The PlayStation Store has been updated today with some great new content. For Europe, the Metal Gear Online Beta is now available to download and so in the new Warhawk booster pack, Operation: Broken Mirror. The US has received Gran Turismo 5: Prologue as well as the MGO Beta and Warhawk booster pack. A great update for everyone indeed, though the US also benefits from additional Rock Band content and more videos. Check out the list of additions below.

European Additions:

• Playable Games
  • Metal Gear Online Beta
• Game Add-on Content:
  • Warhawk Operation: Broken Mirror booster pack (£3.99)
  • Lair Deadly Dragons booster pack
• Videos
  • GTAIV Trailer 4 – ‘Everyone’s a Rat’

US Additions:

• Playable Demos
  • UEFA Euro 2008
• Playable Games
  • Metal Gear Online Beta
  • Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
• Game Add-on Content:
  • Warhawk Operation: Broken Mirror booster pack ($7.99)
  • Warhawk Booster Pack Combo: Omega Dawn and Broken Mirror ($11.99)
  • Rock Band
    
    • "Still Alive" – GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton (free)
    • "Sprode" – Freezepop ($0.99)
    • "Shake" – Count Zero ($0.99)
    • "Rock Rebellion" – Bang Camaro ($0.99)
    • Harmonix Pack 1 ($2.99)
    • "Call Me" – Blondie ($1.99)
    • "Simple Man" – Lynyrd Skynyrd ($1.99)
    • "Message In A Bottle" – The Police ($1.99)
    • "Classic Rock Pack 1 ($5.49)
• Videos
  • Warhawk Broken Mirror Trailer
  • Condemned 2: Bloodshot Making Of The TV Spot
  • HAZE Mantel Corporate Vision
  • This is Vegas Annoucement Trailer

With the release of the new PlayStation Store, we took a look at now the two stores now compare. While the interface and navigation has certainly improved, there are till major differences between the US and European PlayStation Stores. The US store is better organized and as we all know, they get better updates then the Euro PSN Store. Here is what we found out.

First off, the PlayStation Store loads a lot quicker though the icons do take a while to load up. Navigating is a lot easier too, and works much like a menu. You press to select items and to move up one level. The categories are only visible on the top level but there is a button on the top left of the screen that will take you straight there. The new Store looks the same on both SD and HD resolutions, unlike the old store layout.

There are more categories available so it makes finding what you want a lot easier. But this is where the US and Euro stores are different. The US store is much better organized with content much easier to find. For example, Demos can be found in the "Demos" category, but for Europe, you will have to first look in "Latest" and then "All Games" if you can’t find it. There is no "Demos" category in the European Store. And what’s with the "Family Games" category? The "Other Media" category contains Themes and Wallpapers to why not name it that (like the US store)?

After the icons have loaded, the store is much quicker to navigate. You can easily see information about an item without clicking on the item itself. A smaller icon within the item icon indicates whether the item is in your basket (basket icon) or if you have already downloaded (shown by a red PlayStation Bag icon). Some games have a "Preview" button which launches a video player so you can watch a video related to the item. SCEE states that the slow loading of icons is a temporary issue and should be resolved within a few days (see below).

The store is much better that the previous version and Sony have done a good job in improving the interface and navigation. The interface is still blue but looks cool. We were a bit disappointed with the poor categorization of the European store but hopefully Sony listens to the feedback and improves this. We’re now looking forward to the new store additions coming this Thursday (Metal Gear Online Beta, Warhawk: Operation Broken Mirror and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue).

Lestrade, Community Team Leader at the SCEE PlayStation Forums wrote:

"We are aware that many of you have experienced delays whilst the PS Store’s thumbnail icons are being downloaded. This is a temporary consequence of a new system implementation and high global traffic levels, and will be resolved within the next few days."

As you all know, the new PlayStation Store was launched today and along with some new content. There will be two updates this week, with the second one being on Thursday where the US can look forward to Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and everyone can look forward to Metal Gear Online Beta. Today’s update for Europe includes a new playale demo, some new add-on content and trailers. The US has received some add-on content and trailers too. See the list below.

European Additions:

• Playable Demos
  • SEGA Superstars Tennis
• Game Add-on Content
  • Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack (£2.99)
  • Guitar Hero III Dropkick Murphys pack
• Videos
  • Bionic Commando Rearmed trailer
• Lost Planet trailer 2
• SEGA Superstars Tennis trailer

US Additions:

• Game Add-on Content
  • Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack ($4.99)
  • Lair Dragons and Control Pack
• Videos
  • Gran Turismo 5 Prologue "Beyond the Apex" trailer
  • Gran Turismo 5 Prologue "Friendly Fires” video

PlayStation 3 firmware 2.30 is now available to download, as promised by Sony last week. The firmware update gives you access to the new revamped PlayStation Store and also adds DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio features for Blu-ray movies. We’re still waiting for the official changelog but from looking at the Japanese PlayStation website, nothing else has been added. See Japenese changelog below. Unfortunately, PlayStation Home was not included with the update.

Japanese Changelog:

• PlayStation Network
  
  • PlayStation Store has been renewed. New features have been added.
• Video
  • DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is now supported.

Japan is getting the is in yet another new color, this time it’s Matte Bronze. The new color PSP will be available to buy in Japan from April 24th 2008 at a price of 23,800 yen (approx. $236) for the value pack. The value pack will come with all the usual accessories including pouch, strap, cloth, 32MB Memory Stick Duo, TV-Out cable (component D), battery and charger.

The PlayStation Network will go offline for several hours today in order to prepare the launch of the new PlayStation Store for tomorrow. The store will be offline from 8:00 AM PST (4:00 PM BST) until 11:00 PM PST tonight (7:00AM BST tomorrow). The announcement notes that other PlayStation Network services will not be affected. Before you can access the new store tomorrow, you will need to download firmware 2.30 when it is released tomorrow.

We will bring you more information on firmware 2.30 and the new store tomorrow. Sony has already confirmed that firmware 2.30 will include DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio features for Blu-ray movies, but other changes in the system software are still to be determined.

First off we would like to apologize for the Wallpaper Gallery downtime today. During the downtime we updated the gallery section by adding over 600 new HD Wallpapers for you to use on your PS3. We’ve been working hard over the past few days to being some much needed changes to the website, and more wallpapers is phase 2 of our planned update. You now have access to over 1500 high-definition wallpapers – you can get full access to the gallery section by becoming a member for free.

We’ve added 656 new wallpapers to the gallery which include:

• 150 new abstract wallpapers
• 40 new animal wallpapers
• 20 anime wallpapers
• 120 babe wallpapers
• 40 game wallpapers
• 90 landscape wallpapers
• 10 movie wallpapers
• 70 nature wallpapers
• 30 space wallpapers