But is it XBOX Live?
One thing that all Playstation 3 owners will admit, if they are honest, is that they are envious of Microsofts XBOX Live. Not the fact that you have to pay for it of course, but the fact that you can get everything form games to films from it. Late 2009 the Playstation Network (PSN) launched a video download service, which seems to have gone some way to bridging some of the gap.
With some tweaks and development I think it will be a great boon for the PS3 and the PSP
Using the same interface as the PSN store (love it or hate it) you now have a very large and well stocked catalog of films to choose from. From classics to latest releases the choice is good. Some you can buy in HD, some in SD and others you can rent.
So what is there to say. Well download speeds are very good, depending of course on your connection. With 20mb broadband I was able to stream films without any great problems. The quality is excellent, and in general the pricing is good, with rentals starting from £2.49, SD purchases from £6.99 and HD purchases a bit more. One great feature is that SD films can be transferred to your PSP for viewing on the go. I love this idea.
The interface for searching and buying your films is where I found some problems. The interface is attractive. Once you have found your desired film, you can view a small preview clip. But it is the finding that can be a little difficult. Categorisation is at times a bit random, with horror films appearing in the romantic section, that sort of thing. I do like the fact that you can filter by certain collections, like films of video games. However, another problem I had was searching for rentals. All though you can filter the whole store for just rentals, you can not then search them, same for HD. I found this to be very frustrating as I would find a film I liked, only to find I could not rent it, I had t buy it.
That aside, the new download service is a great step in the right direction. With some tweaks and development I think it will be a great boon for the PS3 and the PSP, and just rememeber it is free to access!
