I think the earlier console generations where created by a bunch of passionate nerds eager to make something cool.
The current generations are created by highly talented designers whose work is reviewed by committee after committee with user research, marketing, management and creative direction all wanting to have a say - leading to the most universally acceptable compromise.
Once game development goes into the 300 million plus per title range, you really can't have any John Carmak or Romeros running around building stuff they are passionate about anymore. There's just too much money on the line...
It's also that common design tropes hadn't been established yet. At the time we were all just winging it and doing whatever came to mind within the scope of our abilities. As we became more connected online, and interactions became more realtime, our tastes homogenized, leading to what we have now.
Reminds me of how mobile phones used to have very varied, even whimsical designs and slowly we settled on the rectangular slab. There's probably a point where form and function converge and then everything hovers in that region.
Keep in mind the phone's primary interfaces used to be the keypad, speaker, and microphone. They weren't always general purpose computers. You dialed a number, and then spoke to that person.
That was exactly the point. Early in the life of a new type of device (like a mobile phone, smart or dumb) there's a period of experimentation. Then everything converges towards an optimum.
Keep in mind that the phone's primary interface wasn't always a keypad, it used to be a dial or a lever. The speaker and microphone were distinct parts rather than a single "receiver". And they all slowly converged to a couple of very similar optimized designs.
Perhaps what happened is that game console demographics have changed so dramatically from a kids-only toy, to the preteen/teen male of the original Xbox era, and now to a general purpose entertainment device that has to appeal to all ages and demographics.
Probably the only console interface left with some whimsy is Nintendo but it is definitely a more muted and professional look than the past.
I’d also argue that Steam has had a very PC power user aesthetic for a long time, and while it isn’t quite as fun as any of these it’s definitely not corporate boring like PlayStation 5 or Xbox.
The PS2 save file models also had state animations. For example, if you hovered over "delete", a character would get on their knees and beg to be spared…!
Save file screens - cool or otherwise - are a way to deal with managing a limited resource. Now we have effectively infinite space to save our games and we don't need one of these any more.
Saved games are tiny compared to the space the games take up. They're not taking up space on a little wafer with enough room for a couple dozen games. They're backed up to the cloud. How many save games are on my computer and Steam Deck, hidden from me deep in the filesystem? I have no idea. I don't want to have any idea.
I've never had any desire to manage them once it stopped being a necessity. My save games just kinda happen.
Meh. This is the only part that should be boring, because boring prevents mistakes that result in data loss, which ends the fun of gaming faster than any other problem.
When something like this is new they always put in effort to make it cool the first, but then with time and iterations it becomes a cost center to be minimized, or worse, an advertising center.
Pretty sure it's the same person and they are just ban evading.
The way they talk, their condescending tone and black-and-white thinking, their fixation for German law... it all matches the other account, and it was created 2 months after they stopped commenting.
Yes and you would blow in one if the first time wasn’t recognized. They were great sharing the saves too with friends, something that’s missing now unless you go and dig up those save files from your appdata or whatever they are hidden in.
> Yes and you would blow in one if the first time wasn’t recognized.
I dug out one of my Ataris and plugged it in for my son to have a shot of a couple of years ago, when he was four.
One of the carts didn't work straight away so he switched the console off again, pulled it out, blew into the edge connector, plugged it back in and gave it a little wiggle to seat it, turned it back on, and set about playing Pacman.
Can we get interesting UIs in general back?
I hate all modern games with UIs (especially the fonts) that look like a generic corporate website.
Yes yes, I know, accessibility, bla bla, make two versions then, should be easy enough now with AI.
exactly. i recently started to play the 1° Colin Mc Rae on the PS1 and if anyone miss having to save manually with waiting times i bet they are blind by nostalgia. nature forbid Gran Turismo 2 menu transitions without the '20 times faster loading times' on retroarch. save states are a bless
I think the earlier console generations where created by a bunch of passionate nerds eager to make something cool.
The current generations are created by highly talented designers whose work is reviewed by committee after committee with user research, marketing, management and creative direction all wanting to have a say - leading to the most universally acceptable compromise.
Once game development goes into the 300 million plus per title range, you really can't have any John Carmak or Romeros running around building stuff they are passionate about anymore. There's just too much money on the line...
It's also that common design tropes hadn't been established yet. At the time we were all just winging it and doing whatever came to mind within the scope of our abilities. As we became more connected online, and interactions became more realtime, our tastes homogenized, leading to what we have now.
