Don't feel left out, Americans. Despite how it may feel, Europe isn't the only region getting PSN Store updates this week and today's US update is rather tasty. Between the demos, trailers and PixelJunk Monsters Encore there's more than enough content to keep everyone happy. If you're intrigued about PlayStation Day, however, and want to check out the keynote then, sadly you're out of luck. Here's the full release list:
Playable content
Rocketmen: Axis of Evil ($10 - game now available from store, rather than from within the demo)
So PlayStation Day 2008 is here and that promised update has arrived as well. Well, not entirely. There have been a few modifications from what was noted last week. There's no Blast Factor Advanced Research add-on, but we do get an extra trailer for MotorStorm Pacific Rift and a special compilation video for PS Day.
It also looks like Siren: New Translation has a "new translation" for its western release. It's now dubbed Siren Blood Curse. Also, check out the PC Store's update, if you've got a PSP.
SCEE might just find themselves back in European PS3 owners' good books after next week. PlayStation Day, a press-only event in London, takes place on the 6th of May. The press conference at the event will be hosted by Kaz Hirai and David Reeves (President of SCEE) and will no doubt include some interesting announcements. We'll be there to give you up to the minute news as it happens.
To celebrate PlayStation Day, the European PSN Store will be updated twice next week. Once on Tuesday and once on Thursday. Those of you who have become disheartened with the European PSN updates might want to take special note to this line-up. In total you can expect to see four demos, three full games and five add-on packs spread across the two updates. Plus a nice collection of videos, including the PlayStation Day press conference itself, hosted by Kaz Hirai.
Check out the full list of content for Tuesday's update below. Thursday's list can be seen after the break.
Much like Niko, echochrome's faceless protagonist arrives in the Land of the Free this week, ready to make a new life for himself and hopefully find his way out of his various labyrinthine prisons. Of course, he'll need your help to do so. If you're not too busy playing GTA IV, that is. For ten bucks, echochrome is a no-brainer for anyone who likes feeling mentally challenged. Here's the full release list: Playable content
Many Karaoke Revolution: AIE songs ($1.50 a piece - Check the PS.Blog for full details)
Rock Band and Karaoke Revolution continue their scary reign as King and Queen of DLC (we'll leave you to decide which is which). As for whether this is a clever time to be releasing a highly-anticipated game, when GTA IV came out only two days ago, we'll leave that up to you too. Choice can never be a bad thing, we suppose.
Today Konami Europe has released a rather tardy press release to announce last Thursday's release of Bishi Bashi Special on the European PSN Store. The press release contains the normal PR speak about how thrilled Konami is that Bishi Bashi Special is their first PS1 game released over the PSN, how awesome the game is and how exciting the whole situation is.
Nestled at the end, however, is the statement that Bishi Bashi Special is "the first of several classic Konami PSOne titles heading to the PlayStation Store in the coming months," with more detailed announcements "to follow." Sounds great to us. We've always been strong advocates of the sadly infrequent PS1 releases. Obviously, at the top of our list would be the original Metal Gear Solid, which would tie perfectly with the release of MGS4 in just over a month. What other Konami titles would you like to see gracing the European store in the coming months?
Not one to be upstaged, SCEA has bettered today's decent PSN update with an even bigger one. Today you'll find two demos, a PS1 game, five expansion packs and a large collection of trailers. We approve. More updates like this in the future, please. Here's the full release list: Playable content:
R-Types PS1 game ($5.99) - Includes R-Type and R-Type II
Karaoke Revolution: AIE songs (check PS.Blog for full list)
So what's your first purchase? R-Types or the Eye of Judgment expansion? Or maybe the Rock Band songs or Call of Duty 4 map pack. Honestly, you're spoiled for choice. Rock Band songs and assorted trailers are listed after the break.
There's a pleasing amount of new content made available today on the European PlayStation Store. It's not very often we get to say that, but this week is surprisingly good. We'll sit back for a couple more weeks before throwing SCEE a "We Forgive You!" party, but for now we're placated. Here's the full release list, in a new handy-dandy format:
Two PS1 games? Yes please. Good ones, too. This is more like what we expected from the service. No more Reel Fishing, thanks. We're also pleased to see the Resistance 2 trailer going up today, alongside the American release. That and the Variety Map Pack start to make us wonder whether SCEE really is serious about fixing their problems with the European Store. Keep it up.
It's been a long two weeks, hasn't it? But finally, finally we can get our hands on it. That one piece of content we've been looking forward to ever since it was announced. No, not Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Nor Warhawk's new expansion, Operation Broken Mirror. We're talking about "Still Alive" for Rock Band! Here's the full release list:
Don't forget a load of content also went up on Tuesday, when the store launched. We're glad to see the PSN Store getting content again. Don't forget we've listed all the yummy new Rock Band downloadable content after the break. So what will your first purchase be? GT5:P, Operation Broken Mirror or "Still Alive"?
The list of grievances Europe is holding against SCEE seems to be growing by the week. A new thread on the official European PlayStation forums demonstrates the various areas in which SCEE is underachieving in comparison to SCEA. While everyone seems happy with the design of the new PSN Store, which went live recently, European PS3 owners seem annoyed at the weird categorisation system used on the EU version. There's no "demos" section, requiring you to search through each game in turn to see whether it has a demo available or not.
