SCEA Responds to Rumors of NXE-Style Overhaul
One of the rumors for Firmware 3.0 is that the PlayStation Network will be receiving a New Xbox Experience overhaul, similar to what the Xbox 360 had gotten in November of 2008. Eric Lampel, director of network operations of SCEA, now has an official response to this rumor.
When asked about the rumors of a NXE-like overhaul for the PlayStation Network, Eric Lampel explained:
“What we find is that people really like our current interface. We did redesign the PlayStation Store last April to make some improvements, make it faster, make it better, and we’re always listening to consumers. But right now the XMB is an Emmy Award-winning interface and people like it.”
He continued on with this:
“They’re very comfortable with it. So we’re not looking to do anything radical. We’ll still do some research behind the scenes and see what can we do to make things better, or how can we make it so consumers find content faster, but right now we’re pretty happy with it. No plans right now to do anything like what the competitor has done.”
Do you believe the XMB should be redone? Or is Eric Lampel right about leaving the XMB alone? Post your thoughts in the comment section below.
[Source]
21 Responses to “SCEA Responds to Rumors of NXE-Style Overhaul”
the xmb is fine for most things – but how about when you have thousands of mp3s or pictures? leave it as it is for casual use, but give us dedicated software options for things like listening to music!
Well, a little improvement wouldn’t hurt, as long as it’s still works like the traditional XMB, it should be fine.
I’ve really loved the XMB since PSP, so I don’t think it should change one bit.
But they could make different ways to have the XMB, like you could with modded PSP’s, but yeah.
i like the xmb style. I think micorsoft made their interface worse on the 360
I like XMB, and if sony, for some reason, wants to change it, then please make the change optional
@Trexman,
The blades were good, but had way too much wasted space. (still better than NXE, though)
I wish they just optimized the blade system and gave it straight edges. Erase the advertisements. Etc.
Yeah I always thought it was funny that 360 owners pay for there service and are still bombarded by advertisements.
I love you XMB.
they could make a mini xmb for in game so it would load faster otherwise its good
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/home-xmb-concept.jpg that would be nice not exactly like that, but if it were integrated in some way.
The XMB is great. Not just on Playstation branded products, but other Sony products as well. When I sold TVs at Bestbuy, I would always push Sony. The reasons why are for another topic, but as far as the XMB goes, I would hand the customer a remote, and they were always able to successfully demo new Sony TVs that they had never used before. The XMB allows the user to feel more than completely comfortable when using a new product. In my opinion, Sony made the right choice when they decided to establish the XMB as the default user interface for a majority of their multimedia devices. It’s super easy to find what you’re looking for and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
-WCG
no i dont think they need to change it AT ALL all i want from the bottom of my soul is to be able to play music while im playing during anytime during anygame PLEASE!!!! listen to ur consumers just this once let me feel u truly are listening cause everyone wants it and i DO not see what is so complicated even though i might not get it but PLESE do it with 3.0
xmb is a fantastic design. it needs better folder creation and sorting, but all in all a winner.
Leave it alone!!!!
The XMB is almost fine the way it is.
I agree that we just need a better ability to set up folders and sort things. Having 30 PSN games listed in order of purchase is not a great system.
i think its just fine but what we need is to be able to Liston to are music at the same time we play are video game’s and nothing we do on it like go fix settings should stop the music
I just want one little small feature to the XMB is the option to organize large quantities of files better.
CHANGE IT!
Just because it works fine doesn’t mean it can’t be better.
-Many elements of PSN feel disjointed: Home, PS Store, Life w/ PS and community features feel like projects from different departments slapped together into a GUI-box with no integration.
-Design schemes between these elements are also completely different and not properly branded, serving no real purpose to improve the gaming community.
-A more unified PSN environment needs to be less like little apps, widgets or gadgets inside the XMB but and more of an integrated system.
-What’s so wrong with ads?
-XMB offline is fine as it is. Previous comments cover the issues that need improvement (music, folders, etc) but PSN and XMB are two different beasts and that really shouldn’t be.
Opinion: if PSN/XMB were more like the Singstar or PS Store, you could serve all the same and new apps, provide the same kind of themes, provide community features, generate ad revenue and more. Maybe even integrate the Internet browser into it to make it a truly unique front-end which no other console has right now.
Hey! Even call it the Playstation Media Browser and call it good. The PMB. There. I’m starting to like it already. Browse your media. Shop online. Connect and Play with your friends.
My gift to a company that’s given me so much. Thanx for reading
Like Codac stated the in-game XMB could be paired down. So only those items needed for each game are shown when you use the PS button to activate it. Since you can not browse the internet from inside a game or need to then certain features that are part of the normal XMB out of game really only take up time and memory. I don’t need system updates in-game or network information etc themes, backgrounds etc or even video, photos. There are so many extra icons on the in-game XMB that could be removed.
the folders on the XMB are a little wonky, not much else wrong with it in my opinion
keep it but look for improvements(simple)
Need to make certain notifications or certain friends’ notifications hideable. Not the ALL OR NONE approach taken now.
Also, Eric’s last name is LEMPEL.