Inside PLAYSTATION Network

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It has been a while since I last wrote on the blog. I’ve been looking to take the opportunity to talk about PLAYSTATION Network and thought today’s availability of the redesigned PLAYSTATION Store would be the perfect entry point to outline what we have planned for the broader PLAYSTATION Network this year.

First off, we’re excited about the new look and feel of the PLAYSTATION Store. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to this update for a long time as, in my view, the previous PLAYSTATION Store experience wasn’t one that lived up to our brand. But this new UI is much more dynamic and allows us to elegantly display and merchandise a lot more content, which is very important today, but will be critical going forward with so much great new content coming onto the Store. We look forward to hearing your input and reaction now that you’ve gotten your hands on it.

2008 is being called “the year of PlayStation 3” by a lot of press and analysts these days, and for good reason — there’s lots of momentum behind PS3 and we have a ton of great new exclusive games coming. This week’s launch of GT5 Prologue is one great example, and gamers are already in countdown mode for Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, SOCOM, Resistance 2, and on and on. But another big reason 2008 will be a great year for PS3 fans is due to the big things we have in store this year for the PLAYSTATION Network. The PLAYSTATION Store redesign is the first step but it’s only one example. Our primary goal with PLAYSTATION Network is to form an evolving entertainment network where the PlayStation community can gather and discover new forms of entertainment. Some of the key pillars that will make this an experience a success are:

  • The PlayStation community;
  • Free online gaming;
  • Digital media download services; and
  • Original content

Of course, entertainment comes in the form of content, so I’ll dive in and discuss what we are bringing to PLAYSTATION Network that will help us achieve this goal.

One of the most critical elements to PLAYSTATION Network that we’ve focused on since day one is delivering quality games. We’ve always stressed quality over quantity (in other words, fewer arcade remakes and more original content) as well as games that show off PS3’s tech, and games like Everyday Shooter, Super Stardust HD and PixelJunk Monsters are proving that you can get a great experience for $10, or roughly the cost of a movie ticket. What’s equally exciting is what we have planned for you this year..of course one of those titles is available starting today- the world’s best-selling racing franchise, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. We also have coming this May the wildly imaginative puzzle-game echochrome, which frankly is a game I’ve been playing most lately. It’s as good as it looks in all the press you’ve been reading and is extremely addictive. We will also be bringing hugely popular franchises to PLAYSTATION Network for the first time, including SOCOM Confrontation and WipEout HD, as well as continue to deliver innovative indie games like flOwer, from the developers of flOw. So in short, content is what’s driving you, and we hear you loud and clear, and are delivering that quality that you want and deserve.

The strong lineup of games doesn’t stop there. Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PLAYSTATION Network for North America. While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used. Ultimately the goal of the PLAYSTATION Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want. More on this very soon …

Community-related services available via PlayStation Network have also been a big focus for enhancements here in 2008. We know you want in-game access to XMB features and we’re committed to bringing that, among other community-related services this year. They will be designed to allow more community development and collaborative gameplay, as well as recognize and reward you for your gameplay accomplishments across a broad portfolio of PS3 games. Of course, 2008 will also see the launch of PlayStation Home, and we’ll have more announcements on the expanding community functions within PLAYSTATION Network in the near future, so stay tuned.

Lastly, we feel your overall experience on PLAYSTATION Network should be rewarding. We hope the redesigned PLAYSTATION Store is a step in the right direction and delivers on your feedback, which is vital to some of the short and long term changes you’ll be seeing with PLAYSTATION Network. We understood from your comments on this very blog that you wanted the PLAYSTATION Store to have a more dynamic look and improved navigation. We want the PlayStation community to enjoy their experiences on PLAYSTATION Network and the online storefront is a key part of that experience.

And to wrap up with one of the many topics I know you ask about regularly, we are rolling out the PlayStation Cards to retailers nationwide as we speak. They will have the PlayStation Cards in denominations of $20 and $50 starting this spring. This will provide you with another option to get on board with the PLAYSTATION Store and enjoy the content that I’ve outlined above.

