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.

Comments are closed.

358 Comments

  • Nice, I like the look of the Store in that Picture.

  • So sweet, there is a “home” button.
    GJ Sony!

  • I’m not sure why my Gravatar image refuses to show. Any help would be appreciated if someone would like to send me a private message through the forums messenger on the forums. thanks

  • kind of looking forward to it, except tat there is no content for two weeks :(, i’ll just have to actually pick up a game, april means april allowance!

    • If you\’re looking for a game with tons of content to hold you over while we\’re \”Closed For Remodeling\”, you can\’t go wrong with Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.
      Tons to play through and unlock in single player, plus online is a blast.
      Reminder – even though our Store will be temporarily down, the PlayStation Network will still be up, allowing you to connect online and play all of your online-enabled games.

  • Something to consider:

    1) The PS Store is going to get absolutely HAMMERED the day it comes back up as all the users jump on to check out the new look and all the blogs jump in to grab some screen caps.

    2) The PS Store is going to get absolutely HAMMERED the day the GT5 Prologue downloads become available, and will need to sustain more concurrent download requests than it’s ever seen before.

    If the two above events happen too close to each other (or, heaven forbid, on the same day), you guys had better be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN the servers will be able to properly handle the strain. Nothing would look worse than the new store crashing hard the same day it debuts, or people not being able to download one of the most anticipated games of the year.

    Just thought I’d point this out in case someone on your end hadn’t considered the PR ramifications of an outage at such a critical moment.

  • This new look looks great and i cant wait till April 17 but when is the PSN Store ganna be like a Itunes and like a On Demand? letting us download Music and Movies or is that even possible for the Store to be able to do that? I also wont to be able to download a full game on the PSN Store but only rent it and the same with movies that would be SICK!!!!

  • The VOD and Music service were mentioned a year ago. Those things take time! Sony are still new at this! I recall an interview with Tretton that said VOD shall be out by the end of this year. Patience is key!

  • New firmware, new store, warhawk booster pack and patch, I’m being crazy this April!

  • If possible, could you add the option to play ambient music in the background while browsing the store? Sleek interfaces are awesome and, in my opinion, become even more awesome when it has a “futuristic” feel to it added with music.

    Just a thought. =p

  • Is the Account Management section also going to be revamped and put into the store or is it going to stay the same web browser based??

  • great look didnt have a problem with the other store.one question scee said they would had a suprise for the revamp store will we be getting the same thing in the us store?

  • How about using the sixaxis as a free-air mouse. You can have a button that centers the cursor, holding the sixaxis with one hand in such a way that the DPAD is accessible by the index finger. This feature would make using the new store and web broswer much easier.

  • 2 weeks without any content. It better pay off in the end when the playstation gets a redesign. Hopefully more demos, PSN games, PS1 games will be added in the future.

  • I have a quick question. Does the new look affect account management for example, Now once you insert a credit card number you cant change it to a new one. Will this issue be resolved with the new store and update?

  • thatsmartguywiththefro

    since this will be a firmware update, am I right in assuming that this will be 2.30 and that 2.4 w/ in Game XMB will be coming soon after?

    also, will this store revamp add any new content like music, tv shows, and movies. if it’s not here by this update, but you are working on it, please tell us so that all the fan boys don’t go insane with wrath. :)

  • @ Susan

    The new store looks great (to bad I don’t have a PS3). But will there be something similar to this for the PSP? Will there be an update for the PSP so there will be a store on the PSP?

  • thatsmartguywiththefro

    oh, and now that this will not be web browser based interface, any more, will the downloads load faster?

    this would be a great improvement, since while something may take only a few minutes to load on my computer it takes hours on the PS3 using the same wireless connection.

  • “”PS3 users will be prompted to download a firmware update which will enable entry to the new store.””

    DUH…. How about a firmware update that’ll correct firmware update 2.2 (aka Sony Vista) which has screwed up streaming of movie files, introduced annoying stuttering, increased load/start times when viewing a movie…..

    Bet the “PLAYSTATION Store” firmware update will be delayed so the programmers can figure out what went wrong in update 2.2 !!!

