Netflix streaming coming to PS3

(Credit: Netflix/screenshot by John P. Falcone)

Netflix online streaming is coming to the PlayStation 3.

A Netflix press release spelled out the details of deal. The good news is that the streaming feature--which enables Netflix subscribers to access thousands of movies and TV shows on-demand via the Internet--is available at no extra charge beyond the monthly Netflix DVD-by-mail subscription, which can be as low as $9 a month. (By contrast, Xbox 360 owners also need to subscribe to Xbox Live, which is an extra $50 per year.)

The bad news: PS3 owners will need to put a special Blu-ray disc in the game console, which will enable streaming via the Blu-ray's BD Live functionality. That's a departure from all other Netflix-enabled devices (including the Xbox 360 and other Blu-ray players), which just have the Netflix option as a built-in feature. In our experience, BD Live tends to be slow and clunky, though it's generally better on the PS3 than on other Blu-ray players. However, the press release specifies that the disc will be needed "initially," so perhaps a future software upgrade will add Netflix as a built-in feature on the PS3.

Still, the Netflix feature of the 360 has long been envied by PS3 owners, so its inclusion--even with the need to be launched from a disc--will be welcome news. The Netflix site says that the feature will be available before the end of the year, and Netflix subscribers who own a PS3 can reserve a copy of the Netflix disc as of now.

Update (October 27, 2009, 8:15am PT): Joystiq has posted an interview with a Netflix representative which addresses many details of the PS3 deal, including when we might see a discless Netflix solution in the future.

So, what do you guys think: does the addition of Netflix put the PS3 at the top of the game console heap, or is the Xbox 360 an all-around better deal? Share your thoughts below.

Via Silicon Alley Insider

[kewell82]

NO WAY!! I never thought this would ever happen. Nice work, Sony and Netflix. Hey Xbots........What up now? The Xbox's exclusive features keep getting smaller and smaller.

[TrustAvidity]

Yeah but PS3s exclusives (especially DLC) keep getting less and less as well. I have both so I don't care either way. Both systems are great. They're both losing & gaining aspects.

[chrkeller]

A lot of people care about streaming, so it is good for the ps3. On a personal level I thought it was trash. The picture quality was DVD and the sound was VCR. Compared to bluray it just wasn't worth it. I will stick with bluray, I didn't buy a 1080p plasma TV with surround sound to watch poor quality streams.

[mathcreative]

@TrustAvidity yeah but the 360 can nvr gain the performance of the ps3. But the ps3 can easily gain on the 360 cause the rest of the 360 features is just software.

[kewell82]

I agree that Blu-ray is far superior than streaming. It just drove me nuts that Xbox users praised their xboxes had Netflix and the PS3 didn't. Then I saw it on my friend's xbox and I wasn't impressed. It will probably be the same for the PS3, but if there is something I have to see immediately then I could use it, otherwise I have HD quality with Netflix Blu-ray service. I just have to wait an extra day to have it mailed.

[whoadude1]

calling all xbots? *** is an xbot? as ive been saying all along...PS3 = PLAY BEHIND....BEHIND the 360!!!!!!!!! as he says..later this year.....hehe much like GT # 5 whenever it decides to show up now that they've promoted it at the last THREE E3's????????? and it still aint here? lets see how quick ya get it and how long to get that needed disc.

[cnetdude1977]

NO WAY!!! Sony is only a year late lol. Hows PS3 Home doing for ya? Having fun with your glow sticks and shemales lol. Lame!

[TexRaider]

I already ordered my disk from Netflix, but there is one thing I gotta say.. The HD movie selection from Netflix is terrible.. they have some decent shows in HD.. but overall their total HD selection needs to improve big time. Still it will be a nice feature to have on my PS3s.

For the XBots out there.. the reasons to actually own a 360 just keep diminishing by the day. RRoD's and E74 errors are not going away.. that must blow for you guys. But hey look at the bright side, you guys got all those exclusive DLCs to look forward to.. LOL! Meanwhile the PS3 owners have a long list of actual games to look forward to playing within the next year. Maybe Natal will come out sooner than you guys are dreaming for.. ya never know.. In the mean time you all can keep coming to these PS3 articles that talk about the PS3 getting better and better.. trying to convince us that the Xbox is better than the PS3..... lol... its like if you guys are trying to convice yourselves as well.

