Sony just announced at E3 that Playstation Network users now have the ability to rent and purchase moves and TV shows. Like, immediately -- the service is getting flipped on tonight. It's not just Sony content, either: Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, and something called Funimation are signed up from the get-go. Video will be available in both SD and HD, and TV pricing starts at $1.99. Movie purchases will run $9.99 - $14.99, while rentals will be $2.99 - $5.99. What's more, the content is "portable," meaning that videos downloaded on your PS3 can be watched on multiple PSPs. It doesn't look like movies can be purchased in HD, but downloads are progressive so content starts playing a minute after you hit begin the download.
PSN users will also get a single persistent sign-on across every device that can access the network: PS3, PSP, PC. It's not clear whether those aliases will carry over into games themselves or if friends lists will start working across devices as well, however. The integration is scheduled to happen for this fall, though, so you might want to go and grab your handle of choice relatively soon.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jyncus @ Jul 15th 2008 4:48PM
Nice! I was hoping Sony would announce a service like this soon. =]
:thumbsup:
mntwister @ Jul 15th 2008 4:56PM
Very nice to have available, though I still plan to see most of movies on bluray.
1stGreg @ Jul 15th 2008 4:58PM
Nice complement to Blu Ray :)
The PS3 has now access to all the media service one could want.
Video Store Rentals might suffer ;)
gamedude420 @ Jul 15th 2008 5:00PM
um no, this is not a fare well to blu, its more of something to get people to move on towards blu and see the value of blue.
lets see $15 for sd films via download lol or 20 for blu?????
$6 movie downloads for rental lol
gets netflix account rents all dvd and blu ray i want, and gets low quality streams like everyone else as an extra incentive. and can just purchase cheap blu ray movies.
i do not see this as anything that canhurt blu ray at all.
all next gen consoles will either a have blu ray drives
or b have a higher capacity disc drive. or both :)
gamedude420 @ Jul 15th 2008 5:01PM
all this is competing with is video on demand ppv services from cable and dish
Fargus @ Jul 15th 2008 5:03PM
nothing available in HD??????? If thats the case, why are you posting this story on engadgetHD?
WilsonGoneWild @ Jul 15th 2008 4:58PM
Did you not see this line:
"Video will be available in both SD and HD, and TV pricing starts at $1.99."
DVD4ME @ Jul 16th 2008 6:06AM
Because it's engadgetBR, always has been.
benny boy @ Jul 16th 2008 10:53AM
Oooh, conspiracies... :|
JimC @ Jul 15th 2008 5:04PM
No. Maybe take a bite out of Netflix or Blockbuster but won't make a bit of difference in blu-ray sales. Come on Nfinity, better step up your game and cut out the rhetoric and the crap. I just rented two blu-rays last weekend from Blockbuster. I can see me using PS3 download service for things that A) Aren't on blu-ray yet or B) its late and I don't feel like driving to blockbuster or wait for a movie to be mailed to me. But if it is a movie I want to own, I will still buy the BD, no question. Certain movies will be must buy, like Indiana Jones, Batman Dark Knight (yes I am confident in that), Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E (yes I have kids). There will always be movies to buy and movies to rent (like Juno). Perhaps had I not had rented Juno on BD and we didn't plan ahead, might use something like this to rent a movie but I still bought DVD's before blu-ray came out even though I had Cable movies On Demand service...
Seriously, did PPV or OnDemand services kill DVD's? Nope....why is that?
Lakeonaut @ Jul 15th 2008 5:38PM
Too bad Sony couldn't get Netflix "watch now" onto the PS3. Xbox definitely is better for downloads.
Many PS3 owners (me included) already have Netflix for Blu-ray rentals. I doubt I'll pay Sony's prices for downloads, especially when a Blu-ray rental costs $2.50 from Netflix and "watch now" costs nothing extra.
DrXym @ Jul 15th 2008 5:42PM
It's about time. It was an obvious and lacking feature in an otherwise well rounded multimedia device.
You'd still have to be out of your mind to actually BUY movies from downloads but it makes it easy to download to rent at least. I wonder if Sony built out the service themselves or are leveraging someone like Amazon to do it.
DrXym @ Jul 15th 2008 5:48PM
No Nfinity you dumbass, no it isn't. You'd have to be a special kind of stupid to pay $15 for an "HD" movie which is stored in a proprietary format and locked to a handful of devices that you must preregister.
