Sony announced today that it will launch a movie download service for the PlayStation 3 this summer in the U.S. market.
The movie-themed announcement came from Kazuo Hirai, who is the head of Sony's video game unit. Hirai said the service will be offered in Japan and Europe at later dates. Further details on the service will be available until next month, he said. GamePro Hint: Think "E3."
The movie news arrived during a wide-ranging meeting with Japanese reporters at Sony HQ. Also covered was the struggling PS3/gaming business unit, which has lost Sony $3.3 billion to date. Hirai said Sony will "strengthen its network services and further cut costs to achieve profitability in the Sony gaming business" by the end of the fiscal year (March 2009), reported the Associated Press.
Sony also announced news and weather channels for PlayStation 3 on Thursday, a multimedia initiative they call "Life with PlayStation."