A comparison of PS3 and 360 as media players

[patsu]

Sure... but we know NetFlix's digital collection is rather old and limited (Unless she bought a player with VUDU !). NetFlix's downloadable movie library will get better, in the mean time, having a Blu-ray disc player for NetFlix rental is also very handy. Unlike gaming (which has core and casual titles), movies is more universal.

BDA should make use of this uptrend to strengthen their BD-Live services.

 

[AzBat]

Personally I don't get the complaints about Netflix streaming library. It's more than adequate & has new movies too. And I don't get the hang-ups with Vudu either. I pay a low flat fee per month for unlimited TV & movies. No way in hell I'm ever going back to paying a-la-carte. And although she got a Bluray player she's decided to not upgrade their Netflix service to include Blu-rays. Not sure I would either. BTW, my other sister uses a Wii for Netflix streaming. Her husband is probably more geek than I am and he could care less about HD streaming. Funny thing is he's been trying to convince my sis to get a 360 for Kinect ever since it was announced. With a family of 6 it's not been a high priority. Probably next year after a price drop.

Tommy McClain

 

[patsu]

We grew tired of NetFlix's selection and switched to Hulu Plus (larger selection for the same price). But my wife retained NetFlix's Blu-ray disc subscription to get the new movies. We also lend our Blu-ray rental to friends for overnight viewing sometimes (and vice versa). NetFlix's "new" movies are not that new.

We don't really need VUDU since we can get the new releases on Blu-ray discs.

EDIT: Yes, motion gaming is the rage these days. Bumped into a friend in a party yesterday, and he asked me about Move. Was surprised he asked me Move first before Kinect. Turns out that he tried it in a store last week, and wanted to know if other Move games are equally good. Also talked to him about Kinect. My sense is he may get a PS3 because of Move and pirated movies via DLNA server (coz he followed another friend home to check out his PS3 Media Server setup). >_<

The other dude bought "Kung Fu Live" yesterday after trying my copy out though.

 

[patsu]

UK: PlayStation 3 adds ITV and Channel 4 shows to on-demand lineup
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/13/itv-channel-4-sony-playstation

ITV and Channel 4 shows such as Coronation Street and The Inbetweeners will soon be available to watch via Sony's PlayStation 3 games consoles for the first time, in another sign of the convergence between traditional media and the internet.

The ITV Player and Channel 4's 4oD service are expected this week to launch the first commercial TV video content that can be watched via the PS3, available to users who have broadband access. The broadcasters are following in the footsteps of the BBC's iPlayer, which launched on the PS3 console last year.

For ITV the distribution deal marks a shift in strategy, after the previous management regime under Michael Grade was reluctant to offer ITV shows online via other companies' products and services.

ITV rejected deals with YouTube and Hulu, the US on-demand service that has been looking at a UK launch, and until now it had made its catch-up TV service available only on Virgin Media, BT Vision and, soon, Freesat.

...

On one hand, this sounds great. On the other, it sounds like Sony need to organize XMB better to prevent cluttering. May be also make it easier to find shows and other media ? ^_^

 

[Shifty Geezer]

There's not really a problem with clutter as there's a whole TV section in the XMB, that only has iPlayer in the UK unless you ahve PlayTV. More channels here isn't overloading the section. If you buy a TV episode from PSN, does it end up here? If so, I can say lots of bought episodes getting pushed down below the TV channels. But it's not much of an issue as I see it at the moment.

 

[patsu]

In US, under video icon, I have NetFlix, Vudu, Hulu Plus, NHL video app, 2 DLNA servers, and then a long series of folders with local media, plus purchased videos.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Okay, mixing channels with local files and network files probably isn't a good idea. Then again, most PC users just dump every program into their Start folder and don't subdivide it into categoeries, so navigating unwieldy lists is something people are used to!

 

[patsu]

That may be because their apps have "Recently Opened" menu option. I do that too (My Desktop is completely filled with old docs). Increasingly, I rely more on file system and Internet Search as well.

The XMB is minimalist and clean. Would be great if they can keep it that way. Unfortunately, it's not ideal for working with large dataset right now. There are many ways to layer or list items in that UI. A proper media Search and short cut menu would also be useful. The "What's New" section may be a good attempt but they should keep improving it.

