Sony and Netflix Form Partnership to Bring Flix to PS3
While the PlayStation 3 has offered various functions and capabilities that no other console can offer, the other consoles have a few special offerings as well. One of the offering on the Xbox 360 console for the past few years has been Netflix. Netflix is a service that distributes DVD and Blu-Ray both via mail and through online services such as the Xbox Live and the Netflix site itself. However, according to a new announcement it seems that the PlayStation 3 stand among the various distribution methods that Netflix offers.
Sonyhas just announced that Netflix will be coming to the PlayStation 3 soon. The official site states that the service will have an entry level fee of only $8.99/month, and there will more than likely be other subscription options as well. On top of the official announcement, Steve Swasey the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Netflix stated the following:
“We’re excited to announce today that Netflix and Sony have partnered to bring you thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed instantly from Netflix to your TV via your PS3 system at no extra charge. When the application launches next month, you’ll be able to access and watch thousands of Netflix choices directly through the XMB. We think that the nearly nine million PS3 enthusiasts and 11.1 million Netflix members in the U.S. will make quite a match.”
With this new multi-million member service becoming available on the PlayStation 3, Sony has managed to make a truly well-rounded piece of multimedia hardware that can provide all forms of media and entertainment. The official release date of the service is yet to be announced, but stay tuned on PSLS to find out when it becomes available the moment it does.
[Source]
27 Responses to “Sony and Netflix Form Partnership to Bring Flix to PS3”
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October 26th, 2009 at 11:35 AM
finally!!
October 26th, 2009 at 11:40 AM
this is amazing another reason to buy the ps3 vs the xcrap
October 26th, 2009 at 12:00 PM
What am I missing? “No extra charge?” It says there is a fee for the service. Do they mean: no extra charge to add it to the PS3? A little confusing.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:13 PM
sweet….i think
October 26th, 2009 at 12:17 PM
I don’t suppose this will be available in Canada as well, will it?
October 26th, 2009 at 12:19 PM
MadGreek, im pretty sure it means no extra charge to stream to the ps3. of course, thats if you already have a netflix subscription. if not, then obviously there’ll be a charge.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:27 PM
“No extra charge” means no charge beyond the standard Netflix subscription fee.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:33 PM
It would be awesome if they can somehow incorporate Qore into this. For example, Qore subscriber get one free rental a week for something of that nature.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
TheMadGreek – orbus is right, you need to be a paying member of Netflix in order to have access to the service in the first place, but to add the feature and watch them on your PS3 is free of charge. This is a great step for the PS3 but I doubt I will use it much unless Netflix starts to greatly increase their available library of streaming movies. Right now their library for watching instantly is pretty sad and doesn’t include many popular titles.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:47 PM
l agree with giese095. The library of available shows/movies to watch instantly is sad. l looked up some movies to see instantly and they didn’t have them up and it’s been over a year.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:04 PM
shoulve got a deal with blockbuster online that wouldve been epic. maybe even included psn game rentals
October 26th, 2009 at 2:02 PM
@Morgus
Finally indeed…
@giese095 and The MadGreek
It has been getting better. A reasonable amount of my queue has begun appearing on the instant side of late. It certainly does depend on your taste, but I think a lot of this is held back by the studios/content right holders. They’re very cautious on things like this because they’ve watched the music industry get bit by Apple and lose the ability to set their own ridiculous prices. Netflix seems to be the closest company that could develop into that sort of threat since Blockbuster’s CEO doesn’t understand why anyone would want to watch old/obscure movies and has priced their service out of viability. So there’s some hardball going on, but it seems like the tide’s turning.
I have to admit that I’m surprised by this announcement. For a while it seemed like Sony was too concerned with movie purchases and rentals to ever allow this. I hope they’ll continue to open up to things like this. Though the ps3 has some fab multimedia features, it also has some unbelievably frustrating limitations. Maybe a hulu deal next? I could the pc that’s behind my tv if they did that…
October 26th, 2009 at 2:33 PM
Btw… You need to go here to reserve your Netflix-enabling blu-ray disc: http://netflix.com/ps3
I hope they’ll integrate things into the XMB without the disc soon. I can’t imagine that this solution would be longterm…
October 26th, 2009 at 2:41 PM
what’s the problem with using a disc? Is it that much of an inconvenience
October 26th, 2009 at 2:55 PM
@wtGp
It’s not a problem so much as it’s not preferred.
In any UI an extra, unnecessary step is worth removing. If I can push the PS button, X, and select Netflix, it’s preferable to pushing the PS button, X, walking over to grab a disc, ejecting the current disc, inserting the NF disc, walking back and selecting Netflix.
I’m not complaining, just asking for the option to install. If others don’t want to, I completely understand, but lets make things smooth for those who do. If they can do it, then we’d be silly to refuse or even ask for the option.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Nine bucks a month for all you can watch? I might just have to check that out. Don’t know about their selection, but they say they’ve got 17,000 titles availbale for download or streaming. Must be something in there I’d like.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Guess no Canada then:
http://www.eontarionow.com/national/2009/10/26/no-netflix-ps3-deal-for-canada/
Oh well.
I have no idea about the pic on that URL; if it is not appropriate for some reason (it isn’t NSFW or anything, but it is an odd choice), I’ll understand my link’s removal.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:57 PM
About damn time, lol
October 26th, 2009 at 6:27 PM
Whoop-dee-fricken-doo. Another useless icon on the XMB stating “Service Not Available In Your Area” for everyone outside the United States. I hate the CRTC.
Congrats to those in the U.S.A. though.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Interesting thing looks like it uses Blu-Ray live.
October 26th, 2009 at 8:03 PM
yeah is this for countries outside the US? I’m getting sick and tired of being happy of something sony comes up with and then discovering is only for their love child america. This would be awesome so i hope the SCEE realise this is happening and give us european gamers this as well.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:25 PM
seems a bit weird Sony just didn’t start a monthly rental service, say $9.99 mth rent basic definition unlimited or a set # of HD videos, but charge say $.99 each for new releases, It would be easy then to start doing game rentals for say 5days at $2.50 (time limited use)
October 26th, 2009 at 9:43 PM
Nifty!
October 26th, 2009 at 9:43 PM
awesome. however i bet the 8.99 is for one movie at a time, which is the regular 5.99 plan netflix has. Could be wrong, but im just saying…
NOW if only sony could lock a deal with Gamefly…..
that would be unbelievably kickass.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:24 AM
This is a great plus for the PS3 since MS only allow this on $50-per-year-gold-live-subscription paying gamers.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:17 PM
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