Netflix Streaming Coming To PS3 In November
Sony is barging in on Microsoft's territory, having hammered out a deal to stream Netflix movies over the console just like the Xbox 360 for no additional charge beyond the Netflix membership.
This should help the console's newfound momentum. Following a price cut to $300, it leaped almost to the top of the sales charts in September, surpassing the 360 and Wii, trailing only Nintendo's Highlander-esque DSi.
Although Netflix streaming is no longer the awe-inspiring technological marvel it once was, now that the Xbox 360 has been doing it for a year and Blu-ray players and certain TVs are capable of the feat, but the PS3 now gives you that much more bang for the buck.
Will this nudge anyone closer to picking up a PS3?
Netflix Coming Soon to PlayStation 3 [PlayStation Blog]
(Photo: photformatc1otaker)
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i have a 360 and a ps3, with the 360 you have to have the gold membership which I'm hoping to be able to drop. The way it reads I can use the ps3 for no charge beyond the netflix subscription. netflix streaming is the only reason i have a gold membership on xbox live.
It's about fricken time. I hear it's coming to the Wii too. Now Netflix just has to get more movies and shows online.
@GMFish:
Agreed...Although the streaming is kind of cool in principle, it really isn't a game-changer until there is some quality movies/programs availible for streaming.
Netflix coming to the 360 has been the greatest thing since sliced bread. PS3 owners will be rejoicing all across the US.
Yes. I almost got one as soon as there was the price cut. But my family spends a lot more time watching streaming movies on Netflix than we do gaming. We were going to buy a Blu-ray with WiFi. So glad I didn't get that discounted Insignia over the weekend!
Thanks a lot Sony, up until now I had been able to resist both urges to buy a PS3 and sign up for Netflix. Jerks.
My biggest issue with XBL's Netflix UI is that I cannot browse all of the content solely from my 360. I can access my instant queue of course, but that means I still have to use a computer and access the internet in order to browse all of the content and add them to my queue.
It isn't the end of the universe or anything, but if the PS3 manages to 1up XBL with the UI in such a way that easily allows me to browse all of the available watch instantly content then I will start using my PS3 for Netflix instead. Of course, the PS3 already has a built in browser which I assume will allow me to browse the Netflix website just like I do on any other computer so that might not be even necessary. We'll see.
Still not making sense to me since I'd have to pay extra in order to stream Netflix on this device. Just might as well get a Roku because its less than a year of XBOX Gold or the PS3 fee.
any chances Sony pictures will drop the ban on watch it now? They've been boycotting ever since xbox got watch it now.
This is great news. I only have a Xbox Live account for Netflix purposes. Once my PS3 is capable of this I can't drop the Xbox Live account!
@Al Swearengen: There is no PS3 fee, that's the charm. Its free. The disc is free, and no extra charge from Netflix or Sony.
This has to be a real gut punch to Microsoft. The NetFlix exclusive was a big selling point for the expensive XBox Live Gold service. Now its just the ability to listen to foul mouthed 14 year olds. If you can here them over the 360's fan of course. . .
@Naame: The last update lets you do that though, and I'm not even signed up for the beta of the new dashboard.
@Al Swearengen: There's no extra charge. $8.99 refers to the cheapest Netflix plan you can get that offers unlimited streaming.
@Naame: You can browse a lot of the Instant media from your 360, at least if you have the most recent updates. The UI for Netflix was changed completely, and you can add stuff to your queue from there.
@highmodulus: I think he meant that he would have to buy a PS3 in the first place.
I'd love to be able to get rid of my Gold membership, but the hubs uses it randomly, and whines when I try to get him to stop renewing it, so I think I might be stuck with it. :(
I might consider it, once I buy a new TV first.
YES! I have a PS3 and Netflix, was considering a Roku... now more money in daddy's pocket.
Actually I am closer to getting a PS3 now with this news.. Mr. Aroo wanted a PS3 but I kept saying, "But if you get an Xbox I can watch Netflix on the tv" so he never could decide between the two.