In fact, it would be rad if the AI sorting and FaceBook Friends photo browsing in the Photo Gallery app can be shown on XMB.

 

[patsu]

Sony Expands PlayStation Store Video Content
All six major Hollywood studios now distributing video content on Japanese store:
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/15/ps_video_store/

Currently, Walt Disney Studios Japan, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers provide content for the shop. Starting in January, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures will begin offering content as well. With the new partners, the video shop will stock such popular movies as Predators and The Bourne Identity.

Sony will be commemorating the feat of getting all six major Hollywood studios on board with a raffle campaign.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I would like to be able to book mark TV series on iPlayer, 4od, and the ITVplayer so that they appear in the TV section of the XMB. So that I didn't have go through the hassle of searching for them in the application itself.

 

[patsu]

That's right. ^_^

The Network category should have folders for user files/bookmarks like the movie, music and photos categories.

 

[patsu]

Inception Blu-ray breaks record held by Iron Man 2:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5629

Christopher Nolan's psychological action thriller got 65% of its total disc sales from the Blu-ray edition, pulverizing the previous record of 52% for Iron Man 2.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/research-dream-week-inception-21454

Warner Home Video’s Inception flew off retail shelves its first week in stores, displacing Summit Entertainment’s Eclipse as the top-selling disc for the week ended Dec. 12.

On Nielsen VideoScan’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, Inception scored an easy victory, with 65% of its unit sales coming from the high-def disc. In its second week of release, Eclipse dropped down a notch to No. 2, but it only sold 30% as many Blu-ray Discs as Inception.

Paramount/DreamWorks’ Shrek Forever After, meanwhile, topped Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, largely due to high demand at Redbox and Netflix. Paramount is one of the only studios that doesn’t impose a rental window on its new releases for the two rental services, which together generate nearly 60% of all rental transactions.

 

[AzBat]

Anybody trying out the ESPN app for all the college football bowls? They have this contest/mini-game going where you pick the winners. There were 3 bowl games today & I'm already 1-2 Right now I don't have anybody else listed on my friends leaderboard saying they're participating. I know I have a few of you on my friends list. So get a pickin'!

Tommy McClain

 

[Nesh]

Anyone opened the internet browser recently? The playstation front page changed to something more classy and media like

 

[Arwin]

Anyone opened the internet browser recently? The playstation front page changed to something more classy and media like

I'm apparently the 2% of users that still uses 720p, so I don't get the new layout at all, unless I switch to 1080i (which I never do) or work on my PC monitor (which I haven't done recently).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't understand this. I'm on 720p and I get the new frontend. It didn't quite fit properly, but it was there. I even checked the output mode on the TV to make sure I wasn't actually getting 1080p, and the system settings which show 1080i/p are disabled.

 

[Arwin]

I don't understand this. I'm on 720p and I get the new frontend. It didn't quite fit properly, but it was there. I even checked the output mode on the TV to make sure I wasn't actually getting 1080p, and the system settings which show 1080i/p are disabled.

That's interesting, because that's not what they said they would do on the official blog. Maybe they changed their mind already, realising that many gamers put their PS3 fixed on 720p regardless.

 

[patsu]

The default PS3 screen looks the same as before for me (My Home PS3 @ 1080p)

May be they are learning from NetFlix ? i.e., Show a few designs to different users for usability testing.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Anybody trying out the ESPN app for all the college football bowls? They have this contest/mini-game going where you pick the winners. There were 3 bowl games today & I'm already 1-2 Right now I don't have anybody else listed on my friends leaderboard saying they're participating. I know I have a few of you on my friends list. So get a pickin'!

Tommy McClain

Wish I could but my ISP doesn't carry ESPN 3. I'm a sad puppy. Not sad enough to change ISP, but sad none-the-less. Bowl season and March Madness could be nuts with ESPN 3 and friends over XBOX Live.

Regards,
SB

 

[Arwin]

The default PS3 screen looks the same as before for me (My Home PS3 @ 1080p)

May be they are learning from NetFlix ? i.e., Show a few designs to different users for usability testing.

It's EU only for now.