The argument doesn't change just because Sony are joining an already crowded market of mutually incompatible, proprietary download services. It's great if you own a PS3 and want to rent. It is utterly dreadful if you want to buy. Maybe Sony should have shaken things up by using passive watermarking or similar and an open format like AVC. That would be the sort of thing that would make digital downloads attractive. Expecting people to tie their collection to Sony products is just as bad as expecting them to tie them to Microsoft, Apple, Tivo or Amazon products.
Jim Mallory @ Jul 15th 2008 5:49PM
The only thing I find intriguing is being able to copy content to multiple PSPs.
This might be good for rentals, not replacing Blu-Ray or even DVD for titles that I want to keep.
How many movies can you store on a 40 or 80GB drive anyway (in addition to your games)?
And yes I know the drives are user replaceable, but even if you say put a 320GB or 500GB drive in your PS3...how do you back those purchases up? It isn't like iTunes where I can back it up with Time Machine or make Audio CDs, or make Backup DVDs of the music or in my case I do all three.
Like I said, another option if the wife and I are looking to rent a movie along with Comcast On-Demand and NetFlix (I refuse to use that stupid Microsoft Points system for XBL).
joe @ Jul 15th 2008 6:30PM
Jim-
The thing to remember is that the PS3 actually lets you back up your content to an external drive, flash or usb, if you wish so it's less risky than xbl that way. I still wouldn't shell out to 'own' a drm digital copy of anything.
The prices are way to high in my opinion since they only match the xbl pricing. They really need to do better than that.
Ordeith @ Jul 15th 2008 7:35PM
How is XBL risky?
your licenses are stored in the cloud and accessible from any device you sign on to.
Jim Mallory @ Jul 15th 2008 5:50PM
It ain't the speed, it's the caps.
Alex @ Jul 15th 2008 5:51PM
it's one thing to be a HD DVD fan (i was) and another to be a Troll. You waddled in to troll territory long ago, howabout giving it a rest now?
DrXym @ Jul 15th 2008 6:00PM
And the speeds aren't there either. Like usual Nfinity takes some future development which doesn't even exist yet, wildly extrapolates it and then proclaims an existing technology dead. This of course because he is a dumbass. It's very clear that ISPs are building walled gardens where you can subscribe to *their* video services and the caps exist to deter people from venturing outside, especially for IPTV or VOD. Anyone who builds a collection from that kind of service is a moron.
Jim Mallory @ Jul 15th 2008 6:37PM
I realize that but that is a manual process and a little unsightly in the living room but yes it is an improvement over XBL (but that ain't saying much).
Even if the price is the same as XBL, it's still cheaper as it doesn't require.
$50 a year for XBL Gold just so you can give Microsoft more money for the rental / purchase.
Doesn't use the mega stupid XBL points system, where you are always leaving some of your money with Microsoft as you either have too many or too few points in your account, Sony just charges the credit card. We have bought more downloadable games on PS3 versus our XBOX 360 for exactly this reason.
Spiza @ Jul 15th 2008 6:52PM
If you can stream, then you could buy movies to your account, and then dl when you want.
Mr. E @ Jul 15th 2008 6:51PM
It doesn't say what the HD resolution is, so I'll have to wait to see reviews of the quality. If quality is better than on the Xbox 360, this could end up filling a viewing gap for me:
Favorite movies: Buy on Blu-ray
Movies I want to see with special features: BD via Netflix
Others: Rent in HD on PS3
Jim Mallory @ Jul 15th 2008 7:34PM
I would assume 720p/24 AVC/H.264 with Dolby Digital 5.1, that seems to be the standard.
Nick Santella @ Jul 15th 2008 7:12PM
Is this service going to be available to Canadians?
gil @ Jul 17th 2008 1:05AM
@ Nick
Unfortunately no.
Sony has stated it is coming sometime but hasn't give any time frames.
Truth Teller @ Jul 15th 2008 7:35PM
True.
.....and that story has nothing to do with the other development that is raising the speeds of our broadband here in the UK, C21N technology, which is being introduced nationwide in the UK from Q3 this year. Some will see 24mb downstream & 1.2mb up.
If the ratio stays similar to how the 'up to 8mb' current service works for me now then very soon I'll have just over 20mb up & about 1mb downstream.
Suddenly DVD5 & DVD9 sizes become very practical & fast - as it is on a decent site I can already get 8mb in 3 hrs now.
I can already d/l straight rips (which @ 20gb+ I never bother with) but DVD5 or DVD9 sized encodes (which are very impressive quality if done by people who know what they are doing) with my 'up to 8mb' service (which actually gives me 7.4mb down & .44mb up) are already a highly practical proposition.
