PSX OS test drive: elegant, intuitive

TOKYO-- As reported on GameSpot yesterday, Sony is currently previewing the PSX at the CEATEC electronics show in Tokyo. This reporter was fortunate enough to get some hands-on time today, and the results were impressive: The PSX's interface is elegant and exceptionally intuitive. Other visitors seemed to have the same reaction, manipulating the menus comfortably as soon as they picked up the controller.

The top menu consists of a simple horizontal row of seven icons. From left to right, these represent: configuration, photo viewer, music player, video from HDD recorder, broadcast TV, PS2, and Sony's broadband service.

Users can choose either of two input devices: a PS2 controller or a remote control that looks like a standard A/V remote with the addition of a central thumbstick (reminiscent of IBM's Thinkpad laptops).

The icon in the middle of the screen is active, and pressing either left or right makes the display scroll horizontally, selecting the next icon. When an icon is activated, the available choices appear below it in a vertical column; for example, when the main broadcast TV icon is selected, icons for a program guide and icons for each channel appear below.

If there are enough choices, they "wrap" back to the top of the screen, and users can pick from the submenus by using the up and down buttons on the controller. Once the user has made a selection from the submenu, which might be a recorded program to watch, a music track to listen to, or a photo to view, he or she presses the controller's circle button to execute the selection--just like using a menu for a PS2 game.

Usability has traditionally been a weak spot for consumer electronics makers, but the PSX reverses this trend with its OS based on the PS2's. The PSX's highly usable interface may give it an edge against its main competition for the living room: PCs running Microsoft's Win XP Media Center.

Of note was the fact that Sony's demonstration PSX consoles had a rich selection of movies recorded on their hard drives. When asked, a Sony employee confirmed that DVDs cannot actually be recorded on the PSX hard drive and that the movies had been loaned by Sony Pictures for demonstration purposes only.

As a content provider, Sony has a vested interest in ensuring that the PSX's high-speed DVD writer doesn't become a tool for "living room piracy," and the company has taken a number of steps to prevent this. Not only does the console lack the ability to record MP3s, but it's not compatible with AVI or VCD formats either.

Of course, like the Xbox, the high-end hardware inside will make the PSX an attractive target for hackers, but Sony's design choices will minimize casual piracy by the general public.