Sony 'looking into' changing PS3's newly redesigned Friends list
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Sep 10th 2009 at 1:00PM } 
This is not what the Friends list currently looks like.
Thankfully, the Friends list is something Sony is "looking into based on your comments." Mark Bowles added, "We really do appreciate the feedback you guys give us, both positive and negative."
Sony, may we recommend you take some inspiration from the mock-ups (seen above) created by Steven Shaw? The "box" idea works really well, when implemented correctly. Above, Shaw uses the box to highlight the selected user, and then takes advantage of the screen real estate to provide instant access to useful information. We're quite fond of his work -- you should definitely check out more.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Wiizer ($299) Having BC On Your Launch Console? (Priceless) @ Sep 10th 2009 1:04PM
Ohhh! I love those! Anything's better than those grey boxes!
Tiptup300 @ Sep 10th 2009 1:12PM
AND OMFG sony please warn me about stopping my music. If you get music setup, if you click on ANYTHING the music just stops just to look at a friends stats. So irritating.
Snakku @ Sep 10th 2009 1:37PM
Not only that but now it takes like 3 times the amount of time to open the friend list from in game. Very annoying
nriveraexpress @ Sep 10th 2009 2:28PM
unless they release a ram upgrade its always gonna take long to do anything while doing anything els
TypeF @ Sep 10th 2009 3:00PM
NO FREAKING WAY!! THIS IS AWESOME! Sony never dissapoints!
Plstcsldgr @ Sep 10th 2009 9:39PM
Titup300 go to sound setting and deselect your extra frequencies that your are outputting only 48 and 44.8 the others are useless and causing your background music playing. and don't blame Sony for using selecting the wrong thing. there is no use for those other frequencies.
Lars @ Sep 11th 2009 2:15PM
I don't mind the gray boxes so much. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer they weren't there but it doesn't really bother me either. What I can't stand is that damn information ticker! How the hell do I get rid of it? Is that even possible?
One thing related to the friends list that I really really like is that I can see how many friends are online in the upper right corner at all times.
Tiptup300 @ Sep 11th 2009 2:47PM
Plstcsldgr, your dumb. I use a HDMI cable and chose AUTO the only frequencies selected are 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz. I actually have no idea what that was supposed to solve at all. I'm saying that you can't play music while doing anything else on the playstation it just stops it.
Copland @ Sep 10th 2009 1:04PM
Now THIS looks COOL !!!!
This is more than ten times better than the current FW3.0 friend list!
Vidikron @ Sep 10th 2009 1:07PM
Yes, this is worlds better. Only one box at a time and the transparent/glass look fits the feel of XMB much, much better. The gray boxes are terrible.
ryan_gliebe @ Sep 10th 2009 2:19PM
Agreed. It comes off as sleek just as the XMB should be, yet has that new look. I like it, if that's what is planned.
The Alex @ Sep 10th 2009 1:07PM
Now, if only Sony would get rid of the ridiculous "this could cause seizures" screens that make me sqeamish just looking at them, we'd be in business... and it's not even every game, but it's a stupid warning. If a person has epilepsy, then they know the risks involved in playing games. As for people without epilepsy, the likeliness of getting a seziure is so ridiculously low (unless you abuse drugs or bang your head on things) that there's no need for a warning.
Also, I wish Nintendo would take a similar "listen to the customer" approach with regards to it's "safety" warning you get when you turn on the system and every game, it's retarded! Or rather, it appears catered to retards, which is retarded!
AmanteDuck @ Sep 10th 2009 1:13PM
Yup. And then all it takes is one person to play the game, have something happen, and then Sony gets sued and then the case is WON by the victim because Sony neglected to issue proper warning regardless of how stupid or not stupid the warning may be.
Remember McDonalds being sued by the woman who spilt obviously HOT coffee on herself? Now they have labels that say HOT on the cups even though this concept should be glaringly obvious. This is what we call a safety net. It keeps people from getting fucked in the ass by other people.
Deal with it.
Matt Rigg @ Sep 10th 2009 1:17PM
Yeah, I hate them too but the problem is that if someone does have a fit, or break a(nother) TV with a Wiimote, then that someone (most likely American) will attempt to sue.
"What's that? I'm not supposed to cut my legs off with this chainsaw?! But there's no warning telling me not to, hence it's your fault, Stihl"
In todays lawsuit-a-plenty society, you need to cover yourself for any, and every possible circumstance.
