PS4 themes

While the PS4 may not have the benefit of the Xbox One’s monthly updates, Sony has been quite good when it comes to getting fixes and features to its shiny, new-gen baby. Meanwhile, on the Vita side of things Sony is still continuing to support their handheld console in a big way despite suggestions that it’s dying out.

For the PS4 that means the addition of SharePlay (which lets users play a game online with a friend even if the friend doesn’t own it themselves) and just today Sony has announced that they’ll be offering 250 free PSP games (compatible with PS Vita) to PlayStation Plus subscribers in Japan. It may not seem like much in the larger scheme of things but it does fulfil longstanding complaints from fans.

It also suggests that Sony is listening. So, clearly having taken the demand for themes into consideration Sony used its recent pre-TGS (Tokyo Game Show) press conference to announce that PS4 and PS Vita themes will be on the way.

Shown off in the video above, it appears that the PS4 will get right into the theme business with dynamic offerings. The PS3 had to wait some time for dynamic themes to hit the platform and once they did they were a relative success, even being offered as a pre-order bonus for The Last Of Us’ Left Behind DLC at one point.

Furthermore, in the theme above the two characters are the PlayStation mascots Toro and Kuro and although the characters are known to us in the West, they’re hardly going to have the same allure that they do in Sony’s home country. There’s yet to be an official list of upcoming themes though so there’s still a chance for something more familiar.

On PS Vita however, there’s no word whatsoever on dynamic themes on Vita (and it’s arguable that on the handheld’s smaller screen they’d look incredibly cluttered) but Sony presented a static, Zettai Zetsubo Shojo: Danganronpa Another Episode wallpaper complete with its own icons, which is great if you want to jazz it up a bit.

Unfortunately, the details on how these themes will be rolled out are few and far between. On PS3, most dynamic themes sadly cost money; will Sony also charge for them on PS4? On PSP users could download images from the web (or just import them from a PC hard-drive) and set them as a wallpaper; will we get that feature on Vita or will themes be restrictive and official only?

There’s also the pressing question of when PS4 owners will be able to manage their User Interface icons, to save their swanky new dynamic themes from getting hidden behind lots of disorganized clutter. Fortunately, though, Sony says that themes will be available in a firmware update later this year so we’ll know more closer to the time. Please, just let us customize backgrounds with out own images!

Source: Polygon