The PS3/Blu-ray fanclub can't bear to accept it but they really ought to give it up, especially when you now have even Sony jumping in
(with a service for both the PS3 & their Bravia HD TVs).
Downloads are the future (and a not very far off one at that).
Wake up.
No matter where you have stood on this the truth is that high def on disc really hasn't taken off......and even the sony guys are now talking/admitting it is only ever goping to be a niche product = high price, high margin
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/03/sony-talks-future-of-oled-blu-rays-chances-against-dvd/#readercomments
BTW, I used to worry about d/l caps; then I found out how much a decent service with a decent allowance cost
(£24 mth for 30gb peak & 300gb off-peak - off peak is 10pm - 8am Mon - Fri and from 10pm Fri to 8am Mon).
.....and that's in the UK (rightly known across the owrld as 'treasure island' and more locally as 'rip-off Britain'.
nathan @ Jul 16th 2008 2:18AM
If this is 1080p 24, I will be spending lots of money at the Sony store. If this is more wasting of my time (like the xbox, vudu, apple tv barely HD content) I'll be yawning.
DrXym @ Jul 16th 2008 5:38AM
Doubtful. It'll be 720p with AC3 to save space. Quality will be acceptable, not stunning. That would be quite enough for a rental, but would be awful compared to a BD.
benny boy @ Jul 16th 2008 10:56AM
It is 720p avc format with 5.1 surround but the PS3 upoconverts it to 1080p.
Spiza @ Jul 16th 2008 7:32AM
Whats to give up Truth? Don't I recall you continuing to buy HD DVD movies after the format died? Are my blu-rays going to suddenly stop working?
Truth Teller @ Jul 16th 2008 8:33AM
* quote
Spiza
Whats to give up Truth?
=====================================================
I'm referring to the usual 'PS3/Blu-ray uber alles' nonsense and the now ludicrous state of denial regarding the future featuring downloading as a major part of the market.
Tell that to Apple, Microsoft...... and now even Sony.
I'm seeing a lot of complaint & whining about how downloads lack this or that compared to a disc......as if the mass-market could care less.
Like I said previously, it's my view that Toshiba got out/were forced out of disc based high def and have been in no hurry to come back with a Blu-ray player because everyone is extremely disappointed with how things have turned out.
Even to the Blu camp.
......afterall, if Blu-ray is still such a sure hit in the making - especially now it is alone in the high def disc-based market - then why wouldn't Toshiba et al come in to make some money out of it?
************************************************************************************
* quote
Spiza
Don't I recall you continuing to buy HD DVD movies after the format died? Are my blu-rays going to suddenly stop working?
=====================================================
Of course not, I never suggested that.
I've really gotten a little buzz out of building a 120+ top quality high def collection, for peanuts.
To go with my 600+ SD movie collection.
(none of which has stopped working either)
But it is a pity tho (from your POV) that by settling into a high margin niche Blu-ray is going to be a long time at relatively high prices.
borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Jul 16th 2008 9:11AM
"Downloads are the future (and a not very far off one at that).
Wake up."
I bought two episodes of Heroes from Amazon. They are playable solely on my PC, not my PSP, my PDA, my iPod, or elsewhere. Blu Ray, like HD DVD, for all your "proprietary" whining can be transported to any TV with a Blu Ray player attached. The disc is not tied to any account or specific Blu Ray device. Yes, I can't play Blu Ray on my PDA, but I can take it over to a friend's house without worrying about DRM.
Until they solve that (or rather, give it up) then your future is way off indeed. Right now digital downloads are occupying a niche space like ebooks. The niche is growing, but not at the rate you seem to think.
Ryan @ Jul 16th 2008 9:48AM
It looks like it's upscaled to 1080p, but not sent over in 1080p. I downloaded Die another Day last night. It's 2 chan, and the video is at par, but not stunning. I'm watching it on a Samsung LNT4665 using HDMI of course.
h0mi @ Jul 16th 2008 12:33PM
"Suddenly DVD5 & DVD9 sizes become very practical & fast - as it is on a decent site I can already get 8mb in 3 hrs now."
Except if my movie is 2 hours long, at some point in time I'd stop being able to watch it because it takes too long to download the movie compared to watching it.
Spiza @ Jul 16th 2008 12:56PM
I'm averaging about $12 a disc for blu-ray so far of my about 20 movies. I don't think there are 600 movies or 120 HD DVDs worth owning, but discs can be had cheap. Amazon has a B2GO that can be added with a $5 off coupon. You can get 3 movies for $37 shipped. None worthwhile to me though.