Kotaku
The current PlayStation Store is a bit of a clunker. It's functionally sound, but a bit rough around the edges from a usability standpoint. Compared to the rest of the PlayStation 3's visual design, it's certainly lacking—but that's reportedly going to change come Springtime, as the Store is said to get a new coat of paint. One aspect of the Store that's been hinted about by reliable publications, like the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, is Sony's download service, one that president Howard Stringer may be talking about when he refers to the "expansion" of the PlayStation Network.
It may be Sony's best bet in fending off Apple's iTunes for movie and television distribution. And it may be closer than we thought.
Sure, it's been a long time coming, with first reports of the digital download venture hitting in December of 2006, but Sony's been awfully quiet about when it's coming.
According to sources who attended the retailer and publisher focused Destination PlayStation conference last week in Scottsdale, Arizona, Sony showed off a portion of its video store. It reportedly uses the same SingStore-like interface we talked about in our PlayStation Store revamp post, something we hoped to capture in the mock-up of the video store above.
No specifics on launch date, pricing, digital rights management or integration with the redesigned PlayStation Store were provided, but we did hear that North America may be getting the service before anyone else. The only offerings we were told about were Sony Pictures owned. Word on who else might be licensing their content to the the store wasn't provided.
Sony's been very coy about discussing any aspect of the PlayStation video store with the press, but if its showing the service to publishers and retailers, we're hoping that means it's on the cusp of going prime time.
Comments
& Australia will never get it.
_
Usenet still works
I'd like to be able to 'rent' the movie and then if I like it and buy the BD version be able to use BD LIVE to register that bought copy and get my rental fee back.
Does that make sense or is that greedy?
I hope it's coming Early Spring and a long overdue PSN store please. it's begging for one.
maybe this relates to the redesign the store is getting in april?
Rough around the edges is being nice. There is no way its ready to be used as a video store. Its too damn slow.
set for Spring ... and after Sony delays it, when will we actually see these changes in our own homes?
@Rockwallaby: Ya'll still into UseNet down there? Seems like I always saw a ton of Aussies on UseNet back in the day ;)
*Memories*
These kids and their .torrents don't appreciate the old, wild days of the 'net.
*Yells at kids to get the hell off his lawn!*
@Most Wanted: Sounds reasonable for me, but it'll be hard to get studios into it, maybe it'll happen if Sony makes it a standard feature on the movies they own. The iTunes Direct thingy in the Family Guy SW DVD case was kinda like that, but of course if you bought it already on iTunes it didn't refund the purchase or anything like what you're saying.
Make it PSP accessible and its gold.
That right there is a more appealing online store than anything I've seen. Seriously nice looking.
Also, I got half-hope when I saw Monster House and thought it was the TV show and not the movie :(
I wish they'd make mention of the PSN store being accessible through the PSP. I'm one of those neglected Mac fanboys you hear about; the ones that whine because there is no PSN accessibility for Mac users...yeah, those Mac fanboys.
so they gunna have only Sony movies?
Are any of the Sony pictures available for rent on the xbox video marketplace?
The mock-up doesn't look much better than the real store.
@Most Wanted: So, essentially, we're hoping for an improved DiVX?
Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea.
fend off apple?
you mean xbox live, since it already has hundreds of hd movies..
@DaiMacculate: usenet binaries yeah, not the whole messaging stuff
@Kirbytheslayer: In-Kirby XMB: Might not be a masterpiece of a mockup, but its one hell of allot better than the current store that looks like a website out of 97'.
where'd you get that mock up? it actually looks fairly nice.
The more and more Sony continues expand their online offerings, is the more and more that Xbox Live proves that $50 a year is not justified.
Nice. It looks more like Singstar store, which looks fantastic.
@Kirbytheslayer: In-Kirby XMB: Yes, but look at all the snazzy effects!
+ Watch video
that looks so much better than the current PStore...
hope sony's looking
@dethFLUX: I made that. It's just a concept built off of the SingStore layout.
@Kirbytheslayer: In-Kirby XMB: Agreed. Please get rid of the tiny text which plagues the current online store. As ugly as I find the Live Marketplace interface(skins must go!), at least I can read it without getting a headache.
I'm looking for this to be one of the updates between the 2.1 we have now and the 2.4 reported on earlier
[kotaku.com]
Love the video store on xbox live already, so willing to give this a try, they just need to fix the super slow download speeds that everyone seems to get from the playstation store. With movie companies already signed on with sony for blue ray maybe they would be able to get a better selection than live has going also.
Can always hope at least, seems like half of the movies I want to download on Live aren't in HD or aren't available for download at all.
@iiiLIONHEARTiii:
Ahh, yes! Sony is now, well sometime, going to offer for free what Xbox Live has offered for free since launch. You don't pay $50 to buy movies or games.
Wow. Everybody is copying MS these days. First they copy the idea of the live arcade, then the movie downloads...what next?
