Netflix coming next month to PlayStation 3
posted Oct 26th 2009 8:38AM
[Via PlayStation blog]
COMING SOON: NETFLIX MEMBERS CAN INSTANTLY WATCH MOVIES AND TV EPISODES STREAMED TO TVs VIA THE PLAYSTATION®3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
With Movies Streamed Instantly from Netflix, Blu-ray/DVD Playback and Downloadable Videos via the PlayStation®Network, the PlayStation 3 System Offers The Industry's Most Comprehensive Options for Watching Movies and TV Shows
FOSTER CITY and LOS GATOS, Calif., October 26, 2009 – Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) and Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] today announced that they are joining forces to make thousands of movies and TV episodes from Netflix available to be streamed instantly to TVs via the PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. Netflix expects to begin streaming via the PS3 system next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system.
Today's announcement pairs two of the most popular and fastest growing home entertainment brands in the U.S. The PS3 system's installed base has reached close to 9 million units in the United States, and Netflix recently reported 11.1 million U.S. subscribers as of September 30.
The partnership further solidifies the PS3 system as the most complete home entertainment hub on the market today, enabling consumers to play high-definition games, watch Blu-ray movies, listen to music, view photos, browse the Internet, and download content from PlayStation®Network − from exclusive games to blockbuster movies and popular TV shows. PS3 system owners will soon enjoy an unparalleled experience watching their favorite movies and TV shows streamed instantly from Netflix, downloading from the PlayStation Network or watching Blu-ray/DVD media. The Netflix offering expands on the entertainment experience delivered to PS3 system owners via PlayStation Network.
For only $8.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers via Netflix ready devices such as the PS3 system and can receive unlimited DVDs delivered quickly to their homes.
"The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "Whether you want to watch content on Blu-ray disc and DVD, download it from the PlayStation Network's video delivery service, or stream videos instantly from Netflix, the PS3 system is the only solution that offers it all."
"As instantly watching movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix becomes an increasingly popular way to enjoy the Netflix service, our goal is to rapidly expand the devices that stream to our members," said Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings. "As a leading game console and Blu-ray disc player, bringing Netflix to the PS3 system is a real win for both Netflix members and PS3 system owners."
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.
Netflix members simply slide the disc into their PS3 systems to reveal movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. These titles are conveniently organized into a variety of categories based on members' personal preferences, popular genres, new arrivals and members' individual instant Queues. Members can use the Netflix Web site or navigate directly on their PS3 systems to add movies and TV shows to their Queues. With the PS3 system's Wireless Controller, members can choose a movie to watch from their instant Queues or just play directly from any of the lists. They also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream via the Wireless Controller.
Netflix members and PS3 system owners can now reserve a free instant streaming disc for PS3 systems by going to www.netflix.com/ps3. Upon availability, the instant streaming disc will be delivered for free by first-class mail, generally one business day after members request it.
About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game consoles, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, the ground-breaking PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and its digital services which include the PlayStation®Network and the PlayStation®Store.
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one® game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, and the PlayStation 3 and PSP systems for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
About Netflix, Inc.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is the world's largest online movie rental service, with more than more than 11 million subscribers. For only $8.99 a month, Netflix members can instantly watch unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and computers and can receive unlimited DVDs delivered quickly to their homes. There are never any due dates or late fees. Netflix members can exchange DVDs as often as they want using a postage-paid return envelope. Members can choose from a vast selection of DVD titles and a growing library of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. Netflix is partnering with leaders in consumer electronics to bring to market a range of devices that can instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to members' TVs. These devices currently include Blu-ray disc players and new Internet TVs from LG Electronics; Blu-ray disc players from Samsung and Best Buy's Insignia brand; the Roku digital video player; Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console; TiVo digital video recorders; and, soon, the PS3 system and Internet TVs from Sony and VIZIO.
NOW it does EVERYTHING !
It be interesting to find out if you always have to put that disc in, or if its just an install disc... From reading the press release, it looks like you always have to put the disc in with the quote "Netflix members simply slide the disc into their PS3 systems to reveal movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly."
But anyways, good for the PS3... JIT for xmas... I wonder how the menu system will compare to the 360's menu system... Cuz i'll tell ya, the 360s menu system is pretty awesome...
Notice how they used the word initially when talking about using the disc: "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."
I think the disc is just a temporary solution while they work with Sony to integrate it into the XMB. I imagine there will be a firmware update down the road that will eliminate the need to put the disc in all the time.
I've had Netflix on the PS3 for quite some time using Play On.
Of which you have had to pay for on top of Netflix...
which he had to pay a one time fee, as opposed to an annual fee for XBOX live, and which also works with any other DLNA device on his network. There, fixed that for you.