The best thing for me would be if the Wii would get netflix streaming, because we already have one of those.
Please bring Netflix to the Wii!!
this is exciting news for me!
@lehrdude:
It is a bit of a game changer for a chronic insomniac such as myself. I can now spread out on my comfy couch and watch MST3K episodes at 3am instead of hunched in my office chair.
Netflix on the PS3 is preferable over the Xbox 360 for me because of the noisy fan on my 360. The PS3 is virtually silent.
@Naame: The PS3 has a fully functional web browser, so you would be able to at least do it all on the console if not from the one app.
@neost: I have Netflix running on my 360, but there's something about leaving the console on for hours at a time while watching video that makes me feel really uncomfortable, so I rarely use it. I'd much rather watch Netflix on my PS3, as I wouldn't be afraid that the thing would RRoD next time I turn it on. :P
@squinko: I have the latest update. Basically, it gives you a bunch of categories where about 100 selections are available for you to browse through which is nothing even close the amount of available watch instantly content that Netflix provides.
What I want is to be able browse and select every single bit of watch instantly content directly from my 360 without the use of any other piece of hardware. I also what to be able to easily run searches in order to find certain content in as many different ways as they can let me.
Don't get me wrong. I am not attacking MS or Netflix. I am simply expressing what features would be valuable to me. These are the kinds of features which would keep me paying money for XBL and I know MS is always searching for more ways to both retain old members and attract new ones. When it comes to Netflix, these feature requests would be appreciated by most I would think.
The crummy thing no one (or the linked article) has mentioned: until a software update arrives next year, Netflix streaming on the PS3 will require a special disc that must be inserted each time one wants to switch from gaming to watching a movie.
I like the idea of Netflix streaming on the PS3, but if I have to get up and walk all the way across the room and change discs...
@OldJimBob: I have no idea what you're talking about. I watch tons of movies on my PS3 via the PS3 Media Server and play COD4 from time to time and when that fan spins up, it's pretty hard to miss it. Perhaps you have one of those newfangled cheap looking ones, but my fingerprint magnet 80GB fatty with BC is louder than the 120mm case fan in the server it sits on top of.
@Andrewjh: Yes, its terrible that you have to get up off your butt to go change the disc, like you ALREADY do with games and movies....
Deal with it until they release a firmware update to put it all on the PS3. Its free so quit complaining.
@highmodulus: Well, the additional charm in it is that I don't have to worry that watching a couple of movies on my 360 might overheat it and cause it to come down with a nasty case of RRoD. I don't watch much Netflix on my 360 because of that uncertainty. Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, but then again, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Whatever the case may be, I would totally use it on my PS3. That I wouldn't have to pay for it is icing on the cake. :D
My PS3 has always been substantially louder than my 360. In fact I can very rarely even hear my 360 running, whereas my PS3 sounds like it's getting ready to launch itself into space. And yet I routinely encounter folks online who go on and on about how much louder the 360 runs than the PS3 does. It's strange. It's like I live in Bizarro world or something. :P
@ddmeightball: I could kick you in the nuts free of charge, and you'd probably complain about that, right? So maybe we ought to drop the notion that offering something free makes it free of scrutiny...
@Cyberxion101: I never said that it wasn't deserving of scrutiny. It should be thoroughly reviewed once it is available. And where did I complain about anything? I am ecstatic that the PS3 will FINALLY get Netflix streaming. Its a great feature to finally have on my BC PS3.
What annoys me is when someone is lazy and doesn't want to simply get off the couch to put in a disc that they would have already had to do if they wanted to play another game or movie that wasnt downloaded.
Now we need it for Wii. :)
I wonder if there is any chance that the service will become free through xbox... I really have no desire to buy a third console, and Netflix is the only reason we have ever purchased the xbox service.
We actually found that rather than pay for streaming service through xbox, we can just stream to a laptop and plug the laptop into the tv. Free. (well purchased the cables, but yeah. )
@Cyberxion101: I feel like my PS3 is much quieter than my roommate's 360. He has an older model though, I don't know if that makes a difference. Still, it doesn't stop me from wanting my own. Stupid Valve... (I really do like Valve, I just wish they would embrace the PS3. Sorry, I got off topic).
