Hands On: PS3 Movie Store (updated w/video)

Posted Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 2:51 pm by Jason Cartwright |

Service	PS3 Movie Downloads	Xbox Zune Video Marketplace
Catalogue	Extensive	Growing, but limited.
Image/Sound quality	Excellent	Excellent
HD/SD	Both	Both
Rent / Buy	Both	Rent only
Pricing (A$)	$6.99 (HD) / $5.99 (SD) Older titles are $1 cheaper.	$6.93 (HD) / $5.94 (SD) Older titles are A$4.95 (SD)
Time to watch after initiating playback	48 hours	24 hours
FAQ	PS3 FAQ	Zune FAQ

While both services are similar in specs, the PS3 version is more expensive, however that’s counteracted by the extra time you have to watch the movie. Both options look and sound great and both can run into the occasional buffering even on ADSL2.

Personally I’m lucky enough to have both consoles, so it’s great to now have another option for on-demand digitally distributed movies. The choice of where to rent will likely come down to the library for me, given the experience is very similar. I do like that PS3 uses real dollar amounts rather than the Microsoft Points system on the Xbox 360.

For those who who have either an Xbox 360 or PS3, then your obviously stuck with what you’ve got, but those considering a console purchase, the good news is you now have a viable option regardless of whether you land in the Microsoft or Sony camps.

I don’t think many people will be buying movies on the PS3 Movie Store, cost wise you’d be much better off buying in a retail store – to buy HD movies cost A$32.99, while the SD version costs A$24.99.

One last thing you should be aware of is the data used when downloading / streaming a movie from the PS3 Movie Store. Whilst Microsoft has partnerships with a number of Australian ISPs to deliver the content unmetered, there’s no information about Sony doing the same. So make sure you check with your ISP, before burning through your data cap in an afternoon.

PS3 Movie Downloads are available now from the PlayStation store item on your XMB.

Video Walkthrough