Sony showed off portions of the PlayStation 4 interface in a video depicting a gamer named Will sitting on the couch, starting up his PlayStation 4 and commenting on his friend Sarah’s Platinum Trophy she got in Knack. The way everything is set up, it looks like the top portion of the screen may show off what disc is in the system or what game was played last, and the different menu categories appear to the right of that. It also appears that the menu categories can scroll left and right as one of them is partially off the screen.

Beneath that is a tiled list of games stacked in three vertical columns that scroll up and down. The video attempts to show off how cool the game Knack is as Sarah and Will are both playing it. When a friend does well in a particular game, their image will appear in the bottom portion of the game tile showing off the particular achievement or trophy they earned. With the PlayStation 4, gamers will be able to pause their game, check out shared videos or visit the PlayStation store and purchase “a game” then continue playing their game. The ability to pause gameplay, download something and continue playing a game sounds great, I just hope this is as seamless and quick as it sounds.

The last part of the video shows off cross game chat, something the PlayStation 3 desperately needed. Will gets a call from a friend playing Killzone: Shadow Fall and needs Will’s help. Will paused his game, purchased the multiplayer portion of the game and continued playing Knack. It’s great that gamers will have the ability to download games in parts and I can’t wait to test this function out for myself. Players can choose to download only the portion of the game they want to play, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the games will be any cheaper. Gamers will have to buy the full game but can opt to download the single player portion or the multiplayer portion first. For what it’s worth, the video isn’t bad but the PlayStation 4 interface doesn’t impress me at all. It’s bland and almost looks like a jumbled mess on the screen. I’ll just have to wait and see for myself if it stands out or not.

Related Link(s):

• PlayStation Official Site