I wish they would try to battle each other more and not just use the same thing on both .. i love the netflix on 360 so i am interested to see how it will fair on my Ps3 ... but id rather they just try to take it to the next level instead of just copying back and forth
@Jon
I think the more important thing is that Sony is closing the gap with Xbox Live. If PSN is = to Xbox Live feature parity, This may force MS's hand to either add more services on to gold, like online game saves, or force them to to ditch silver and gold and just have xbox live for free.
Well PS3 is doing it better by not forcing you to be a paying Gold Subscriber like XBOX does.
I already subscribe for gaming, but for those who want the Netflix feature on their 360 and don't play online, they HAVE to fork over $60/year.
I may like using the PS3 for netflix going forward, depending on how the interface navigation is designed.
It, um, doesn't say anything about HD streaming...
It, um; No, it doesn't! Clearly, this is a service for people who have the PS3 Hi-Rez media center plugged into a 13" Black and White CRT that's 20 years old!
TRT:
HD Streaming on Netflix for Tivo and the XBox was itself the headline -- and it took months to get there. It is the single biggest thing Netflix Watch Instantly has going (lord knows the selection sucks). So you might, um, expect them to at least mention that this "Hi-Rez media center" will, um, handle the HD streaming that some other Netflix-capable outlets still can't handle. PS3 = HD. They mention it for "gaming" -- why not at least throw a shout-out to streaming? Either its a stupid oversight, or HD streaming isn't there (yet?).
Tool.
BOOM goes the dynamite!!
Netflix should be on everything and not be crippled. Why is a HTPC, which has more power than a xbox and PS3 put together cannot do netflix streaming properly?
The vista mce version of netflix is garbage. Horrible remote support, major screen tearing and NO HD support.
As for netflix on PS3, I don't think I will be using it at all. My 360 is my extender (no gaming), for tv watching and netflix. Ps3 is stationed for gaming only. But Bluray, strictly Panasonic DMP 35..
There is absolutely no reason for you to be using a separate stand-alone BD player. If you have a PS3...there is no reason to use a separate BD player.
Roger @
"There is absolutely no reason for you to be using a separate stand-alone BD player. If you have a PS3...there is no reason to use a separate BD player."
There is... I got the panny last year and the ps3 I got a few months ago. Then there is picture quality. The ps3 lost that round.
There is no PQ difference between the two.
@Roger
Maybe kevon27 has it hooked up with the provided RCA cables? That would explain the picture quality difference...
That's cool. Netflix streaming didn't work with my computer for some unknown reason, I'd love to give it a try without having to buy another device.
Why in the heck would you need to insert a disc to download streaming video?
It seems that the Netflix app uses Silverlight, so it must use BD-Live to run. Hopefully, the disc won't be required with a future firmware update.
You are not going to get HD with 80211G. It will be choppy as hell. I have issues sometimes using a N. It could be more due to my speed of DSL but 80211G is not ment for HD streams.
Now hard wire it to your router or PC with a N and all will be great!
802.11g = 54 Mbps
Cable/DSL ~ 5-15 Mbsp
So the bottleneck for HD content is not the 802.11g standard, but the cable/dsl connection.
nosnhojm, I used to take that stance too. However, I currently stream Netflix to my PS3 via PlayOn, over 802.11g. I get occasional pauses (10780723 error, I think). I tried running a wire across the house and it worked flawlessly.
It's not a 54Mb issue, but it is a wireless issue. I'm hoping that direct streaming (without the need for PlayOn) might help, but I'm not convinced.
Agree that it's a wireless issue. It's a problem with packet drops. I assume that 802.11n also suffers from this issue, so I'm not convinced it would work any better. They asynchronous data flow due to packet drops/resend is not ideal for streaming.
Netflix streams beautifully over 802.11g to my Tivo, even in HD.
I wonder if u can use netflix on playstation 3 from overseas using fake ip
The PS3 just continues to improve. Hopefully they will push out a firmware update that enables streaming directly from the XMB.
There is a little secret though that I believe most people are missing. The secret that makes PS3 Netflix streaming already a little better than Xbox 360 Netflix streaming. No Xbox Live subscription fee. Think about it. Xbox 360 costs $199 vs. PS3 slim $299. But then you have to add onto the Xbox Live Gold member subscription. And the Xbox 360 doesn't play Blu-Rays, or at least it doesn't right now. Sony should make a good point to market this advantage they have over the Xbox 360.
Oh, and about Xbox's exclusivity. Netflix streaming debuted on the Xbox 360 exactly one year ago. Timed exclusivity. Very common in the gaming world. Especially when Microsoft announced it had the "exclusive".
I think the Xbox exclusivity is still in effect. I mean it was only a month ago when Microsoft was bragging about how they had an exclusive deal with Netflix.
I heard a while back that offering Netflix via disc was the only way to go around the exclusivity deal. Maybe the Microsoft/Netflix exclusivity deal stipulated that they couldn't offer Netflix on PSN?