As you can tell, we’re extremely excited for what’s planned for PLAYSTATION Network. We believe the library of original and quality games and entertainment, combined with community services and continued enhancements to the overall experience, will deliver on our promise of an integrated content and community experiences. We look forward to sharing more updates with you in the near future.

Thanks and have fun!

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415 Comments

2 Author Replies

  • Just one question:

    1) Why is there a need to have PSN ID and then sign up for konami ID and then get a game ID?

    If I took a real life example I’d have just one identification to verify myself if I were to join a club/community centre(normally). I don’t think I will be expected to join say “Community Centre A” and then to play tennis, I’d need to sign up for a “Tennis ID of Community Centre A” and after that get a ID to start playing tennis – “CAN PLAY TENNIS ID” ……..

    If someone can explain the rationale behind this I am all ears.

  • The new store is great, however I think it needs some tweaking in the image department. They load very slow, and despite some people saying the imaged are cached on the hard drive for quicker access everything disappeared once I quit the store and went back to it. This needs sorting before doing anything else PSN wise. Even a simple “store sync” option to download every image in the store on the first visit would be suitable.

    While the PSN/XMB is moving along nicely it’s still behind XBL/Dashboard which only gets *2* updates per-year. I don’t mean to [DELETED], but it’s a year on and In-Game communication is still slated for 2.4 firmware in the summer. Sony have access to a huge library of films and music yet we have no equivalent to the video marketplace or itunes store. SCEA/E/J are still run as independant companies so content updates are constantly late or entirely different. what you’ve said about the video service is testament to that – “for North America”. What about the rest of the world? or are we once again left at the bumbling hands of SCEE to sort that out for us? Sony may update more times per year but XBL gets huge additions when it’s updated which pushes it even further in front. Look what they’ve got now with XNA – can this even be competed with? the closest thing we’ve got to user-made games are UT3 mods and LBP levels.

    I understand you’re working on stuff, but “we’re working on it” is no longer a satisfactory answer given how long the wait usually is. if it’s not going to be here within 30 calender days then it’s really not worth talking about. we’ve been waiting for home since 2007, we hear about it all the time yet it’s still not here. the open beta seems to have gone the way of the dinosaurs and we’re again left holding our balls wondering what the hell is going on at SCE.

    PS3 has a killer lineup this year and it’s not going to be the games that disappoint it’ll be the PSN. Especially if you’re coming over from XBL to play some of the exclusives you can’t help but notice the features taken for granted on XBL are completely missing on PSN. People want in-game xmb, so pause everything else and work on getting that sorted. Guaranteed you’ll see a HUGE number of people stop complaining after this. the next is home. finish up the closed beta, stick it on the store and let the users find the bugs and leave their feedback. realistically I see home having launch problems just like the new store, so surely it’d be better to let the people who’ll be using the service find problems and leave their feedback? closed testing only goes so far. The video of the new ps store in action looked very smooth and you can see how that turned out.

    Please Peter, you’re a senior vice president so if anyone can make these changes happen it’s you. you aren’t a pencil pusher at the bottom of the food chain and you must have at least SOME say in how and what things are done.

  • Hey Jeff, when does the Information Bar on the PS3 get updated? I ask because there’s been a lot of Sony news updates on this blog recently and think it would be useful to add on the Information Bar.

  • I guess since other people are doing it, this is a good opportunity to list what i have in my wish list:

    Video/Voice messages
    Increase character limits for personal comments and messages.
    Link PS Blog, Forums and PSN together
    Bigger Friends List
    Game Invites

    Lots of other things i cant think of but these are a few i picked from the top of my head. I really think that the focus for Sony should be on enhancing the PSN.

  • Home it`s a god sony`s weapon for this and the next years.

    The PSN it`s a god service, it`s faster, easy to use, and i have nothing of lag, but some features are very very……. slow, such as the Psn cards, they have not release yet and it was announced on december. The Ps home was announced for the past year and sony delayed it. The XMB-in game it`s other example still we are waiting it,like the achievements for Ps3.

    i know sony it`s working on that, and i`m waiting such as other, but i repeat, his work it`s very slow

  • Ok, first I want to say that I love the new PlayStation Store. The UI is so much easier to use. I have one gripe, the pictures take quite a long time to load. I usually am stuck looking at blank squares for a solid minute or two, although the descriptions load up instantly. If it was a little bit faster, it would be pretty much perfect.

