Redesigned PSN Store now open

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 April, 2008

Complete with new wares.

The redesigned PlayStation Network Store is now open for business, complete with some brand new downloads.

There's SEGA Superstars Tennis demo and video, for example, plus trailers for Bionic Commando Rearmed and Lost Planet. Or how about a Dropkick Murphys song pack for Guitar Hero III - it's free, after all. The new Super Stardust HD Solo add-on, however, costs GBP 2.99.

PS3 Fanboy reports that if you have a US account, you can get a free Lair pack and two Gran Turismo 5 Prologue videos.

But perhaps most exciting is the new look to the store itself. The menus make more sense, the interface is much more intuitive and the whole thing is generally slicker. Apart from the fact menu icons still take a while to load. A bit of a shame.

Switch on your PS3 and plug it into the Internet to download firmware update 2.30 now. Along with access to the new PSN Store, it offers DTS-HD audio support.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Pedrolot #1 4 years ago

    Looks good. Very slick

  • Cyclone #2 4 years ago

    Any word on when Colony Wars is supposed to be uploaded to the store? I was hoping that it might be available with the relaunch.

  • dazzaman #3 4 years ago

    Nice new look, takes a while to load images. Is it the case that they thought they ought to put a few bits up for the relauch held from last week but this Thursday will see some decent content perhaps.

  • JediMasterMalik #4 4 years ago

    I like it, tis very nice.

  • X201 #5 4 years ago

    But they said it would be open in the middle of April and today is the 15th!

    This sticking to quoted release dates lark has got to stop!


  • hobo57 #6 4 years ago

    tried it this morning, must say it is a huge improvement over the old store - however it was extremely slow, images failing to load etc.

    also couldn't find any way to preview videos without downloading in the background and quiting to view.

  • Beano #7 4 years ago

    Warhawk Operation Broken Mirror and the Metal Gear Online beta should be up this thurday ;)

  • Russty Cage #8 4 years ago

    Too bad SCEE screwed up the PAL version of the store, US version has much better layout.

  • Prodigy_BE #9 4 years ago

    Design-wise, them Sony chaps do know their wares.

  • Beano #10 4 years ago

    @disc : I will... ;)

  • McLovin85 #11 4 years ago

    those menu icons do take an age to load. also sometimes it takes so long that it says 'image broken' for me.
    oh well nothings perfect.

  • Zander #12 4 years ago

    Colony Wars... Yeah! Is it coming soon then?

  • Darren #13 4 years ago

    What's really stupid about the PS Store update is that it has to download the generic icons... why? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have had the main icons actually on the PS's HDD permanently so they appear straight away? It could then cache the individual ones for games at its leisure. That way, everything would have had an icon whether it loaded the individual one or not instead of being blank as it is now. Plus you'd instantly be able to see which ones you've downloaded before, which you can't currently until the icon picture has downloaded. It's such an obvious thing really... :;?

  • hobo57 #14 4 years ago

    @Darren

    Agree, Sony could have easily cached the images. I suspect there will be another update to fix this clearly dodgy version.

  • Darren #15 4 years ago

    The PS Store only caches the icons for the current session... if you quit and then re-enter the Store you'll find it has to re-cache all the icons again. Really terrific use of the standard HDD there, Sony! ;)

  • CrudMonk #16 4 years ago

    There doesn't seem to be a PSone tab for games which I find odd. All the PSone games are lumped in with the rest. I thought the whole idea of the redesign was to make it more easy to find stuff?


    Edited by 1 at 15/04/08 @ 13:40

  • Beano #17 4 years ago

    If Sony "just" make their Store server faster to handle the load, the icon-cache issue will be solved... I'm sure they will fix this since everybody are complaining about it. They clearly underestimated the server load... get on it Sony!

  • Wabe #18 4 years ago

    I'm getting mainly 'broken image' icons and the occasional proper one. Sometimes it takes a minute or so far anything to appear at all, making it look as though a category is empty. You'd have thought that would be keen to restore their reputation and ensured it worked from day one. Still, the basic layout is nice if they can get it to work.