  • Does this mean that everything in the store will stay there and not get replaced…game demos, videos, wallpapers will not go away after like a month or so?

  • I saw in the post that Susan Panico posted we will be required to download a new firmware update when the store goes live. I was wondering if Jeff,Grace or someone from Sony could tell us what firmware version this will be 2.3?

    Thanks! :)

  • Are you kidding me?! Still Alive comes out TODAY and you can’t squeeze ONE ITEM onto the store before the blackout?! This lag behind the 360 version (17 days) is PATHETIC! MS couldn’t have planned this better themselves.

    PLEASE, PUT UP THE GODDAMN ROCK BAND SONG!!!!

  • Love it!!!!

  • Hey, I just wanted to know, will the new store update frequently rather than just Thursdays? You know, to keep up with demos that Xbox Live receives so we don’t have to wait days later?

  • Avatar photo

    Hi, folks!
    Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve read through all of your comments and posts and tried to answer as many as possible.
    There are many things that we can’t comment on just yet, but hopefully, in the mean time, some of your biggest questions and concerns have been addressed.
    Thanks again to all of you for your continued support!

  • Hey Noel and other Sony workers,

    I know you’ve said the new SD store will have more icons displaying at one time than the current three…but can you please say how many there will be exactly..thanks..

    Also, saying that we don’t have updates for a couple of weeks, does that mean when the new store launches we’ll have a lot of nice new content to celebrate? (Other than Rock Band and Guitar Hero of course..lol)

    • We\’ll try to get you some more screens and info leading to the launch of the new Store.
      Stay tuned and keep reading the blog for more info!

  • Soory to double post..but also would it be possible for some pictures of the SD store to be posted and also

    Will there be an option for SD users to adapt the store by saying if they have a 16:9 screen or a 4:3 screen..kind of annoying at the moment how the SD version forces you into a 4:3 store with black bars at either side if you have an SD widescreen TV.

    ..Sorry for all the questions

  • I beg of you sony dont screw up GT5 Prologue release!!!! Look what happened to the Euro store the day it was supposed to be released.

    Now for April 15 we have to…
    – Download a new firmware.
    – Pray it downloads fast and without errors (not likely)
    – Pray that the new PS store works flawlessly (not likely)
    – Download GT5:P
    – Slow download will be slowwww most probably
    – THEN download an update that is required for GT5:P

    I reallly question why are you guys doing all this in one day? Your servers are going to be hammered, speeds will be slow, and NO ONE WILL BE HAPPY.

    Hope you can answer Noel.

  • i was hoping like sing star kind of look but i hope this would be easier to use.

  • Oh, may I make a suggestion?

    Since I own both consoles, I can make some comparisons between the two. The Xbox 360 gets game updates rather easily, with a little bar coming up on the side and the update downloading really really fast. When I updated Motorstorm to 2.0, it took just around an hour to update, and Resistance took quite a while too. For every game why not integrate a quick dashboard like update on a side menu that comes up, then restart the game? On the 360, the game doesn’t have to load up first, it tells you once you put the disc in, making it even faster as well. Why not do that with the PS3?

  • Will it now be possible to change the language of the store temporarily even if it is not the region’s language? Cause I live in Puerto Rico and not all of my friend s know english. And they’re that type of person that WANTS to read the terms of service.

  • i have to ask, what number firmware will this be? if you cant answer i understand

  • I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that hopefully with the new PS Store (which is awesome by the way) the required FW update also brings the ability to change your online avatar. This is one thing that is very often overlooked.

  • what number will the firmware be when this goes live? just out of my own interest hoping its 2.3 so that i know the next update will have ingame xmb.

  • geez, most of you act like this is the second coming or something. as willacuz said, a new way to browse the same old content. wow.

  • sorry double post i thought the first 1 didnt make it through

  • So, I guess this will push back the release of Eye of Judgment SET.2 yet another week here in the states. I guess it is a small payback for US getting things before Europe most of the time.

  • Is there any way you guys can tell us if the PSN Cards are coming soon? Because I don’t own a credit card and buy gift cards and pay 5 bux to activate it to make it work is kinda expensive.

