Starting today, Playstation Network will be offering HD movies for download from the Playstation Store. This represents the latest move in the console wars, as Sony has managed to bring six major studios on board, compared to Zune Marketplace's five.
The movies now available on the network include, by studio: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Hangover, and the Wizard of Oz (Warner Bros.); Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Jennifer's Body (Fox); Inglorious Bastards, Public Enemies and Couple Retreat (Universal); Star Trek, Paranormal Activity and Zoolander (Paramount); and Up, G-Force and Earth (Disney). These last offerings from Disney mark the difference between Sony's selection and Microsoft's, as Diseny hasn't gotten on board with the latter, and even though it seems relatively insignificant, I assure you that Sony will jump on every chance to let you know about it.
Now, compared to Blu-Ray, Purchasing HD movies over the network offers a couple unique benefits. Firstly, downloads only cost approximately $9.99, and you can watch the files on your PSP. I realize that the chances of anyone actually buying an HD movie to watch on their PSP is slim, but hey, people like options. Playstations now come with pretty large hard-drives (compared to, oh let's say an Xbox), so space won't really be an issue for average consumers.
Combining the improved Playstation Network, now with plenty of features and still no cost of subscription, an ever decreasing console price, and exclusive games such as the MLB the Show franchise, Playstation 3's are become more attractive especially for sports gamers. While Xbox may arguably have the upper hand in other genres, notably shooters where they carry exclusive rights to the Halo and Gears of War franchises, almost all popular sports titles are cross-platform, with the one very important exception. That's hard to ignore.
So what do you think of PN's new movie download and rental capacity? Is it an attractive feature, and would it ever influence your choice to buy a PS3 as opposed to an Xbox 360? What about the current game selection? If you've haven't been able to put down your copy of MLB 10 the Show, take your experience to the next level by bringing your skills to the Rivalspot gaming arenas.