PS3 movies
July 17, 2008
Sony has begun offering a video-downloading service for its PlayStation 3 video games console, part of its aim to broaden its audience and grab a piece of the growing content-downloading market. The launch also reflects the push by Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer to get its business units to work more closely with one another.Sony said its service will let users rent or buy movies and rent television shows produced by major studios and production companies — including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures — and watch them on TV sets through its PlayStation Network in the US.Sony’s service will face stiff competition from rivals such as Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft just announced a deal with Netflix to stream movies over the Internet to the Xbox 360 game console.Park Associates estimates that annual revenue from Internet video, including ad-based and user-paid services, could reach $5.3 billion by 2010 and $12.4 billion by the end of 2012 in the US.Back to top