New PlayStation Store Impressions

In this impression, the author writes:

"Along with the Firmware Update 2.30 came the new PlayStation Store. Lets face it, it would have been difficult for them to make a crappier looking/functioning store, but I think we all hoped for something fantastic. I don't know if I would call the new store fantastic, but it is a massive improvement. Navigating the store with the D-Pad is now quite easy, but the biggest improvement in my opinion is the way its actually set out. There are now categories that are easy to get to, including All Games, Game Add-Ons, Videos, PSP Games, etc. Unfortunately there seems to be some problems with thumbnail images loading in, but I a sure that'll be fixed. All in all, its a step in the right direction. Now…how about that in-game XMB? Or perhaps some Home?"

[sonarus]

no doubt about it, the store is a HUGE improvement. They need to fix the issues with the loading images though. Maybe their servers are just overloaded with so many ppl. Whats the deal with the easter eggs for every 50 members, anyone figure out what it is yet?

[Scarfy]

Yes, I agree about the image loading thing.

Tell you what I thought was weird though,

Go in to the store and let it download images, etc. Exit the store and then go back in.

Why does it re-download all the data??? Surely this should be cached on the hard drive..? (And no, it wouldn't take up very much space. A few MBs at most).

Caching that data would make the store even faster.

THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS
http://stephenjsweeney.blog...

(EDIT: typos)

[masterg]

@Scarfy

I tried the same. I was expecting it to cache the images for a while (Like a week or two or even longer) but it has to reload the entire thing.

I was sure I read somewhere they would cache the images for faster load speed.

[gaffyh]

Big improvement, but honestly they need to sort out the caching of the images, it takes forever. Plus the EU store layout is messed up compared to the US store

[HardcoreGamer]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Foxx77]

Keep in mind Sony said the store would be down for about 24 hours, as noted in this post: http://blog.us.playstation....

They also went on to say the reason it would be down is to get all of the new images out to the servers, I would think this would be the answer to all of our problems so everyone should just calm down for a bit. I think the new store is Fantastic. Cheers Sony

[Cryos]

I, for one, am upset that there is STILL no new content. I was under the impression that there would be new content (including COD4 maps) when the new store was up, and another update Thurs. I'm actually very annoyed that they didn't update last week to prepare, and no update once it's up and running. Thursday better have a hell of a lot of stuff.........

But overall I like the new design ;)

[GutZ31]

The day of store restocking is every Thursday.
You cant be serious in thinking a newly implemented store would just come up with, not server strain tested, and updated with new content right out the blue?

You think microsoft would do this?

[Cryos]

But what I'm saying is the intentionally missed LAST thursday's update to prepare. So, I was expecting (and I'm not alone) SOME content once the new design was up.

And as far as the "would MS do that?" no, probably not. But what they would probably do is an update as seamlessly as possible, without missing a beat. But what do I know, i don't own a 360.

[duarteq]

Looks really sweet and nice. I like it. Confirm problems with thumbnails.

Regarding Home and XMB, give it time, don't want everything for the day. Sony is doing a great job. Remember, with great power comes great responsability.

I know Sony will not disapoint in the end. That's why i choose this Brand.

[mariusmal]

i can confirm that problems too.

ps - portugal allez. eu escolhi duas marcas meu fanboy ehehe (tou a reinar)

[Elvfam511]

with great power comes the b!tches i had to do it but i love the new store anything new inside the store though

[thehitman]

Is that even something thats in place that every 50 thing??? Also its an improvement but the load speed on images is not... Takes like 15secs for all the images to load...

[Blackcanary]

Like always the UK get screwed the New store in europe is more F!cked up than the Old was. we get a new look with same old style.

No preview button, Demos are now mixed with full games.
PS1 games are now mixed with PS3 games and Demos and PSP games.
Don't get the option to find a game in Alphabetical order.
Addons are mixed with Full games PS1 games and Demos.