HUZZAH! =D
Now if they can just somehow make my PS3 model backwards-compatible, then I will officially put Sony on my Christmas card list ;)
@dragonfire81: I checked out Netflix streaming to the Wii via Playon, and it was horrible. The resulting video was an ultra-compressed, low-res mess. I've seen better quality videos on Youtube. That said, I think it was down to Mediamall's implementation. PlayOn uses the Wii's Opera browser to display the video, which I think has a rudimentary version of Flash running on it.
There's no reason to assume that Netflix will follow suit though, as PlayOn only uses the Wii's internet browser because there's no way to set the system up as a streaming device, and that's the only work-around that Mediamall had available to them to get Netflix running on the Wii. I would imagine that if Netflix comes to the Wii, Nintendo will release a dedicated Netflix channel that will allow Netflix to stream properly. As for how well it'll work, I don't see why it shouldn't work well enough. But I'm not a techy, so what do I know?
@Sanspants: I have a newer 360, so that may just be the case. I totally didn't consider that as a factor. :)
Dude, I don't see why Valve is so reluctant to put their games on the PS3. If their concern was that the user-base was too small to bother taking the time to learn how to properly develop for the PS3, then that concern should be fading now that the console is selling well. The price-drop has really turned things around for Sony. I'm thinking that we'll see Valve reconsider its position in the next year or so. At least I hope so. As a fan of the hobby, I think that folks ought to be able to get the goodies regardless of what console they buy, with the obvious exception of first-party titles of course.
now i dont need to ever turn on my xbox! YAY!
Well, it would make sense for me to buy a PS3 now. I was considering getting a Roku box, but then I wanted to get a Blu-Ray player too that did Netflix streaming. Now I could get a device that does both of those and plays awesome RPGs (I'm looking at you, Star Ocean - The Last Hope!)
@GMFish: They are adding new ones all the time, and it is getting better. Anyone know how they are getting the movies into the online format?
@bibblenorn: I just don't think the Wii has the capability to do this. I've tried YouTube streaming and also just streaming from videos played on my PC, and it was horrible. The video quality was terrible and it was jittery over just the wireless connection from peer to peer. Imagine streaming over the web with it.
I love my Wii, and we have a lot of fun with the games. But I think that's all you're going to get out of that console.
One issue I have with the new PS3 that just came out that's cheaper is that it does not support PS2 format discs like the original PS3 does. Hubby loves the FF series and plays FFXII on our original PS3 but when I pop a PS2 title into the new PS3 we bought to game together, it says it's unsupported.
Which, when you walk into a Best Buy, their display for the new PS3 says that it "does everything". It doesn't claim to be backwards compatible, but if you own the first PS3 and replace it or buy a second for yourself or as a gift, I would have found that misleading.
@Megalomania: yeah eitehr consumerist's comments system brainfarted or you replied to the wrong comment.
I already have a PS3, but it probably be the nail in LIVE's coffin for me. I just don't think its worth $50 a year. But then I only play online with a few of my friends. I'm not really much of an online player.
I wonder if Sony plans on adding this to any of their other, "older" model Blu-Ray players? I know one of their newer models is going to have it. I've got a BDP-S550 and would love it if they came out with a software update to add Netflix.
After living with Netflix via a TiVoHD for several months now, I find myself using it less and less because so little of the content is HD, and none of it is in surround sound. So for movies, it's not very useful, and for TV shows, it's just a more expensive alternative to Hulu.
The Netflix streaming interface still sucks (and sounds like it will suck even harder on the PS3, requiring you to actually /insert a disk!/ when you want to use it.
Wake me up when you can actually sort the HD content by type, year, etc., and when you don't have to use a frickin computer to add stuff to your queue before you can go onto your streaming device [and insert a disk and then] pick what you want to watch.
Well, it will make us use the one we have that much more if it works well. The mac mini may get jealous...