Patent ID: 7798903

Claim:
A computer readable storage medium having a tangible physical structure and including computer readable instructions for providing access to system functions during execution of a gaming application on a gaming console, the computer readable storage medium comprising: instructions for reserving a first portion of hardware resources of the gaming console for a system application and reserving a second portion of the hardware resources for the gaming application such that the reserved first portion is not visible and not accessible by the gaming application; instructions for configuring a graphics processing unit of the hardware to render a menu for the system application in response to a request for access to the system application during execution of the gaming application; instructions configured to concurrently execute the system application and the gaming application, wherein the first portion of the hardware resources are used to execute the system application and the second portion of the hardware resources are used to execute the gaming application; and instructions for outputting a user interface for accessing the system application without terminating the gaming application.