So the UK gets screwed we get a Dumb down version of the USA store with Slower Loading times to. For the UK its the same old store just with a paint job.

[Jinxstar]

Sorry to hear it man...

[Blackcanary]

Sony do this to europe all the time we still don't even have Super street puzzel fighter HD yet god thats never gonna come to us sony don't care about the europe store at all. Now trying to buy something is gonna be harder to find than it was before because there isn't a secation for demos or PS3 games or PS1 games. Why would you put PS1 games into the PSP secation i would understand if there was a icon saying PS1 games but there isn't lol Demos are mixed in with Full games there isn't even a icon that says demos like you guys got damn sony what you playing at.

[Kleptic]

its not 'Sony' exactly...its SCEE...there is an entire arm of SCE dedicated to your territory...and they fail at everything nearly all the time...

and people in other territories shouldn't think this won't effect them either...guess who is in charge of firmware updates...Home...and Killzone 2?...there is no question that Home and in game messaging/invites taking this long is entirely proportional to being developed almost single handedly by SCEE...

honestly...they don't really do a single thing right...the PS store everywhere is nearly flawless now...yet the European/UK store is a joke in terms of logical organization...Look at thier advertising/marketing division...They were running ads for a PS3/Haze bundle for a Christmas release last year...oops...and shat, their "This IS Living" campaign makes absolutely zero sense to every single living person...

the contracted firm handling fimrware updates have blatantly missed what updates people want on a montly basis...since day 1...'where is our in game messaging?'...still not hear...we have every single other thing imaginable...literally...to the point now where we need one single more firmware update...and thats it...after in game xmb...there isn't a single thing to add aside from new codecs and streaming support as technology increases...they have done every single other thing imaginable...

what sense does that make?..."ok, so everyoneis asking for this feature that we basically lead them to believe would ship with the system...so lets give them all kinds of features for all kinds of other stuff first...then give them a new store thats faster and prettier...then wait another several months to a year...then give them what they were originally asking for...lets constantly dodge questions on Home's publich beta release, and give no concrete evidence of it comin anytime soon...lets push for big announcements for E3, as if everyone will be excited to wait that long...and lets constantly screw our own territory to the point that they know we will never get anything right...ever"...

SCEE needs to go away...SCEA and SCEJ together could easily make everything better for Europe and the UK anyway...SCEJ can take over the firmware and development support side of things...and SCEA can take over Home...and contract Insomniac to finish development and network implementation...we would have Home by Friday of this week if that was the case...hell even SCEJ was better at worldwide localization for games than SCEE is for THEIR OWN TERRITORY..with SCEJ running European game development support...Europeans would still get the game sooner than they do now...thats obviously a problem...

I recommend emailing SCEE to raise hell...

[email protected]

[level 360]

It's good really the "new" look PS3 Store, it's more user friendly - easier to browse thru.

But the loading times take awhile - quite slow exactly. And I know a lot are experiencing this as well.

Hope they fix it soon...

[thehitman]

How it looks in SD I know the other store looked different I wonder if ppl w.o HD TVs get slighted again ima go check :). Also is it just me or is there nothing in the store new?

Edit: It looks same so u guys with SD arent missing much. It kind of looked horrible for me since the resolution looked shotty but thats because im use to 1080i. The design stays the same. Also i double checked no new content...

[Jinxstar]

17th it gets new stuff.

[duarteq]

There is in fact new content in the Store, look closely and with attention :)

[Jinxstar]

Really... I may need to check again before work. Have a good day all.

[RecSpec]

There is a lot of new stuff that was only on the PC Playstation store, all PSP stuff.

[AngryHippo]

.....still not brilliant tho. Loading of images is a bit annoying but other than that thumbs up. Now lets hope that we get some great content on there.

[xtreampro]

this guys still complaining (guy who wrote articale)

[thehitman]

He was right on about everything he said exactly. Its not amazing but its a great improvement and they do need to fix the thumbnail loading.

