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[Jubenhimer]

It's 2:00 AM on day off, you're not tired yet, and you feel like trying your hand at that final boss again, what would be the first thing you normally see when booting up a gaming platform?



The start up screen imo, the most important part of any gaming platform besides the games. You're going to be seeing that shit every time to start open a game, or turn on the console, so it better be a enjoyable waste of a few seconds. A console's boot up screen is important because its supposed to sell you what kind of console this is. They're a great opportunity to flex the system's hardware capabilities, and set the mood for the games you'll be playing on it.

Some of my favorites are the Dreamcast boot up.



Not only was it 60FPS compared to the others at the time, showing the console's then superior processor. But it also establishes the Dreamcast as this whimsical Dreamscape where anything can happen, which is fitting for the console's first party games.

The Game Boy Advance's is great.



It's a nice evolution of the Game Boy Startup, using the system's sprite scaling to have the Game Boy logo swoop in and deliver a higher quality bling. It gives a nice sense of. "Look how far we've come".

The PlayStation 2 boot up, which I think is even better than the PS1's boot up above.



Not only does it have a cool Easter egg regarding the save data on your memory card. But it sells the idea of the PlayStation 2 literally transporting you into the digital world, where Fast Cars, destructive Space Lombax's, Racoon Thieves, and Sociopathic Greek Spartans await.

I like the Nintendo DS' as well, it's not flashy or anything, but its a simple jingle that shows off the system's distinctive feature (that being dual screens).



And the best IMO, was the Xbox 360's. It just has this Swagger and class to it that previous consoles didn't have.



It's just the kind of confident intro that goes "BAM! Next Gen is here".

Sadly, this is also where Console boot ups started to die, starting with the Wii. Instead of a fancy boot up like the GameCube, the Wii instead starts with some health and safety warning jargon, before dumping you straight into the Wii Menu. Riveting.



But it's not all bad, rather than a traditional boot up, the Wii instead opts to give each of its Apps (dubbed Wii Channels) their own custom intro when you click on them. I always liked seeing these, even if it wasn't a traditional boot-up, it still gave you a nice peak at what type of game you'll be playing.



The PlayStation 3 started off with boot up similar to previous PlayStations. A Fancy Sound with the Sony Computer Entertainment text displayed, before flashing the PS3 logo when a game starts up.



It was a nice one that sold the kind of elegant product the PS3 was intended to be. After Sony rolled out the new PS3 logo though, they dropped the SCE text and Game Startup splash screen in favor of just the PS3 logo at the beginning.



With the PS Vita and PS4, Sony simply gave up and have the stock PS logo display in a generic fashion.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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Nintendo with the 3DS and Switch, opted to have a stock splash screen play everytime you open an app, which is nice, but not fancy either.

Nintendo 3DS Startup

www.youtube.com

And Xbox One just uses the logo you see in the commercials.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Console boot ups are much more generic now, which is fine for efficiency and speed. But kind of looses the charm that the older ones had.

 

[AV]

I always appreciated the PSP boot.

 

[JOEVIAL]

PS1 startup is what nostalgia is made of... but the OG XBOX bootup is the stuff of dreams...

 

[Keihart]

idk, i actually like the minimalist PS4 boot logo.
It helps that it's dark themed as well so i don't get a flash of light from a white screen in my face if the room it's dark.

 

[Self]

Nah, I always wanted to skip that shit.

A console boot up screen is fine, but not when loading games.

 

[kruis]

idk, i actually like the minimalist PS4 boot logo.
It helps that it's dark themed as well so i don't get a flash of light from a white screen in my face if the room it's dark.

PS4 boot is pretty good - if it weren't for that epilepsy warning that spoils everything.

 

[Keihart]

PS4 boot is pretty good - if it weren't for that epilepsy warning that spoils everything.

Or i haven't noticed this or is some regional stuff

 

[Codes 208]

I like the new xbox SX boot up screen though. Clean, minimalistic, soothing tune.

 

[Jubenhimer]

I like the new xbox SX boot up screen though. Clean, minimalistic, soothing tune.

Me too. It's refreshing after having the Lazy boot up of the Xbox One, which was just a pre-rendered video file of the logo used in the Xbox One ads.

