In case you missed it or were simply unaware that it had happened overnight, your PlayStation 4 should have updated to version 3.00. With more emphasis on being social and playing with friends than ever before, it’s one of the most significant updates for the console since it was released.
But it’s by no means a game-changer.
Don’t get me wrong, being able to send your friends stickers and having an extra 10GB in online storage to play with isn’t a bad thing. It’s just that none of the updates are particularly essential or add much to your gaming experience. Communities is a nice touch, but it’s a bit of a wasteland out there at the minute with so many new groups popping up that it’s difficult to find the most prominent.
Sony are always gradually adding extra features to the PS4, so here are a few suggestions for them to maybe incorporate for the next time. Any you feel I missed out? Be sure to swear at me with all caps engaged below.
1. Pinning favourite games
The Xbox One interface received a lot of flak for its tiled design that confused more than it enthused, but they did a few things right with it. For one, being able to pin games to remind yourself that you should be playing them is a simple and effective touch. Far too often have I downloaded my monthly batch of PS Plus games for them to disappear from the main interface and out of mind completely after a few sessions without playing them.
2. Better home screen layout
I literally just touched on this point, but the menu systems for PS4 aren’t exactly great to the point that much needs changing. They work from a minimalistic perspective, yet struggle to be practical. Having games and apps on one tangent can be unnecessarily complex sometimes, meaning that it’s a pain to find what you exactly need. Segregating all games onto one “line” (can you tell I have never studied UI design?) and then having apps, movies etc below would probably work far better.
3. Menu search
Here I am again, whinging about home screens and menus. It’s almost as if I have nothing better to do with my time (I don’t). To help make older games in your library more accessible and to stop the torture of scrolling past Netflix every damn time, it would be sensible to add a search function that you could utilise from anywhere in the interface. If they can implement one for the store, why not everywhere else?
4. Better organisation of trophies
Although I find an ego-stroking pleasure in being told I killed the things good with a little graphic and a noise shouting at me, I am not much of a completionist when it comes to games. However, for those that are, being able to show off platinum trophies at the top of the list would surely be welcomed, along with the ability to hide some of the guiltiest pleasures in your collection. There’s no shame in being a twentysomething male who likes Lego Batman OKAY.
5. Backwards compatibility
Because come on.
6. More customisation options
As charming as I find it to be told to pay money for dynamic themes that just flicker sometimes, it would be a welcome addition to newer software updates to be able to use custom images as backgrounds. If the PlayStation 3 could easily allow this, surely its bigger and better brother should be able to, too.
7. “yourbestmatedave is now online”
Being able to know when a friend online was one of the basic things that made gaming on the PS3 a treat. The fact that your PS4 can’t do the same is ever so slightly silly, meaning you might miss out on the chance for a quick game of FIFA or an addition to your fireteam if you aren’t quick enough. Better yet, you should be able to prioritise the notifications so the only people you care about coming online show up, not that random kid who watched you on a stream and decided that you must be best friends that one time.
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