17 July 2008

a new way to waste money

it's almost 2am, so i can't really say it was today, but yesterday Sony launched a new feature for their ps3 and psp systems in the u.s. On the ps3 there is a playstation store option, which up until now was an online shop with free movie trailers, video game demos, full game downloads, and add ons for games. now they have added video rental and purchase with a fairly decent launch library from a surprisingly large selection of studios and tv networks. personally i think the pricing is too expensive. however i felt compelled to join in the launch of the service and am renting the darjeeling limited. i have seen this movie in fuzzy, choppy youtubeish quality, and i thought it would be cool to pay $5 in a legit fashion (and watch it on the big screen). The rental itself is $4.50 plus tax, but the way the store works...you put money in a virtual wallet...and the lowest you can add is $5.



some observations


ps3 rental is cheaper (maybe) than a NEW release rental at my local hollywood video, BUT i cannot carry around a ps3 as easily as i can carry a dvd to any dvd player.


netflix and microsoft will soon join forces. i don't plan on getting an xbox360, but netflix pretty much rules out of all the legit means of rental out there. i'm more likely to sign up for netflix because of the library and pricing.


i wanted to try out something in hd but was undecided whether to check out matrix revolutions or maybe hellboy (since i want to go see hellboy 2). in the end i went with darjeeling limited in standard resolution. no hd option on that one. dangit. yeah, i will have to just wait for the hd section to have better movies.


sony's system went pretty smooth. before tonight i had not entered any of my info and no money in the wallet, and within 10 minutes i'd added funds, purchased the rental, and started downloading.  in 10 minutes it is at 26 percent downloaded, and if i wanted to i could start watching as it downloads. considering how the firefox launch went and the iphone launch went, it is really nice that it seems to not be screwing up. i think having a wireless usb keyboard really speeds things up though.



ah well tomorrow is still a work day. goodnight. and good luck.

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