Sony has launched its long-awaited video
download service in the US for the PlayStation 3 console, offering movies and
television programs to rent or keep.
Videos are available in both standard and
high definition formats, and purchased using credit card via the PlayStation Network.
In addition to Sony Pictures films, content is available from partners including Fox,
MGM, Lionsgate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner and Funimation.
Movies and television shows can be viewed
just a minute after the download begins and freely copied between the
PlayStation 3 console and the PSP handheld for viewing while on the move.
The service will be launched in Australia,
but not until next year.
The announcement was made at Sony's
press conference yesterday in Hollywood's famous Shrine Auditorium to kick of this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los
Angeles.
Other highlights for the PS3 console included
a modern online war game that can support up to 256 simultaneous players, mythological
blockbuster God of War III, a new budget-priced downloadable Ratchet and Clank
game, adrenaline-fuelled shooter Resistance 2, the delightful LittleBigPlanet
and massively multiplayer superhero romp DC Universe.
Sony also confirmed sequels for two of PSP's most
original and quirky titles, Patapon and LocoRoco, and revealed that the developers
of the popular Syphon Filter series are working on Resistance Retribution for a
PSP release in the Australian autumn of 2009.