[mattnz]

Why would it be 'amazing'? It's just a store, were you expecting it to buy you a beer or something? VAST improvement, thumbnail loading is slow but I think we should give it a day or so to settle before we get too excited, everyones trying to get on there at the moment. Loading of the store itself and the subsequent pages not including thumbnails is impressive though.

[Hatchet]

I was checkin out the UK store ( my home store) and then checked out the US store and the US store is better. Yes asthetically speaking they look the same, but in navigating the US store has it down!!

You can choose to navigate Alphabetically, there is a demos page ( not on the UK store) it just all seems a lot more fluid than the UK store, why do they need to be different!!!

[andron]

Why don't they just cache them on the HDD? Doesn't take up much space and you only need to load new icons.

It a much better store now, easier and faster to navigate.

[duarteq]

I must say that i also was thinking on that. It would be way faster if they cached items in HDD and only change when new stuff arrived. I think the store is really fast now in terms of use but not in terms of showing the stuff. Nice idea. Would be great

[Thoas]

Its better than the old one.

[jkhan]

New Store is definitely a great improvement over the previous one. I always felt that the store didn't feel like its part of the PS3, like when you look at xbox live, it feels like its embedded in the 360 interface. But its all good now:D

[thehitman]

I sort of felt the same way. This looks is definetly better they just need to fix the load times. On the bigger pages it takes like 15 secs to load all the images way to long.

[Hellsvacancy]

my ps3 fu<ked i cant install the firmware update it just stays on 0% it has been like that 4 an hour ive resarted it and its the same ive even tried downloading it and puttin the update on a USB memory stick and still nothin, im not happy at all, i had a sh!t load trouble installin gt5p (disk not download) and it took nearly 9 hours of trying ive gotta wait and speak 2 an adviser

[Percy]

im tired of hearing you whine about your ps3 all the time if you dont like it go buy a 360 please its like everyday you have to cry to people on a forum about your crappy product you dont even have a gamertag listed for. Nobody ever has the same problems as you.

[Jack Meahoffer]

Nice images and load time on your fancy new store. Back to waiting right? They'll fix it SOMETIME in the NEAR future...

[Kleptic]

you tried a USB update too?...

People regularly have issues downloading an update directly to the PS3...especially right after the update is released...server load is extremely high, and a lot of networking problems occur for some ISPs...

but if you have it on a card or USB reader...what happens?...there shouldn't be the downloading update screen then...it should take you directly to the install screen when you chose 'update via memory card/usb device'...

do a hard reset of the system...turn the ps3 on...then from the login screen press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds...it will beep once like it is turning off then beep again closer to 10 seconds...then should reboot...if you have an HDMI connection it could take up to a minute for the PS3 to recognize that connection (the default is to use the standard multi-video output)...You will lose all your theme/background settings...but resets all the firmware/OS settings...including the network settings...reset your router/modem/both and enter all your connection settings again...if you still have a problem, contact Sony...

that worked for me in the past...I kept downloading 2.10 or something, and it would get stuck at 22% then give an error message...this still doesn't answer why it won't work with the memory card though...

try it an see what happens...

[SL1M DADDY]

Despite it's issues, it is a huge improvement over the last rendition. Thanks Sony for doing this and let's not all forget that this is all being done at the expense of Sony, not us. *thumbs up*

[Mikelarry]

no secret application for me.nooooooooooooooo. but on a lighter note good store interface

[PureGamer]

I cant even download the update and i cant even sign in so good one on that sony.

EDIT: thankgod for the sony website im now downloading it to my mac :D

[Jim Crowslaw]

this is goin better than anticipated. I never knew Stardust new add on would be so freakin addiciting. This should last me til about the 17th.....at which point ill purchase the new Warhwak patch which should last me til about the 21st......at which point ill DL the MGO beta which should last me til the 29th..........then........(gul p) (in japanese accent) "Gee.Tee.Eh,FO!!!!"

