Sony to Offer Movies and Games Online
According to Smarthouse, Sony is getting into the video and game distribution business via its online strategy. Big surprise, I know. This is something they’ve talked about a lot.
Supposedly Sony would save 30% of the retail value of a game if the game is distributed online versus sold in the store. With the amount of software they sell, this could gain them millions of dollars of additional profit.
I’m not so sure that I really care. I personally like to buy my movies and games in physical form. It’s nice to know there’s a physical disc sitting there just in case the version stored on a hard drive somehow gets destroyed.
Sony To Sell Playstation Software And Movies Direct
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December 5th, 2006 at 8:55 am
I agree, that I prefer owning movies physically, but movies which I wouldnt want to own, which are rentals at best for me, would be nice to dl, because my next (good) rental store is 15 kms away (about 10 miles)… Which blows without a car
(Ok, my rental store is very cheap, 1€ per day, but Sony could at least try to compete
)
December 5th, 2006 at 9:35 am
I also like to have my games displayed on desk rather than invisible on my HD. It’s fun to watch as my collection gets bigger, though my mom doesn’t seem to think that way…
December 5th, 2006 at 10:16 am
And if they distributod a PS3 Game or BD Movie on-line that would fill a whole BD disk… you’d all be up-a-creek with ony a few gigs to spare (if you were lucky enough to get a 60gb model).
I don’t think we’re going to see our physical media disapear any time soon.
December 5th, 2006 at 10:30 am
True enough. But I think that online versions of movies wouldn’t include extras, and might use MPEG4 compression. (I don’t think Sony would want to use VC1.) It only makes sense to keep them as small as possible.
As far as games go, who knows? With only 60GB of hard disc space, that’s a hard sell. Movie rentals are easier, because you’d just delete them soon after viewing.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Segitz: here in Canada, I use a service called zip.ca, it allows to rent movie on the web and I receive them by mail.
December 5th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Online distribution is the way forward. Just like Steam. I much prefer downloaded content over physical content anyday.
The reason for this is that, just say ur house burns down – you loose everything…Your Online account still shows u have purchased a game, and can at anytime re-download the game, free of charge. The downloaded version includes all patches and updates, and doesnt require additional downloading or installation. Ive purchase almost every game on steam, and i purchased battlefield 2142 via EA Link aswell. Its cheaper, and quicker and i dont have to worry about discs being scratched or lost. Its also possible to backup games. Just stick ur PS3 HDD into a PC and just mirror the disc – hey presto unlimited copies.
Why waste shelf space with Game cases?
December 6th, 2006 at 4:48 am
I think online movies is good for previewing. Much like renting movies.
Call me old fasion, but is it good, I want it standing in the shelfs.
Same thing as with books.
December 6th, 2006 at 6:48 am
I’m not as interested as I used to be about online movies now that more and more Movies on demand are in HD. However I can see it as a great way to get the movie faster if they also offered a physical copy in the mail. I remember hearing how Comcast was playing with the idea to increase PPV viewing by making a buy option where they would send you a copy of the DVD for a reduced price if you ordered the PPV.
December 7th, 2006 at 5:18 am
the 360 has a movie and tv show rental, the only problems are the hard drive is too small and they are too expensive. Obviously the PS3 doesnt have the HD problem and with a decent pricepoint i would download many films from the PStore
December 7th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
The own alot of Film and television assets, so content is far from an issue. If they have a nice pricepoint, it will be nice. If its way cheaper to download on my ps3, than to buy in stores, its obviously worth it. Especially since with remote play, you can access those videos on your psp (and soon from any hotspot).