Samantha Clark

PlayStation 3 movie downloads review Part 1
July 16, 2008

Sony expanded its PlayStation Store last night, offering movies and TV shows for download. So, of course, we had to check it out.

It went live kinda late in our time zone, so we'll try out an actual download tonight. But we did scroll around the store.

First, a quick note to Sony: If you want people to sign up for stuff, don't make it take 20 minutes. To access the PlayStation Store, you have to be registered for the PlayStation Network, which we weren't, and it took 20 minutes to go through all the screens. Do we really need to input our mailing address and billing information before we've even got through the store door, before we're even able to see what the store has to offer? If video retailers did that, I don't think business would be very good.

Once registered, we found that the PlayStation Store is easy enough to navigate with the PS3 remote. The default screen is the videogames store, but the "Video" button is easily found on top of the menu on the left.

Like other download sites, titles are displayed with their box art. New releases are offered on the initial screen, and a menu on the left allows users to browse all titles, just movies, just TV shows, etc.

But the PlayStation Store's navigation system reminded me of Vudu's, in that some titles show prices and some don't. And the prices range from the low, $2.99, to the high, $15.99. So, at first glance, it's a little confusing. Are the ones with no price not yet available? Are the $2.99 ones on sale?

Once you click on the box, the screen shows all the ways the title is offered: sale, rental, standard-def, high-def. No price on the main menu means the title is available for both rental and sell-through. Prices below $6 are for rental and above are for sale. Easy enough, but it would be easier is it was a little more upfront.

We also couldn't find the rental terms, so we went back to the service agreement and found them in the small print (can be watched for 24 hours after first played or within 14 days of download).

Then, when we clicked on a "Rent" button, a window popped up showing the terms. Ahh! There they are. It's great that Sony included it there, but again, to save confusion and help consumers know what they're getting before they click, it wouldn't hurt to have it somewhere that's easily found before you browse.

All in all, though, Sony's PlayStation Store was easy enough to get around and make a purchase.

Plenty of titles are available, including some hot ones like 3:10 to Yuma and 10,000 B.C. For high-def, however, pickings were slim, and they were only available for rental, not sell-through.

Tune in tomorrow for the quality of the downloads themselves, high-def and standard-def.

Posted by Samantha Clark on July 16, 2008 | Comments (0)