Not only that, but there's no "preview" button on the European Store, which means that there are no video previews of games. Other annoyances include a lack of decent content, games appearing late (or never at all) compared to their US releases and the lack of a real European PlayStation.Blog. It looks like the members of the official forums aren't going to take it anymore. But will SCEE listen? Sadly, we doubt it.
[UPDATE] The thread has been moved to the feedback section of the official European PlayStation forums.
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is now up and ready to be downloaded from the American PSN Store, and has been since midnight EST. The price of the game is $40 as well as 1.9GB of your precious hard drive space. Those of you who haven't picked up the, frankly, superior (and cheaper) Blu-Ray version can now go ahead and get your hands on the game without leaving your couch by utilizing the sexy new PlayStation Store. There's more to come from the Store later today and we'll let you know exactly what else is going up as soon as we find out.
SCEE has confirmed that the PSN Store redesign will be going live on April 15th. It has also been revealed that the European Store won't get updated until Thursday the 17th, but it should be worth the wait. A list of upcoming content was included in the press release, including the European Metal Gear Online beta. From the looks of things, it'll be an open beta for anyone who wants to take part, unlike in the US or Japan where beta keys were handed out with Metal Gear Solid 4 preorders. Here's what we can expect to see next Thursday:
Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta
Warhawk: Operation Broken Mirror expansion
Lair "Diabolical Dragons" pack
Lair "Skyguard Upgrade" pack
"A collection of trailers including the latest for GTA IV"
Sega Superstar Tennis demo
Looks like that "special update" we were promised was pointing towards the MGO beta. Nice to see Europe not getting shafted in the end -- in fact, they get the best deal. A seemingly open beta. We're not sure whether the content listed above is exhaustive, but assume for now that it is. We'll let you know if we find out otherwise.
[Update]Konami has confirmed that the beta will be completely open and will last between April 21st and May 6th. After May 6th the beta client will be removed from the PSN Store.
Screenshots are all very well, but we've been waiting and waiting to see the PSN Store redesign in all its full-motion glory. Well, the time has come. Instead of a Store release post (there won't be one today, remember?) Grace Chen has stepped in front of a camera in order to show off the redesign to us. Thankfully, it looks fantastic. Complete with SingStar-esque fades between pages.
Some of these features are more than we'd ever have anticipated. Being able to see every piece of content, whether it's a demo, wallpaper, theme or add-on pack for each particular game is excellent -- as are the pop-up and full screen preview videos. Finally, it's nice to see that the Store will no longer shrink when you buy content, instead a wee shopping bag will let you know that you've already bought it. Great. We can't wait to get our hands on the new Store when it's released on April 15th.
Just in case motion makes your eyes go funny, we've put our collection of very static screenshots below.
A press release sent out by SCEJ has revealed that firmware version 2.30 and, by extension, the newly redesigned PlayStation Store will be available on April 15th. There's no word on whether new content will be placed on the store on the day that the redesign goes live, and we're all too familiar with how much Sony hates updating the store on days that don't begin with "Thurs." When the update does go live, however, we'll have plenty of exciting content to look forward to -- Americans can finally get their hands on GT5:P and Warhawkfans the world over will be able to grab the latest expansion. What else? We have no idea, but we're excited to find out.
Reacquaint yourself with the new Store design via our gallery below.
The PlayStation Store may not have updated yesterday, but Grace Chen still managed to get a post up on the PlayStation.Blog. In it she reminds us that Warhawk is still only $29.99 (and, therefore, must be immediately purchased by those who still don't have it) as well as revealing a few new screens of the PSN Store redesign. We've added these to the gallery below and look forward to seeing the Store in motion when a video goes up on the PlayStation.Blog sometime next week.
One of the screenshots reveals a "preview" button which, Chen confirms in the comments, will show off some some of the game's visuals to help people make a purchase decision. While the current store already has screenshots embedded in the item description, it seems that content will now be able to have video previews as well. This will make it much easier to see whether a game might be worth grabbing or not.
We have received confirmation that the redesigned US PSN Store will be arriving around the same time as its European counterpart. A new image has also been revealed showing how the US will differ from the EU store - the front page, at least. Apart from a few changes with the wording ("Featured Items" rather than "We Recommend") everything seems very similar. No content will be released on the US Store for the next two weeks.
The US press release also confirms that the Store will be software based, as opposed to the current web based version. A firmware update will be released when it launches which will "activate" the new Store. A software based storefront will mean a much faster, less aggravating PSN Store. Singstar owners will already have experienced this with the SingStore, which is much nicer to use. We're holding out until we see the redesign in action, but so far we're very optimistic about the new PSN Store redesign.
SCEE might just find themselves back in European PS3 owners' good books after next week. PlayStation Day, a press-only event in London, takes place on the 6th of May. The press conference at the event will be hosted by Kaz Hirai and David Reeves (President of SCEE) and will no doubt include some interesting announcements. We'll be there to give you up to the minute news as it happens. 
The list of grievances Europe is holding against SCEE seems to be growing by the week. A new thread on the official European PlayStation forums demonstrates the various areas in which SCEE is underachieving in comparison to SCEA. While everyone seems happy with the design of the new PSN Store, which went live recently, European PS3 owners seem annoyed at the weird categorisation system used on the EU version. There's no "demos" section, requiring you to search through each game in turn to see whether it has a demo available or not.