  • @ whoelse

    hah i forgot about voice and video messages. they really do need to add them. then i dont have to type long ass replies anymore lol

  • Gratz on the new Store and the success of the PS3.

    I however fail to see the need for “We’ve always stressed quality over quantity (in other words, fewer arcade remakes and more original content)”.

    XBLA gives a bit of everything for everyone for a reasonable price and mixes a lot of good nostalgia stuff for us older gamer and some really decent new efforts as well. I do expect to own a PS3 in the next 12 month or so however I am also sure that I will still thoroughly enjoy my 360…

  • Excellent, excellent news, man.
    PSN cards, video downloads, new store, great games: You said it all.
    When you say spring, you mean now, right?
    Thanks for the great news!

  • love the new store and waiting for some of those PlayStation Cards

  • WHY DOES THE STORE TAKE SOOO LONG that SUCKS other then that its koo i like the look but not to impressed of how it made it all slow

  • Many of us have bumped into the 50 friends ceiling on the PSN. We’ve tried to communicate our problem to the people at Sony with little indication anyone is listening to our concerns.

    Is this an important issue worthy of the whole PSN community’s consideration?

    I think so …

    Mr. Dille, are you there? Do you hear me? Can you do anything?

  • thank you so much on this info, you have no clue how much Sony fans love to hear about whats going. How soon in the near futur are you talking though b/c i haveing been waiting for Home (like everyone else) for a really long time and i think that my fellow PlayStation fans would agree that we would love to know more on whats going on with Home any info helps?

  • cheers for actually sayin something but some solid facts would help

  • psn cards at last!!! i was starting to think they were not comming to the US!!!

    thanks for the great news!

  • I don’t own a 360 , but I get jealous with all old school games coming to xbox live.Quality over quantity is Invaild when you have so many people with different tastes.Please make a online interface easier for developers to make onpar with the competition.

  • DON’T call them ACCOMPLISHMENTS :(

    Peter Dille I’m very happy that Sony are listening, and will recognise “gameplay accomplishments” the PlayStation version of Xbox Achievements. But please, please, PLEASE DON’T CALL THEM ACCOMPLISHMENTS. The word has one syllable too many, sounds clumsy, and sounds too ‘meh’ for the PlayStation brand.

    It is better than the absolutely terrible ‘Entitlements’ – why should anybody be entitled to rewards? Personally I think Trophies is great. But Im sure everyone here has a different opinions. Why not give us a vote?

    What should the PlayStation 3 rewards be called?

    * Trophies
    * Accomplishments
    * Medals
    * Entitlements
    * Awards

    P.S. I have heard from two sources that the PS3 rewards won’t have a total Gamerscore. Is there any truth in this. If not then why not call it GamerRank?!!!

  • Its already the best in my eyes, yes it stuttered a bit but it kept on coming till it has become what it is now, My favourite and only console I’ll ever need(till PS4 of course), with all the firmware updates it is now the ultimate home entertainment centre( I just need a HDTV!) and then some!, keep it up sony!

  • Sweet, just installed the new firmware upgrade. Can’t w8 to see the new look of the store & can’t wait for word about home & in-game xmb

  • I WANT HOME AND IN GAME XMB!!!

    TYPING IN CAPS MAKES ME FEEL GOOD!!

    THE PS3 IS MADE WITH ALIEN TECHNOLOGY!!

    THE NEW PLAYSTATION STORE IS THE CHIT!!!

    ok…ok…im j/k
    Great update tho! I hope to hear more on the tv and movie downloads Vary soon.

  • Hey Peter,

    The new PlayStation Store is great, however the images load very slowly. Perhaps you guys can work on fixing that?

    Anyway, I’d like to see some of these functionalities on the PlayStation Network:

    – Cross-game invites.
    – Better PSN Profiles.
    – In-Game XMB. (check messages, add friends, view profiles, accomplishments of you and others, etc.)
    – Accomplishments.
    – In-Game Private Chat (through headset).

    These five things are essential for a real online community. Please try to get these in as soon as possible.

