We've often lambasted Sony for the state of the PSN Store and its horrific design, so we would love to see a redesign. The rumor goes that this store overhaul will come in April, around the same time Gran Turismo 5: Prologue hits and will resemble the Singstar SingStore. Sounds good to us, the Singstore is much flashier, easier to use and more practical than the current PSN store. Of all the rumors we've heard so far this year, this is the one we'd most like to see come to fruition.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
2-27-2008 @ 10:13AM
Bryan jones said...
i dont have a problem with the current PSN, although i dont have singstar, so i guess i dont know what im missing
Reply
2-28-2008 @ 4:15AM
Steve Childs said...
I don't have a problem with the store either, I'd rather they spent the time and effort getting game releases better sync'd up.
*cough* PAIN *cough*
Although that said, its probably not down to Sony, that's down to the developers concerned.
I wonder if the redesign has anything to do with Home?
2-27-2008 @ 10:13AM
Organic_Shadow said...
It's fine and dandy if they redesign it, but will it still be a website? They need the singstore code/app/whatever integrated into the XMB as an applet that accesses the store database from the store servers, not just accessing some PS3-exclusive website and calling it a store.
It's horribly slow, and I think it's the main reason why. I tried looking up videos of the singstore to see it in action, but I couldn't really get a clear look at how it's organized and laid out. So if this is just going to be making it prettier, and doesn't even address the speed concerns and the horrible organization, then it's a lost cause.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 9:56PM
kentuckyfried said...
The navigation on the PSN store is horrible...coupled with the slowness, it's excruciating to use. A total overhaul is welcome.
2-27-2008 @ 7:08PM
ck said...
I think you've got it backward.
We demand in-store XMB.
2-27-2008 @ 10:14AM
n3rd said...
good.. that store is soooooo poorly put togther, it took me about 15 mins to download and install the GoW demo nothing is categorized so i hope thats one issue they redesign
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 1:29PM
collum1987 said...
You said it straight, I had a PS3 for the first three months in SD and the Store looked complete ass! Only three items available for show and it looked poo, in HD theres ten items available on the screen which is much better but its fucking slow though!!
This could mean some super mega fucking awesome update during March and April which would be amazing! New PLAYSTATION STORE, XMB accessed within game, custom soundtracks! It would be teh awesome update!
2-27-2008 @ 2:17PM
XanthouS said...
@collum
Just in time for GTA/MGS =]
2-27-2008 @ 10:38AM
Neon said...
About time. The whole interface is SO poorly designed it is not funny. As a software developer (some of it web based) I dread using their interface. It is not designed with the PS3 controller in mind for navigation.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 10:53AM
mcdermr said...
Interesting. Isn't Sony's Connect Music store being shutdown on March 31? Singstar's Singstore layout is geared towards music, so perhaps they are integrating the old Connect Music store's content with the PSN Store? The timing is right: shutdown the music store, redesign the PSN store and add in all the music and music videos from the now defunct music store.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 10:55AM
Phoenix8387 said...
I personally don't have a problem with the current store. Though everything may not be categorized the best, its still simple enough to find what you are looking for.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 11:00AM
Christian said...
I think organization wise the current store worked out well enough as the amount of content has been limited. Now that we started to reach a quite sizeable amount of content however I agree that a redesign wouldn't be bad.
The main weakness of the store though is the fact that it doesn't really take into consideration that your interface device is a sixaxis controller and not mouse and keyboard. Hopefully the new shop will be designed around the sixaxis instead of being mouse/keyboard centric.
I also think that what seems to be Sony's approach of moving DLC into game specific shops is a good one to avoid clutter going forward. While the Singstar store is the only one I know which you don't even see in the normal store it seems to be the path under development as seen in games like Warhawk.
Hopefully Guitar Hero and Rockband get their own integrated stores soon too.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 11:01AM
Dan Davis said...
I found yesterday exactly how bad it is: I purchased the PS Eye, and I wanted to download the games for it. It took forever to get all 6 of them in my cart, as you have to follow the links back from the main storefront every time you add something to your cart.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 11:07AM
Popfrogs said...
You were lucky to find them to begin with. The organization is so bad. However, the Japanese store seems to be more logically organized and it's much easier to find things there.
2-27-2008 @ 4:22PM
Dehshizknight said...
It's not the organization that sucks as much as how they grouped all the stuff. When you go into the 'Games' section, they weren't there; you'd have to surf through the 'Featured' section. Another thing was when they had the E3 videos: they weren't in the 'Videos' section.
2-27-2008 @ 11:12AM
James said...
Agree, the store is terrible. It's not immediately obvious because there's so little content, but once the flood starts later this year (or I guess already if you own SingStar?), people will start breaking down the doors. OK, Games -- Demos... page one of five? And I have to navigate over to an arrow and click it, then wait for a whole new page to load to view the next 10 or whatever items? Fail.
Preload *everything*, and show me the first items as soon as possible. Apply category filters with Ajax (PS3 browser handles that pretty well, right?) but leave all the items resident in memory so I can view them instantly. Minimize postbacks because even on broadband things can take a while, and I don't feel like waiting around for your store to load so I can give you money.
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 11:20AM
Rye21 said...
I cudnt care less about this rumour being true the only rumor i want to happen is this bloody xmb in game i have a hunch by various bits of info that it cud b released in march since a call of duty update in march is rumoured to have xmb in it. Though i wont hold my breath. BTW FIRST LOL
Reply
2-27-2008 @ 12:47PM
Popfrogs said...
I pray that someone breaks all your fingers so I never have to decipher a post like this again.
2-27-2008 @ 2:28PM
Rye21 said...
To reiterate and improve upon my aformentioned comment 'I could not care less about this rumour becoming true. The only rumor I want to happen is for this bloody 'XMB in-game' to be released. I have a hunch by collating various sources of information, that it could (XMB) be released in March, since a Call of Duty 4 update is due to be released and is rumoured to enable XMB. Though i wont hold my breath for its immienent relase.'
Neither could I care less for your inoffensive comment that is unlikey to happen. As you so poignantly put it "I pray someone breaks your fingers". Since the fact that is you do not know where I live and that it appears you would not have the strength to do it.
While yes, I admit my spelling was atrocious there is no need for the insult you make. In actual fact I wanted to cause a bit of stir since these forums are dead these days. I should of added I am a major XBOX 360 fan. Also so I should state this is not my first post, I just wanted to wind people up.
Well I hope you go out of your way to 'break a leg' to reply to this comment.
2-27-2008 @ 11:29AM
Stef Geiger said...
A complete redesign would make a lot of sense, as it would explain why they've done just about nothing to improve the current store over the past year and a half. And no, background downloading doesn't count, because that's at the OS level.
Reply