[EarsMalone]

I think this finally pushes the ps3 to the top spot in the console war

[Ray180]

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that....

[whoadude1]

to the top of the junk pile ya mean?

[cnetdude1977]

That's funny. You're obviously an ignoramous.

[TexRaider]

Ignore the Xbots, they are probably bored on this site, waiting for their broken 360s to come back from Microsoft. You would think that they would be used to waiting for their consoles to get back from the shop by now....guess not.

[iowampb39]

Personally I think I will just keep streaming Netflix to my PS3 the way I am doing so already... through my PC.. I have other media server content up besides netflix like hulu, amazon vod, etc so no point in using this disc for me.

For others without a PC though it is good news.

[InkyRed]

who doesn't have a pc?

[Carrick1973]

I think this is excellent and just what I've been waiting for quite awhile to be finally implemented in the PS3. The problem with streaming through the PC using Playon, is the PC has to be pretty speedy to not have any hiccups in playback. Having instant streaming without having to muck with a PC is great, and it's easy enough my kids and wife can do it.

[celticbrewer]

agreed. 'Been using netflix, hulu, and others for months on the PS3.

But it'll be nice to have an officially supported application. Nothing netflix can change to disrupt like with PlayOn.

[magicaj]

I am excited to see that the PS3 will have a more straightforward way to access streaming Netflix content. However this has been possible for sometime now if you have a computer on the same network installed with an application like PlayOn.

[celticbrewer]

Though one advantage:

"In addition, they have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream via the Wireless Controller. "

PlayOn has never been great at that function since everything is re-encoded on the fly.

[budoceo]

I've been using Playon to stream from Netflix, Hulu and a number of other internet streaming sites to my PS3 so this isn't really news at all. http://www.themediamall.com/playon

As a result I've lowered my cable bill by approximately $30/month and still watch most of my favorite shows on demand without as many commercials as normal cable...

[patjanks]

but the Xbox still has, far-and-away, better exclusive titles than Sony

[inspace2020]

Xbox has better exclusives than PS3?? You're kidding right?

XBOX 360 has: Gears of War, Halo 3, Fable, Fable 2, Alan Wake, Forza 3, Left 4 Dead, and few timed exclusives

PS3 has: Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBIGPlanet, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, Infamous, Demon Souls, Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Final Fantasy XIII Versus, Final Fantasy XIV, Heavy Rain, Ratchet & Clank, The Last Guardian, Mod Nation Racers...I can keep going...

The point is that your argument was valid 2 years ago...in 2009 Xbox released 2 exclusives, PS3 had 6...The PS3 has 10 scheduled for 2010...Xbox has about 4.

[Maclover1]

You sire are ignorant. Use this great tool called Google.

[TexRaider]

"but the Xbox still has, far-and-away, better exclusive titles than Sony"

Ahhh, still living in 2007? I'm sorry to tell you this.. but your argument doesn't hold water these days. Come up with something new that is actually true for once.

Better exclusives in 2006 and 2007, yea probably.. but its 2009!! You must be living under a rock or something..

[dvelez]

@inspace2020
Here is a list of AAA exclusive titles announced for X360
Splinter Cell: Conviction, Mass Effect 2, Halo Reach, Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, Fable 3, Left for Dead 2.
Maybe more are coming. IMO, the list looks nice. Don't you agree?

[dvelez]

Add BioShock 2 to the X360 list...

[Byteme2009]

@dvelez

Ummm your list of exclusives was a little hopeful there. Splinter Cell: Conviction, Mass Effect 2, and Left 4 Dead 2 are NOT Xbox 360 exclusives as they are available for the PC as well. As for Bioshock 2, well I guess I missed the news on that one because last I heard that was coming out for the PC and the PS3 at the same time as it comes out for the 360. If they have scrapped the PS3 release on that I personally wouldn't be heartbroken - I played a demo of the first game but never did buy it.

That leaves you Halo Reach, Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, and Fable 3 as the list of AAA exclusives for the 360. Some great games are coming out on the consoles and for the PC - the pitiful fanboy bias for ANY system just means you are missing out, and half the time making yourself look foolish in the process. I will say I like the look of Left 4 Dead, and Fable 3 might be worth a spin.

