Friday, October 05, 2007

Playstation 3 menus

So thinking about beautiful design, I have to give props to the Playstation 3. Besides being an amazing game system (and streaming media player, yummy!), it has a really beautiful and intuitive menu system. From what I hear it is nigh identical to the PSP's, but I only have a PS3, so I'm judging by that.

The menu system is a straight line of white icons with text explanations next to it. Navigating them is as simple as hitting right and left on the controller, then up and down to the thing you want. It is simple and beautiful - especially when paired with my favorite part, the background. There's a random wavy thing in the background, but the really neat part is the color changes. During the day the background is a beautiful bright color, which sets with the sun, so the nighttime view is as black as the sky - or blacker, if you live in the Bay Area (where we are always illuminated by 'the glow'). The color of the background is constantly mutating not over seconds or minutes or hours, but over weeks. I've seen it blue, purple, pink, yellow, and it looks like its headed toward orange. This was a totally unnecessary design decision that really adds a bit of delight every time I use the interface. Kudos, Sony!

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