    Also I don't see the 'video preview' for downloadable games as demoed in Sony's own pre-release walkthrough.
    Edited by 1 at 15/04/08 @ 14:01

  • Darren #19 4 years ago

    @Beano - Still doesn't explain why they decided that not including any generic "placeholder" icons with the update was a good idea in the first place... it would have improved the Store hundredfold IMO being able to see some kind of icon for all content instantly IMO. And why are the cached icons deleted when you quit the Store, wouldn't it have speeded things up to have the PS3 only download icons for new or changed items? As Wabe says, sometimes it looks like categories are empty when they aren't just because no icon appears straight away...

  • manic_mouse #20 4 years ago

    Lovely design but currently slow as molasses. Hopefully Sony will sort out the lag issues, then it will be pretty much perfect.

  • Darren #21 4 years ago

    @Wabe - I tried the video preview feature on the US PS Store for Super Stardust HD and it worked superbly with no pausing or anthing: the full 54 second clip played right through absolutely fine. The quality is poor when displayed full screen but looks fine when it plays in its default window.

  • Beano #22 4 years ago

    Darren: "Still doesn't explain why they decided that not including any generic "placeholder" icons with the update was a good idea in the first place... it would have improved the Store hundredfold IMO being able to see some kind of icon for all content instantly IMO."

    I agree... the slots should display a standard icon + text until the proper icon/image was loaded. Seems silly.

  • Artemus #23 4 years ago

    It's much better, apart from the already mentioned slooow icon loading. And yes, finally the circle button goes back!

  • Russty Cage #24 4 years ago

    Too bad the EU version is horrible compared to the US one.

    http://ww w.lasseman.se/2008/04/15/differ...

  • zuljin #25 4 years ago

    @Artemus
    "It's much better, apart from the already mentioned slooow icon loading. And yes, finally the circle button goes back!"

    Nooo! Now its out of sync with the web browser... I'm used to browsing that way...

  • mcwildcard #26 4 years ago

    I think we need an update to the SSHD review, the game started off as excellent and has just got better and better.

  • Les #27 4 years ago

    "And why are the cached icons deleted when you quit the Store"

    Probably because otherwise they would have to implement a "clear store cache" option within the settings menu for the people tight on disk space...

  • lemon #28 4 years ago

    Yes, SSHD review update please.

  • Darren #29 4 years ago

    @Russty Cage - Wow, I was aware the US and EU Stores were different from a brief look at both this morning but I didn't realise the differences extending to the US having more sort options and the preview feature (as I mentioned earlier, I tried the Super Startdust HD one on the US site but assumed we also had it)! I thought the whole point of the Store update was to unify it but this shows that it's clearly not the case. Why doesn't Europe get the preview feature? :?

  • Beano #30 4 years ago

    @Les : ...or just automaticly delete old files when the total cache is over a specified size limit. Should be pretty easy to implement ;)

  • Beano #31 4 years ago

    @Darren: "Why doesn't Europe get the preview feature?"

    The preview feature is there but I guess SCEE (those lazy bastards!) simply haven't uploaded preview movies to the EU store yet.
    Edited by 1 at 15/04/08 @ 14:43

  • Wabe #32 4 years ago

    I couldn't your sentence. Make you don't sense anyway.

  • captainrentboy #33 4 years ago

    MazzingerZ, that could be the most awesome sentence my eyes have ever seen.
    Good work.

  • ScarboroughKID #34 4 years ago

    Is anyone else download for the system software taking ages? I've got 2% in over 5 mins, and my internet is at its normal speed :S

  • ScarboroughKID #35 4 years ago

    @designerheadache

    I understand it would take a while, but I tried this morning before I went to school, and it was taking a similar amount of time. Its probably my ISP,they are awful.

  • Beano #36 4 years ago

    I tried this morning also and downloading the 2.30 firmware was very fast but the new Store was extremely slow.