  • Man you guys really need to hurry up with the In-Game Chat and Invites….It’s kinda shying me away from playing games on the PS3, because when I try to play with friends it can sometimes be very difficult and a pain. It just takes up too much time and makes it frustrating. So please hurry up with atleast In-Game chat/invites.

  • Excellent! Just keep copying everything Xbox 360 has done EXCEPT the hardware issues, DRM scheme, and paid online, and you cannot go wrong!!!

  • @snowglobe
    XNA is a joke!! Everything on XNA must be approved by M$. And trust me M$ willl not allow any game that may compete with there games.

    This is why they only allow DL games to be 150mb MAX! And why some DL games will NOT be in HD on the crapbox but will on the PS3.
    Go read “the feed” on G4tv.com the big guy for XNA says “sony and nintendo are asking for trouble by not regulating there user created content” but there just mad because Master chief is now a playable char on UT3.

    Why dont you take your snowjob back to the Crapbox 3 FixME forum!

  • Home, please say something about Home or the Home beta if theres going to be one.

    Home should be the bigest thing hitting the PSN this year!

  • SONY!!
    Please link the blog to our PSN so we dont have to deal with the CrapBox3FixMe trolls!

  • Peter;

    I just wanted to say thanks for acknowledging that people are asking about In Game XMB services and home. It as been such a long time since anyone official has even spoken of either in my personal opinion both those features are the features that matter most to me and have intrigued me in to purchasing a PS3. So thank you for at least saying something about it and letting us know that you are well on your way to being the top console for the 3rd running cycle.

    Thanks from a loyal PS3 Owner and player
    PSN soybean221

  • Good to hear all this really, looking forward the tv shows downloads but do something better than the other console… add subtitle support in your movie downloads in spanish.

    Happy to know too about the PSN Cards, now a lot of PSN games will be bough now instead of the infamous sharing. Good too for the mexico buddies too and for kids that can’t get a Credit Card.

    Just want to know really is… if the new store is no longer web based, why the slow image load? i guess is no more net traffic because not too much people are downloading the update now so I hope is just maintenance until Thursday because all places said that this store look much better than the other console but when they click in any menu and see the thumbnails take forever to load they regret it so fix this soon…

    like I always said, the Ps3 is just pure evolution, a little slow to make things happen but I love the constant updates.

  • can you say if theres gonna be an public beta for home or a full release any time soon. or is it gonna be just talked about for the next year. just some solid information will get all these people off your backs. anything is better than ‘soon’

  • You guys are doing a wonderful job this year. Keep going strong!

  • Wow, that’s probably the best blog post I’ve read since the launch of this site. Peter, just get us in-game XMB and home for the PSN, and we’ll be satisfied. On the games side, just deliver all the content promised this year and we’ll be more than satisfied. I’m really excited to hear that you’re already shipping the PS Store cards to retailers, as Im looking forward to picking one up for the new Call of Duty 4 maps.

  • Its just going to keep getting better & better. I don’t think everyone that owns a PS3 really understands how Sony is change the way Online Communities coexist.

    First, keeping with free online service is always a plus. Home in it self will help you understand how Sony is a follower, but a leader. PS3 & XBOX 360 aren’t in the same category. One is pushing for a gaming and media console, and the other is more of a gaming/media/social networking entertainment system. I don’t see the full potential of PS3 coming out for many months, because many developers don’t really understand what they have access to.

  • Thank you for the heads up on future items and plans that the Playstation Network has in stored for its users. i turely believe you and your staff have doing an outstanding job keeping us informed about as well as satified with your products. All i wish is that there a way you could keep us more in the loop about Playstation HOME i believe thats what alot of us are waiting to know about. But thank you and good job.

  • Glad to see the cards releasing :)

  • Now for the most part I can get behind this, indefinitely. The only real discrepancy I see, is the thought of Original Content vs Arcade Remakes, now while Original Content, is a must, there is also a demand (therefore some what of a must) for arcade remakes. There is no real reason why both can not exist, as a matter of fact they definitely can coexist, thus making PSN that much better. Example look at Bionic Commando Rearmed, it is one of the highest anticipated remakes out right now, across all platforms (PC, PSN, XBLA), with some of us wanting to see a little more as far as content, and this would be a great way to fulfill that. Lets remember, that many of us were gamers before Playstation, and we’d love to see arcade classics, as well as the original content. In any case, PSN is definitely heading in the right direction, however I just feel that there could be some much more to it, as far as content goes. Anyway thanks for the post Peter Dille, always great to hear what’s going on with the state of “Playstation”.

