Goodbye Blu-ray, Hello PS3 Downloads!

Sony executives have been busy selecting from major viable studios to close the deal on a video delivery service on the company’s Playstation 3 game console which might be launched quite soon, this summer, the LA Times reported on Monday. If the service does get a go it will compete with Xbox Live, which already provides a video download service.

The interesting and quite surprising fact is that just a few months ago Sony was demanding the studios to leave out the HD-DVD high-definition standard and take up its own Blu-ray disc standard instead. Who would’ve thought that Sony might be “sabotaging” its own format only several months later?

The irony doesn’t stop here, as the Blu-ray was some time ago claimed to be as the PS3’s top feature, which would cause gamers to quit their Wiis and 360s. However, meanwhile, Sony executives seem to have finally coped with the idea that broadband is stepping into the shoes of old media.

What everyone’s expecting is to see what their strategy will be. In this respect the Times quotes Sony’s Peter Dille - “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.” Dille might be referring to video downloads through the PS3’s forthcoming virtual world Home, which supposedly allows users to play videos from their avatar’s house.