PS3 Fanboy

PSN video delivery service will launch tonight. Major studio support including Sony, Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, Funimation. It will offer both SD and HD content. TV shows start at $1.99 per episode, movie rentals are $2.99-$5.99 per rental and $9.99-$14.99 for purchases. Not only can you play the content on the PS3, you can play it on PSP. It can be placed on multiple devices at the same time.

[Via Engadget; Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Source - Sony's new corporate strategy
Source - Summer launch for the US

This might be hard to spot. Click on the image above to see a still frame from a recently released PS3 ad. It goes over all the features of the PS3, such as being able to shop on the PLAYSTATION Store. But look very carefully in the back. This picture of the Store features icons from various TV networks, such as NBC, Cartoon Network, HBO and the CW.

Sony has said time and time again that they're interested in delivering video content on the Store. Could this be an indication of what's to come? (Xbox Live Video Marketplace currently offers videos from all of these content providers.) Or, is this an overenthusiastic mock-up?

Check out the original trailer, after the cut.

[Thanks, Anthony S.!]

Microsoft execs have been quick to point out that the Xbox will not be integrating Blu-ray into their console any time soon. Microsoft's European boss, Chris Lewis, is committed to bringing digital downloads to consumers, and believes that's where the future is. "Going forwards, digital downloads is really where it's at," Lewis told GamesIndustry.biz. Xbox Live Video Marketplace currently supplies downloadable HD rentals of movies and television shows. Sony's PS3 does not currently feature a similar service.

"Before very long we will look back wistfully at shiny discs as something that was somewhat a historic phenomenon in a way that we kind of think about vinyl or VCRs today," Lewis stated. While the Microsoft-backed HD DVD format has "died" in the next generation format wars, Lewis believes that Blu-ray will follow the same fate. When will digital distribution take dominance? "I think that's going to be the case in the next 12-18 months."

Digital distribution would be great if the movie selection and video quality could match the offerings of a disc-based medium. Blu-ray discs offer 1080p video, uncompressed video and special features. Without the proper infrastructure and bandwidth to support such large files, we think digital distribution of HD video will take much longer to truly proliferate. Ultimately, only time will tell.

[Via Joystiq]