  • There is another thing i just noticed. In Game XMB access and voice chat in home are awesome features.. but as it is now, they wont be used much! Very few people have headsets! Playing in a full 32 man room in Warhawk and only 2 peopel have headsets is kinda pathetic. ( Everyone should have one.. Any USB headset or a bluetooth, there really is no excuse. ) Apperently people just dont like buying headsets. You HAVE to ship more games with headsets, or ship PS3’s with headsets.

  • The new playstation store is ten times ten times ten times better then the old one ever was (and it loads faster)..,

  • Hello Peter,

    I really only need 2 things from the PSN at this point. 1. Icons on the PSN store and 2. bandwidth. The PSN Store has felt bandwidth-crippled since I bought my PS3 in November of 06. Will we ever see the day where large downloads don’t take hours?

  • The redesigned store is great! The release of the dualshock 3 is wonderful as well. I recommend trying it on MGS3 if you haven’t played it.

    With those complements, I have some tiny recommendations.

    1. As others have said before, please allow users to listen to music in the background when accessing the browser and the playstation store.
    2. Put a visible clock on the xmb. The psp has a visible clock, so I believe the ps3 should have the power to handle this.
    3. Allow the editing of album info for multiple pieces of data simultaneously. To be more specific, allow users to select multiple items and change the album info for all of the selected items so all of the selected items have exactly the same label in their respective album info.
    4. Update the flash client to version 9 in the browser.
    5. Customizable soundtracks and the ability to add, delete, and view friends during gameplay. Hopefully this will come with firmware 2.4 and its in-game xmb.
    6. Any amount of transparency on some of the difficulties of accomplishing any of the recommendations listed above. If viewers of the blog had some sense of how difficult some of these tasks were, perhaps there wouldn’t be so many complaints.

  • Thanks for the update Peter.

    The PS Store cards are something I’ve been waiting on for a while. While using my credit cards wasn’t a big issue, I find it more convenient to purchase pre-paid amounts.

    One thing I want to stress though, is the baffling amount of games still shipping with the lack of headset support(I’m looking at GT5P & Hotshots Golf). I’m not sure if it’s something that you oversee personally but please do relay the message to the right people if possible. Headset support for any game with online play is essential to keeping the fanbase.

    to AfroSheen: Internet connections vary. I haven’t sat through hours of downloading time yet.

  • I want to thank Sony for this post mostly because I read it as an apology. As I said before, the Xbox 360 had an integrated store interface when it first launched in 2005 and it took the PS3 almost 3 years to match it. I believe Peter Dille recognized this shortcoming when he said:

    “Personally, I’ve been looking forward to this update for a long time as, in my view, the previous PLAYSTATION Store experience wasn’t one that lived up to our brand.”

    With that said, I think it is also important that Sony took time to address all the complaining myself and others have been doing in the forums; that complaining being in-game XMB and HOME. So thank you Sony for acknowledging our concerns, but it is time to deliver. HOME was supposed to be out October of last year, then Q1 of this year, and now IGN has it Q3 of this year. In-game XMB is something Xbox 360 had at its launch in 2005. However, by the tone of this post I think Sony realizes we are all angry. I am just glad they are doing something about it.

    Also, I think when Peter Dille talked about the “quantity over quality” he was just making excuses for not having enough downloadable content on PSN. Here is the exact quote:

    “We’ve always stressed quality over quantity (in other words, fewer arcade remakes and more original content)…”

    I am going to call BS on that. How about quality and quantity? Why not have both? Talk to your third party developers and let get some more PSONE games on PSN. Do not tell me it cannot be done. Look at the Wii, they release 3-4 titles weekly for the Virtual Console. The PSN needs to offer more than it does know to match Xbox Live Arcade (and the Wii in some regards). I think putting more psone titles up will even the gap.

