Milan, 19th May 2010: Sony Computer Entertainment Italy (SCE Italia S.p.A.) further expanded its PlayStation® entertainment offering today with the announcement of the imminent launch of the PlayStation®Network video delivery service for Italy on Thursday 20th May 2010. The service, available to PlayStation®3 (PS3™) and PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) users from 11AM on Thursday 20th May, allows film fans to download hundreds of movies, including the latest releases, straight to their PlayStation®3 and PSP.

Hundreds of movies are available to rent (from €2.99) or to buy (from €8.99), many in High Definition (HD) as well as Standard Definition (SD), from major movie studios including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Universal and Warner Bros.

Titles available at launch include 2012, Capote, Couples Retreat, District 9, Informant, Inglorious Basterds, Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes and UP. Additional content will be added on a weekly basis. At launch, there will be a special offer for existing PlayStation Network members, allowing them to receive a complimentary copy of Constantine if they buy Sherlock Holmes.

“The launch of the PlayStation Network video delivery service in Italy this week extends the PlayStation entertainment offering and provides consumers with another way to access and enjoy their favourite movies, whether at home or on the go, ” said Gaetano Ruvolo, General Manager, SCE Italia S.p.A.

Michael Aragon, General Manager, Global Digital Video Distribution and Operations for Sony Network Entertainment, said, “The launch of the Italian market marks another milestone for Sony in delivering the most popular video content to our customers globally. We are excited about delivering high quality entertainment directly to our Italian consumers’ PS3 and PSP.”

Located on PlayStation®Store under the “Video Store” section, PlayStation Network video delivery service provides consumers with an exceptional entertainment experience, adding HD and SD movies for rental or purchase, to the already comprehensive line-up of games, demos, trailers and other content.

The video delivery service will be fully integrated within the PlayStation Network, using the same log-in, wallet system and user-interface. Users can search for movies by name, or can browse categories such as “new releases”, “genres” and “most popular downloads”. PS3’s progressive downloading allows viewers to start watching a film shortly after the download begins. They can also access certain games or other content on their PS3 while the download is taking place.

Consumers who choose to rent have up to 14 days to watch their movie, and, once playback is started, they have 48 hours to watch the content. Purchased movies are stored on the PS3 hard disk drive and can be accessed at home via PS3 or transferred to PSP for content on the go.

Gaetano Ruvolo added, “The video delivery service launch in Italy is another addition to PlayStation’s strong entertainment credentials, alongside our on demand content that includes streaming music video with VidZone®, and free digital TV viewing with PlayTV. With games, movies, music, TV, Internet, and photos, alongside major PlayStation innovation this year in the form of stereoscopic 3D and the PlayStation®Move motion controller, entertainment in Italian homes never looked better.”

To find out more, visit: http://videostore.it.playstation.com/

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™(PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 35.7 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 144.5 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 61.5 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 47 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 980 million items have been downloaded.

 

More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com/

PlayStation, the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Readers are advised that the press releases and other information posted on this site are current only on their original publication date. Please note that such press releases and other information may now be outdated or rendered inaccurate due to passage of time or subsequent material changes in facts and circumstance.