Sony overhauling PlayStation Network

Tue 05 Jul 2011 1:30pm GMT / 9:30am EDT / 6:30am PDT
OnlinePublishing

Publisher's revamp will change both look and search function of online service

Sony Computer Entertainment

Sony Computer Entertainment is a Japanese videogame company specialising in a variety of areas in the...

playstation.com

Sony's online service, the PlayStation Network, is currently undergoing a redesign that will significantly change its look and functionality.

A report by Reg Hardware reveals that the trademark blue colour will go, replaced by a black background and bright colours.

It will also have a cleaner look, described by sources as "an aesthetic layout with logically marked sections and rolodex lists."

Searching has been upgraded too, which will produce live results as users enter each character, and the Video section, which allows users to buy and rent films, is now a database that will feel familiar to anyone who has seen movie website IMDB.

There will also be a special section for the latest deals on PlayStation Store content.

Sony has yet to comment on the report.

The report follows news yesterday that the PlayStation Network will finally be restored to full functionality in Japan on Wednesday, following the security breaches in April.

8 Comments

Matthew Valdez
Studying Software Engineering

University of West Florida

Looking forward to see the new redesign. Hopefully it fixes some performance issues that I have been noticing within the store. Waiting for some previews on this.

Posted:A year ago

#1

Kurtis Buckley
Student

University of Plymouth

I like blue.

UPGRADE THE BROWSER

Posted:A year ago

#2

Sean Arnold
Editorial and Content Manager T1GN.com

I think more than anything people are waiting to see if Sony will finally add cross-game chat. They will probably find some way to screw it up I mean they are already 7 years behind Microsoft.

Posted:A year ago

#3

David Amirian
Writer

yes they will find a way to screw it up, i mean objectivity isn't necessary when complaining about a product that doesn't exist yet, right?

Posted:A year ago

#4

Curt Sampson
Sofware Developer

It might be an idea to distinguish between the PlayStation Store, which is one service hosted on the PlayStation Network, and PSN itself.

Anyway, better searching would certainly be nice, since there's enough content there that selecting games is starting to get pretty hard. I found myself yesterday wanting for a list of all 'Qix'-like games on the store, and there was really no way at all to do that. Adding information about games from users beyond the 1-to-5-star rating (which is fairly useless, as almost nobody seems to vote below a three) would be very helpful, perhaps a way to see what my friends like and are playing recently, or even user reviews (though entry for that would probably best be done via a PC web interface).

While we're on the topic of searching, I'd also like better ways to organize and search the content on my PS3 hard disk. It's starting to build up, and the current awkward single-category thing isn't doing it for me. I'd like to be able to tag all items with multiple tags and group things that way.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Curt Sampson on 6th July 2011 4:00am

Posted:A year ago

#5

Matthew Valdez
Studying Software Engineering

University of West Florida

@Curt
I like the idea of adding some sort of user reviews. It is definitely hard to see if a game is good or not basing it off the star system. And there is no other easy way to find out how a game is besides using your PC and reading a full review. The user reviews will also allow developers to see how well they did or didn't. Sort of like the how App stores handle it. Of course there will have to be some moderation within the reviews.

I also agree with you on searching content that is on my HDD.

Posted:A year ago

#6

Kenneth Mcmorran
Studying Game Art and Animation

University of Abertay Dundee

About time, the PS Store is an absolute joke.

Posted:A year ago

#7

Andrew McFain
Journalist

I'm hoping that they add some sort of cross-game chat and upgrade the currently almost useless browser.

Posted:A year ago

#8

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