Ever since the release of the PSP in 2004, Sony has made the “XMB” its trademark user interface, not just for PlayStation products, but many of its other devices as well. With the NGP, the XMB is out the window.
What you see here is the new handheld’s user interface (or UI). It looks… well, awful. Truly awful. Like the Dreamcast and GameCube’s menu systems settled down, knocked boots and somehow had an ugly baby.
How it looks doesn’t seem to be as important to Sony as how it feels, though, as unlike the old XMB – which was designed to make it easy to use a controller or remote control to change settings – the NGP has a touchscreen interface. So instead of rows intersecting with columns, the NGP has a series of movable icons that you swipe and shift around with your fingers. Just like the iPhone or Android, then, only… not as pretty.
Here’s hoping Sony can tart it up a little before the NGP’s release at the end of the year, or it’ll just give those homebrewers extra motivation to get under the machine’s hood!
Leave a Reply