Tiptup300 @ Sep 10th 2009 1:23PM
Games are different, it's in the manual and the box. Notice your car doesn't require you to hit a button saying "I know I may kill people" everytime you want to drive.
deathxrebirth @ Sep 10th 2009 2:49PM
Proof right here that gamers will ALWAYS find something to complain about. I have actually never head this one yet. Bravo.
Kodros @ Sep 10th 2009 3:29PM
"Remember McDonalds being sued by the woman who spilt obviously HOT coffee on herself?"
I always thought that was a retarded lawsuit until I actually looked into it. Once I did, I agreed with the woman. McDonald's use to keep the coffee way hotter then it should be. I understand that spilling coffee on yourself was the woman's fault, but if the coffee was at a normal temperature, it wouldn't have created the insane burns that this lady experienced. It's like getting a hamburger that is 180 degrees. You know that hamburgers should be hot, but dropping one on your lap shouldn't burn your skin off.
Weirdo93 @ Sep 10th 2009 4:07PM
its Sony covering their asses
all it takes is just one person to screw up and completely not listen to the warning
Sony then has to deal with a lawsuit that they'll most likely lose becuz of that...
thats like not putting a surgeon general warning on cigarettes - they can obviously cause damage to u, and especially if ur pregnant, but if it isnt there, someone pregnant may smoke and then whem they have complications during and after the birth of their child, they'll of course say "but i sisnt kno that" and then sue.......
think b4 u post something, dude
Duke @ Sep 10th 2009 5:32PM
Kodros is right about the McDonalds lawsuit. I thought it was bs a long time ago too until I read the details. Mc'D's was making the coffee dangerously hot even though they knew it would cause damages because they had marketing reports saying that the smell of it that hot made for more sales. The 3rd degree burn risk of coffee is above 140 degrees or so and they had the burners making it around 190 if I remember right. They decided to risk people's health and safety for a couple more sales and the woman got burns to her bone because of it.
I hate junk lawsuits - and that one was not a junk lawsuit.
Imran @ Sep 11th 2009 10:40AM
People like AmanteDuck demonstrate an epidemic of ignorance that exists because they believe themselves to be informed while they aren't. Hearsay is no substitute for serious research and investigation. If you cannot make an INFORMED opinion STFU. The woman's case was legit.
Marky264 @ Sep 10th 2009 1:08PM
I really wish the XMB would look like that. Sony you should contact that dude and set it up!
[ArchiGamer] @ Sep 10th 2009 1:09PM
Me likely.
acefondu @ Sep 10th 2009 1:11PM
It looks great, but I can't be the only one who gets retarded load times when viewing friends trophies can I? That being the case wouldn't it cause quite some lag time simply viewing your friends if their trophy information automatically displays? Just saying, there might be some problems with that.
Tiptup300 @ Sep 10th 2009 1:15PM
not to mention it stops the music you're listening to.
Cheezeman3000 @ Sep 10th 2009 4:57PM
They could fix that by adding a little swirling "loading" logo in place of the trophy info until the info is actually loaded. You could still see all your friends and scroll through them even though their trophy info hasn't loaded yet.
quazarblack @ Sep 11th 2009 4:59PM
low ram is the problem here so why doesn't sony meet us the users in the middle and give us a favorite 10 like on the cell phones, that we can see quickly and anyone out side of the 10 friends will either have to be temporarily downloaded the old way or swapped out with one of the 10. of course that means that sony would have to give us control of how we stack our friends list but that would make both sides happy.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Sep 10th 2009 1:12PM
Ooooohh that mockup is purdy. That was the only change I despised in 3.0, the god awful friends list.
Ryan_P27 @ Sep 10th 2009 1:14PM
That is realy good stuff.
B3astofthe3ast @ Sep 10th 2009 1:17PM
At least they listen to feedback...
DangerMouse @ Sep 10th 2009 1:36PM
People have been making suggestions for a couple of years now. I'm sure it's turned into damage control after FW3.0 did nothing but make a few useless cosmetic changes. I have no idea what they're waiting on.
Vidikron @ Sep 10th 2009 1:47PM
To be fair 3.0 did more than cosmetic changes. You can see all the changes here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software
The problem is that many of the cosmetic changes weren't needed or should have been optional. I do like dynamic themes though.
Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) @ Sep 10th 2009 3:45PM
I really wish they'd make it possible to play music from the xmb while playing games, like on the 360. But I googled a bit and discovered people were asking for this in the ancient times of 2007 so I guess nothing will be done to grant me my wish.
stormtrooper190 (IcelandTerrorist) @ Sep 10th 2009 6:38PM
yo Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) they DO have in game music playback its thar developers have to iplement it them selves. motorstorm PR,killzome 2,ferrari challenge just to name a few. dont blame sony blame the developers.
AmanteDuck @ Sep 10th 2009 1:17PM
That mock-up is pretty damn perfect.
The one thing I wish the friends list had was a quick glance at the trophies. In addition, the other changes are fantastic too. Clean, attractive and easy to navigate (or so it looks). The recent trophies pane is an interesting addition as well. Gives you a good idea of what friends have been playing recently (assuming the games have trophies).
I give this two thumbs up. And something else up too. Technology excites me.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Sep 10th 2009 1:21PM
yea just give me the option to turn the boxes on or off....AND to change the color or make them translucent....
Night Elve @ Sep 10th 2009 1:24PM
Yeap.
I was browsing PS board early in the morning and that mock-up caught my attention, that's how the friend list should look like, that mock-up really looks clean and sleek.
Chris @ Sep 10th 2009 1:24PM
Yes, extremely nice, but it takes a few seconds to load up each page of the friend's info page currently, so loading up all three pages at once would take a painfully long time.
TreyIM @ Sep 10th 2009 1:35PM
Nice mock ups. Even though I'm not really one to complain, and even got on others for the overdone whining about the changes, I have to admit that the grey boxes threw me off a bit and had me wondering, "Who thought these things were a good idea?" Then I started to scout around to see if the option to change them was added - Nah. Lol.
I really hope you guys got that vid over to Sony. Peas....
xFenixKnightx @ Sep 10th 2009 1:40PM
I like what Sony's been doing lately so cool beans.
BUT...CAN WE GET SOME NEW UP TO DATE MOTHERFUCKING AVATARS FOR OUR GAMERCARD, SONY? Theres stuff in there that is just completely pointless. At least give us some new Killzone 2 pics, Uncharted 2, Infamous, LBP, COD4/WAW/MW2 stuff.
*hears waaaambulance in the background
XBL: xGeneral DEATHx PSN: Deeth82 @ Sep 10th 2009 2:14PM
Or at least some cross-game voice chat that works. I know that's an age-old want, but it's still valid.
deathxrebirth @ Sep 10th 2009 2:54PM
What, you don't like smiling feces?
XBL: xGeneral DEATHx PSN: Deeth82 @ Sep 10th 2009 3:11PM
My first real downvote...I'm so proud!
XBL: xGeneral DEATHx PSN: Deeth82 @ Sep 10th 2009 3:12PM
Well, that was short-lived. Now I'm not downvoted anymore.
koehler83 @ Sep 10th 2009 1:41PM
The friends list needs to be changed. The chime and PS3 logo boot image should be optional. The ticker should be optional. The additional PS Store icons should be optional.
Vidikron @ Sep 10th 2009 1:50PM
I doubt you're going to get optional chimes and logos. I see that as likely to happen as asking MS to remove the 360's boot splash screen.
koehler83 @ Sep 10th 2009 2:29PM
They removed it. I want the option to put it BACK.
Vidikron @ Sep 10th 2009 2:35PM
Ahh... when you said "boot image" I thought you were talking about the new PS3 logo and new tone music that plays when the system itself boots.... but you're talking about when a game boots.
Ashitaka @ Sep 10th 2009 2:50PM
To be honest, I quite liked the PlayStation 3 black screen and the sparkly sound, I wouldn't mind having them again at all.
umm....hello??? @ Sep 10th 2009 3:00PM
yeah, I also hate the PS Store icons in my video list and games list--at least they haven't infiltrated the music list yet. it'd be at least better if it was at the very BOTTOM of said lists. and the ticker--blech. I removed it the first time it was available, and now I'm stuck with it.
ducttapeBigSexy @ Sep 10th 2009 3:19PM
Agreed on both accounts - removing the "PLAYSTATION 3" image and chime is horrible - when I start a game, I like it providing me with an introduction!
Also, all the endless links to the PS Store is really annoying. I got it Sony, you like selling things, but come on!