Kotaku
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe finally let the cat out of the bag today about the Playstation 3 store redesign we broke the news on almost a month ago. This April the PSN will be getting this slick redesign in Europe.
The redesign comes in response to a survey conducted late last year which told Sony that gamers wanted the store's interface to be easier to navigate.
During the update content for the PSN in the region will be suspended for two weeks while their Internet gremlins do the work. While there will be no new weekly content updates between now and the relaunch, which sounds like it will be in two weeks, users will still be able to download anything currently on the store. The revamp will not affect accounts for the virtual wallet system.
No word yet on when the update will be hitting the U.S., but we'll update when I found out.
Hit the jump for the press release and a few more images.
PLAYSTATION®Store to undergo April revamp
Customer feedback drives new design, interface and navigation Updates on hold for two weeks; new-look Store launches mid-April
This April, PLAYSTATION®Store, the online content store on PLAYSTATION®Network, is getting a whole new look and feel - and it's in response to feedback from the millions of PSN registrants in the PAL region.
The revamp comes in response to a survey last year which showed that many PLAYSTATION Store users wanted a better interface and easier navigation. The new design will deliver a hugely improved navigation system, much greater scope for categorisation and a dynamic new user interface.
Content will be suspended for two weeks while the improvements are carried out but users can look forward to a special update in mid-April.
There will be no weekly content updates between now and the re-launch, although users can still download content from the back catalogue, such as Warhawk™ and Gran Turismo™ 5 Prologue.
The PLAYSTATION Store revamp will not affect PLAYSTATION Network accounts or the virtual wallet system.
Comments
sounds good
Nice, looks good.
Looking slick
that's hawt.
feels good, it even tastes good to.
Nice.
I just got my ps3 this week-end and I *DID* find it somewhat un-user-friendly.
Looking forward to try it out.
Looks slick, i hope it'll be faster
Excellent, I hope the performance of the store increases as well. The current store leaves a lot to be desired.
Nice ,hope Home comes soon though.
Think the new look is great, but there was so much complaining when the PS Store was updated a day late last week, I dread to think how much complaining will take place over a two week break.
It reminds me of Portal for some odd reason.
Just keeps getting leaps and bounds better than The Xbox Live Marketplace.
so they're ditching the loading web pages type design? Thank god.
Great, now if only they could get PSN gift cards out in stores. I don't want to take the risk of linking my bank account to my PS3 just so I can buy the expansion to Warhawk or the Boston Rock Band track pack.
@schizogony: PSN has a looooooong way to go before its on Live's level
looks very nice, hopefully the navigation has been improved as much as they claim... let's get this to the north american store shortly
Hmm, why isnt it using all the space to the edges, SD being pleased at the detriment of HD?
@schizogony:
you must be out of your mind, keep telling yourself that fanboy
Sweet. I hope the redesign affects us poor ole peeps still on SDTVs, as the store can only display 3 items at a time. Pretty awful really, takes 10 minutes to find anything with its webpage slowness. Still, slick new design, with a nice categorising system. Love the adventure game guy, leaping over spikey death.
@KuromanKuro Live and PSN: exactly! i'm in the same boat as you
While the new site does look cool, some of those icons mean absolutely nothing to me. Like what the hell does hand picking up a man mean?
call me skeptical, but it really doesn't look any easier to navigate.
looks good, we get the back button too now! It was so annoying clicking on "previous". Hopefully when clicking on one of the boxes a list of items appears in the same format- definitely easier to navigate with a scrollbar.
Looks great. It'll hit just in time for that sweet Resistance 2 trailer, too. Now gimme Home.
@Habitual Line Stepper: he said marketplace not xbox live
looking great :)
@KuromanKuro Live and PSN: You can delete your card details as soon as you've made the purchase, it doesn't hold your details to ransom like Live does...
The icon of a hand picking up a person stands for god game or as it is properly called sim (Simulation) e.g. Themepark or Simcity
@nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin):
either way that guy is off, I have and love both systems but the PS3 lacks in EVERY online aspect, marketplace included.
@ProroK: quoted for truth
@nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin): he's still wrong
I love this new windows media center. When is Microsofting releasing it? Oh what's that? It's the new Psn store interface? Oh, well than that is a HUGE improvement. Good job Sony. But I call shenanigans on no content updates for two weeks because of the design change implementation.