  • Miths #37 4 years ago

    What the hell is up with SCEE? Don't they have any employees who aren't morons?
    I had just about gotten used to getting shafted in terms of content compared to the US, but now it turns out that this supposedly great new EU store is using a layout that's severely lacking in userfriendliness and features compared to the new US store.

    Alright, so the excruciatingly slow icon load is probably going to be fixed very soon, but the design of the store? Did the SCEE morons sit down and say, "hmm... you know guys, wouldn't it be fun to do our own take on this store - really show those Sony US guys that we're smarter than them"?
    Obviously they greatly overestimated their own abilities.

    I'm a bit pissed - something that really doesn't happen often :). It's just a bit disheartening to see once again that the European PS3 team is either incompetent or just don't really care all that much. Or an ugly combination of both.

  • tobsen #38 4 years ago

    I am not surprised that the COD 4 map pack is not on the PSN shelves yet. Proves my previous point that there is an exclusivity deal with MS going on here, rather than its delay being due to the PSN store relaunch.

  • ChaK #39 4 years ago

    bha, who cares, we only spend 5 min a week on the EU store anyway :)

    Just fix the pics and i'll be fine

  • dreamkin #40 4 years ago

    really? why is sony even releasing Playstation 3 in Europe?

    And what's with all this "different stores for different places" crap? What year is this? 1990s? The games are region free so why is the store NOT region free? How come we are not allowed to buy stuff from the US store while our Credit Cards work perfectly anywhere in the US?

    Why isn't there a single PSN store? Is this really THAT hard? Steam does it? Why can't Sony do it?

  • NotSoSlim #41 4 years ago

    Not just Sony!

    Remember that
    Edited by 1 at 15/04/08 @ 19:21

  • CrudMonk #42 4 years ago

    Once you get over the superficial redesign you realize it's just the old store. To really change, the flow of content has to increase and looking at it after europe has received the poor end of the new store I dealt they are going to change that. Although I hope I'm proven wrong.

  • Arkeologen #43 4 years ago

    The EU PSN store is a big dissappointment compared to the slick US-PSN Store.
    Everything is easy to find in US PSN.
    EU is pure fucking chaos.

    Guess I'll be spending more $ than € with my VISA thanks to SCEE.

  • Slipstream #44 4 years ago

    I've not seen it personally, but my friend told me it was in similar style to Singstar lol

  • GamesConnoisseur #45 4 years ago

    I will wait and see if next week or so will resolve the issues mentioned here re European Store and slowness of new PSN, but sigh.. its not looking good innit?

    Well hoping they will get their act together and would have been better to release new PSN with better contents and ensuring that teethings are sorted, and will operate to specs. I have to say even US Store works so damn slow and think its due to peak traffic as tried for first time tonight.
    Edited by 1 at 15/04/08 @ 22:56

  • 3william56 #46 4 years ago

    The store is gertainly an improvement, but not that great.

    SSHD Solo is mind boggling uber hardcore brilliance. The original was great, but this just ups the ante to 11. Fired up the new modes and got my a$$ handed to me in under a minute. Awesome. And the graphics now will actually make your TV explode and you go blind. 7 bucks well spent.

    /basks in the (extremely temporary) feeling of being in the SSHD top 200... :)

    The huge tower smart bomb things are now officially the best explosion in the vid game bizness.

    There's a new feature something like the old bonus green asteroids with a numeral in a red hexagon, but instead of juicy green bonuses, it seems to unleash a huge dump of mine things if you shoot it. Anyone figured out what these things are for?

  • phatb0y #47 4 years ago

    The only thing wrong with the previous store was the lack of content.

    Now its empty AND slow.

    If it ain't broke etc

  • Darren #48 4 years ago

    Having tried the Store a few more times, both the US and EU ones, I'm amused that the icons actually load far, far slower than they did on the old browser-based Store!!! I mean wasn't one of the reasons for the revamp better caching of icons? LOL