[dvelez]

@Byteme2009,
You are right about Bioshock 2, my mistake. Second, the original article is about PS3, a console. So my comment was about those titles not available for the PS3. BTW, you know that most of the gamers will go for the X360 versions of those games instead of the PC version.
BTW, I'm not a fanboi. Currently have a X360 looking to purchase a PS3 as soon as GT5 is available next year (depends of the reviews). n IMHO, both console have excellent exclusives...

[Byteme2009]

@ dvelez

We are in agreement overall then - I do not consider myself a fanboy either, currently only have the PS3 & the Wii, but have been looking to get a 360 for a while. Just been waiting for the right deal or the major exclusive to put me over the top for the purchase.

[hyghwayman]

you can add one more in 08' COD MW2

[daddywarbux]

PS3 didn't have this all along? And now they have it, and you are required to use a Blu-ray disc to make it work? It's funny how the "cutting edge innovation" of blu-ray is what has stifled the PS3 to the point that no one cares about it.

[katiepea]

thats the most redundant comment i've read here, the blu ray is for the initial install, the blu-ray is what has driven sales from the start, its the reason blu ray beat HD DVD, and its the reason the ps3 will from now on beat the 360 from here on out. when the ps3 was released sony themselves said it would take a few years, but it would win in the long run. they sell a better system than microsoft period. they know it, everyone that uses both knows it, and now will overtake the xbox permanently, all the while doing streaming better than xbox at that. you don't need to pay for online service with sony. xbox now officially has nothing on its side, and i can finally sell this thing.

[Ray180]

Let's get one thing straight: The only reason blu-ray beat HD-DVD is because Sony paid off the movie studios. NOT because it was the superior format. And the only reason the PS3 sold more consoles recently is because people who already have an Xbox are finally buying one due to the price drop. People who have no console are still choosing the Xbox or, unfortunately, the Wii. And how the heck can you say the PS3 will do Netflix streaming "better then xbox"? Is it better to put a disk in the tray every time you want to use it? Is it better to have standard DVD definition while the Xbox enjoys exclusive HD streaming? You, my friend, are officially drunk on the koolaid.

[InkyRed]

PS3 is better you scumbag. MS pays way more people off than Sony anyway....how else would they have so many more exclusives..Bluray is the better format, MS believes it because they didn't back up HD DVD AND WE ALL KNOW THEY THEY THE MEANS TO DO SO!

[philrulez]

@Ray180: per IGN, Netflix on PS3 WILL have HD streaming as well....Xbox exclusive no longer...

[jonimated]

Ray180 "The only reason blu-ray beat HD-DVD is because Sony paid off the movie studios. NOT because it was the superior format."

But Blu-Ray IS the superior format. Do your homework. It really doesn't matter if they paid them off or not. Blu-Ray won in the end which is better for the consumer because we are getting the better format disk instead of the lesser HD-DVD. Were were eventually going to be forced to change our disk format anyways. Be glad you weren't forced to go with a lesser format.

[mathcreative]

@ Ray180 @InkyRed [citation needed] I really do want evidence that MS and Sony did this.

[Renegade Knight]

@Ray180

If we are going to get one thing stragiht, lets set you straight to start. BD was the better format for HD in terms of supported resolutions and capacity. HD-DVD was a better format if you actually didn't like restrictive DRM BS getting in the way of your enjoyment.

As for better PS3 vs. 360 we shall see. The 360 was underwhealing in it's Netflix support. I'll reserve judement on the PS3 until I see the selection and how well it works.

[paarth_shukla]

Oh man! Finally.........I thought I would never see this day........I'm excited!

[CatalepsicFox]

I have been waiting for this. I will never get a 360 just because of the whole thing where they charge for their Live service.

I can't wait to use this function on the PS3.

[Ray180]

Like they alway say... You get what you pay for. I can go to my local park for free or I can pay to go to an amusement park. One is free... the other is a lot more fun. Guess it depends on what you want.

[Nobri]

Note how Ray180 conveniently didn't walk about how the PS3 was $600 at launch. Now, PS3's have one new feture that old ones didn't (built in wifi), and it lost a couple of the original features (two more USBs, memory card reader, PS2 B/C, though that's rumored to come back, I still doubt it). Don't get me wrong. I love PS3. But that was an obvious indicator that you don't get what you pay for most of the time.