[Morgue]

I guess the old saying is true that you can't make everyone happy and here is another case, people nit-picking about the thumbnail images not loading fast enough. One guy said "15 sec is way too long" One question. How long did it take you to walk over to your computer, go on to this site and type your comment? Probably longer than 15 secs.

[prunchess]

what do you expect from it, head or something?

I agree, there is no pleasing some people, unless they're getting head or something!

[solidt12]

I downloaded the update this morning and it is a big improvement. Easier to find stuff, looks better, and it loaded alot faster. Kudos

[yanikins111]

My thumbnails took ages to load originally, seemed cached now tho.... tis nice and quick.

EDIT: I take it back. For some reason now they are taking ages to load again. WTF? Will probably be fixed in 2.4 :D

[KidMakeshift]

I like the sound effect when you enter the store

Now it just needs some elevator/lounge music like the Wii store

[yanikins111]

Sounds very Gran Turismo-ish.

Needs that funky music going too.

[HungPHAT]

no prolouge , no home . New store though ! Lot better Thursday will be the normal store updated day , maybe?????

[Jim Crowslaw]

u kno this is both weird and funny. first of all i neva come to the open forum, well not ever but seldom. so today i wake up wit the attitude of wantin to ask if anyone on this forum suffer the same probnlem as i do when it comes to PSN auto updates. everytime one is available i have to keep tryin and starting over to DL it. its been gettin betta as yesterday i only tried 4 times wit the new STardust update but there has been times where it took about 3 daysof tryin just to get it to work (as in the case wit super street puzzle fighter). i dont whine often i just would appreciate some takes on it and some help if possible. should i contact someone about this or try that fan test? its not da biggest deal but its gettin very annoyin

[Percy]

Maybe im wrong wouldnt be the first time. I don't know what would be happening does it happen when it downloads or when it installs if it is when it is downloading your internet might be lagging a bit and screwing up. If its just updates maybe it is due to the volume of traffic they receive at that time and the connection gets screwed at the server. If it is during the install it could be the hard drive. It should not be during the install though for if it was it would probly brick your ps3. Im guessing that you and hell probably have the same problem and something is up with the internet connection who knows feel bad for you guys.

[Jim Crowslaw]

its weird cuz it used to happpen when i had a very low internet connection, now i have a very high one and the problem persists. but it ONLY happens when i need a game update, not a firmware update, as that one is particularly fast. idk im thinkin of contacting sony. and as far as the volume is concerned i cancelled that notion out because i doubt anyone was DLin the puzzle fighter update when i was.

[Hell-Reaver]

If you've got your PS3 hooked up through a router, maybe the router is dropping packets while trying to download, resulting in your many restarts and long download times for large items?

[Kleptic]

it is most likely your router/modem...The PSN doesn't use the same ports for all updates...games have ports assigned by the developers for updates/online gaming...the PSN itself (for updates/messaging/chat etc.) has 3 specified ports that are always the same...

if you manually opened the ports for the PSN, which are listed on the playstation official page somewhere, you could still be having issues with ports for DLC through a game (I am assuming you are trying to update SSHD through the game itself, not the store...not sure if that makes a difference)...

safest bet is to make sure you have Upnp enabled...and a NAT type of '2' or '1' (you won't have '1' if you are using a router)...if its '3', the PS3 is telling you that the router is not letting the PS3 open whatever ports it needs to for all applications...which is what creates bizarre networking stuff like this...if you have an old router, that doesn't support Upnp and has heavy NAT filtering...best bet is to buy a new router with all that stuff...you can easily find one for less than the cost of a game...and it will save you a lot of headaches...

also make sure you have internal firewalls in the router/modem set to 'off'...these firewalls are not made to prevent anything harmful to the PS3 from getting in...only PC's, namely...windows...it can block packets that the PS3 needs unintentionally...yet would not stop a hack for the PS3 anyway (there are most likely trojans and worms being thrown at the PS3 on a daily basis, but those programs have absolutely no idea how the PS3's OS works...and the constant firmware updates are plenty ahead of any hackers trying to screw up a ps3)...

run firewalls on your PCs if need be...they offer plenty of protection anway...

but before anything...run a connection test on your PS3...its under 'network setting'...then 'test connection'...all of which is under the 'settings' column of the XMB...that will tell you if Upnp is enabled...and what NAT type the PS3 is recognizing...you can pm if you want and we can go from there...

