Break out the popcorn and boot up the PS3, Sony has announced a partnership with Netflix to make “thousands of movies and TV episodes” available to be streamed instantly via the PlayStation 3. Netflix expects to begin streaming via the PS3 system next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system.
“The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. “Whether you want to watch content on Blu-ray disc and DVD, download it from the PlayStation Network’s video delivery service, or stream videos instantly from Netflix, the PS3 system is the only solution that offers it all.”
“As instantly watching movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix becomes an increasingly popular way to enjoy the Netflix service, our goal is to rapidly expand the devices that stream to our members,” said Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings. “As a leading game console and Blu-ray disc player, bringing Netflix to the PS3 system is a real win for both Netflix members and PS3 system owners.”
Hmmm, pretty interesting development. Wonder what Msoft thinks about it;)
Check out the full press release over on the Official US PlayStation Blog.
For me personally, this is huge. This was the only really big thing (in my opinion) XBL Gold has over PSN.
Now that the PS3 is selling more units than the XBOX, and their online services are more comparable I hope it forces microsoft’s hand into making gold membership standard with no monthly cost.
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VERY good news…..I’m a recent Netflix subscriber and was bummed to learn that I couldn’t stream through my PS3 but I could stream through XBL if I was a Gold member, which I refuse to do.
Now it’s coming to PS3….VERY awesome…I wonder if anything will change. If everything still remains free and you only need to be a Netflix subscriber, then that will totally blow away Micro$oft and their bullshit.
Once again, Canada is put behind the shelves. Us Canadians own a PS3 too. Why don’t we get these services. I don’t have the video store on PSN because us Canadians are really aren’t getting as much benefits from gaming consoles as the USA.
We live in the same continent, don’t you think we deserve this service too as well as other services the PS3 has in the US, Canada doesn’t.
This should be my next blog post…”Canadians get the short end of the stick when it comes to gaming consoles”.
GameAlert I to am from canada see our government has these laws all content we see has to have certain amount of canadian content .. EX settings characters even just the people acting or writters it sucks so psn says screw its too much
I’m glad to see the playstation network is working to improve itself even if it’s not exactly innovating all the time. I have to admit that the use of a disc to access the content strikes me as odd and I wonder at why it’s needed, but it is certainly not going to keep me from using it.
@GameAlerts and other non-U.S. gamers, netflix is a US company that only serves residents of the US. Sony is not the one to blame for the service limitations. I assume that all the streamed video will come from a netflix server same as on xbox, so I imagine it would be difficult to convince them to stream to other countries when the mailing service is not likely to extend to other counties. But perhaps if enough people (non-US) request streaming services they will provide a streaming only price scheme for some of those countries. Here’s hope’n kid.
[...] over at Joystiq have caught up with a representative of Netflix to ask a few questions about the recently announced Netflix service for the PS3. Among other things, what caught our attention was the fact that PS3 [...]