The last time I posted it was regarding our special E3 section on the PlayStation Store. This time around I wanted to tell you about a new offering that you’ll see tomorrow. In addition to all the free themes you’ve already been getting and will continue to get on the PlayStation Store now, you’ll have the option to upgrade and purchase premium themes to customize the look of your PS3’s XMB.
We have linked up with a few partners, Smobile & Disruptive Media Publishers, to distribute premium themes from PlayStation Network. They have content offerings that range in type from NCAA College licenses to beauties on the beach to original cartoons and anime. These themes were created specifically for the PS3 and have special backgrounds, XMB icons and, in some cases, sounds. Here is a sample of some of the new Themes:
We have created a new “Premium Themes” section under Themes & Wallpapers for you to easily access this content. Also, for each theme, there is preview option that allows you to view images of the theme prior to making your decision.
We plan to offer approximately 6-10 new “Premium Themes” a month. So be sure to check back often to browse the newest in premium theme content.
Have a good rest of the week and keep a look out for the new offering dropping tomorrow!
As long as you continue to give us at least the same amount of free themes when compared to premium themes, I have no problem with this.
well I can see paying for a theme if it completely changes the interface IE: something other than xmb. But I dunno about just normal themes. My other suggestion (non-related) is there’s gotta be something done about the music player. Search feature? Maybe have an application in the music section that will open up with all your music. This of course is if devs start implementing xmb music playback in game. There’s just not enough of those. Thanks for reading :-)
This is the same for like charging for wallpapers for PC’s. Its just stupid, just keep them free
Why would I pay for something I already get for free?
It will be nice if this package deal actually had cool Themes that let you utilize the sixaxis controller on the XMB? and umm…just maybe was interactive? Now that would be something to pay for! Sony what do you think?
Oh great.
This WILL spend the end to free themes. Or at the very least, now half-assed free themes.
Is there any restrictions on this? For example, are developers able to decide if they want their theme to be free or not? Or is there some kind of restriction where they can only charge for it if there is a license fee associated with it (for example: NCAA).
If there is a LBP theme, I will gladly pay for it. They deserve every penny we can find a way to give them.
Weird move, Sony.
If you can have these premium themes showcase a unique selling point that other “basic” themes do not offer, then I can understand the focus.
I mean, sure, you’ll get a few bucks here and there from consumers who are totally enamored by one of the themes, or too lazy to install one on their own, but resources and time should really be spent on other things, in my opinion.
Anyone who wants to complain can go create their own, I mean the tools are there.
Still, if I buy one it better be really good.
I don’t want something cheaply made. ^^
Those themes would have to be animated for me to pay for them.
Sure…they look cool, but buying themes and movies was something that made me gag about the 360… Sony’s strategy has always seemed to be not only going with what makes sense business-wise, but also making the customer feel like they aren’t getting cheated.
The idea of themes you pay for makes that whole notion feel cheapened somehow…I don’t want a “better take” on Microsoft’s way of doing things by giving us the option of free/premium…I want entirely DIFFERENT than the 360…I don’t need any more parallels drawn between the two systems I’ve bought, I want them to be differentiated.
I would like to see this news together with a tutorial about how to put sounds in custom themes, to be fair.
I understand about the possibility you are giving to third party artists to sell at psn and at the same time “protecting” their work with the sound exclusivity thing but at the same time you are restricting the community work not giving us the same possibilities. And community is/was the essence of playstation 3 fan base.
Maybe the premium guys should concentrate earning money in new things like home ones and letting old ones like xmb alone or you just give other people the same sound chance.
Please give people the sound tutorial and I think all we will be OK versus premium offers.
possible to have theme with moving thing in background as the wave on the original, it is better for my Video Projector. thanks.
Kind of skeptical about this whole endeavor… What’s the keep copycats from making their own, potentially mirror image versions to these?
