14 DAY TRIAL // Kaz Hirai, the guy who leads the videogame division of Sony, stated on Thursday that the movie renting service is going to be first available in North America, where the movie renting market is bigger, while Europe and Japan are set to also get the service at a later date. The concrete details regarding the actual way the movie renting will be done will only be available sometime next month, probably at the E3 presentation that Sony will hold. The move allows Sony to once again claim that the PS3 is not just a gaming device designed for a "hardcore" audience, but also a multimedia center aimed at the whole family.
The new initiative is part of a strategy announced by Sony head Howard Stringer focused on returning the game division of the company to profitability after almost three whole years of losses that amount to a total of over 3 billion dollars.
Hirai said "Please expect more from our evolving PlayStation business," hinting that further announcement regarding the Sony made gaming platform might be forthcoming in the following weeks, just as E3, the biggest videogame convention of the year, is getting into gear.
The Xbox 360 from Microsoft is also set to become the customer end of a movie rental service, with Netflix providing the movie catalog. There were reports about a deal between Microsoft and Netflix being closed earlier this year, but no official announcement was made.
Reports coming from industry sources say that the PlayStation Portable is also set to gain access to a movie download service later in the year and that some portable media players from Sony are also prepared for movie rentals.
With the installed base of PlayStation 3 gaming consoles growing each month, apparently at a greater rate than that of the Xbox 360 rival, it's safe to say that Sony might just have created a new and potentially very rich revenue stream. Microsoft will be hard-pressed to come up with a clear response strategy to Sony's move.