New PLAYSTATION Store interface coming in mid-April

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This morning, SCEA announced that the PLAYSTATION Store will be revamped with a new look in mid-April. We’ve heard your calls for a more fluid Store interface, and we think you’ll be pleased with the results.

As some of the most passionate and knowledgeable PLAYSTATION 3 fans out there, here’s some additional information on the revamped PLAYSTATION Store.

The New PlayStation Store

As you can see in the above screenshot, the new interface allows customers to browse through eight primary categories, rather than four, making it easier to locate games, demos, game add-ons and other content. It also enables us to put up to twice as many items per page, significantly cutting down the time it takes to browse through content.

Customers will be able to access, browse, shop and download content as usual prior to the store’s re-opening. However, no additional downloadable content will be posted prior to then, including this Thursday, April 3rd, and next Thursday, April 10th. Regularly scheduled content updates will resume with the Store’s re-opening, at which time additional games and game-related items will be added, including the downloadable version of the highly-anticipated exclusive PS3 title Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

When the PLAYSTATION Store is set to re-open with the new interface, PS3 users will be prompted to download a firmware update which will enable entry to the new store.

We’ll continue to update readers of the PlayStation.Blog on the status of the PLAYSTATION Store upgrade – including a video walkthrough – in the coming days.

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358 Comments

  • Wow, what an improvement! I love the store’s design. Thanks.

  • This sound and looks amazing. Great job to the design team. This two weeks is going to kill me in having to wait. :-[ But it will be worth it in the end.

    Can you tell us if the Store will still only be updated once a week or will it change to when new content is available? Like it may update three times a week?

  • hmm are you gonna update the store this thursday?

  • I must say the new store looks great, but I never did understand the complaints about the HTML based store. Those not able to browse it must not have noticed that the D-pad buttons hot-jump between clickable items (and thus make browsing the store very fast).

    At any rate, the new software based store may mean that when new layouts and designs are envisioned, Sony will have to do full firmware updates instead of just changing some CSS on the server side unless they put huge assets into making this a client-side Java application (which I doubt but would be really smart).

    PS Hey Sony, I want to be able to run arbitrary Java applets on my PS3 from the web browser to play online games, applications, etc.

  • @62 and as a follow-up to my last comment, what do you mean, faster? I can stream HD video from the store right now.

    I have a 10Mbps down-link to my house and I get almost 1.2MiB/s downloading new demos, videos, etc.

    Its not the store.

  • testing

  • Wow. I complained about this a couple of days ago and now they are doing something about it. I guess they do read comments. Where are the PSN cards???

    • The process of re-vamping the Store was a vast undertaking across all regions and with months and months (and months and months) or research and gathering feedback.
      However, we do read and appreciate all feedback that is constructive and well presented.
      The new Store is another in a long line of features we\’ve enhanced based on user feedback.
      Thanks again to all of you out there who have taken the time to present constructive concerns.

  • Two weeks? You need faster code monkeys :/ I have to wait for my RB DLC til then!? Geeze, thanks Sony. You guys really gotta’ work on your schedules. We’re still waiting for Home!

    Really hoping we get a mess of PS1 classics iwhen the store comes back up. Japan having the likes or RE1 and MGS1 in their store and none for us ….riiiight.

    Anyways. Let’s hope things come back without a hitch. :)

    • As stated I mentioned in another response, our code monkeys aren\’t the only ones working over time to bring the new Store to everyone.
      We\’re creating all new art, doing a massive layout restructuring, and testing / debugging the Store to make sure the new Store is a complete and bug-free experience.
      Besides, if the code monkeys could create all new art automatically, I\’d be out of job, and that would be a bad thing. ;)

  • Will Mexico be on the list of countries!!!!!!
    I need to change mi addresss to buy stufff on the store!!!
    they are a lot of psn members that are mexicans and are listed as Spain and Us please put mexico

  • Sounds good i cant wait

  • Very nice look!

    But when can we expect the prepaid cards? It’s taking so long…

  • Impressive, i really like this singstar-store take on the psn-store, same guys behind it? Is it sony liverpool that developed it?

  • This looks awesome. Very organized. :)

  • I like it. Now if only the updates match the awesomeness of the the store layout. Cause this past month the store has been pretty useless for me.

  • Very nice look!

    But hey why it’s taking so long for the prepaid cards?

  • Will the downloads we miss this next two weeks be in the new store?

  • im ready

  • Looks great!

    Being a launch owner, I am pleased to finally get a better organized, faster responding UI.

    A much welcomed update :)

  • nice…. though I was looking forward to getting the Warhawk Operation Broken Mirrior video in HD. Still this is a LOT better than that…

  • It would be nice to have the Fear Effect games and the one that wasn’t released on the PlayStation 2 in the PlayStation Store. That just occurred to me when I saw the PlayStation One classics ad.

  • Just a couple of questions:

    Will we be able to acces the XMB at any point while we are browsing the store, allowing us to listen to out music in the store as well as send messages in the store.

    Also, will you guys offer movies with this new store, downloadable movies would be great in HD.

  • I hope Sony will allow users to access the XMB while in the PS Store. The current store doesn’t allow you to bring up the XMB to see if you’ve already downloaded an item or check the status of a current download. That would be a nice convenience!

  • This is much needed. Thanks Sony.

  • Awesome.

    Can’t wait to try it out…. and IT DOES have a SingStore feel to it, as the rumors had suggested.

