BBC: Sony wants an 'iTunes for movies'

[Beamtracer]

Sony need not worry. Apple is already working on electronic delivery of HD video.

Sony failed with online music. Their digital Walkman was a disaster and couldn't compete against iPod. How does Sony think it'll be a success if it just adds video?

Also, in that article, Sony claims it loses US $7 million each year from movies being distributed illegally over peer-to-peer systems. I've never heard of anyone I know to watch entire Hollywood movies via this method. I think Sony is exaggerating things.

[Bonedaddy]

I feel like Sony's market dominance is starting to slip.

Both Microsoft and Nintendo have a lot of buzz about their platforms, and are starting to square off a lot like.. well, like Microsoft and Apple. The sales of the PSP have been less than stellar, and the PS3 seems endlessly delayed.

And now they're starting to play their cards to try and position themselves as a market leader for video-on-demand.

I don't see it. Sony has a long history of bizarre proprietary formats, obtuse programming schemes, and restrictive DRM. Especially considering their rivals (Apple, MS, and Nintendo) are all ushering in developers and making their platforms as simple as possible to develop for.. I wonder if Sony's kludgey programming environment might just be the backbreaking straw.

But hey, idle speculation from someone not even in the videogame industry.



(random tangent: wouldn't it be awesome if Apple and Nintendo got together? nobody could complain about macs having no games! miniMac + nintendo + tivo = awesome)

[Beamtracer]

Let's take a look at Sony's audio efforts.

Sony doesn't like industry standards. They don't like MP3. They don't like MPEG-4/MP4. MPEG-4 audio uses Dolby's Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) which gives superior sound quality with smaller file sizes.

No, Sony doesn't like that, so Sony created their own audio format called ATRAC, so their digital Walkman had really bad audio quality. ATRAC just wasn't that good.

Sony tried to sell music in ATRAC format, but nobody wanted it. It has been a failure.

You can bet your bottom dollar that Sony will try the same thing with video. Sony will introduce its own proprietary video file format that nobody else uses.

[PhilOsirus]

The sales of the PSP have been less than stellar, and the PS3 seems endlessly delayed.

Eh? Are you from the future or just exaggerating?

[Bonedaddy]

Eh? Are you from the future or just exaggerating?

Well, the PSP has already debuted in the US, so..

Sony cancels pre-E3 Playstation 3 briefing (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/30/news_6121324.html)
Sony PSP not a sellout in debut (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002223024_psp29.html)

Just what I get from reading the news stories here and there. Maybe I'm missing something?

[suck]

A few things from someone that is in the industry. :)

The PSP is awesome. I've not met one person that has seen or played the device that has not been blown away by:

A) The screen. It is a higher pixel density than anything you've seen before. Watching movies on it yields DVD quality at its worst, and near HD at its best. If you haven't seen it, you don't understand. Trust me on this one.

B) WiFI. There is a crew of us that have PSP's here at VV and we get together for Wipeout sessions regularly. There is something completely new about getting together with your buddies, each with his own screen, yet sitting right next to one another. I'd say the only thing I've experienced that is similar is a LAN party, but those that have done this know that it takes a while to set one of those up. Imagine an instant LAN party at the flip of a switch and you can begin to appreciate how cool WiFi games are. This sounds like marketing speak but I'm saying this a player. (DS also has this feature, FYI)

C) MP3, Photos, and Movies. A previous post mentioned how Sony was famous for their proprietary formats (http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10691475.htm). This was true. Fortunately they reorganized their upper management (http://www.mpdu.com/newap/D891NC300.html) recently and earlier realized that MP3 functionality on the PSP was a key value added feature. Combining that with a high capacity memory stick makes for a very nice portable media player. Granted, the best part of the PSP is the games, but the extras were what really convinced me to get one.,

Now with all that in mind, why isn't the thing flying off of the shelves yet? In my opinion, it is because Sony is creating a new market with the PSP, and it's going to take some time. Granted, their marketing campaign for the device in the States has been less than stellar, but word of mouth is what is really going to sell the PSP.

If anyone reading this has seen a PSP and was honestly not taken by it, then please drop a post in this thread.

[jbo]

I've never heard of anyone I know to watch entire Hollywood movies via this method. I think Sony is exaggerating things.

you must not know very many people.


You can bet your bottom dollar that Sony will try the same thing with video. Sony will introduce its own proprietary video file format that nobody else uses.
perhaps, though the same could be said about apple.

[FunBucket]

I've been thinking about this lately. Would people pay for download only movies? I definitely would, since I watch all my dvds on my computer anyways. But what about everyone else? I think this is the direction technology is heading to. All media should be downloadable.

[Bonedaddy]

If anyone reading this has seen a PSP and was honestly not taken by it, then please drop a post in this thread.


Thanks for the post, actually. It's good getting an insider perspective. I just like rambling about crap I find online.

