Cost | What to Enjoy | Features | Video | News & Updates | Sales Info | Press Releases | Buy | Editor’s Assessment
What to enjoy:
Sony’s PlayStation 3 comes with a built-in Blu-ray player, which continues to play a major role in pushing Blu-ray sales (in the past, it helped defeat Toshiba’s HD-DVD). The PS3 also comes with access to the PlayStation Network, Sony’s online community, where you can purchase and rent movies and full-length TV shows via the PlayStation Store. Find content from Sony Pictures (a no-brainer there), MGM, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Pictures, and Paramount Pictures.
Video purchases are directly downloaded, so there’s no need for Internet connection for playback. Purchases can be transfered from the PS3 over to your PSP (Sony PlayStation Portable), to watch movies on the go. There is a 14-day limit for rentals, and as soon as you hit “play,” you have 24-hrs to watch the full video.
Content is available in HD and SD: Here’s a list of titles available in HD.
Third-Party Features:
While Xbox seems to be the sole console with Netflix access (although not for long…), PS3 gives you access to YouTube via its built-in web browser. Simply, go to “www.youtube.com/tv” (this link won’t work on a Mac or PC browser), to access a specially designed page for optimal playback on the console.
For more information visit their website.
You can, however, get Netflix Instant, Hulu, and other content via a downloadable service called PlayOn (though it only works with PCs, sorry Mac and Linux users) — Read more here.
News & Updates:
NY Times (10/26/2009): Netflix Movies to Stream to Sony’s PlayStation 3 — “Next month, the nine million American owners of Sony’s PlayStation 3 game consoles will have another entertainment option available: streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix. The long-awaited announcement gives Netflix another distribution channel for its “Watch Instantly” service, which is already available via the Microsoft Xbox 360, a variety of Blu-ray players and HDTVs, TiVo and the Roku box.” {Read more}
Video Business (06/25/2009): Game consoles most popular Web-video player – “Videogame consoles will be the most popular electronic component used to play Web videos on television sets for at least the next four years as consumer spending on Web-to-television content surges, according to one report released this week.” {Read more}
Sales Info & Figures:
Digital Digest/DVDGuy (06/13/2009): Game Consoles – May 2009 NPD Sales Figure Analysis – Great overview of sales for all current game consoles, complete with charts. {Read more}
Latest Press Releases:
06/02/2009: PlayStation Network Expands Digital Offering with a Variety of Entertainment Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. (SCEA) announced today major enhancements to PlayStation®Network, expanding on SCEA’s commitment to give users a comprehensive entertainment experience. The video delivery service for the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system launches today in coordination with a new line-up of premier Hollywood, Anime and Sports partners. In addition, Media Go, a free application that makes it easier to manage digital content including games, photos, videos and music for the PSP system through a PC will also become available.{Read more}
Buy:
PlayStation 3 120 GB
Editor’s Assessment:
The Playstation 3 recently announced that they will be the first gaming platform to stream HD movies for purchase. This feature, plus Netflix Instant, makes the Playstation 3 quite an impressive entertainment platform.
