PS4 Update Adding Themes To The Dashboard

PS4 dashboards are about to get a lot more customizable. Sony has just announced that the PS4 will follow in the footsteps of the Vita by adding custom themes to the console's Dashboard. The reveal showcased a few animated themes featuring Japanese PlayStation characters Toro and Kuro. Switching through the menus changes the background where the characters reside.

There's no word yet on when this update will be released, or if it will come with the ability to be 'fully' custom, meaning players can select their own images to be used as backgrounds. It seems possible that perhaps these advanced themes might only be available for purchase on the PS Store, with maybe a handful doled out for free for players to get a taste of what they can be like. But I have to imagine Sony wouldn't want to miss the chance to be able to charge for an Uncharted, Last of Us or God of War background. Hell, I'm willing to bet our own Erik Kain would pay about $50 for a Dark Souls PS4 theme.

I've talked about the importance of a good dashboard in the past when discussing the eternal Xbox One vs. PS4 console battle. I think it's something that's often overlooked in favor of the standard talking points like resolution and exclusives, but it's still very important to the overall 'feel' of the console.

In some sense, Microsoft has actually done a better job with customization of the desktop, allowing users to move around their various Windows 8 style 'pins' to any formation they want.

And yet I've always preferred Sony's interface. Even when it's not gaming on the docket, I'll always reach for my PS4 controller to play Netflix instead of booting up Xbox One.

I'm not a fan of Xbox One's tiles, which may work on a laptop or tablet just fine, but are often annoying to navigate with a controller, and even more so with Kinect gestures, even though that technically should be the optimal way to surf the dashboard (in a perfect world where Kinect always does what it's supposed to). Often times the tiles seem too tiny, and some refuse to be clicked on at all, like when you're downloading a game or an update.

Sony has its share of problems as well (hiding away actual download progress buried deep in the system menu), but navigation generally seems more intuitive, and if ads bother you, there are few and far between on PS4 compared to Xbox One.

I watched the Xbox 360 go through two major dashboard overhauls during the time I owned the system, and I think a priority for Microsoft should be updating the Xbox One's dashboard in the same way. The tile system just isn't ideal for a non-touch device, and more customization other than rearranging pins would help as well. Now Sony will have custom, animated backgrounds through this update, while Microsoft will leave you at the mercy of its base look.

I'm not in love with the few themes Sony has shown so far, but I have to imagine they have a few great ones in store, given all the different series and concepts they have to work with. More information on this update as it comes out.

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