I moved the discussion over here because it probably makes more sense here....
@Voltan@JohnnyShoulder
You guys don’t have the “Explore” Tab? It’s on the app too. I’m not in front of my console but on the app it looks like this:
With the icon that look like a paper airplane. It’s where all the news and blog stuff is posted and on the console it’s a little more densely presented with a bunch of links to random “news”, videos, sales, etc.
@Th3solution Yeah, I know how the icon looks - I saw it in the UI previews and other places. I don't have it at all on the home screen, never did. I do have it in the app and the console's control bar (the thing that appears when you press the PS button) though.
@Voltan I think I have it at the bottom when I press the PS button too, which is customizable to put the icons you want down there, but I also have it on the top bar, between the icons of the recently played games and the PS Store icon which is all the way to the left. How come I have it up there too? I wonder if there’s a way to customize it off the top bar. I’ll have to play around with it the next time I’m on my console. Maybe it’s a U.S. thing. Not sure why the presence of an entire icon would be a regional thing.
When you click on it at the bottom (after pressing the PS button) what sort of content loads up?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Yeah same as @Voltan. On the PS5 control bar i have 3 news stories and my latest screen shot. I can't say it bothers me that much, but I did unfollow a load of games when I first got the console so only the games I'm interested in come up. It is on the app too, but it is not something I go into really.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Th3solution I'll take some screenshots for you after work
On the control bar it's something like "news from your games" - not much there really.
And yeah, I believe it's a US thing. It could be something about European laws regarding privacy and unsolicited ads and stuff. I'm pretty sure those are way more strict over here than in the US.
@Voltan@JohnnyShoulder Ah, yeah I’d be curious to see how it looks differently. And it’s fascinating how the user experience can differ depending where you live. You’re probably right about the laws. But honestly, the ads, news, and videos from Sony and publishers is reasonable, like links to the interview with Herman Hulst, Combat tips for Ninja Gaiden (a game I’ve never owned or played), Resident Evil Dead by Daylight crossover release “news”, a bunch of VR news (which I also don’t own), links to the Horizon FW merch store where they’re selling T-shirts etc. ..., But the more annoying aspect is there is a bunch of user content icons in there too, like icons with links to random people’s twitch and live streams. I absolutely have no interest in just randomly watching people I don’t know play Destruction All-Stars new Blitz mode, or stream their Sackboy playthrough. It’s just way more cluttered than including a simple link to buy avatars for your profile.
@Th3solution Took a short break so I powered up the console while at it. Unfortunately all my USB thumb drives decided to hide from me and there’s still no other good way to take screenshots from the console, so some pictures of the screen will have to do: https://imgur.com/a/MQbQDyM
As you can see there’s no Explore at all on the Home Screen. There’s an activity card called “official news” but that’s it.
Some games have a “trending videos" section on their respective pages if you scroll down.
@Voltan Oh great - thanks for that!
It looks similar on my end, but with the Explore icon pinned next to the Store icon.
And the videos and content as you scroll down under each game are present on my end also. And when I press the PS button it defaults to the official news cards also. Just all a little busy for my taste. Nothing horrible, but just ironic how there’s this jumbled assault of graphics and videos but that the trophy list and friend list is buried out of the way where it takes a little searching to find. After learning the ropes, I accustomed to the structure, but it requires just ignoring all the ad and news content while I just scroll directly to the place I want to go. Which I guess was present on the PS4 UI also, but less cumbersome and the ads seemed less assertive since they were tucked away in the XMB.
It’s the Facebookification of the PS experience, with constantly squeezing in imagery from things they want you to see, even if only momentarily, as it places the idea in your mind to maybe buy something.
After work I’ll see if I’m able to unpin the Explore tab, but I suspect not.
@Th3solution I think you might be able to get rid of it if you unfollow all games.
I don't mind seeing news for games I play but I liked the PS4 screen that showed your friends' activity a lot more.
@JohnnyShoulder Maybe that’s another reason why Sony is sticking it to you all with the game pricing (in addition to the VAT issues). They aren’t making near as much advertising revenue from Europe and UK vs. the U.S. 🤔
Not sure which I’d rather have — more ads, or higher game prices.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I doubt the ads affect prices much. It’s mostly taxes and logistics and stuff (like having everything done in multiple languages).
Personally, I wouldn’t trade lower taxes for the other differences between the US and the EU (even though Poland is on the lower end of standards in Europe) but this is probably not the thread to discuss that 😉
@Th3solution You guys may have lower base prices, but at least we don't pay extra taxes. What price you see on the shelf/item page is the final price you pay.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@JohnnyShoulder Not only that - but the sales tax rate differs depending what state you’re in, what item you’re buying (food vs clothing vs cigarettes, etc), and sometimes even what season it is. 😅
It’s a mini mathematics problem every time you check out!
@RogerRoger The app doesn’t have a background banner page, that I can find. I think the website does or did, but can’t be sure.
But that makes sense now why my screenshot looked so muted.
The other thing that I have lost is the easy ability to transfer screenshots from my console over to my phone, since the “What’s new” thread of posts is not present on the app anymore. I previously just posted a screenshot that way then pulled it off my phone, but now I’ll have to either use Twitter (death first!) or do the USB drive dance.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Voltan so I could be wrong but I think I’ve seen you post about MK11 and that you’re a pretty big 1 on 1 fighting game fan. What are your thoughts on Guilty Gear Strive?
As someone who has virtually no interest in these kindsa games normally, there is something grabbing my attention about it.
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