news Sony Computer Entertainment Australia has announced that it is expanding its on-demand services in Australia with the launch yesterday of the Quickflix subscription movie streaming service for PlayStation 3 (PS3). The PS3 Quickflix service will offer unlimited movie viewing with a continually updated catalogue.

The introduction of the Quickflix movie streaming service complements the two current PS3 on-demand movie services—PlayStation Network Video Delivery Services (the “PSN Video Store”) and MUBI, an online movie streaming service and social network. The debut is hoped to bolster the console’s entertainment on-demand credentials across TV, games, music and from today, a range of movie-on-demand service options advertised as one of the most complete offered in the Australian market.

Subscribers to the Quickflix streaming service can benefit from unlimited access to movies on demand, for $14.99 per month. Current Quickflix online Blu-Ray and DVD rental customers can avail of an upgrade from $7 to $14 per month. There is also a limited-time Quickflix promotional offer for PS3 customers who sign-up for the service that offers unlimited monthly subscription streaming and a choice of two Blu-Ray disc rentals available for $4.99 a month for the first three months.

Meanwhile, Sony can expect competition from other video services concomitantly launching through Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. Consumers can access, from December 21, ninemsn video, SBS On Demand and YouTube applications on Xbox 360 via Xbox LIVE. Additionally, users will be allowed access to the ABC iView and Dailymotion applications on Xbox 360 via Xbox Live. The customised entertainment apps all come with voice command with Kinect.

The new channels will complement TV shows already accessible with FoxTel on Xbox 360 and movies and music with Zune. Foxtel is currently available only to Australian metro residential subscribers. SBS On Demand and ABC iView are both geo-blocked to Australia. Subscribers may require Xbox LIVE Gold membership and/or additional subscriptions/fees for the newly available services.

Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, Michael Ephraim termed the addition of the home-grown Australian movie subscription service to the PS3 platform as a leap forward in Sony’s home entertainment on demand. “It’s great to be partnering with an innovative, fast growing Australian company making inroads in the multichannel delivery of movie content that will provide our customers even more entertainment choices,” Ephraim said.

Speaking about PS3 achieving the number one spot for Australian home console sales in 2011, Ephraim credited it to the vast entertainment services at users’ fingertips, the trifecta of movie services on demand and the highly popular games of 2011, such as Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Ephraim felt the addition of the new Quickflix service would up the popularity of PS3 as a Christmas gift for 2011.

The Chief Executive Officer of Quickflix, Chris Taylor called the launch an important milestone in the distribution of their digital streaming product, citing the popularity of the PS3 console and its rate of connectivity (1 million devices have been connected in Australia). He revealed that thousands of subscribers were already using the unlimited movie proposition and expected that the new launch offer to PS3 owners would prompt more subscribers to opt for the Quickflix service over the holiday season. “Quickflix continues to build the catalogue of movies available for streaming and expects to announce more deals with some of the world’s leading content providers in the coming weeks,” Taylor said.

Sony claims that the dedicated growth of PS3 on demand services—across movies, music, TV and games—helps to place the PS3 at the forefront of the interactive home entertainment category. With more that 1.3 million PlayStation 3 devices in Australian homes, families across the nation will have access to more movie services having content across a big range of genres. Starting today, PS3 owners can opt for three movie services on demand—Quickflix streaming, Hollywood blockbuster titles from all major studios on the PlayStation Network Video Store and curated art-house and independent cinema on MUBI.

Once subscribers sign up for the ‘free to join and play PlayStation’ network, they can download the Quickflix streaming application. The PlayStation network portal includes game add-ons, demos, trailers, mini games, music catch-up TV along with movies on demand.

Image credit: Quickflix

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1. Lasher
   Posted 21/01/2012 at 11:23 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Yeh, well done Sony, where the hell is it? No SBS I cant seem to find this quickflicks either. – ‘forefront of the interactive home entertainment category’ – every update the PS3 gets seems to make it worse than before – certain DVD’s I OWN and rip to the hard disk wont play because of some Cinavia crap – they removed linux – it plays hardly any video or audio formats ( c mon OGG? ). That Xbox 360 is looking better and better with each update to its OS and the Sony gets worse and worse. It’s like they WANT me to jailbreak it.