[Real23]

@Nobri PS3 always had wifi.

[joemart2005]

@Ray180 how does that make sense ???? You are already paying the internet provider then MS goes ahead and charges you to use internet you already paid for. How would that make my internet experience better? Just because you pay more for something does not make it better. It makes you a sucker. (not directed at you, but to whomever thinks that is fair)

[kormiko]

I hope Microsoft makes Netflix access free for Xbox Live Silver subscribers. It's not something that would make me go Gold anyway since there are other options to get Netflix streaming on my TV.

I just don't understand ... if someone who pays for their internet service and Netflix service, why would they have to pay even more to get that service through the Xbox? I mean, I understand, but I don't understand.

[sussexj]

I agree buddy. Microsoft seriously needs to stop charging for Live. But if people keep buying it I guess it will stay the way it is.

[horse344]

ahahahahh 360 is dead now.that was the only reason i wanted to buy 360.now i dont need that 54.4 percent failure rate with no games in future box.

[Ray180]

Way to regurgitate failure rates from 2005. The fact is since the Xbox switched to the Jasper chipset they are just as reliable, if not more, than PS3. Stop living in the past.

[whoadude1]

ahhhhhhhhh. another pscrap/xbox war and the famous failure rate is brought up. no doubt it was brought up BY a failure!!!!!

[MadPat78]

@ ray180. My roommate just bought a brand-new 360 elite last month and has ALREADY had to send it in to get fixed. Meanwhile my year old PS3 has NEVER (repeat-NEVER) had a single problem.

[Renegade Knight]

@Ray180

In 2009 I got my first RROD. That's not 2005 at all. I sure hope the new chips set is more reliable. I don't want to have to repeat RROD again. I prefer when things just work.

[roachbrain]

LOL Jasper chip, now that's funny. Even if it were true that it made RROD or E74 vanish (which is still happing) is it right that you would have to buy a whole new 360 to get it. Shouldn't MS have spent more time to release a reliable unit; oh wait morons still gladly paid for a defective unit?

To all xbots please do not show up on PS3 blogs to talk about 360 being better then PS3 or even Wii. Your intelligence or lack there of was already proven when you purchased a defective product.

[FIREitUP913]

Don't you love how these xbox360 fans always talk about how some new version of the the 360 chip is out and that RROD is no more? I have been hearing this for about 2.5 yrs now and guess wut? they still Fail.
My friend has 360, and he is a MAJOR Forza fan, he was anticipating Forza 3 for month so on tues he bought it, popped it in and was watching the intro video all super excited and then BAM! big fat RROD right in the middle of the intro video. He was really upset. Now I understand MS will fix it, but the fact is is it will be a 2-4 week turn around time and he has to wait that long to play a game he got on release day for 60$, and thats not right. Gamers game just about everyday, so not having a system for 2-4 weeks sucks, plain and simple. It sucks even more when you buy a 60$ game on release day you have been watching for and your system RROD before you even get to try it. But if the xbox360 fanboys wanna keep putting up with that and letting MS r*pe them and f*ck them over and rip them off over and over and over again, well then let em - All the power to Microsoft, I mean can you blame them? If you found people stupid enough to buy your unreliable shoddy hardware stripped of basic features that are sold seperately for a ridiculous premium price then by all means, keep selling it to the r*tards

[xapota]

platform battles aside...

Pretty sure the "blu ray disc is" NOT just "for the initial install". Every time you wanna watch a NetFlix online title, you'll need to get off the couch, swap out your current game, swap in the NetFlix client disc, let it launch, then use that disc's Blu-ray Live support (part of the updated Blu-ray spec that allows movies to deliver web-based content as part of their "shells", like updated actor bios, coming soon trailers, etc.) to deliver your Netflix account's "Watch Online" queue. Which, most likely, will still need a web browser to search for and select the movies to watch. Would be nice to know if the PS3's browser will be able to manage that queue instead (suppose any existing PS3 owners could test that out now?)...

Still: didn't the PS3's browser used to support NetFlix Watch Online, and it got nerfed early on? Or was that Hulu... sorry, it was Hulu I think.

