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Given Sony's numerous film and television properties, making the transition into digital distribution of media content was a natural step for the maturing PlayStation 3 platform. Today in Japan, Sony CEO Howard Stringer presented the company's mid-term corporate strategy which included the first concrete details on the plan for on-demand video content moving forward, including a launch window of summer 2008.
After touting an installed base of 50 million network-enabled PS3 and PSP units and a plan to achieve profitability this year, Stringer moved forward to forecast a large-scale video service for Sony's entire empire. The store is touted as a "premium film and TV service." Aside from Sony titles, no other content deals have been announced. The as-yet-unnamed video store borrows the user interface from the recently-refined PlayStation Store, albeit with slightly lighter colors.
The video service isn't one bound only to the PlayStation 3, though. Stringer continued to explain that the platform is planned to become a common strand that can be accessed via many Sony products. The Video Service will spread across "key Sony products" through fiscal year 2010. VAIO laptops, Bravia televisions, and even Sony-Ericsson handhelds will eventually be able to access the same on-demand library that will see its genesis with the PlayStation 3.
It's unclear whether or not Sony plans to make the store available for the PlayStation Portable at the same time. The PSP has its own version of the PlayStation Store with a healthy amount of content. Just with the remote play ability of the units already implemented, however, the PSP will instantly become a mobile on-demand media device. Users already have the ability to remotely access their PS3s over Wi-Fi with their PSPs. When the video store launches, users will be able to turn on their PS3s, download new videos onto their consoles, and stream them to their PSPs: all over the internet from wherever they happen to be.
The planned expansion of the new video service.
In the war of the consoles, Sony is arguably late to the game with on-demand video content. Competitor Microsoft launched its own video service last year to surprising success, outdoing the likes of the AppleTV in sales shortly following its launch. One deficiency that Sony may be looking to capitalize on, though, is the poor international support of the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Canadians, Europeans, and other non-US Xbox 360 owners have had very little content to choose from.
Sony of course has the upper hand on Microsoft with regard to potential content. The company will surely leverage its Sony Pictures division to bring a wealth of content to the service from the get-go without having to dance through a number of tentative deals like Microsoft did. Stringer's presentation notes some of the latest Sony-published media that could very well become fodder for the video service later this year, including the likes of Hancock and Pineapple Express, and television shows like The Shield and Rescue Me.
With the ability to play back content in 1080p and the only high-definition discs moving forward in Blu-ray, Sony is in a strong position to offer the most well-rounded contender for the title of ultimate "one-stop" entertainment center. And with continued momentum and a strong line-up of titles due through the end of 2009, including the likes of Resistance 2, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, and more, Sony is in position to steal the spotlight on two separate fronts.
The advent of video downloads on the PlayStation 3 was an inevitability, and this brief glimpse into the service is likely only the first tidbit of news regarding the company's offerings that we'll be seeing. With E3 around the corner, official plans are likely only a few weeks away. Ars will be on-site at E3 in Los Angeles this July, so expect further coverage as more information arrives. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080626-sonys-claim-for-living-room-supremacy-ps3-video-downloads.html