@Rockwallaby: Yeah no thats what I meant, but you start to follow binary releases and know where they're coming from (or at least I used to), was what I meant ;)
Oh and I missed the "fend off Apple" part of that, I think they're a little late at this point...
[www.ipodobserver.com]
I notice Sony isn't even in that particular bet... ;)
@Michael McWhertor: That looks like a winner to me!
@iiiLIONHEARTiii: Please, cut the FUD. You can access all the content on the Live marketplace via a free Silver account.
@EdwinJ85: Live just copied the ideas off other services and such, it's not like Live invented all this stuff. It's funny cause if one company doesn't have said features, people bitch, but when another company does it too, everyone still bitches.
@EdwinJ85: to be fair I don't really think microsoft can be given any credit for inventing the concept of a movie download service. Live arcade wasn't a new idea either, they took existing concepts and put them together in the nice little bundle of Live. Sony may be following their example, but I think anyone would looking at how successful it has been for MS.
The PSN can definitely use a redesign, and a movie download service is right up my girlfriend's alley.
Here's hoping this actually gets released in the Spring.
@EdwinJ85: Live Arcade? Really? I mean, VC was announced before we heard the name "Wii", before the 360 was launched. And Shareware games have been around on PC for a couple decades now... With the new gen all having some sort of internal storage, I'm sure each of them planned on downloadable games as part of their strategy, so Arcade meant basically nothing. It wasn't original, it was organic; it was the natural next step.
And a downloadable movie service... You're a true stupid fanboy if you think Microsoft came up with that idea.
@Michael McWhertor: I can't believe I'm saying this, but at the very end of that cool looking menu in the video, instead of Bonnie Tyler it would have been a perfect time for a Rick Roll.
I did like Across The Universe!
Anyways, I'm not ready for this kind of stuff, but more power to those of you who do use it.
I just bought a PS3 last week and was severely disappointed by the store, but advent children HD would definitely get my rocks off for awhile.
Sonys got somthing up their sleeve... Can't wait to see how this turns out.
I can't wait for this. Hopefully they will have a rental system.
Sounds like a good move; just as long as there is no DRM.
@Most Wanted: I'd be down with that.
@Ruglia: I found it to be a bit of a let down. I think SPLHCB did a better job of capturing the feeling of the Beatles.
It was pretty thou. Lots of color.
Can't wait! Hope its not gay like the Live Market Place's "rental" movies (one view only). Since Sony owns movie, television and music here's hoping that there is little to no DRM and also hoping that the content will be cheaper since Sony owns a hell of a lot of content. The store just makes sense for Sony since they own all that content all ready.
I still DO NOT see the digital distribution taking off over Blu-ray/ physical media (in the next 6 years). People would rather own a physical copy of a game/movie especially since it can be re-sold. Digital copies can not be resold at any store like gamestop or ebay and they cost the same as the retail hard copy. Why pay the same for a copy you cant sell anyway. Plus your gonna need a HUGE HDD for HD content. It took 2 hours to d/l Southpark in HD (Good Times With Weapons, 1.1GB) on the Live Marketplace, how is that practical for a 50gb movie with extras. PS most of America doesn't have a computer with the internet and at least 1/2 - 1/3 the people who have the internet use dial-up. If digital distribution is supposed to be #1 in a few years where is this content going to be stored; computers, PS3, 360? Heck most people don't have a DVR still, where is all this storage and tv interconnectivity come from, I remember those media center pc's flopped.
@bobtheduck: Live Arcade came about on the XBox1. Maybe you didn't hear about it because everyone seemed to ignore it for no good reason. :(
@DevonTheDude:
You should avoid using "gay" as a derogatory term on this site, or a demon penguin will hit you with a hammer of banning.
Netflix kicks ass over anything Microsoft or Sony can offer at this time, mainly because of value. Someday downloading will be great, but for now I can watch 11 or 12 movies for the price of maybe four download rentals.
@Sherlock_the_Barbarian: Netflix download service is ass though, the selection is horribly lacking. Theres lot of good rental options for folks, but this is digital distribution. Amazon also has a decent online download service ppl seem to forget about, but like most, online distribution needs more selection.
Wow retals would be kewl
@EdwinJ85: I dunno, it'd be nice to see other companies picking up on hardware failures, poor customer service, and faltering medium support.
Come on now, you don't really think that they pioneered any of the ideas present in Live do you? Oh wait, you're still probably assuming that all digital "progression" started at Microsoft.
@Michael McWhertor: Does this mean XBL Marketplace is going to be knocked on its arse?
@Kyle81:
Netflix download service isn't great, but I see little reason to download, anyway, when I can get three or four DVD's at a time through the mail. There's always something to watch. Except for certain social situations, only bad planning would necessitate the need to pay four bucks to download a movie on the spot.
I still maintain that Netflix kicks the ass of any online rental model right now.