Sony today announced that its video content delivery service on the PS3 now offers download-to-own HD movies from all of the major movie studios. The list is comprised of 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal, Walt Disney, and Warner Bros.
Most of these studios already offered high-definition films on the Playstation Network, but virtually all of them were only available as “rental” items, meaning they could be played for around 24 hours but then their license would expire.
After today’s change, “PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download,” said Peter Dille, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment America’s marketing and PSN departments.
Movies such as 2012, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and This Is It are among the list of titles now available for purchase in high defintion.
The only real issue now is file size. Just a couple full-length HD movies could easily eat up a PS3 hard drive. And Sony doesn’t allow users to easily re-download the movies that they have purchased (though it is possible to back them up and restore them at a later date).
Regardless, it is a big move for Sony as the first to land such a deal. It certainly can’t be long before the big studios start offering download-to-own HD content on other platforms now.
