Sony launches PlayStation movie downloads
E3: Starting tonight, content available for rent, sale
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 7/15/2008
JULY 15 | LOS ANGELES--Sony by tonight will launch its long-awaited PlayStation 3 movie and TV downloading service, featuring a wide range of digital content from major studios for rental and sale.
Sony executives formally unveiled the service, designed as an enhancement to its current mostly game-filled PlayStation Store download marketplace, during its Tuesday press conference at E3 here. Studios that have committed films include 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, MGM Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment. Anime specialty label Funimation also is making content available at PlayStation Store.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is one of the few majors not slated to offer film content with Sony's service, confirmed a studio spokeswoman.
Rental movie pricing will range from $2.99 to $5.99. Sell-through films are priced between $9.99 and $14.99.
Sony promised a selection of standard-definition and high-definition offerings, but did not differentiate pricing between the two. Executives also didn’t detail the release window for PlayStation Store film and TV content. It appears that content availability will vary according to different studio terms.
Fox will be treating the Playstation Store similar to how it launches content on iTunes, according to studio president Mike Dunn. Playstation Store will bow Fox films for sale on the same day that they street on DVD. Fox digital rentals will roll out at the Playstation Store about a month after the movies' DVD launch.
During the press conference, Sony executives demonstrated the PlayStation Store interface. Many featured movies were relatively current, such as Paramount’s Cloverfield, listed for standard-def sale at $14.99. Other movies available today include Lionsgate's The Bank Job and Rambo; Paramount’s The Spiderwick Chronicles; Sony’s Walk Hard and Fox’s Lars and the Real Girl.
One clear difference between Sony’s offering and Apple’s service is that users can transfer PlayStation Store downloads from their PlayStation 3 for viewing on their PlayStation Portable.
Sony executives also said the average standard-def two-hour movie download will take about an hour, but purchasers can start watching their film about a minute after finalizing the transaction.
Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton lauded the movie/TV PlayStation Store as a “huge step to advance PS3 and PSP value.”
In other key E3 announcements, Sony will drop the price of its 80GB PS3 to $399, marking about a $200 price drop, effective in September. The company did not say whether its 80GB slashing will impact its 40GB PS3 console, which is currently similarly marked at $399.