 

[Saint Boot]

Imo, the Dreamcast, Ps1, Wii and Gamecube had the best start screens. I love the retro television screens look for the Wii and nothing will ever beat that wii shop music. I really miss the my dreamcast and mini white ps1 systems.

 

[Jubenhimer]

PS4 boot is pretty good - if it weren't for that epilepsy warning that spoils everything.

My problem is that its pretty bland. Seriously, we went from the fantastical whimsy of being teleported into the game world with the PS2, to just... "Yeah, welcome to PlayStation 4, or whatever". IMO, just having the PS logo display and nothing else is lazy.

 

[Breakage]

Now that Microsoft has brought back the console boot animation, I wonder if Sony will too.
Something bizarre and futuristic would be cool.

 

[Closer]

Everytime I see the Wii logo that f'n shop music takes over my head. So simple and so great.

OT: That Ps1 and Dreamcast boot screens are the ones I love the most. Turning On a Dreamcast was something else, the feeling of being taken to places unknown.

 

[Honey Bunny]

The PS3's sound is an orchestra tuning up isn't it? I loved Sony Japan for that kind of pretentiousness and ambition. PS4's entire UI is bland as hell.

 

[Old Retro]

Gimme that old NES shit and boot directly to the game! (or menu nowadays) I don't need an NBA pregame introduction. Although Playstation and Saturn bootups have a special place in my heart.

 

[The_Observer]

The first 5 years of the Xbox 360 was amazing. So much has changed since then. I don't know how to say it, but from 2005-2010 (and especially with the first dashboard design) it felt as a console made by gamers and since 2010 Xbox feels like a "corporate machine".

 

[Jubenhimer]

The PS3's sound is an orchestra tuning up isn't it? I loved Sony Japan for that kind of pretentiousness and ambition. PS4's entire UI is bland as hell.

The PS4 was the period where Sony Computer Entertainment began moving away from Ken Kuteragi's ambitious sensibilities. Mark Cerny presumably wanted to get the user into the PS4 as fast as possible, hence, no fancy boot up. The PS5 will be the first PlayStation developed entirely in the US by Sony Interactive, so it'll be interesting to see how Sony will do a boot up screen with that system.

I don't know how to say it, but from 2005-2010 (and especially with the first dashboard design) it felt as a console made by gamers and since 2010 Xbox feels like a "corporate machine".

Xbox is slowly getting back to its roots. While I don't think it'll ever reach the heights of the 360, it's hard to deny Phill hasn't saved Xbox from the damage that Don Matrick did.

Speaking of Xbox, why the fuck wasn't this the Xbox One's boot up screen?



This is way more interesting than the one currently on the console.

 

[The_Observer]

It's certainly more interesting but a bit too much IMO. Xbox is inarguably doing better now but I feel they are still very far from the glorious 360 days, though that was a very different time culturally also so it's impossible to get back to it.

 

[The_Observer]

The PS4 was the period where Sony Computer Entertainment began moving away from Ken Kuteragi's ambitious sensibilities. Mark Cerny presumably wanted to get the user into the PS4 as fast as possible, hence, no fancy boot up. The PS5 will be the first PlayStation developed entirely in the US by Sony Interactive, so it'll be interesting to see how Sony will do a boot up screen with that system.



Xbox is slowly getting back to its roots. While I don't think it'll ever reach the heights of the 360, it's hard to deny Phill hasn't saved Xbox from the damage that Don Matrick did.

Speaking of Xbox, why the fuck wasn't this the Xbox One's boot up screen?



This is way more interesting than the one currently on the console.

It's certainly more interesting but a bit too much IMO. Xbox is inarguably doing better now but I feel they are still very far from the glorious 360 days, though that was a very different time culturally also so it's impossible to get back to it.

 

[Strider Highwind]

You know ive had an xbox one, and an xbox one x since their respective launch dates and it never dawned on me that my wife thinks they dont boot into a screen from a fresh startup. She thinks she just holds a button on the controller and bam. its on cause of resume...

