Sony Might be Bringing Movies to the PSN this Summer

Supposedly, Sony is in negotiations with movie studios to bring movies to the PSN this summer according to the LA Times. The service would be comparable to XBL Video Marketplace and apparently Tim Schaaff is pushing the project.Industry analyst Hurt Scherf (Park’s Associates) states that this is a war that Sony must win over Microsoft as it is crucial to the service’s survival.

“They’ve got to get a win in the digital, and I’d say on the electronic delivery side of the business. That’s where the future is. They’ve got to establish a toehold in that space.”

Sony has yet to comment on a movie service, but Peter Dille, senior VP of marketing for SCEA had this to say on Inside PlayStation blog last week:

“Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PlayStation Network for North America. While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used.

“Ultimately the goal of the PlayStation Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want. More on this very soon…”

Of course Ross Honey, senior director of Microsoft’s media and entertainment group, team had to comment on this as well, because that is just the nature the Microsoft beast:

“It isn’t easy to do this. There is a lot of work to be done in just making this work and getting that movie up in high quality. We’ve had over a year’s experience on how to do this, so we can focus on innovating as opposed to working out the kinks.”

Microsoft has made a deal to bring rental movies via XBL to users from both Paramount and Warner Bros movie studios.

Via: GamesIndustry.biz, LA Times