Sony: Close to launching a Playstation 3 movie download store

[Marine Mike]

Originally Posted by saprano

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...downloads.html

Who ever thinks dowloads are a good idea now raise your hand....................................good me ether, though i see alot of people changing there tunes now. i for one will not be downloading anything, blu-ray is still the best choice.

*raises his hand*

This is a great idea and puts Sony in a better place market-wise. No one here is saying its better than Blu-Ray. What we are saying is that its a great addition to the PS3 and makes it a more advanced system.

Now if they were going to say 'We are cutting off Blu-Ray capabilities on our PS3 and its going to be download-only' then of course I'd be upset. But they are not and are just trying to make more money while they are supporting digital downloading, they are also supporting Blu-Ray.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

If they were to cut off the blu-ray player, then there would be no point in owning one. If it does happen they better give everyone a warning at least so that we all can sell it before the downloads take place.

[stockstar1138]

stupid article

http://www.betanews.com/article/Uhoh...ies/1214495754

they talk about netflix and streaming, but fail to mention netflix also rents blu-rays.

this is not going to hurt blu-ray sales at all. maybe BD rentals, but not sales.

[stockstar1138]

however, does anybody else find it absolutely hillarious that after HD DVD lost, the HD DVD fanboys claimed that all hard media would fail and digital downloads would prevail.

However, their most despised machine, the PS3, not only killed of their precious HD DVD, but if they were for some miracle correct about downloads being correct, those who bought the PS3 for blu-ray already have their digital movie box and service, thus by chosing the PS3 you cannot fail which ever way this goes.

[mjbethancourt]

What a horrible misuse of the drive space on my PS3. Not interested at all.

[TheTenth]

another garbage communication idea from Sony :
1) ads with stupid characters noone will understand
2) copying the HD DVD features PiP and internet connectivity : will only decrease the movie viewing pleasure
3) removing BC from the 40Gb, after announcing (before launch) that PS2 game scould be downloaded in the future
4) selling limited demos in Quore
5) now this : it's the best way to confuse people who will not understand why they download DVD quality movies and they have a Blu-ray player in the PS3 ...

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

What SONY should do is call these downloadable movies "Blu-Ray previews"Because with features like these (see below)... that's really all they are:

-720P
-low bitrates
-no lossless
-no extras
-no extended cuts
-no deleted scenes
-no behind the scenes
-no commentaries

That's not a "preview" of Blu-ray quality content because it simply isn't Blu-ray quality. I might consider it a "preview" on how the movie will play when shown on some highly compressed HD cable channels. And even there the downloaded video may not even be up to that compromised level of quality.

The only way any customer can truly test-drive the quality of a movie on Blu-ray is to rent that movie on Blu-ray from a traditional video rental store. Download services cannot and do not provide that capability.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by PS3ds

It would be a rental service. It would not compete with BD at all.

In fact, many people like to rent before they buy, to see whether they like the movie. This could be complimentary.

Gary

[Blu-Generation]

So basically the PS3 got almost everything to offer.

-Stuff that people hate
-Stuff that people want

It's a win-lose, lose-win situation. Good stuff!

[tilapiah6]

I, for one, will be using this if it is reasonably priced. What would be great, however unlikely, would be a monthly fee to download and watch unlimited movies through PSN.

[mattym]

pass.

next!

[blu2]

This is something that was really an obvious move for Sony. Why would they give up a potential revenue stream to Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and others? I am not sure how many Apple TV boxes are out there, but I would assume Sony has them trumped with the PS3 by a wide margin. The PS3 is now the swiss army knife of set top boxes.

[blu2]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

What SONY should do is call these downloadable movies "Blu-Ray previews"Because with features like these (see below)... that's really all they are:

-720P
-low bitrates
-no lossless
-no extras
-no extended cuts
-no deleted scenes
-no behind the scenes
-no commentaries

The last five items could certainly be provided. There's also no reason they couldn't bundle with Java to re-create some of the same aspects of BD-Live, etc.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by blu2

This is something that was really an obvious move for Sony. Why would they give up a potential revenue stream to Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and others? I am not sure how many Apple TV boxes are out there, but I would assume Sony has them trumped with the PS3 by a wide margin. The PS3 is now the swiss army knife of set top boxes.

It was always part of the plan .. just a question of when .. like building up enough PSN accounts to have someone to sell to.

[blu2]

More here: http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_ID=13029


Hancock will be available direct to Bravia TV (and PS3 presumeably) via internet in advance of DVD (and Blu Ray presumeably)

This fall, Sony will begin a U.S. service that uses the Internet to deliver feature films and TV shows directly to its Bravia TVs without satellite or cable subscriptions. Stringer said the first film accessible via the service will be Hancock, starring Will Smith, and it will be available before it is released on DVD, the AP reported.

A similar download service also will be available for the PlayStation 3 in the United States this summer, said Kazuo Hirai, head of Sony’s video game unit, according to the AP.

I guess web-ready TVs will be the new trend.

[TheTenth]

let's hope they'll advertise it right as : 720p HD download quality or something or people will think it's what they'll get when they buy Blu-rays and thus prefer to buy the Toshiba SUC(k)

[Mr. Hanky]

If they could bust it wide open by offering a download selection that makes the asinine tier and hd packages of cable/sat services superfluous, that could seriously turn some heads! Movies are going to come one way or the other, but up-to-date tv shows could radically transform the landscape, altogether.

[BIGSAPOTEER]

Now if Sony had a music download store, a la iTunes, now we are talking.

[Marquoz]

The only good thing I see about this is for rentals, and to check out a movie before you buy it if the price is right. It can also be good for those movies that you know you only want to see once, and don't want to spend the entire purchase price on. You know the movies I am talking about, those horrible ones that you for some reason just have to watch one last time.

I know I won't be using it, but there is probably a decent amount of people that will, and for them, it beats having to get yet another box in the entertainment stand. The PS3 is truly becoming a one stop entertainment system!

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

The only good thing I see about this is for rentals, and to check out a movie before you buy it if the price is right.

And that's truly the concept behind just about every "digital download" system in operation or being planned. Everyone wants a cut of the money the cable cos are making on VOD, and the studios also want a better cut of rental revenue.

I really don't see anyone making a major play for the ownership market with a download platform. You have to have a STANDARD in the ownership market -- something that is both portable and compatible with a wide range of devices. Locked to a single device (or even a few devices), downloads have very little appeal, even if they got the quality level up and got the extensive special features of Blu-ray.