So a week ago lol....the power flashed off while she was watching hbo(im getting her to bing Sopranos)

And while im in my office i hear the xbox one x boot up....and I hear her say to her sister on the phone..."Man he has this weird screensaver on this shit....shit is mad annoying"

I look outside my office and its the real boot screen ...

So your thread is spot on lol. They killed the old school boot screen vibes

 

[Jubenhimer]

It's certainly more interesting but a bit too much IMO. Xbox is inarguably doing better now but I feel they are still very far from the glorious 360 days, though that was a very different time culturally also so it's impossible to get back to it.

Even in that case, it's still light years better than the Kinectapalooza that defined the later half of the 360's life, or the disaster that was the Xbox One's pre-launch.

 

[The_Observer]

Even in that case, it's still light years better than the Kinectapalooza that defined the later half of the 360's life, or the disaster that was the Xbox One's pre-launch.

Can't argue with that, fully agree.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Sega Saturn. Maybe my Joint favourite console with PS1.... and PS2 lol

 

[Kokoloko85]

Gamcube was Awesome!

 

[Jubenhimer]

Gamcube was Awesome!

Fun fact, the boot up sound changes depending on how you hold the Z-Button. Holding it on one controller plays this.



And on 4 controllers, you get this.

 

[01011001]

And Xbox One just uses the logo you see in the commercials.

yes but the One X has a slightly more dramatic one

 

[Moogle11]

I’m fine with them going away. The sooner I can get into the game I’m playing the better.

 

[01011001]

I’m fine with them going away. The sooner I can get into the game I’m playing the better.

every system needs time to do self checks and boot the OS, the former not possible to be sped up by a fast SSD, so boot screens will never go. so why not make them fancy/nice to look at?

 

[deriks]

Boot screens are a weird and fun thing. Back in the day, consoles didn't have an operating system. 99% was made by the cartridge/disc and only a small thing was in the machine to region lock or something.

The first Xbox was the closest to a OS, because his code was based on Windows - and the Dreamcast support Windows CE, but runs from the disc, like Resident Evil 2 or Sega Rally 2.

Now consoles are just PCs with some changes. Can't say that is a bad thing, but you can say that doesn't have the same charm

Best console boot is Dreamcast:
- creative way to show a logo and his name in glorious 60 frames per second
- even a monkey could draw the logo
- the sound is a waking up thing, but with some "water drop" effects that just makes you feel calm, like when it rains softly
- less than 10 seconds, so no fuzz to play
Sega created the Dreamcast to be a brand, and it's a shame that never got the gold that deserves.

PlayStation wins by close second:
- very powerfull starting sound, like a mecha waking up, and a nice "getting chill" sound at the end
- it's not just the console name showing up, it's the brand, and will never get old
Sony knew that his name should be as recognizable as the PlayStation logo, so they created their own logo to Sony Computer Entertainment to be shown before the PS logo. This created a little problem: 20 seconds of boot and still has the loading of the game, which could easilly be one minute.

Game Cube for third place:
- creative show with a cube. Can't do much of it, but they sure did
- quick as hell, and it has sound variations that the player(s) could do as a fun easter egg
- shows that is a Nintendo console and his name
Nintendo didn't do a boot for the N64 because consoles are not used to do that, but they tried to show something with some games back in the day, like Zelda, Conker's, Perfect Dark... So they thought in a nice way to show in their next console, and they did. Than they trown everything away on the Wii with just a warranty message, got lazy with just a JPEG of the Nintendo and the Wii U logo, and got their shit together with the Switch.

 

[Moogle11]

every system needs time to do self checks and boot the OS, the former not possible to be sped up by a fast SSD, so boot screens will never go. so why not make them fancy/nice to look at?

I mean you can get into suspended games pretty quickly In some platforms.As long as that’s the case I don’t care if there’s some boot screen when you have to do a hard restart. I rarely do unless there’s a system update that restarts it or my power went out.

 

[Jubenhimer]

I mean you can get into suspended games pretty quickly In some platforms.As long as that’s the case I don’t care if there’s some boot screen when you have to do a hard restart. I rarely do unless there’s a system update that restarts it or my power went out.

I like the way Nintendo does it currently, playing a quick splash animation when you start a game on the Switch and 3DS. It's not a conventional boot up, but I think its a decent compromise.