[Mr_Luke]

I like it very much, too bad about the thumbnails, but at least you can enter the sections anyway even without waiting for the image.
Much faster and much better looking.

[juuken]

*sigh* There is no pleasing some people.

I don't know about you guys installing this but my updating went by pretty fast. It's not even taking that long. This store is a huge improvement though. I hated the old store because it didn't even feel right. But Sony is getting better and better. Give them some credit for crying out loud instead of complaining about everything.

[PS3ROCKS]

But the Images load so slow fix it sony

[Altis1]

Content in it just blows.

[Coke-a-Cola]

.

[riskbreaker76]

new store is great except for the fact that image loading is damn slow!

[Jim Crowslaw]

what does that mean. and it is throiugh a router but the signal is wireless. its not directly hardwired to the router

[Kleptic]

don't listen to this butt plug...

dropping packets occurs for a variety of reasons...any internet FTP uses a series of 'packets' that contain each piece of information of the overal file being sent...since internet bandwidth is limited, the entire 'file' has to be broken up in order to be sent...problems occur when packets are lost, because of firewalls/connection settings, etc., and the intended file can not be assembled properly in the end...

This can happen on either end...whether its you, the client, or at the server end...if its at your end...the PS3 could keep downloading information not knowing that anything is missing...then have error messages showing up when it tries to assemble the end file...if its at the server end, the PS3 will most likely 'hang' there...with the download progress not moving...in which you can manually restart the process...

your problem is most likely client side though...read up on my last post...and I would recommend to always use a hard lined connection for firmware updates...if for some reason the PS3 assembles a corrupt OS package for installation...and doesn't catch before you install the update...then you are stuck with a corrupt firmware that will most likely involve support from Sony to fix...the PS3's OS does have stuff to recognize these problems before attempting an installtion...its just as a precaution though..an ethernet cable directly to the PS3 from the router is a much more secure method for important updates, as much of a pain as it may be...

[quen_gta2]

Kind of hard to read descriptions on SD TV. Looks nice on HD.

EDIT: Maybe I'm just sitting to far from the TV.

[Milky]

Maybe the preview button will come with new content on thursday ?

[Mikey Mike]

not to impressed, however not let down either. To tell you the truth SONY needs to get their act together and provide better sound options through an optical cable.

[HardcoreGamer]

the link is above , it goes thru all the categories, but the thing is the images dont load properly from the looks of it, or that person in the video has like almsot no internet speeds lol..

link again if you didnt find it

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[LinuxGuru]

This new store is easily as intuitive and easy to use as the XBL Marketplace.

Seriously....the new PS Store is incredible. So slick, and so fast. The whole thing absolutely drips with design efficiency.

The new store definitely makes me look at my PS3 in a new way.

All in all, it's a giant step forward that I think all of us can appreciate.

[Blackcanary]

Guys you need to check up Star dust HD add pack that came with the new store udate. The new Star Dust HD add on allow you to do Custom sound track playing music from your hard drive in the game. so i think thats called in game Music.

[Kleptic]

the game shipped with that...the update has remixed music from the original game as well...

but SSHD has had custom soundtrack support since it released last June I believe...I know it had it as of January of this year, thats when I bought it...

[bakasora]

It great! visually and technically.
But the firmware update is as pain as always.

[Ikanago]

what subsection you're in. Once you click on something like say "add-ons" it takes you to a new page, but there's no subheading to tell you what new menu you're in.

It's mainly a problem now because all the images don't work...so it's hard to tell what you're actually navigating.

[Domer25]

as intuitive and easy to use as the xbl marketplace. keep dreaming.

