It appears that reports of 360 exclusivity for Netflix have been greatly exaggerated. You could always hack it onto your console, but this is a little more official. The streaming-video service will arrive on PS3s next month, and current Netflix subscribers will be able to watch to their heart’s content at no extra charge. However, in a rather absurd turn, streaming will only be enabled when you have a special Netflix disc in your PS3. What the hell is that about?
Initially, watching movies instantly streamed from Netflix via the PS3 system will be enabled by a free, instant streaming Blu-ray disc that is being made available to all Netflix members. The free instant streaming disc leverages Blu-ray’s BD-Live™ technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
I don’t even want to speculate, it’s too weird. The content is hosted online, streamed over the internet, and the application and interface can’t take up more than a few megabytes. Yet they feel the need to next-day-air you a freaking Blu-ray disc that’s apparently the only way to access it. That’s a bit like having somebody climb the stairs in order to get to an escalator, isn’t it?
Maybe this is just a temporary thing, but maybe it really is as dumb as it sounds. We’ll know next month. At any rate, it’s a pretty awesome score for Sony. Maybe Microsoft only signed up for a two-month-long exclusive?
streaming will only be enabled when you
Basically this is for the people who already own a Netflix account. They can now download moves directly to their Play Station 3 (PS3) if they so choose. If suppose you don’t have a Netflix account, then this won’t really do anything for you, since the PSN Video Store is more than enough.
How is the PSN Video Store more than enough?
I pay $8.99/mo and get a 1 DVD mailed to me at a tim, plus streaming to my PCs and Xbox of thousands of other movies and TV shows.
Bah, I using a Braiva XBR 9, If netflix is becoming available on the PS3, that means Sony TV’s can’t be far behind. I’ll just bypass the ps3 and stream it straight to the TV.
Blue ray, Netflix streaming, and all the gaming titles on PS3?
Now it’s time to buy one….
Pat…take a look at the reviews on the Netflix streaming TV’s. They aren’t very good. Most people complain about poor picture and sound quality with the streaming and regular satellite feeds.
Well I already own the XBR 9 so, it’s too late to stop me. As I said, netflix streaming isnt’ in effect yet. The TV has the capability, so me, my tv and ps3 are just waiting to see what happens. I can’t speak for netflix, but I’ve purchased and streamed movies from amazon straight to the tv and the picture/sound was fantastic.