    I know you guys are reading, but plz can you make this happen soon? Thanks for the effort and time!

  • I wanted to ask if there is a way to know when the PSN Cards will arrive to the US, because is kinda expensive to buy GIft cards and pay 5 bux to activate it just to use it.

    I know you guys are reading, but I should appreciate if we can hear some information or see the cards soon.

    Another thing, do you guys plan to add more or custom pictures for the PSN ID? It should be nice if there was a way to upload an avatar and then you guys can accept it or deny it depending on their content.

    Anyways, thanks for your effort and time! Keep up the good work guys!

  • I just want to thank not only the Sony guys in charge of the store revamp but those that have come here to answer our questions as well. It makes me proud to be a PS fan knowing that our feedback is actually going somewhere other than a furnace to keep the offices warm(oblongs reference!).

    So thank YOU for your patience with US. The “IN GAME XMB” people, the “im going to ask a question without seeing if it was already asked/answered” people, the rabid fans that never seem to be satisfied.

    My only question now though, is how will things be easier on YOUR end with the new store? Will updates be more timely? Will content be able to be added more easily? I assume that server stress will be greatly reduced due to not having to handle both a site AND file serving. Just straight DB and file serving now.

    I’m SO EXCITED! :D

  • Hi, Noel

    I have a suggestion / question. Why doesn’t Sony consider creating exclusive video or audio content just for PSN ? I think it would be great to see both a weekly video show about upcoming PS3 / PSP games, news, reviews and previews (ala the 1upshow), as well a weekly podcast available on PSN.

    Since the majority of the weekly updates to PSN consist of trailers and videos that have already been available through other websites days before they hit PSN, I think weekly original content would give the PSN community something to get excited about, especially on those Thursdays that we don’t get playable demo’s or new PSN games.

    You could even incorporate it into HOME ( if it ever comes out ). Have a virtual studio that PSN users could flock to live every week to sit in on the PODCAST, or gather at club, theater or apartment to watch the latest episode of PSN TV.

    After all if a company like Ziff Davis can produce the 1up show and 1up yours every week, surely Sony has the money and resources to produce a podcast and weekly web show showing off / advertising its latest products.

    Let me know what you think. And thank you for the store relaunch.

  • I have one question, or maybe a feature request.

    There is one thing that I’m having problems with in the current store interface and that is knowing if there is new content. I would love it if the PSN Store icon would show a number or some other metric next to the icon.

    That would show many new ‘games’/’demos’/’wallpapers’ there are, compared to your last visit.

  • That’s a great looking redesign to the store! It looks clean and organized, yet it looks, dare I say, sexy!

    Great job Sony! =]

  • Yes, I agree with a few other ideas. Music in store plz! If you can’t answer this question at the moment for whatever reason, just say so. Thanks so much, the blog and the PS Store have really improved. :P

  • I’ve read all of the comments and this has been asked like 3 times but are there any plans to incorporate Mexico in the list of:

    a)available counties

    b)accepted adresses or accepted credit cards (because actually we’re in the same region)

    c)countries with access to PSN cards (’cause as you might tell we can’t buy a single thing)

    Please know that a lot (and I mean A Lot) of guys from Spain and/or USA are from around here (mex)

    So please take it into account for the firmware update if possible

  • So far I can only use a Windows O/S computer to download from the PC PSP store to the PSP. Are you guys going to get some support for linux users anytime soon? Certainly would be appreciated!

    Thank you

  • How about a search engine, and settings to automatically inform you of new content for games you own, and automatically download new demos of certain genres, maybe with advanced settings like only if they are below a certain size, download only so much a month (for ppl with quotas) AND STOP DISABLING MUSIC PLAYBACK!

    How about background installing, and an option to download and shut down.

  • Will the new store engine be shared with first/third party developers, so we see improvements in the stores of Rock Band, Singstore, and others, alongside this? Is it shared code, designed to be embedded into other games, or do game authors have to do their own frontend in addition to the one that’s about to be built into the firmware?

  • I’m not sure if this has been asked before, but I can’t see it as answered. Just wondering if the store will be a global store instead of broken up into regions?

    Thanks if you can tell me. Cheers!

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