was likely made immutable at the cost of UI updates.
  - garaetjjte 2y ago
    It seems sparkles were added in 3.0 FW in 2009, while store was replaced in 2012. I think FW update splash is not running the full OS and it only displays static image for simplicity, XMB never used static image as background.
  - musicale 2y ago
    Kind of the story of everything - responsive native app replaced by clunky web app.
- Lammy 2y ago
  > It was fine before. Relevant PA: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/02/joy-and-joy-unrelenting https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/02/joy-and-joy-un... The PS4-alike redesign was definitely way way worse though.
Philpax 2y ago
Unfortunately, the kinds of workloads Cell was good at had very little in common with what a web browser, especially of the time, needed. As always, it was a fascinating design incompatible with the needs of software and the market at large.
amatecha 2y ago
Oh? I really liked Xbox 360's "blades" dashboard UI. It was quite fast, and was quite simple. On every screen, there's a clear indication of what your controller buttons do, making it really quick to get around in. Some video of the dashboard in use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P5gTvXct30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P5gTvXct30
- vel0city 2y ago
  The blades UI was quick, but I remember so many slow loads when pressing the Xbox button and pulling up the system menu. But I do agree, the blades UI design-wise was pretty good and achieved far more information density than the crossbar PlayStation UI. But when in-game I wouldn't describe any of the UI as speedy.
- vundercind 2y ago
  I dunno what UI the 360 had by the time I got one (maybe after the One was out? Or just a little before) but 90% of every screen is ads.
  - etempleton 2y ago
    The 360 dashboard went through many variations and it generally got worse over time. The blades, which is what the console launched with, were excellent if not a bit simplistic.
extraduder_ire 2y ago
The XMB was initially used in the PSX, and later the PSP. It makes sense that retroarch copied it, since the PS3 was the first platform it was available on after someone got tired of porting emulators to the newly-hacked console one at a time.

garaetjjte 2y ago

It was fine before. I think they changed it to the current abomination when PS4 launched?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
vundercind 2y ago
I had one way before the PS4 and never found the store usable. Super slow, apparent OOM crashes resetting scroll state, all kinds of pain, for years prior to the PS4.
- garaetjjte 2y ago
  That one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOO6xg254A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOO6xg254A Maybe it wasn't best thing from usability perspective but I don't remember performance problems with it.
  - vundercind 2y ago
    Oh wow—I don’t even remember that one. Wonder when they replaced it? I didn’t have one at launch, but didn’t think it was that long after that I picked it up.
    - garaetjjte 2y ago
      It seems October 2012: https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/11/sony-unveils-redesigned-playstation-store https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/11/sony-unveils-redesig...
xattt 2y ago
The store was originally a native app for the first couple of years. Whenever the Ribbon UI went to the one with sparkles, the store went to a crappy web UI that was unbearable to use. I love seeing bits and pieces of the original UI that were clinging on by necessity, namely the firmware upgrade screen. It was likely made immutable at the cost of UI updates.
- garaetjjte 2y ago
  It seems sparkles were added in 3.0 FW in 2009, while store was replaced in 2012. I think FW update splash is not running the full OS and it only displays static image for simplicity, XMB never used static image as background.
- musicale 2y ago
  Kind of the story of everything - responsive native app replaced by clunky web app.
Lammy 2y ago
> It was fine before. Relevant PA: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/02/joy-and-joy-unrelenting https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/02/joy-and-joy-un... The PS4-alike redesign was definitely way way worse though.

Philpax 2y ago

Unfortunately, the kinds of workloads Cell was good at had very little in common with what a web browser, especially of the time, needed. As always, it was a fascinating design incompatible with the needs of software and the market at large.

amatecha 2y ago

Oh? I really liked Xbox 360's "blades" dashboard UI. It was quite fast, and was quite simple. On every screen, there's a clear indication of what your controller buttons do, making it really quick to get around in. Some video of the dashboard in use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P5gTvXct30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P5gTvXct30

vel0city 2y ago
The blades UI was quick, but I remember so many slow loads when pressing the Xbox button and pulling up the system menu. But I do agree, the blades UI design-wise was pretty good and achieved far more information density than the crossbar PlayStation UI. But when in-game I wouldn't describe any of the UI as speedy.
vundercind 2y ago
I dunno what UI the 360 had by the time I got one (maybe after the One was out? Or just a little before) but 90% of every screen is ads.
- etempleton 2y ago
  The 360 dashboard went through many variations and it generally got worse over time. The blades, which is what the console launched with, were excellent if not a bit simplistic.

extraduder_ire 2y ago

The XMB was initially used in the PSX, and later the PSP. It makes sense that retroarch copied it, since the PS3 was the first platform it was available on after someone got tired of porting emulators to the newly-hacked console one at a time.