In the high-defintion DVD format war, much has been made about the role of gaming consoles—and Sony’s new PlayStation 3 being a cheap way to own a Blu-ray player, potentially giving that format the edge over HD DVD.

But out of the gate, the PS3 is lagging behind Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Nintendo’s Wii and even Sony’s PlayStation 2. Similar to the Xbox—and other avenues such as Amazon, Netflix and Apple—Sony is reportedly planning to offer a video download service for the PS3.

Phil Harrison, president of Sony’s worldwide studios division, said in a recent interview with gaming industry publication 1up that the company has made a “significant investment” to support its target of becoming the central entertainment content device for the home. That includes the download, storage and playback of HD movies and TV shows.

Sony already has begun a service that allows users of its PlayStation Portable to download and view movies on that device. There is no timetable for the similar service to the PS3, but with models that include up to 60 GB of storage, this appears to be a natural way to keep up with the Joneses—and provide another foot in the door for anyone interested in Blu-ray.

Via TechNewsWorld.

Arlen Schweiger - Managing editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!