PS4 firmware 4.70 dropped earlier this week and, at face value, didn’t change a whole lot. There was your typical system performance improvements and a slight tweak to tournaments but that was about it. What did change, however, which was never publicized by Sony, are the system icons for services such as PS Vue, PS Now, the Store, and so on. As you can see from the image above, PlayStation icons are taking a more familiar and modern flat design which you’ll find on iOS and now Android as well. All of this begs one question.

Why didn’t Sony advertise this? Compared to what they were, the new icons are vastly superior which is worth pointing out, even if it’s in a short blog post or press release. It’s still obvious what each icon is but the new simplified look gives a more adult feel to them all which is important as these services are no longer exclusive to just PlayStation consoles and can be found elsewhere, like PS Now PC and PS Vue on Apple TV.

On top of that, the stupid ™ is gone after each service which I never understood the reasoning for. Sony as a corporation is for some reason or another obsessed when ensuring everything they offer has a ™ or ® after it, something other companies don’t do. You’re never going to see Google Play ™ or iTunes ® yet every Sony site, service, and design has it plastered all over. We get it, you own the trademark/copyright. No one is going to think “Aha! No ™ after the PlayStation Video icon, surely I can use this for myself!”

I for one am loving the subtle redesign of the services icons and find small tweaks like this essential if Sony wants PlayStation to be something more than a console/service that’s geared towards gamers only. What do you think about the refreshed icons?

[Via Polygon]