Sony has unveiled a complete redesign of its PlayStation Store, due to go live next week in Europe and the week after in America.
The overhauled PS Store aims to be one consistent experience, bringing games and videos together in a smoother way than the current version does.
To this end, the front page of the store now has separate sections for games, movies and TV content, while the "What's New" landing page shows off the latest additions to the store regardless of category. Additionally, the team have acted on feedback from gamers and worked hard to clearly separate different content. The store is now strictly focused on PS3 content, with all Vita and PSP games moved into their own section of the store. Similarly, there's a classic games section which is further divided into original Playstation and Playstation 2 titles.
The most striking thing, though, is that the entire store is now a much more visually-focused experience, and the new UI has been designed to emphasise this. Gone are the old blue backgrounds; instead, every page revolves around the new Hero concept.
This sees one high-profile character from a game serving as the main focus for the page, sandwiched between a static background and windows in the foreground featuring highlighted content and the latest releases, creating a layered effect. The examples from the games category shown in the presentation included FIFA 13, Assassin's Creed 3 and Resident Evil 6, though there were others in the movie section and the classic games category had one focusing on Tomb Raider.
You scroll between pages on the carousel from left to right, with the last featured page offering to send you on to top sellers. This was apparently done in a bid to combat the frustration felt by users upon hitting a "dead-end" in the current version of the store, and then having to backtrack to find what they wanted.
Navigation has also been simplified. The search function has been completely overhauled; gone is the on-screen keyboard of old, replaced instead with a vertical list of letters. The aim is apparently to make sure you never have to type in more than three or four characters to find what you're after; abbreviations are supported, the most popular content will display at the top, and your search term is emboldened in the results. As an additional plus, if you're searching for an add-on, the result will be shown as an offshoot from its parent game, so you can see what other packs are available at the same time.
You can sort by game type (like bundles or PS3 games), price range, play type (like online multiplayer or single player), release date, accessories and content type. A future update will make it possible to mix and match these too, so if you're looking for an action game under £10 with online multiplayer, you'll be able to find one swiftly.
Most impressive of all though are the product pages. The right hand side of the page is made up of the latest trailers and screenshots of the game, which stream in HD and display in fullscreen, along with an overview of its features. You can use shortcuts to leap to videos, recommendations and also add-ons for the title. Add-ons still have their own pages replete with trailers, but all have a link back to the parent product so you don't have to re-navigate.
The redesigned PS Store is due to roll out starting next week. All PAL territories will get it on October 17, while the States will get it six days later on October 23. We got a chance to sit down with PS Store product development manager, Elliot Dumville, and VP of network operations, Gordon Thornton, and will have more details about the future of the PS Store in the near future.
Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.
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