Anyways, one of my coworkers showed me one, and I wasn't bowled over. It's a neat piece of tech, and the screen is very nice, but I can't see myself buying one. I already have a (large capacity) iPod, and none of the PSP games seem like must-haves quite yet (although Lumines fascinates me). As for movies, I've not seen any movies played on the PSP, but I am generally a bit of a film snob (4 years of film school will do that to you), and would rather watch them on a large screen. Plus, I'm not thrilled at the prospect of buying all my movies all over again (unless I'm missing something, and I -can- actually legally copy my DVDs onto the memory card).

How's the battery life?

[policarpo]

Oh yeah of little faith...the next 2 years is going to see an explosion of these type of efforts. I just worked on such an experience for a company that premiered their vision of the future @ CES and let's just say it was well received by the market (and no it wasn't Microsoft).

Those with the architecture, experience and money and solid relationships with the Movie Studios will come out ahead (and considering that SONY itself makes movies, they only have to convince themselves that it is a done deal in order to get everyone else playing).

Bring on the future!:thumbsup:

[DangerAhead]

Sony claims it loses US $7 million each year from movies being distributed illegally over peer-to-peer systems. I've never heard of anyone I know to watch entire Hollywood movies via this method. I think Sony is exaggerating things.

I know you've heard of Bit Torrent, OnDemand, and Tivo.

It's just a matter of time before instant gratification is the product and everyone is selling it.

I can see how Sony is a little angry about not getting a single penny from my viewing pleasure. exaggeration or not, they're losing money. They have no other options, but to join in. Or roll over and die.

If I were just interested in "watching" a movie or TV show I could download it in divx or xvid format via bit torrent and with some of the new equipment out there (http://www.divx.com/hardware/?src=toptab_hardware_from_/hardware/detail.php) like the AVel LinkPlayer2 (http://www.divx.com/hardware/detail.php?p=34), I can watch it on my TV or burn DVDs or archive on harddrives.

It's not that different from what Tivo is doing and Netflix just bought them or is about to.

"Get in or get left behind".. sony got the memo.

[Kion]

Plus, I'm not thrilled at the prospect of buying all my movies all over again (unless I'm missing something, and I -can- actually legally copy my DVDs onto the memory card).

You can rip a movie from a dvd, and drop it on your memory card. And watch it. Its cool for car trips and plane rides. At first i thought i would never buy a umd unitl i saw the spiderman 2 disk, i might actually pick up another movie



I have a psp and so do 13 other ppl where I work and it isawesome. Sony has not yet unlocked all the planed functions on this device(internet access, gps unit, cellphone, translator, palmpilot, are rumored add on functions). Also later this year a battery upgrade thats double the life of the current batter Its not an ipod killer, but i think it will dominate everything else. I use my psp just about as much as i use my ipod and thats alot.


As for the PS3 there is no reason for sony to rush it out. Sony owns the market right now. Coming out with a next gen console first does not mean that you will end out on top, sega learned that the hard way. I think Sony is finally getting smart about there formats

[DevilHacker]

Well, the PSP has already debuted in the US, so..
Sony cancels pre-E3 Playstation 3 briefing (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/30/news_6121324.html)
Sony PSP not a sellout in debut (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002223024_psp29.html)
Just what I get from reading the news stories here and there. Maybe I'm missing something?
Yes, I see where your thinking is coming from…
You walk into a local store and still see PSP’s! Many people expected it to sell out in the first few weeks, the only way I can see people thinking this is because of the PS2, and how it was sold out everywhere you went. But the reason that its not sold out, is not because its not selling, (actually quite the opposite), Its because Sony, unlike the PS2 Launch planed ahead for the US premier of the PSP, and sent most of the units made over to the states (one of the reasons Europe’s Launch of the PSP got delayed, all Europe units were put on hold for the US unit production). This is quite opposite to how Sony Released the PS2, were not enough units were made, hence the shortage and fast selling outs…

Just an interesting piece of Information that I would like to share to help point out what I mean about the PSP selling well… The PSP has sold 2.5 million units in the first three weeks of its launch. This is compared to the 3.2 million units of DS’s sold over the last 5 months… Not bad at all…

[DevilHacker]

I got so distracted about the sells of the PSP in my post above, that I forgot about the matter at hand. Sony wanting to get an downloadable service for movies up-and-running would be great for us people who don’t want to / don’t have the time to go to a local video shop and rent/buy a video. No bad could come from Sony giving us another option, for obtaining the movies that we want to see… simply Win-Win for us. But the thing that bothers me about this whole thing is Sony’s reasoning for doing so... They say that they loose 7million from people illegally streaming movies over the internet. Now from were I am sitting, 7 Million doesn’t seem like much compared to… say… the music industry. And if Sony thinks that by letting people pay for downloading movies in any form that they will decrease the amount of movies being “virtually stolen”, then they are surely mistaking… If anything, more movies will be stolen online by Sony putting movies on the internet in the first place.

