PSN Video Store - good start, needs improvement

The PSN Video Store launched while I was away, but I tried it out as soon as I got home. So far:

• Rented RoboCop in SD (standard definition)
  
• Rented WarGames in SD
• Rented Donnie Brasco in HD (high definition)
  
• Bought Gattaca in SD

(Aside: I'd never seen RoboCop nor WarGames. I was told this made me deficient, so I'm apparently now a better person. Heh.)

I don't believe Sony will offer HD movies for sale for quite a while, but they've got work to do with just the stuff they're offering.

The good:

• Easy to rent and buy, just like the normal PlayStation Store
• SD movies are reasonably small, around 1.6 - 1.8GB
• HD image quality is pretty nice, but I'm no expert
• Selection is decent
  

The not so good:

• SD movies have reasonable quality, but even I have noticed compression artifacts once or twice
• HD movies appear to be 7GB to 8GB, which takes a few hours to download to my PS3 conncted by 802.11b to a router which is attached to a cable modem that I'm told is attached to a 6 gigabit connection.

The needs-to-be-fixed:

• No markers inside the movie file to aid in navigation, so you don't get random access of the sort you see with DVD chapters. Basically, it's modern tape or serial access.
• No subtitles/captions.
• No way to see what new movies or TV shows have been added since the last visit
• No way to buy entire seasons of TV shows at a reduced price
  

Certainly the issue with random access and captions should be fixable, but I don't know much about what you can do with video containers nowadays. Still, it's Sony's system and they should be able to come up with something. I know most people may not use subtitles, but both my family and my wife's family use closed captioning all the time and we've picked it up and use it all the time ourselves. We've just come to expect it. In movie descriptions on the PSN Video Store it has a field for subtitles/captions, but that field has been blank on every entry I've examined. Still, it gives me hope that Sony is looking to add subtitles/captions eventually.

Pricing is a touchy issue, I realize. The convenience of picking a movie and starting to watch it almost immediately (in SD) is a feature I'm willing to figure into my cost, but just for rentals. The delay when renting HD will keep me from going that route, I expect.

For purchases, I'm looking at $10 - $15 to download a movie that lacks basic features I expect in a DVD which retails for the same price. I don't get chapters, subtitles, special features, or commentary on the PSN Video Store, but I do with a DVD. While I can go down the street and get something that gives me noticeably more value for the same price, I won't be buying again. If I absolutely must have the movie on demand in my PS3, I'll rip it from a physical copy I own -- with captions.

If Sony fixes the pricing and features, I'll reconsider my moratorium on buying movies from PSN.

Finally, I'm pleased to see Disney movies on the list. Now, can we get some Disney movies worth watching ... like Pixar films?

Labels: business, hdtv, online distribution, ps3, psn

--jvm at 21:39

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9 Out of 10 Zombies Prefer the Wii

As I noted last November, the Wii is the console of choice for zombie games. Now it will be getting yet another: Dead Rising.

After the ugly Lost Planet port and no Dead Rising for the PS3, I feel a bit burned by Capcom. On the other hand, I can now kill about a dozen zombie birds with one stone:

• Resident Evil 4
• Umbrella Chronicles
• House of the Dead 2 & 3
• Dead Rising
• My older son's undying desire to play Mario Kart, Smash Bros., and/or Super Mario Galaxy.

I guess I'll just start saving my pennies now and plan for a Wii this fall sometime.

Labels: capcom, nintendo, sega, wii, zombies

--jvm at 14:09

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