I don't know HSOL. The press release states:
"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 key word there being "Initially". That indicates that they might change the way Netflix streaming works on the PS3. I would imagine that Sony would like it enable directly in the XMB. It is possible that part of the exclusivity deal is that Sony must make use of the disc, but I kinda doubt it. Either Netflix or Sony found a loophole in the exclusivity partnership or it has expired, because I would imagine Microsoft's lawyers would have made the deal very difficult/impossible for Sony to receive Netflix.
Goodbye Blockbuster!
Hmmm. Send a disc (@~.35 each plus production costs) with probably less than 50MB of code to install.... so they can stream gigs of content. Lame. Lamer if the disc has to stay in the machine.
"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..."
If it's using BD-Live, I wonder, what's stopping this disc from being used on a standalone BD-Live enabled player???
I had the same thought. It might have been a way to get around the exclusivity microsoft held on the console front by creating a disc that would give access to bd-live enabled bluray players, not specifically the ps3. Although this is a bit of a stretch.
Someone on here mentioned that the MS/Netflix deal was only for a year and that year is now up. Not sure if that's true since all of the articles I found about the exclusive deal were dated August 11, 2009. However, I found a few articles indicating that Netflix streaming first came to the Xbox about a year ago. So MS has had Netflix streaming for about a year, but didn't announce that it was exclusive until August 11th 2009?
Anyways, I don't think the disc is a method of circumventing the terms of the deal; I think it's just a way to get streaming to PS3 owners ASAP while they work on integrating it into a future firmware update.
Perhaps I wasn't stretching to far. A Quote from Joystick
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities noted that the Blu-ray disc required for Netflix playback on the PS3 may circumvent exclusivity clauses instituted by Microsoft. "We believe that the exclusive arrangement limits Netflix's ability to appear on the 'dashboard' for the PS3 or the Wii." Additionally, Pachter believes Netflix streaming will expand to Nintendo's console next year. "We anticipate that a similar arrangement will be announced for the Wii in the next 12 months."
It's about freaking time...Go for you Sony, someone up their is listening.
Finally
Anyone know whether this will also show up on PS 2 ??
That's what I thought! Yesterday, I read an article about someone saying Netflix was going to choose the Wii.
So I wrote an article on Netflix's subscriber boost thanks to X360 and how their next choice would be the PS3 instead of the Wii because of the Hi-Def capabilities and Blu-Ray playback, when the Wii can't even play DVD's.
Anyway! Thanks for the article, I'm glad it proved me right! :-D
cool feature, but i fail to understand why I would want to utilize this over my blu ray enabled netflix account. oh yeah, plus the HD selection on PSN (which i can watch while downloading) is far more robust than the sub-SD catalog offerings from netflix... I just don't get it.
Well giving us more choices certainly doesn't hurt. I don't mind watching older movies via SD streaming. Also, I tend to reserve the Netflix queues for newer movies. As for renting on PSN, I don't know why I would pay $5 bucks to rent one movie when I already have Netflix.
preordered my ps3 activation disc
The disc requirement has nothing to do with rushing it out. If they could imprint it on a disc, they could release it via firmware and get it on the XMB. The disc requirement is simply a circumvention designed by Netflix in order to get this service up and running for PS3 owners, without breaking their exclusivity contract with MS. The contract it seems does not say that netflix access on another console could not be run via a disc. So my understanding is that the netflix interface never loads onto the HD of your PS3. This is obviously temporary until the contract is up, but nevertheless a crafty bypass by Netflix for allowing PS3 owners to enjoy their service. Kudos all around.
Will it load from the disc to the hard drive and not need the disc anymore? Of will it need the disc to view Netflix until the contract period is up? Thanks for the info.
So what if MS has an agreement with Netflix which forbids them to create or support a streaming player on any other gaming console for a limited time; that's not what they've done. They've created a Netflix streaming player which loads from a Blu-ray disc as a BD-Java app, like one of the fancy menus on a Blu-ray movie disc. It's not a violation of a console exclusivity agreement because it wasn't made to run on a gaming console, but to run on a network-connected BD Live 2.0 Blu-ray player--the PS3 just happens to be one of a number of network-connectable BD Live 2.0 capable Blu-ray players on the market 8^). It's not embedded or installed and contains no native PS3 code (though it may leave parts of itself around in an HDD cache). Clever.
Netflix has talked about a Wii version of their streaming player, but I'm betting that it will have to wait for MS' console exclusivity agreement to expire (presumably "late next year", when Netflix claims that the PS3 embedded player will appear). There's no facility similar to BD-J with which they can do this on a DVD.
I hope it's not only for US / UK AGAIN
Sometimes it seems like the rest of the world doesn't exist for Sony and Microsoft .
Im sure the "required" disk is counted in the DVD at-home queue so that it will "pay" of the cost of the streaming service. Nice move.
This is good for us the consumers. It's a great move for Netflix. Yes..the content for Netflix streaming sucks, but that has more to do with licensing from companies such as Sony Pictures... at the end of the day, it'll give us more content I think.