Hasta La Gadget!

PlayStation 3 just leapfrogged Xbox 360 and snagged the best Netflix experience on a videogame console yet.

The new Netflix application for PS3, rolling out for download Monday, will enable Netflix subscribers with PS3s to watch movies and TV without a disc. Some titles will even stream in 1080i HD and 5.1 digital surround sound.

Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” streaming-video feature has been available for PS3 since late last year, but it required a Blu-ray disc in order to access the service. Now, by running Watch Instantly as a native PS3 app on the console, users can ditch the disc altogether. Netflix also has a new user interface, optimized for the PS3 controller’s analog joysticks.

In the new UI, search especially seems smartly designed for the PS3 controller, using an alphabetical grid and intelligent auto-complete to minimize the pain of text entry, as seen in this still:

Still from Sony PS3 promotional video.

I even like the way the controller buttons control common text-entry commands in context — like Space, Delete and Enter. There are keyboards available for PS3, but being able to use the controller well is a real asset.

Netflix has not only continued to bring its streaming service to seemingly every device with a screen, but to make that service better. Still, among consoles, the announced PS3 app stands out: Xbox users don’t have 1080i or surround sound, and Wii users have only now added search to their service, which still requires an “Instant Streaming” disc.

Adding media services has become part of the continued rivalry between Xbox and PS3, along with new motion-capture interaction devices like PlayStation’s Move controller and Xbox’s Kinect.

Besides videogame consoles, Netflix can now stream to personal computers on Windows and Mac; TiVo, HD, Roku, Logitech and Apple TV boxes; Windows Phone 7 and all iOS devices; and a wide array of net-connected TVs and Blu-Ray players, including those using Google TV.

Roku’s players, which began as Netflix-only boxes, will soon be available in retail stores through a partnership with Netgear.

Netflix on PS3: Disc-free Next Week [Playstation Blog]

See Also:

• DVD Anywhere: Netflix Arrives on iPhone, and Doesn’t Disappoint
• Netflix Streaming on iPad
• Wired 10.12: The Netflix Effect
• Netflix Streaming to PlayStation 3 in November
• Netflix Streaming Comes to the Wii
• Netflix Streaming Exclusive to Xbox 360, For Now
• Netflix Everywhere: Sorry Cable, You’re History

Considering our leak a couple of days back came directly from Sony itself, this is hardly a suprise, but Eurogamer has done the diligent thing and managed to confirm with the dudes in suits that British film streaming service Lovefilm will indeed be coming to the PlayStation 3. The everything console is adding the UK answer to Netflix to its stable of software enhancements, which will let people buy pay-per-view movies or, provided they’re on Lovefilm’s £5.99 subscription or above, let them stream away without a care in the world. Oh, and the video ad that got pulled? We’ve now got it for you after the break.

Update: Electric Pig have been told that the PPV option will be left off the table for console streamers.

Update 2: Lovefilm has gotten in touch with us directly to say the service is rolling out this November.

Continue reading PS3 and Lovefilm make it official, streaming movies to consoles in the UK this November (updated)

PS3 and Lovefilm make it official, streaming movies to consoles in the UK this November (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 06:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The PlayStation Move is out, and gamers everywhere are throwing away their DualShock controllers, spirits carried aloft by the liberating breeze of motion gaming. Okay not really, but if more traditional games had Move support baked-in that might be the case. 256-player MAG has recently been given a taste, and level designer Ben Jones is taking a moment to show off how motion gaming looks in this uber shooter. As you can see, the baton acts for aiming, turning, and shanking, while a nunchuck (or second controller) handles the moving duties. We’re not entirely convinced of the accuracy playing in this mode, especially given how the video focuses almost entirely on close-range, full-auto carnage, but Mr. Jones says he believes this to be a “lateral transition from keyboard and mouse?” So, PC gamers, you buying it?

Continue reading MAG dev demonstrates Move support, it only does point and spray (video)

MAG dev demonstrates Move support, it only does point and spray (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In case you hadn’t noticed by now, Best Buy’s Geek Squad isn’t always the most scrupulous sort, but their latest attempt to upsell consumers is truly off the charts. We’ve confirmed for ourselves that the Staten Island, NY store is offering 120GB PS3 Slims for $329.98, explaining away the surcharge as their fee for a firmware upgrade. In case you’ve never booted up a PS3 yourself, let us explain the sheer ridiculousness at work here: a system update requires about three button presses, and some discs prompt you automatically. Hell, if you want to play online or access the PlayStation Store, you don’t even have a choice — ever since Other OS got Sony’s goat, firmware updates have been mandatory across the board. Still, it’s hard to say no when Best Buy employees are this polite — when we explained to a rep that we already had a PS3, he graciously offered us an update anyhow… for just $29.98.

Best Buy charges $30 for PS3 firmware update, laughs all the way to the bank originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not sure why anyone would buy a knock-off DualShock 3 or SIXAXIS gamepad, considering the trouble Sony’s taken to make sure they don’t work, but the PlayStation 3 manufacturer has another reason you might want to steer clear of counterfeit pads — they could be tiny Li-ion bombs poised to explode. Talk about force feedback! Yes, the company that brought us exploding laptop batteries says that third-party products “which are practically identical in appearance to genuine PlayStation(R)3 wireless controllers” may burst into flame, and as you might expect, Sony suggests that you run out to your nearest retailer and purchase the real deal instead.

PSA: Sony says counterfeit PS3 controllers could explode originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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