Movies and TV shows coming to the PS3 this summer
(Credit: Sony)Sony has just confirmed the rumor we all heard back in April: video downloads will be available on the PS3 this summer. Details right now are scarce, but we do know the service will first be rolled out in the United States, followed by Japan and Europe later in the year. As we mentioned before, we would like to see a service tied in with Netflix since everybody and their mother seems to use the service, or even a Hulu type service, which offers TV shows from Fox and NBC, broken up by short 15-second ads. Our best guess though: iTunes-esque pricing, the most expensive of all three choices. Rent a movie, pay a high premium, and lose it . We can't see how this will be successful, considering Sony's quirky history with digital media downloads (see: Sony Connect and ATRAC3).
Sony's own Bravia line of televisions will be getting video as well via Bravia Internet Video Link (BIVL). The film, Hancock, as mentioned in Sony's press release, will be available "exclusively to all Internet connected Bravia LCD TVs in the U.S. before it is available on DVD." We'll have a review of the BIVL system very soon.
Another interesting tidbit from the press release: Sony wants 90 percent of their electronics products network-enabled and wireless-capable by March 2011. The PSP, PS3, and a Bravia television--all connected together and sharing media? Yes, we're just as thrilled as you are of the future possibilities. Let's hope that Sony doesn't limit their content and media-sharing capabilities to a Sony-centric universe, which the BIVL system seems to be all about. We'll have more details as they roll in.
In the meantime, what do you think of Sony's direction? Will the company go down the Hulu route or will it offer time-limited DRM content?
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That being said, you can't get away from the fact nearly everyone (and their grandmothers) have Netflix subscriptions or the fact that Netflix will (hopefully) eventually get fresher content on for Instant Playback. Sony should go with a hybrid approach that integrates Neflix support with a Hulu-like "free-for-all" with short (really short) ads.
Given Sony's history though, I'm almost sure that they're going to go with the DRM-laden time-based movie rental model.
Yet, Sony also knows most people will probably not pirate, especially if they have access to library of Mp3's, and Movies. Imagine just uploading music to ipod through PS3.
Imagine the day when, sony will release a blockbuster movie first on PS3, before American movie theaters. It has to happen.
I also wouldn't mind an ASTC tuner add-on for the PS3. That would be a great free alternative to downloads that I'd be happy with.
Apple does it all the time and people hardly ever say anything and even when people do notice they are being ripped off by Apple they still buy the crap anyway!!!!
that's just one fanboys opinion though
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They couldn't get their ATRAC DRM music eco-system to fly. I doubt they're having a good time over at their proprietary CONNECT e-book store, now that Kindle (yes, another proprietary eco-system) is running amok.
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Us naysayers called it way back when Sony was about to release the PS3...it's a MONSTER money loser. They were bleeding out when it was at $599. They're still bleeding out now and it's even WORSE since the dollar tanked, and they could ill afford to actually raise prices to compensate. There was NO WAY that Blu-ray, the all-new Cell processor and all the other misc. hardware goodies were going to pan out, even in the long run. Especially since the great games are too few and far between. The machine isn't the super easy platform to program for like Sony promised. And SURPRISE...hi-def games cost a TON to produce, especially when compared to a lo-fi platform like the Wii. By giving the 360 the head start, MSFT had plenty of time to turn their thing into a money maker, even WITH the blasted RROD. Heck, MSFT can even afford to drop prices if they want and still turn a quarterly profit. With the massive subsidies that Sony had to swallow, they had to sell a huge amount of games just to break even. It's no wonder that Sony has to roll out other revenue generating schemes for the PS3...it's about the only shot the company has at recovering any part of those monster losses.
Add in the fact that the original XBOX was a huge money loser, which still counts towards Microsoft's game division revenues, and it is pretty logical to assume that MS is just as much in the red as Sony is this generation, even with all of the success that MS has achieved with US sales of the 360.
Nice try.
The report from Yahoo is referring to Sony's Fiscal Year 2007, since Fiscal Year 2008 is still nine months away. And with any console system launch, losses such as this are normal which is made up in software/accessory sales later on as the cost for making a console drops. And Sony is already getting in on the 65nm pressing for their graphics chips, so the amount that Sony will lose for FY2008 will drop even more. Leave it to Yahoo and other sites wanting to issue soundbite-sized news to mislead people and give them grossly inaccurate information.
I thought it was MS who was making the deal with Netflix, NOT Sony, they have been talking about this for a while now, there is even mods on the market that I saw that allows you to use your 360 as a Roku set top box. I also read that Sony will only be offering Sony based and owned films, which would be kind of useless, . . people don't watch movies based on the studio they come from, and if you do that's taking fanboyism to a whole new weird level.
I do find it interesting however that at not one point in this article do they mention that the xbox 360 already has this feature PERFECTED, and has been doing it well for some time now.