  • AWESOME!!! Cant wait to try the new store out.

    By the way, is the info ticker down? I am not getting any updates through it on my PS3. Or maybe it’s just my PS3

  • That better not be an April Fools joke. Just saying.

    ;)

  • looks very nice. Hopefully it will look the same for sd tv’s.

  • Okay i got a e-mail saying There has been unathorized account $ So would all this be fixed? can i leave my cc now on again and stop putting it on and changing it? mayby u should cancel the pc store Because when this happend evreything fail? THe new store looks good hopefully we can change background ourself as well :-) and letters it would be great :_) btw this looks good :_) thanx for evryething you do for us witch is free

  • 1) Store looks pretty and is more navigational
    CHECK

    2) Store is firmware based instead of browser
    CHECK

    SONY, Mission Accomplished!

  • Wow that looks awesome! Thanks a bunch, I can’t wait.

    Just one question: I don’t have a credit card so I can’t buy anything on that new and improved store. When are PSN cards coming to the US? Please don’t ignore my question! :D
    Thanks

  • No search function :-(
    Why, Sony?

  • Will there be any region protection due to this new store?

  • Is there any truth to the PSN getting hacked and our information spread out? Figured Sony would chime in on this.

  • Is there any chance the PS Network cards will be released in the U.S. coinciding this revamp? Journalists got free cards for Christmas so you’d think they’d be going retail soon. It’s been a solid 3 months.

    I hate asking my dad if I can use it and pay him cash. Give me a card and I’ll buy stuff. I have a list of stuff I want to buy. No card=no purchase.

  • What a load of bull. If the people doing your content rollouts are really the same ones deploying your new backend, then your development process is in serious need of repair.

  • Boooooo!! Don’t get me wrong, the update is needed, but why do we have to miss out on content like the still alive song for two weeks when XBox will get it tomorrow? I can understand not developing new content for the store but no updates for 2 weeks…seems like there could be a better way to go about this. Still glad the revamp is happening, i won’t notice after a while.

    PS the reopening update better make me spend 2 days downloading awesome stuff..no way can you give us a skimpy update after a 2 week vacay and expect to get away with it…you have fair warning

  • I had a dream last week about the new PSN store (it looked different on my dream) and I was using some kind of a PSN card to purchase something, I don’t remember what but it wasn’t a game, haha.

    I wish my dream was a vision of the future and PSN cards become available soon!

  • Store looks nice. Great to see you guys are listening to feedback from consumers and responding. 2 weeks is a bit long,but it’s worth the wait.

  • I think your “dream” was a sign that you spend WAY too much time playing your PS3 and not nearly enough time going outside and socializing with other humans.

  • You guys better give us still alive tomorrow. I’m for serious here. If you don’t I’ll be buying Bionic Commando and Bionic Commando rearmed on the 360 in place of for my ps3. Two sales to a competitor cuz you won’t give us a free download tomorrow.

  • it look awesome and better

  • Lets hope you guys display more than 10 items per page. With most of us having HDTVs, the store should be able to list a LOT of content on one page. The ENTIRE demo section should be viewable all at once — kind of like when you go to “View>Details” in Windows, it lets you view a lot more content at a given time.

    There is no need for such huge text and massive thumbnail icons. Design it for the high end users, not those with crappy displays. Don’t make those suffer who went out and put a cool 3K+ down on a TV, just because some people only have 20″ HDTVs, or only SDTVs still.

    • As you can see by the picture, the new Store will double the current amount and display 20 items per page at a time.
      More content per page means it\’s easier to find the content you want – something everyone will appreciate!

  • Thanks a bunch! This is terrific!

    I understand that we won’t get content for 2 weeks…it does probably take awhile to re-write everything that is in the current store.

    I would have liked a search button, however.

    Also, I am going to ask a question that has been asked before and was not answered: Will we be able to play music while accessing the store? It’s pretty dumb to have to stop a song then check the store, then start all over again with my song (and why doesn’t the PS3 have the ability to continue playing a song once stopped, like on the PSP?).

    Nonetheless, this change will be greatly appreciated! The new store looks great! Keep up the good work….especially with the tutorial videos!

  • Looks great :), good job Sony, keep it up!

  • Can we confirm what the number of the firmware this is going to be?

  • Dear Sony/Susan

    I know this gets asked all the time, but when can we expect the Playstation Cards? There is a lot of content in the PS Store that I want to purchase/download, but the PS Store doesn’t accept my two credit cards.

    It really pisses me off that there is new content for games like Folklore, Warhawk (I even stop playing it, since I can’t join the new servers with the new patch), RfoM, Tekken 5. And then there’s new games like Blast Factor & Superstardust HD to name a few of the content I’m missing, yet the same two credit cards that I own and that the PS Network doesn’t accept, I am subscribed to XBL, and MMO like WoW.

    Why doesn’t the damn PS network take my credit cards? I know I am not the only person with this problem, and you have no idea the money you’re losing this way.

    Please give us an update on those PS Cards.

    A frustrated loyal customer,

    Jedah
    .

  • Nice update, now how about discounting the cost of the downloadable GT5 versus the Disc?

  • New store design Socom 3\CA maps for free looks like Sony is stepping things this spring hopefully Home is next :) The future for PS3 looks bright go Sony!!!

  • It should be 2.30

  • Awesome :-).Even though there won’t be any PS Store updates for a little while, it should be worth it since the store will get a cool new look.

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