Sorry, but I’m not interested. Paying for themes…? Themes to which, we’ll not necessarily pay much attention, when we’re chatting w/video, or gaming? The only time we’ll see these premium themes, is when we’re turning on/off the system, and that’s before it’s to log into a game, or shut the system off entirely. And even then, who’s going to sit there and admire the theme beyond, say, the initial purchase/download?
Yeah, brilliant.
So you’re becoming Microsoft… with the alleged charging for MAG online and charging for a theme we can make ourselves.
This is why I left the Xbox camp in the first place… because I was getting tired of being screwed.
Somehow people act as if Sony just removed free themes. They didn’t. Sony will still provide FREE themes. Users can still make FREE themes! Now, others are making themes and are charging for it. Hopefully, the quality is top notch and is functional enough to justify the price.
Everything in life isn’t free. Just be glad you all have the option to get free, purchased or custom made content!
I think themes should be free. That being said, the prices seem reasonable. My main concern is that ALL the really good themes are now going to cost us something while leaving all the crap themes that come out for free.
any chance of the PSP getting anything similar to this? Cause I would like these.
If you make an animated theme then I might buy one. I can’t see paying for something that I can get for free.
I hope no one actually buys these themes. They should be free. Also, vote this blog entry a 1 so that SCEA gets the message that this kind of crap may fly with XBL users, but not PSN.
Themes don’t serve much of a purpose, so I won’t be purchasing, plus I only change my theme once every month :P
No offense at all, but I’ve seen created themes that look 1000x better than these. And, to be honest, its only a matter of time before people make copies of these on their own, but put it out for free.
Great offerings SONY!!!! I like the idea of both creating own themes and offering exclusive premium ones.
It would much greater if you guys offered new amazing profile pictures. The ones available now are pretty old
I’ll check it out when it hit the store. But I don’t like the sound of these at all. Not having to pay for profile pics and themes is one of the reasons why I strayed away from another system
What worries me is that I wonder how long will it be til all themes from other companies want to to charge money for themes. Are the free ones that we get already straight from Sony or from other companies? If it’s just from Sony then I can see those themes staying free. But if they aren’t and just from other companies… :(
Stupid idea.
I love Sony, I really do…but seriously, this whole “premium” crap is getting to be JUST like Xbox Live Gold and Silver.
No thanks, I’ll get the the free ones off of other websites made just as well as any “premium” theme.
Wow, premium themes? They’re joking right? Guess they still need more ways to milk money from people. But then again, yeah with the ability to make your own themes, I’m sure they wouldn’t be too hard to replicate. Unless they had something really special about them, there’s no point in paying for some pictures and icons you can get for free, although I’m sure there’s still going to be people willing to buy them.
What the F are you guys doing??
Ripping people off, that’s what you’re doing!
I’ve been a Sony/PlayStation fan my whole life but are you going to ask money for EVERYTHING now??
Paying for themes…, what will be next? paying for demo’s and wallpapers??
I dont know what is more insulting here, the fact that we are getting paid themes, or the fact that someone at Sony decided that it was such a great idea that they wanted to devote blog space to it??
Seriosuly Sony is this how far you have fallen?
Sorry, but that’s so stupid. :(
Who wants to pay for themes when the ones you give us are fine? In fact, there are so many good free ones on the store.
I’m guessing the same guy who thought of Qore thought of this too.
the day has come. sony is slowly starting to charge for stuff that used to be free. themes are meant to be free, so..how long is it before you guys start charging for HD trailers and give SD trailers for free ?????
You know buying themes doesnt seem like the worst idea to me. Yes I understand that we are all scared that all these things Qore, Paid themes are small steps of taking our free psn away. But if they sold the themes in maybe like 5 packs for 0.99 I might potentially buy them. However, a single them for 0.99 or 1.99 I wouldnt purchase (unless it was a St. Louis Cardinals theme haha but thats just me.)
On a side note since they are try to get us to pay for premium content how about some premium psn avitars for .99. Like solid snake, sackboy, and so on.
Man, failstation continues to deliver.