As the one console that has both guaranteed hard-drive-based streaming storage AND an actual web browser, using the PS3's browser seems the more logical & user friendly choice. Probly wouldn't happen, though, since NetFlix chose MS Silverlight for their online client, not Flash (like Hulu). Weren't there some interesting shenanigans to get MS Silverlight to work on a Mac, just to support NetFlix, and even then only in Safari and not Firefox?

Since Microsoft had to abandon HD DVD and now must play along with Blu-ray, it sounds like the Silverlight team simply added Blu-ray Live to their list of supported platforms, just as they did for Mac Safari. Which, in itself, is interesting news... any more scoop on that, CNET?

[Maclover1]

Why Netflix chose silverlight is beyond me. Flash or HTML 5 would have been a way better choice.

[Carrick1973]

I don't think Sony really wanted this implemented on the PS3, which is why they haven't added it themselves through an update. This is Netflix working around Sony by using the Live support. I think Sony's movie division put a clamp on the gaming division which is why this hasn't been implemented yet. Hopefully this isn't just a hack, but a clean workaround that works well and is painless. We'll see if the streaming is of a high enough quality to ditch Playon.

[abcd9009]

@Maclover1

It's a no brainer. Usually companies choose one platform over the other because they get better incentives for that. At the end of the day, the people in the higher level of the food chain don't understand which software is superior. All they care is what's the ROI on it and clearly Microsoft must have given them huge incentives to choose Silverlight over Flash.

[mathcreative]

@Maclover1 I think it was because of the DRM in silverlight

[darkr]

@maclover have you seen youtube (flash video)
have you seen the silverlight demos on xbox.com
that should be a given why they didn't use flash
silverlight does video in HD much better then flash does (flash has the advantage of being small but being small doesn't help with quality
not to mention flash doesn';t support drm which is the point of having a secure stream

[ksmm]

The fanboy comments aside, this is good news for PS3 owners, but hopefully they'll try to make it less clunky in the future. The need for the disc isn't a deal-breaker, but it is a poor way to implement something that's built in to most other devices (Roku, XBOX 360, TiVo).

The TiVo is a functional way to get Netflix streaming, but I prefer the interface of the XBOX 360. And it's more powerful now that you can actually manage your queue from the device. Still, using the TiVo remote beats using a controller.

Either way, this will be a nice add-on to the PS3. And it doesn't diminish the XBOX 360 at all.

[Carrick1973]

The only way Netflix to implement this without Sony's support is through a disk. If Sony implemented it, it would be through a upgrade and a disk wouldn't be required. This may force Sony to implement support since they will probably want the access to be seamless through the main interface and not through a disk hack.

[Renegade Knight]

@Carrick1973

MicroSoft owns silverlight. Silverlight is the method by which Netflix Streams. Thus MicroSoft would have to create a PS3 Browser version of Silverlight (or a custome app) to allow the PS3 to have native support.

If MicroSoft was seriouse about silverlight they would consider it. If they are serious about crushing the PS3 with the Xbox...they may not. Why they don't have 360 support for Silverlight so you could stream directly with the Xbox (does the 360 even have a browser?) is beyond me.

[notroger]

"In our experience, tends to be slow and clunky, though it's generally better on the PS3 than on other Blu-ray players."

Ummm... *what* exactly tends to be slow...? Do you guys proofread anything?

[atomD21]

They're referring to the BD Live features.

[FatherJones]

Having to use a disc is lame, but this is great news for PS3 owners. I expect it will only be a matter of time before its built into the PS3 player. I'm an XBOX 360 user but I will admit that currently the PS3 offers the better deal of the two consoles, especially now with this news. Will this kill Xbox? I doubt it. Xbox still offers game developers a much easier platform to develope for, as opposed to the PS3's Cell processor, which is powerfull but over-complex. So you have companies like Valve that refuse to port their games to PS3.

[Renegade Knight]

MicroSoft would have to build Siverlight for the PS3 browser. If they did that you could likely stream Netflix directly.

