Improve User Interface and Sharing Capabilities
The PlayStation Store and PSN have definitely improved since the days of their inception. Whether due to the increased incentive Sony has to keep the services up to snuff given how PS Plus is mandatory to play online now, there are less outages and less extended periods of time needed for maintenance. This being said, there are still some flaws in how each is designed that for some reason Sony has overlooked.
As it stands when accessed through a standard PS4, the PlayStation Store still feels antiquated in terms of accessibility. Certain categories lack the specific search criteria found on the Store’s internet browser component and users are prohibited from purchasing anything outside of PS4 goods. Should you have both a PS3 and a PS Vita, you’ll have to either go on each machine’s respective iteration of the Store or access all of the platforms via internet browser to purchase the goods you want across each respective platform. The general game search function is also a bit outdated, as it has users spell out a title’s name through a series of lettered rows instead of just letting people use a digital keyboard to get the job done. The PlayStation Store just still isn’t intuitive enough yet.
Sharing capabilities can be improved to allow users more freedom as to what they want to do with their in-game screenshots or videos. Posting on Instagram or Twitter, for instance, shouldn’t be as complicated a process as it is (you have to save your image onto a USB, then work from there), not to mention that the inclusion of email sending should be a no-brainer.
There’s also the option to change PSN usernames to consider, which Sony Interactive Entertainment America CEO Shawn Layden hinted at during PSX this year. Hopefully his suggestion that the option does come within the next year turns out to be true.
