We give PS Store's new video service a go: PC-to-PSP

by Majed Athab { Jul 16th 2008 at 4:00AM }

It's an endearing feature to have, knowing you could have tons of movies and television shows at your finger tips. There's no need to go to the local video store (seriously, who does this anymore?) or even wait on those movies to arrive from mail-based rentals. However, we still have many questions regarding this new content for the PS Store.

We wonder if the PS Store is really ready to handle this kind of transaction and will it be easy to use? To help answer these questions, we gave the new video service a try and have presented a mini-walkthrough that'll hopefully give some insight into getting started with the new service.

So get started with the video service for PC Store to PSP right here!

Tags: e308, joystiqfeatures, pc-store, psn, video-download

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nick @ Jul 16th 2008 11:11AM

"There's no need to go to the local video store (seriously, who does this anymore?) or even wait on those movies to arrive from mail-based rentals."

Are those flippant comments really worth it?

I happen to run a dvd/game store, business is good, and we've been run off our feet for the last two weeks while the school holidays are on.

Maybe you just assume everyone does the same as you, while in reality, half the planet don't even have broadband, or one that is fast enough to download movies any quicker than you can get down to the local video store to pick one up.

In this town, there are 6 people with PS3's, and 6 people with 360's. Apart from the fact movie downloads aren't available here in Australia, I'd hardly expect any loss in business with that amount of consoles able to download movies!

I remember when Pay TV was going to kill the video store.. we get people coming to rent the movies from US, rather than paying for it on Box Office.. because we're cheaper!!!

I hear plenty of comments from people about pirated movies they've seen recently. THIS IS what's killing video stores. The irony is, piracy is going to affect the WHOLE industry, not just the video stores.

LM2007 @ Jul 17th 2008 7:14AM

That's very right, i'm one that still renting from store. I really watch movies with the psp when traveling on vacation or traveling long distances, but the other 98% i watch'em on tv.

Richard Terry @ Jul 16th 2008 5:04AM

Looks like if your not logged in about 1/2 of the store's not visible.

LadyM @ Jul 16th 2008 8:11AM

seems like a waste of a good opportunity to me. Sony need to wow psp users or they'll lose them all to illegal downloads!!

www.girlgamers.co.uk

Kafka @ Jul 16th 2008 8:34AM

Yeah, nice Walktrough, but it doesn't answer some of the obvious questions: What format do these movies have? Are they DRM-restricted even if you buy them? Can you get them off your PSP and on another one or the PS3 - or are they restricted to the device they've been originally downloaded on?

The PSP-scene acts like this is the revelation we've been waiting for all these years, but I really still don't see the point. For 6 to 10 Dollars (or Euros....) you can actually buy them in a store for real on a DVD - and them rip & watch them unlimited on every device.

Paying real money for a non-physical copy of something that becomes worthless after two weeks is still not the most convincing method of enjoying media, at least to me.

SparkyJ23 @ Jul 16th 2008 9:05AM

Well said

The way folks are talking you'd think it was accessable from the PSP without DRM at a resonable cost.....

Saigon @ Jul 16th 2008 10:08AM

I don't like going to store to rent movies, it's as simple as that. And I sure as hell don't feel like wasting my time ripping a dvd and transcoding it. Yes, it would be cheaper to rent a movie from a rental store, but I'm willing to pay a bit more just to save me the trip of going to store.

As far as drm goes, I don't see myself needing to transfer my shows and movies to other other people's psp or ps3. It would be nice if Sony can keep people from hacking the drm, and uploading videos on torrent sites, but that isn't a big concern of mine because I think we all know it will be hacked.

In the end, this is a service that many psp owners have been waiting for, for a long time - including myself. I think Sony have made a step in the right direction with this, and have tapped more of psp's potential.

"seems like a waste of a good opportunity to me. Sony need to wow psp users or they'll lose them all to illegal downloads!!"

lol Are you kidding me?

Majed Athab @ Jul 16th 2008 11:47AM

Hi, to answer some of those questions:

1.The format is MPEG-4 AVC
2. I'm pretty sure the DRM is just as strict for vids as are games.
3. If you download off the PC Store, you can't play that content on your PS3 (by linking your PSP) and you won't be able to transfer it either.

LM2007 @ Jul 16th 2008 9:04AM

Im not sure if this service would be great because by the time it take movies to download (people that don't have T1 or more than 1.2Mb connection) plus the transfer from the pc to the psp, i better convert my dvd movies on the go. A great improvement could be to be able transfer the movies directly to the psp without the pc in the middle.

LM2007 @ Jul 16th 2008 9:07AM

Great, i was ready to test the service and guess what?

No items available for this region or country and i live in Puerto Rico, US teritorry.

well sony, then don't be crying because downloaded movies from other sites or because people not using the service :|

theMediaman @ Jul 16th 2008 9:19AM

Was there any word on when this is hitting non-US locations? I'm in Canada, and I still see the same boring, old video trailers.

Nate @ Jul 16th 2008 9:28AM

Where's the PC store access directly from the PSP? I was hoping that would be in the E3 announcements :( Oh yeah, and trophies. Man. Still, buncha good games and some videos. Not the end of the world.

LM2007 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:54AM

So if Sony is not providing content for other places, why they market it in those areas as not only as a gaming handled for for other things.

The camera sony, where is the camera for usa? or the psn pre paid card as promised.

Koe @ Jul 16th 2008 11:14AM

Is there any way to redownload a rental if you already downloaded it once. With out spending another 4$. The movie stops playing after a certain part and wont let me finish.

Majed Athab @ Jul 16th 2008 1:07PM

Apparently not, so it seems. Once downloaded, it leaves your download queue and you have to repurchase; that is quite horrible. Honestly, it should still remain in your queue for the whole 24 hours at least.

linebeginstoblur @ Jul 16th 2008 3:45PM

I downloaded a movie through the PS3 and then moved it to my PSP, and I must say, the quality was horrible. About one-third through the movie, the audio and video start to lag and get out of sync, which makes the second half of the movie completely unwatchable. Not to mention that it took over 100 minutes to download an 80-minute SD movie rental. I can't move it back to my PS3, nor can I redownload it.

I don't plan on ever using the PlayStation Network's video service again and I hope that some of you who were on the fence about this service read this, because I feel like my $4 movie rental was almost a complete waste.