In a regular company, it would be very difficult to believe that one man designed the entirety of any UI, especially one as large, complex and important as the PlayStation 3. But we're talking about Sony here. They're the people who designed the hardware for the PS3 first, then dumped the components onto the software guy, saying "do something with it."

If you're like Mark (and many others), you'll congratulate Mr. Yasuhiro Yamanaka on a job well done. If he really did create all of that by himself, it's quite an accomplishment. If you're like me, and think the XMB is pretty, yet functionally horrible from a UI development standpoint, you'll think this guy should hire a few more people to help. [LinkedIn via Superannuation via Joystiq]

Our momentum will continue with the introduction of in-game communication in the summer, firmware update 2.4 and the strongest line-up of games through our third party partners and our own studios. I'd personally like to thank our trade and business partners for helping us on the start of the PS3 journey.

So, there's going to be improved in-game chat (maybe expanded to every game via an in-game Xross Media Bar?) that's even better than the chat we've already used now? Sign us up. [MCVUK via Kotaku]