@TyrannosaurusRox: Amen to that. Not to mention that the currency in PSN isn't in Spacebucks.
It's pretty elegant looking. I like it. Unlike XBOX Live Marketplace, there is a way to drill back down to the Store's frontpage. With XBOX Live Marketplace, you had to mash B just to go back to the front of the blade.
Since I'm bashing Marketplace anyways, I'll quote Garnett Lee in saying that you know it's a black day for Microsoft when Nintendo has some shit figured out that they don't. The Wii remembers your online purchases and Sony ties your purchases to the email address which you registered your PSN account.
Even more BS genre icons. There are enough games today that mix many genres. Those neat icons look good now, but reality will obliterate them.
I wunt that wun!
@Habitual Line Stepper: hmm in usability the XBLM is better, in terms of content the PS shop is probably better.
it looks good.
"No new content for two weeks"
No change there then.
I don't see how this is better than the current version. Whats with all the wasted screen space to the left and right?
Is this some kind of April fools joke?
@nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin): I wouldnt be so sure about that!
Theres one thing I have noticed with the new design and its designed for the controller as the default navigation for the PLAYSTATION Store. Currently, it is a bitch to navigate around the PS Store because it has a mouse cursor which is clearly retarded but if you look carefully, it has navigation commands assigned to the O and X buttons which should confirm the primary controls for navigation will be for the SIXAXIS / DUALSHOCK 3.
Anywho, I am liking the design and its been rumored to be released on April 15th so I assume that there is going to be a Firmware Update for the Store as Firmware Updates are usually released on Tuesdays for the PS3. I am so happy its not just a new colour change or web based, it resembles the SingStore design and thats good news.
@nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin):
To be honest, I like the PS Store for new content as most of it has been pretty kick ass but Live has the classics.
Yes, Live says they're HD when some of them blatently aint in HD but they revise classics to have leaderboards, Online Play, Achievements and etc. which makes it kick ass.
I would love a PSN Version of Vib Ribbon or a Online HD version of Tekken Tag Tournament
At least Europe is getting some first-release love. Now they'll be able to navigate their 6-month-behind PSN release list more easily.
Though I *do* agree with nolifedopestar. It just looks like it had its links moved around a bit - not any more easily navigated at all, aside from more icons on the screen at one time. As long as there's still 5 second delays when going between the sub-categories, it will still be a terrible experience for new PS3 owners who have to trudge through the backlog of PSN releases. More so as time goes on and more downloads are released.
I picked up Rock Band recently (before they added the store to the RB menu) and had to navigate *back* to the Rock Band section every time I added something to the cart. 20 songs took me like a half hour to find and add.
@rockmanjoey: i meant cos of the categories. why cant they just have GAMES (single page list of games), DEMOS (single page list of demos) TRAILERS, and MISC SHIT (blu ray/cinema trailers)
@rockmanjoey: yea i agree, (properly executed) tekken tag would be great. as for vib ribbon, i think that's on the japanese shop, so a western release is definitely on the cards.
@r3m1x:
1UpYours right? I just listened to it today.
The new PSN store looks great. One thing MS has over Nintendo and Sony right now is how fast it all loads up. I hate feeling like my XBM is local while my PSN store is out in virtual space. I know it is but Live Market Place hides it better with faster loading and seemless in and out.
I hope Sony can compete with them now.
SWEET, EU finally gets some love. Seems like US gets everything first with XBox Live and Japan gets everything first with PSN. I hope that we get ours in the US close to the same time frame.
@Strider-No.9: yup. Get well soon Garnett! =)
Zomg, no content for two weeks? WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA DO OH NOES!!111
There had better be a bunch of backed-up content when the store comes back up.
In the meantime, I'm glad for PC gaming.
Awesome! great new look...
Yeah, it might look a bit prettier but it'll still be ass slow and clunky to navigate compared to MarketPlace. Entering MarketPlace is a seamless process and navigation is conisitent with the rest of the dash. The PS Store feels like exactly what it is, just a regular website that has to be 'launched' like the PS3's browser. Tarting it up is all well and good Sony but for god's sake if you'd thought about this a bit more a few years ago then you could have made something competitive.
Now if only there were like 50 awesome PS1 titles to buy like the Japanese store... I hate having to import PSN cards to get them!
Finally. Thanks SCEE. Much appreciated.
I love the new design, too.