back to article Sony quietly tests PlayStation Network revamp

Sony is developing a PlayStation Network design upgrade that could transform the online environment into a more image-driven layout along the lines of Xbox Live and Steam, Reg Hardware has learned. Many PSN users say the current PSN is far too text heavy, so Sony is now market-testing a new design that de-clutters the screen …

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  1. SteveBalmer
    Facepalm

    Proof?

    "Sony may be hoping to claw back customer trust lost during the hacking fiasco,"

    Or can you write any old tripe on here these days....

    (clue 200% of 3 console trade-ins is not exactly news...)

    1. Elmer Phud

      Brave Face

      "Sony are trying to gain some trust back by giving customers pretty things to look at while still keeping shtum over thier servers"

  2. Andraž 'ruskie' Levstik

    I wonder...

    ...when they'll actually make some functional changes. I actually quite like the current psn store.

    1. Citizen Kaned

      same here

      i do find it annoying when the do a background image that means you cant read the text. thats just dumb.

    2. DrXym

      Store is okay

      Anyone who suffered the original PSN store would have little negative to say about the current one. Generally it does it's job very well. Biggest issue for me is when I download something I want to do it in the background by default unless it's something that only downloads in the foreground (e.g. trial to full product key). It's very annoying to start a download off and then have to manually tell it to do it pause and resume in the background. Takes about 30 seconds each time.

  3. Joe K
    Stop

    *sigh*

    Oh stop trying to prolong that moronic, insane excuse for a "rumour". Its terrible journalism.

  4. NoOnions
    Mushroom

    @SteveBalmer

    Whilst I also doubt that many people traded in their PS3 for an XBox, how can you deny that customer trust was lost? Of course it was!

    I trust Sony less now that my details were hacked from their servers and I won't be the only person in the world to feel like this!

    1. Citizen Kaned

      true...

      ive barely used the ps3 since the PSN went down. bough brink and a new 580GTX GPU and loving my PC again. i probably wont play any ps3 games until new drake or tombraider

  5. Niall
    WTF?

    Movie rentals

    You know I often would like to rent movies via the PSN store, but the search feature is just so ridiculously lame. Like you can either browse (but not search) all movies to rent OR search all movies to buy + rent together. So you end up with majority of search results not available to rent.

    It's such a basic failure. I hope they fix that.

  6. Greg J Preece

    Desires as a long time user

    1. Force developers to have game previews. There are tons of games on the PSN that you cannot see before purchase, in any form. No screens, no vids, just a (very) short bit of text, the Sony licencing blah-blah, and a buy button. Get stuffed.

    2. Reduce the size of the half-screen featured game window and increase the size of the search results list. Add some more detail to it.

    3. Get rid of the fecking wallet. It is so completely pointless it makes me angry. Sony are nice enough to list their games in actual money, rather than con-artist bullpoints like MS and Nintendo, but then they introduce this bloody thing. Buy anything over £5 and the store lets you add exactly the price of whatever it is you're buying anyway, so what's the point of the chuffing wallet??

    4. Make it blindingly obvious which games are full games, which are demos, which are expansions, etc, without having to click in and wait for a separate page to load. In fact, group all the entries for a game or series together. I know you do it for some, so do it for all of them!

    5. Make it blindingly obvious which games, expansions and sets I already own.

    6. Find out where the latest expansion for Super Stardust HD has disappeared to so I can buy it.

    1. KroSha

      5.5

      Make it blindingly obvious which games, expansions and sets I already own. And provide a quick link on the main page which shows any new DLC for games I already own. You know what I've got, because of the Trophies and my purchase history, so make it easy for me to find that new expansion.

      1. Greg J Preece

        Good call!

        An excellent point.

        1. KroSha

          Wallet

          And the wallet is for those people who do not trust Sony with their credit card details, of which I am now one. PSN prepay cards add cash to the wallet, without needing a credit card.

  7. johnnytruant

    "text heavy" isn't a complaint I have

    "incredibly slow" is though. PSN Store usually feels like I'm living in the bad old days of dial-up.

  8. Inachu
    IT Angle

    WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Now only if NETFLIX looked like that!

    Currently the latest netflix menu system sux0rs big time!

  9. Nickic
    FAIL

    Black background?

    Why? Lighter colours are easier on the eye and would be a much better choice than black; black looks cold and, well, dark.

    1. Citizen Kaned

      black...

      actually light next on a dark background is easier for people to read. it also stops white blindness. try starring at a bright white screen all the time. its why many coders change code colours to make backgrounds black or at least not white

  10. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Having both an xbox and ps3

    I prefer the xbox UI period although I use my ps3 more atm.

    The ps3 is just slow on the psn, clunky, difficult to find / see things clearly and just a mess. The main UI is a pain in the arse as well. Try changing your background picture then you can no longer see the text menus is one of the annoyances. It needs a complete overhaul.

    On the other hand, the xbox UI is excellent, with easy to find items, demos etc and a seamless experience not normally common to MS I might add.

    I am surprised no-one has brought out an Android based UI For a games console - how cool would that be?

  11. pjcard
    FAIL

    Sony quietly tests PlayStation Network revamp

    That would have been an interesting story. Unfortunately what you gave us was:

    "Sony quietly tests PlayStation Network Store revamp"

    Can you not see the difference?

  12. Jonathan White

    hmm...

    @Greg

    "5. Make it blindingly obvious which games, expansions and sets I already own."

    You missed the chuffing great red mark they overlay on the icon of stuff you've already downloaded then?

    Jon

    1. Greg J Preece

      I haven't missed it, old bean

      I know the icon you mean, but most of the time it just doesn't put in an appearance. And tagging on to what I originally wrote, being able to exclude previously bought items from the search results would be nice.

  13. TeeCee Gold badge
    Stop

    Let me fix that.

    "Sony is readying a 'deals of the week' section too, making it easier to pick up bargains."

    Should of course read:

    "Sony is readying a 'deals of the week' section too, making it easier for them to shift the crap that nobody wants by rebadging it as a bargain."

  14. jai

    screenshot "All change? PSN as it appears today"

    That screenshot is not representative of how the PSN appears today. How it appeared 2 years ago, maybe, when items like Warhawk and Pain were likely to be on the front screen.

    Admittedly, it's not _much_ different, but couldn't you have gotten a recent image?

    also - it's not exacly text heavy - there's a list of menus down the side with words on them. the rest of the searching for games is via a grid of icons. i'd suggest those saying they prefer the xbox graphical interfaces are too illiterate to read the menu names

  15. Tom Melly

    I'd rather they had a better process for handling username disputes

    Any shite-stirring bugger can report you to sony and get you barred, and getting stuff back that you actually paid for is a nightmare.

    And what exactly is wrong with P3n1sVanLesb1an anyway?

  16. DEAD4EVER
    Thumb Up

    psn redesign

    yes please redsign the ps dashboard im not saying its slow but i am saying it is to much making it slow a little especially going through different categorys etc. also while your at it sony add proper voice chat functions so we can chat while in different games. but im not leaving sony despite thease little niggles. il always love sony. screw microsoft and xbox live.

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