Hopefully they will notice the low rating of this post and trash this idea. The internet is full of themes for just about anything and some look better than official ones. I can’t wait until I have to pay for PSN avatars too.
LOL. This is just embarrassing. If a Bioshock theme is going to be premium, you can pretty much guarantee that the vast majority of future themes will be “premium” themes. They’re not even any better! $2 for a theme is just nickel and diming us. I hope you embarrassments learn your lesson.
If there are going to be new free themes like always it doesn’t bother me that there are some premium ones
Really neat! I Can’t wait until then!
There are a lot of sites out there with hundred of thousand of free themes and the fact that I CAN make my own theme!! so…why do we need this again? First charging for betas and demos and now this…
Why are so many people complaining? It’s not like Sony said they were taking away free themes!
If the new, premium themes are truly killer, then spending a buck or two isn’t that big of a deal. If they are not, then there are STILL plenty of free themes available as well as the ability to make your own.
If you’re so offended by Sony’s prices, and are completely unaware of all of the free themes available, give me a call. I’ll make you a theme and charge less!
how are these any different from the ones that are free.. if they had moving backgrounds or something i could see the price but honestly there is no difference there are free ones with sounds and all the features that youre charging for here
If you think paying for themes and Qore is bad Idea. Just wait till HOME comes out. If it ever does.
I must say that one of the reasons I praised PSN is down the drain. When I got my Xbox 360 back in August I was stunned that you had to pay for avatars and themes. It truly made me apprecaite that PSN had free themes and avatars. Now you guys at Sony decide to charge for “Premium Themes” which I think is sad. I guess thats one less reason to praise you.
Ever since Qore came out you have been finding more ways to nickle and dime us consumers. Probably next you will charge for avatars. I am perfectly happy anyways with my custom XMB Icons and Wallpaper. Also you guys should have the option to change the color of the XMB text because some themes its hard to even read the text.
Furthermore, I would also like to point out that a theme can cost $1.99 and an episode of Qore costs $2.99 which questions which you get more value out of. I get Qore out of the Official Playstation Magazine and while I am not crazy about it I would go with Qore. Atleast you get more value for what you are paying for.
I love my Playstation 3 and truly appreciate that PSN is free to play games online which I hope it stays that way forever. I only go online sometimes for fun. I just hope that you don’t forget what made you stand out from your competitor.
it’s not long before SD trailers will be free and HD trailers will cost 2 dollars !!!
im usually pretty open minded about this kind of stuff but it really feels like this is going in the wrong direction… at least if your going to do this you should post user created themes on the store for everyone to download for free
…but they are pretty expensive, I’d rather buy a rockband track, I don’t think I’ll ever buy a premium theme. if the trend continues consider changing names to MicroSony and PSLive
BOOOOO!!!!! Horrible Idea!!!!!! Everyone boycott this!!! Please Sony don’t turn into Microsoft and have us pay to get themes!!!!! That is just out right ridiculous!!!!! Please everyone band together and don’t buy these!!!! We won’t take this crap!!!!!!!!!
I swear the more I think about this, the more pi$$ed I get. How about devoting some time to featy
Sony you need to WAKE UP. You have a good product, but in all honesty you lack leadership and direction. We keep getting this hodge podge of half baked features.
What the hell is Life with Playstation (aside from a wii news copy)? That needs at least another year to bake, as in it’s present form it is laughable.
What is up with Qore? Forced ads? Promises for beta access that never come?
Release Home already!?
People will complain about anything. Nobody is putting a gun to your head to buy any premium themes. If you don’t like it don’t buy it. plain and simple. They do this on the other console and I don’t hear too many people complaining about that. If I see something I like I will buy it,if I don’t I won’t.
Just read it again folks.PSN isn’t becoming Live with a cost.You have a choice and you can decide to purchase it or not.No one is making you buy it.Some people are jumping to conclusions really quick.You are still getting Themes on a regular basis along with premium too.
Awesome. As long as their is a preview feature, I’m a happy camper.
thanks but no thanks whats next we have to pay to play online?