PSN Store Redesign Reavealed

[Bond]

So... it appears as though the PSN store for the PS3 is going to undergo a redesign. It actually looks quite spiffy, and dare I say better than Xbox Live Marketplace. Here's the press release from Sony and a few screenshots afterwards:

PLAYSTATION®Store to undergo April revamp

Customer feedback drives new design, interface and navigation Updates on hold for two weeks; new-look Store launches mid-April

This April, PLAYSTATION®Store, the online content store on PLAYSTATION®Network, is getting a whole new look and feel - and it's in response to feedback from the millions of PSN registrants in the PAL region.

The revamp comes in response to a survey last year which showed that many PLAYSTATION Store users wanted a better interface and easier navigation. The new design will deliver a hugely improved navigation system, much greater scope for categorisation and a dynamic new user interface.

Content will be suspended for two weeks while the improvements are carried out but users can look forward to a special update in mid-April.

There will be no weekly content updates between now and the re-launch, although users can still download content from the back catalogue, such as Warhawk™ and Gran Turismo™ 5 Prologue.

The PLAYSTATION Store revamp will not affect PLAYSTATION Network accounts or the virtual wallet system.
Screenshots:

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/psn1-thumb.jpg (http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/psn1.jpg)

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/psn2-thumb.jpg (http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/psn2.jpg)

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/psn3-thumb.jpg (http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/psn3.jpg)

[Dyne]

It's dumb - why waste all that widescreen real estate? Maybe it's fine for them because it works for the full-screen users, but they'd have to redesign that ANYWAYS because full screen is usually 480p and lower (but, rarely, 1080i sometimes).

[Cheez-Its]

hmm this screen seems 2 simple there shold be more buttons or features maybe.

overall i would give this a 6/10 :D

[Aladuf]

I really like the way it looks. I don't care too much for the current PSN Store layout so I have high hopes for this.

[Perfect Stu]

Much, much better.