PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service Launched in Europe
PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service
It has finally happened, Sony have launched their Video Delivery Service for Europe. The service is currently available in France, Germany, Spain and the UK but more countries will added to the list in 2010. More than 800 movies are currently available to rent from £2.49 or to buy from £6.99, many in High Definition (HD) as well as Standard Definition (SD), from major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Starz Media, Universal, and Warner Bros. Bit of a bummer though, initially HD movies will only be available to rent and not buy.
If something on the store does tickle your fancy and you choose to rent it then you have up to 14 days to watch the movie, and, once playback is started, you have 48 hours to watch the content. Purchased movies are stored on the PS3 hard disk drive and can be accessed at home via the PS3 or transferred to the PSP for content on the go.
Titles available within the launch window include Angels and Demons; Bruno; Disney/Pixar’s Cars; Walt Disney Pictures’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Crank 2; The Dark Knight; Dead Space: Downfall; Drag Me to Hell; Gran Torino; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; National Treasure; Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Public Enemies; Star Trek; Terminator Salvation; Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen; Valkyrie; and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. If that wasn’t enough for you then you will delighted to know that Sony have promised that additional content will be added on a weekly basis, not bad eh?
Mr Andrew House (President and CEO, SCEE) had this to say about the launch of the service; “The launch of the PlayStation Network video delivery service extends our entertainment offering and provides consumers with another way to access their favourite movies, whether at home or on the go. With the choice of content constantly expanding, including full games, bite-size downloadable “minis” games, demos and now movies too, the PlayStation Network is the gateway to a world of entertainment.”
Just to entice you in at launch, there is a special offer for existing PSN members, allowing them to receive a complimentary copy of The Da Vinci Code if they buy Angels and Demons. There is also a special promotion in place to encourage new members. Anyone who registers for a PlayStation Network account using their new PS3s between 19th & 30th November 2009 will receive a voucher to download a complimentary copy of Transformers to own. Both are good offers but it would have been nice if existing PSN members also got in on that free Transformers action.
What do we think about this new Video Delivery Service?! Well the God is a Geek team were actually invited down to the launch party yesterday evening in London and we came back with mixed views on the service. Our two main concerns were the pricing model and the whole renting vs buying situation. The prices for rental are actually pretty good and we didn’t really have any concerns regarding that aspect but the prices to buy the movies are a bit too high. Take the new Star Trek movie as an example, to buy the SD version you would have to shell out £11.99 whereas you can buy the physical DVD copy online for as cheap as £9.99. This is the case with quite a few other titles too such as Bruno, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Public Enemies and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Will this be the case with the HD titles too? Only time will tell I guess. The pricing is also related to the whole renting vs buying concern too, as who would buy a title for £11.99 when they could just rent the movie for £3.49?! This point is highlighted even more when you are not even getting a physical copy of the movie.
I guess we sound a little negative about the service but that is not the case. We have our concerns but we also think the service has its plus points. The main one being that is convenient, when you are at home with some friends or your partner and can’t be bothered to go out this would be the perfect solution. Go to the PlayStation Store, pick a movie, download it, make the popcorn and you’re ready to go. The look of the store is also very good, infact I would say it is better than the Xbox Live Video Marketplace in that aspect. It looks stylish/sleek, everything is laid out brilliantly and, more importantly, it is very easy to use. We definitely look forward to seeing what to seeing what this service can offer us in the coming months.
The Video Delivery Service is available now on the PlayStation Store.