Now, where there are many ways that I can see Sony loosing money from doing this, I can also see how they plan to make money. As I said above, many people don’t want to leave the house to see a movie, anyone can see this from services such as Net-Flicks, and other services that allow movies to be sent through the mail; and if given a choice of waiting for a movie to arrive in the mail, or leaving the house and going to a rental shop, compared to downloading a movie instantly, I am sure that people would choose the later (factoring in the prices are the same). Another way I can see people streaming movies from Sony, is by them using Sony’s new Portable Media Device, The PSP! The PSP has the ability for a connection to an 802.11b network, and allowing people to download a video to the PSP, this would be great for last min urges to fill the time, such as on a plane ride or a car trip…

So there are my views on the subject, sorry to bore everyone, and have a great day!
:thumbsup:

[Per-Anders]

on the subject of psp sales v ps2 sales it's worth remembering that when teh ps2 came out it already had a huge inbuilt range of great games available (via backwards compatability with ps1). also at the moment for a handheld games unit lets face it the psp is just too damn expensive for most kids (i.e. the real big market).

regards the video on demand stuff, i only see it as a good thing that the distributors are finally catching on to all the stuff we were promised with our shiny new dsl broadband and cable connections in all the ads those years ago. now for tv to catch up, digital interactive tv... hah tv with internet is dead in the water, but tv on demand over the internet could be a working business model.

[DevilHacker]

Also at the moment for a handheld games unit lets face it the psp is just too damn expensive for most kids (i.e. the real big market).
There is no denying that very few children are able to convince there parents to buy them a PSP, and Sony knows this... Just look at the launch titles, they are more geared towards older people…

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as (If I remember correctly) 30% of gamers are over 20 years old, and 14% of gamers are over 30 years old. And while this is less than the younger kid’s percentage, the older audience is able to spend more money on things like games… And this also applies to things like downloading and viewing moves on devices such as the PSP; you will have to incorporate a credit-card number into the purchase no matter how you look at it, and let’s face it… how many people under 20 have a credit cards. Basically if they did allow movies to be virtually purchased on the PSP, than the audience that would looking into those kinds of things would be most of the people who actually own a PSP.

[Kion]

Heres the deal sony owns the gaming market becuse unlike nintendo catering to the kids market, sony went to the 18-34 year old market, which might I add is the market that actually have jobs and money to spend unlike kids(prior to the first playstion release the gaming industry was at 2 billion after sony its now at 60 bill something like that) . Thats why the psp will win in the hand held battle becuse untill now no one has made a hand held for the older gamer. Give it 2 years sony Will own the market. Nintendo doesn't get it, the market is bigger than the 5-13 year olds with no jobs. I guess sony released the psp at 250 becuse they know they will get the hardcore gamers and tech geeks to buy the first mill. I think before christmas the psp will be droped to at least 200 hopefully 179, it will be the must buy gift of the season, and sony will be the winner. Nintendo has already anounced their answer to psp with a hand held as powerfull as the gamecube,(ds just turns to dust, it barely has any games at all) Nintendo will be 2 years to late . Think about it who is going to buy two portible units. by that time psp will be house hold name

thats how i see it anyway

[Spater]

I would be all for this new service if the following guidelines were met:


movies would be high quality, and not sloppily compressed
no proprietary formats would be used(fat chance on this one from Sony)
I could burn the movie onto a DVD if I so chose without restriction
and the price is comparable to renting and not buying the DVD(no case, no special features, so where's the motivation?).

[harlan_hill]

Ummm... good for Sony.


And, why is this in the CG News forum? It's not CG related.


hmmmm?? :)

[Beamtracer]

It's funny how a discussion about Sony's online movie plans immediately turns into a debate about the pros and cons of Playstation Portable. I guess most people just associate Sony with Playstation, and don't care much about Sony's other activities.

you must not know very many people. ((illegally downloading movies))
Most people I know are technical luddites and wouldn't know how to illegally download movies!

perhaps, though the same could be said about apple.((and proprietary formats))
Well, Apple has its own DRM (digital rights management, copy protection), but the actual sound files on the iTunes music store are in industry standard MPEG-4 audio, which is basically Dolby AAC format. I believe the MPEG group don't yet have an industry standard DRM.

[-Vormav-]

I would be all for this new service if the following guidelines were met:


movies would be high quality, and not sloppily compressed
no proprietary formats would be used(fat chance on this one from Sony)
I could burn the movie onto a DVD if I so chose without restriction
and the price is comparable to renting and not buying the DVD(no case, no special features, so where's the motivation?).

Agreed on all but the last point. Certainly, as you wouldn't be receiving a box or printed DVD, and as distribution costs would be much less, it's definitely fair to expect a downloadable movie to come at a lower cost. However, having the price be comparable to the price of renting a DVD is going a little far, IMO. If you can burn copies to DVDs, and keep those for as long as you want, then it wouldn't seem right for it to be in the same price range as a rental. It seems like such a service would have decently low prices on downloads anyway, if for nothing more than to get people to actually use it.

I'd personally love a service like this (though the university network I'm on would be a little pissed ;) ). There are plenty of times in the middle of the night when everything is closed, and I'm desparate to get ahold of something to watch (having a movie playing in the background while I'm working on projects usually keeps me more relaxed). But if it turned out that I could only play the downloaded movies through some special video player provided by Sony, and on only a specific computer, forget about it.

Most people I know are technical luddites and wouldn't know how to illegally download movies!
Personally, I know more people that rent and burn DVDs than download them. :shrug:
It's good though if it isn't too rampant in your area.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.