    I know people seem harsh on these forums, but I see it as a compliment to the Sony Brand. Sony’s consumers hold Sony to the highest of standards and it’s for a reason. I have no doubt Sony will deliver. I have been satisfied with my PS3 purchase.

  • First of all, the new store ROCKS. It is “OMG HOLY COW” amazing. This new interface is beautiful. Once the images start loading up faster things will be near perfect. The ONLY possible thing that could make the store better is: a) we can listen to music while browsing, and; b) a “Preview” function for all games, and maybe even downloadable content like how Warhawk does. BTW, the new preview function is SLICK! However, not many games have the preview function…if you could add it to games like Warhawk and stuff that would be gnarly (although I am sure you already knew that!).

    Second, I do have some constructive suggestions for a future firmware update that would greatly increase my satisfaction with the PSN.
    1) Please add some type of Clock that can be seen in-game and in the XMB, kinda like the PSP.
    2) Please update the PS3’s flash player. Right now you can’t even see the videos you link to on the Blog via the Information Board.
    3) Keep working hard on in-game XMB and Home, which I greatly trust you all are doing.

    Thanks a bunch! Love the new store!

  • @125/maxerus: Don’t be so ignorant. just because everything must be approved doesn’t mean they’re going to needlessly deny content, especially content which can act as a selling point for XNA thus getting developers to pony up the $100/year subscription fee for making xbox compatible games.

    As of right now Sony has NOTHING to combat XNA and microsoft are beating Sony at their own game. Matching XMB features and marketplace is easy, but XNA takes advantage of microsofts software which is something Sony can’t match.

    This blog is for people to post their opinions, and if you’re too much of a stubborn little boy to accept that XBL is doing some things better than PSN then perhaps you shouldn’t be here at all. If you cannot differentiate between facts, opinions and trolling then you should just be quiet. Everything I said was true – we’re waiting for home, in game xmb, and new marketplaces. MS has XNA while sony has no comparable service. is any of that incorrect? was the truth skewed somewhere and I can’t notice it? Those are facts, son, and will remain so until such a time that Sony makes it otherwise.

    Yes, I have both consoles which means I can directly compare the offerings of both services. ANY user that has familiarised themselves with XBL & the dashboard will see the XMB & PSN as a step down – because in its current state it is. No, I don’t agree with being charged to play online nore do I like the idea of being charged for small items like gamerpics & themes, and this is why I spend ALL of my gaming time on my PS3, so don’t try to paint me as some 360 cheerleader when I’m rooting for the PS3 to come back on top. Fool.

  • i personly hate the new store, why becasue the color is ugly, why blue the uglest color, im a guy an rather it be pink than blue, why not red or black, an also i highly don’t belive in you because you guys(sony) have said nothin about home for almost a year now or more an everything you say is over half the time not exatly ture, oh ya i also want to be able to customize the pic that everyone sees on your friends list, the ones that are there are gay, oh an back to the psn store you should have just let people pick the color instead of havin to deal with that crappy blue one

  • THANK YOU SONY!

  • We all appreciate the information regarding the upcoming additions to the PS Network.

    Is it possible to provide specific time frames on anything that you have talked about? You mention that these services and enhancements will be coming this year but there is still 8 1/2 months left in 2008.

    A possible time frame for In-Game XMB, Expanded Community Features, Home, Video Service etc would be greatly welcomed.

    Once again thanks for the updates along with the new Store and PSN Cards, much appreciated.

  • I love the redesigned PlayStation Store! I especially love the sound it makes when you open it :)

    Thanks for the updates, and yes we are waiting for in-game XMB access, so please bring it soon.

    As for Home, I’m a BETA tester and though I can’t talk much about it I’ll tell you guys that it’s shaping up to be really good, the features it offers are way better than “the other service” ;). Trust me, I’ve used the other services and I’d pick the PSN (with Home) any day over the other services.

  • Sorry about the bold. :(

  • flash update please!

  • Peter Diel can you tell us when the 80GB PS3 will get more support for PS2 games? I just got Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 and it won’t play that well. Some features work but others don’t any chance we can get the recent games to work on the 80GB PS3 as well as the old classics? Please?

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