[mvgirl]

I had got a PS3 and a 360 in mid 2008, but since it went RROD.
I don't mind inserting a disc for Netflix. PS3 is way better than 360 in every way. Best games out there are exclusives to PS3. One thing Sony knows is creating great sequels. Uncharted, Killzone, Rachet, Resistance, MGS.......etc. Just finished Uncharted 2. Best game ever on any format.

[hysonmb]

You know, people have been trying to dimiss Xbox Live since they first launched it. No matter how you look at it, it's huge and saying that you won't pay $50 /year to use it won't change that fact. Look at the World of Warcraft, you have to pay to play on those servers after you've already bought the game and it's only 1 game. I won't pay for that but that's not huring Blizzard at all. Get over it, Microsoft has a great online service and people like it.
The Netflix thing is good for PS3 owners, welcome to the party. I've got a 360 and have been enjoying the feature since it was in beta, I'm sure they'll be happy with it as well. The best thing about this isn't that the PS3 gets fans or 360 looses them, it's that Netflix gets more subscribers and more studios take notice and release movies to them!
I was surfing through the watch instantly library on my Media Center yesterday and they've got a LOT of good stuff out there now to include a lot of recent releases. This is just going to be another push for the big movie makers to see the value of VOD.

[Renegade Knight]

Netflix over 360 was limited to less than the already limited streaming titles on Netflix. Yes live is good, No I won't pay for it. Yes WOW would be fun. But until they give away the game I'm not paying. Either sell me the game or rent me the game but not both.

[atomD21]

In the end, if people were really that bent out of shape over paying $40 a year (buy the cards online, not the subscription thru the xbox...), they wouldn't pay for it, and MS would have ditched the charge, just as the did for Windows Live. As it stands, XBox Live is well worth the roughly $4 a month for the service. The Netflix announcement, regardless of how it works (@Renegade Knight...yeah MS would have to add Silverlight support for PS3's Browser) is great news for those who have Netflix and a PS3, and it in no way makes either console better or worse than another, it just opens up more entertainment opportunities!

[Covert_Koala]

I agree, power to the Netflix. I remember when people thought Netflix was a lark. And thank goodness we have MS and Sony butting heads left and right. Without the competition the PS3 would still cost $400 and XBL wouldn't be as cool as it is today. That's capitalism at work, socialism would never produce this awesomeness.

[guido44]

I have a PS3 Slim, and we have rented movies from the playstation network. Netflix is good.

[guido44]

I have a PS3 Slim, and we have rented movies from the playstation network. Netflix is good.

[iowampb39]

>>>.it's that Netflix gets more subscribers and more studios take notice and release movies to them!

VOD like netflix sucks for quality.. It may be good for documentaries or chick flicks but for movie lovers.. it really sucks.. 2 channel audio, super compressed video... no thanks.. There is a reason that Blu Ray is so successful and has double/triple digit increases all the time.

[Ray180]

"Blu Ray is so successful and has double/triple digit increases all the time" -- are you talking about the price?

[MSenska]

Blu-rays are really not that much more expensive these days if you can hold off buying in the first couple weeks a film is out. I've bought blu-rays for $9.99. Sure the DVD might be available for $4.99, but the blu-ray is worth the extra 5 bucks. Would I pay $34.99 for a new release? Hell no. Yet I also wasn't paying $25 for a new DVD release two years ago. Those are the reasons why I have Netflix.

Glad to see this. I thought it was "exclusive" to the 360? Anyone know if you have to have a certain level of Netflix membership to get it? I imagine if I have computer streaming, I can get PS3 streaming?

[iowampb39]

>>>.Blu Ray is so successful and has double/triple digit increases all the time" -- are you talking about the price?

I guess your still living in a vitural world of 2-3 years ago.

I have over 120 BLU movies with average priced paid of $13 each.. I just picked up Braveheart, Gladiator for $9 each, Snow White I got for $5. (Total) on Blu Ray.. If you have half a brain you won't pay much for BLU RAY movies. All and these prices are brand new/sealed prices from the store, not ebay.

As far as how well Blu Ray is doing.. you know how to use google right? or are you just one of those haters that chose the wrong format a few years ago? :)

[atomD21]

Did anyone expect great quality from a VOD service? Besides, videophiles wouldn't use anything less than top quality anyway. Netflix is great for a quick fix when you have watched everything you own to death and just want to see something to kill time.