Reminds me of how mobile phones used to have very varied, even whimsical designs and slowly we settled on the rectangular slab. There's probably a point where form and function converge and then everything hovers in that region.
Keep in mind the phone's primary interfaces used to be the keypad, speaker, and microphone. They weren't always general purpose computers. You dialed a number, and then spoke to that person.
That was exactly the point. Early in the life of a new type of device (like a mobile phone, smart or dumb) there's a period of experimentation. Then everything converges towards an optimum.
Keep in mind that the phone's primary interface wasn't always a keypad, it used to be a dial or a lever. The speaker and microphone were distinct parts rather than a single "receiver". And they all slowly converged to a couple of very similar optimized designs.
Ah, but we're talking about cellphones
> I think the earlier console generations where created by a bunch of passionate nerds eager to make something cool.
The very earliest, maybe, but not really once you get into the 1980s.
that's why i've started buying games under ten bucks (?indie?)
they're shorter but once i stack five of them to come close to AAA pricing, i've had 5 different perspectives on what a video game even is
diegetic UIs are my favorite
I've been thinking about this a lot after the flop of Gears of War E-day which cost 500 million just on development.
Perhaps what happened is that game console demographics have changed so dramatically from a kids-only toy, to the preteen/teen male of the original Xbox era, and now to a general purpose entertainment device that has to appeal to all ages and demographics.
Probably the only console interface left with some whimsy is Nintendo but it is definitely a more muted and professional look than the past.
I’d also argue that Steam has had a very PC power user aesthetic for a long time, and while it isn’t quite as fun as any of these it’s definitely not corporate boring like PlayStation 5 or Xbox.
It’s a cycle. Everything looks bland and professional and serious and homogenized right now, from Xbox to McDonald’s.
I bet by the end of the decade we’ll see more designs looking to stand out again.
The PS2 save file models also had state animations. For example, if you hovered over "delete", a character would get on their knees and beg to be spared…!
Save file screens - cool or otherwise - are a way to deal with managing a limited resource. Now we have effectively infinite space to save our games and we don't need one of these any more.
Saved games are tiny compared to the space the games take up. They're not taking up space on a little wafer with enough room for a couple dozen games. They're backed up to the cloud. How many save games are on my computer and Steam Deck, hidden from me deep in the filesystem? I have no idea. I don't want to have any idea.
I've never had any desire to manage them once it stopped being a necessity. My save games just kinda happen.
Meh. This is the only part that should be boring, because boring prevents mistakes that result in data loss, which ends the fun of gaming faster than any other problem.
When something like this is new they always put in effort to make it cool the first, but then with time and iterations it becomes a cost center to be minimized, or worse, an advertising center.
You're right, nobody should ever bother in the first place, because someone will always find a way to crap on it. /s
Hang on... I thought you were banned here?
You're confusing with https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=immibis
Pretty sure it's the same person and they are just ban evading.
The way they talk, their condescending tone and black-and-white thinking, their fixation for German law... it all matches the other account, and it was created 2 months after they stopped commenting.
Well… they are named “immibis2”, so it’s not as though they’re hiding it.
Yes and you would blow in one if the first time wasn’t recognized. They were great sharing the saves too with friends, something that’s missing now unless you go and dig up those save files from your appdata or whatever they are hidden in.
> Yes and you would blow in one if the first time wasn’t recognized.
I dug out one of my Ataris and plugged it in for my son to have a shot of a couple of years ago, when he was four.
One of the carts didn't work straight away so he switched the console off again, pulled it out, blew into the edge connector, plugged it back in and gave it a little wiggle to seat it, turned it back on, and set about playing Pacman.
He's never seen me or anyone else do that.
Epigenetics is real, guys.
Can we get interesting UIs in general back? I hate all modern games with UIs (especially the fonts) that look like a generic corporate website. Yes yes, I know, accessibility, bla bla, make two versions then, should be easy enough now with AI.
The Xbox 360 blades UI might be making a comeback: https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/10/xbox-exec-shows-off-ne...
The blades are taking up a huge portion of the width. The modern Microsoft knows that space could better be used to squeeze in additional ads.
I'd rather they just leave it alone, the menu system works fine.
Fine, but not great. It definitely feels sluggish and not as information dense as it could be.
no
exactly. i recently started to play the 1° Colin Mc Rae on the PS1 and if anyone miss having to save manually with waiting times i bet they are blind by nostalgia. nature forbid Gran Turismo 2 menu transitions without the '20 times faster loading times' on retroarch. save states are a bless
Nostalgia is different things for different people... some even prefer the loading times.
I don't really see the point in being so snarky about it.