[LinuxGuru]

In my opinion, it actually is far easier to use than XBLM

Your choices are spread out over a larger area, it's more attractive, and you don't have to scroll down a long-ass list that is scrunched on the left side of the screen.

The graphical beauty of the new PS Store far surpasses the ugly orangish-red scroll-a-thon that is XBLM.

Seriously....the new PS Store is a masterful execution of space usage / utilization, and deserves much plaudits to whoever was the head designer.

[Mr Blings]

get that warm fuzzy feeling that you did john. totally agree LIVE store is just as easy to use and still has way way way more content. I thought SONY would have atleast added a bunch more content for their store reopening.
In the end though, its just a store, nothing to be excited about. Maybe we'll actually start getting some of the truly innovating concepts SONY has been feeding us the past few years now sometime soon.

[mintaro]

while it's a vast improvement, i dont think it is yet at the level where it can be compared to XBLM

[Bizmal]

Wow, Big difference. It was a good move.

[miganda]

i dont no about any one else but the ps store is still doo doo. its just easier to navigate through the doo doo. please wake me up when Home comes out.

[miganda]

jon v, get off the nuts already man. you make it sound like its some great new tech.when what the real problem is that the 1st ps store was so suck ass that any improvement had to be made. so stop misleading people with the bullshit.

[LinuxGuru]

Stop spreading the bullshit?

Am I not entitled to my opinion?

Get off my back!

Did you not see me say "IN MY OPINION" ??

In MY OPINION, I find the new PS Store interface FAR more enjoyable than Xbox Live Marketplace.

That's MY opinion, and I'm not spreading it as fact. So f*ck off.

But before you do...check this out...

[DFresh]

The only thing I have a problem with was that GT5 Prologue wasn't available for downloading which is totally bogus but I'll get over it.

[PS360PCROCKS]

WAYYYY better! Bravo.

[FAT MAN GO BOOM]

I find it much better than the blades of the 360 it is a much more grown up in the look... MS has targeted I think a young crowed Teens and younger 20s... not that is a bad thing.. just that is who they seem to have targeted... IMO

The store is a great improvement and surpasses the Blades now they have to work on gamer to gamer connectivity... Which I honestly think they will not be able to do as well at all...

360 is king at communication because a high number of gamers have headsets... were it is the opposite for the PS3 which sucks for me because I like to talk...lol

[PS360PCROCKS]

teens and 20's? Dude sorry but that's a VAST majority of gamers. I'm 22. But the 360 dashboard is awesome, it's customizable by color, background etc...plus unlike the PSN their is no loading whatsoever. Microsoft has it perfect with the dashboard and the way their store works, Sony is working up to that.

[LinuxGuru]

From the Posting Guidelines for the Gamer Zone:

"Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone."

Reported as Spam.

Immaturity?

I'll consider whether you even know the meaning of maturity when you learn to capitalize "I", and capitalize the first word of your sentences, along with using an apostrophe in conjunctions.

Also, have you see my Xbox Live Gamertag? No? Didn't think so. I have a PSN ID as well. I don't have my Wii Friend Code listed, because that damned thing is so long, and I lost it a long while back.

I have 1 PS2 registered, 1 PSP registered, 2 PS3s registered, 4 Xbox 360s registered (they all broke though), and 1 Wii registered.

Please....if there's anyone on this website that ISN'T a Dr**d, it's me. I just have a preference for a particular system of the ones I own or have owned, that's all.

Anyways, you need to show some respect and stop calling people crazy for stating their opinions. Additionally, you don't need to take others' comments personally, as if they are trying to contradict your opinion directly.

For the last time, the new PS Store kicks major ass, and in my OPINION, it walks all up and down the XBL Marketplace.

If you don't like what I said, hit the disagree button and proceed to shut up.

Thanks.

[wind_dragon]

this store is b!tchn'!!
i love how its set-up, looks a lot more organized, and i love its composition.