Just a little heads up in case you don’t follow the gaming world all that much. Sony has a new video store open within the PlayStation Store which is accessible to those with the PlayStation 3 console. The new service is now live and you can download movies, television shows or original programming for a price of course. Before you try out the service, make sure to get the latest Sony PS3 update for the PS3.

The new service will initially have roughly 300 movie titles and around 1200 TV episodes. A portion of the content will be available in both standard definition and in high definition formats. Studios that are a part of this launch include 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate Entertainment, MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Movie rentals will cost between $2.99 to $5.99 depending on the title and the quality of the video. If you want to purchase movies, that will cost you between $9.99 to $14.99.

My two cents on this - first the obvious - it’s about time Sony! It’s amazing how incredibly late the company is in getting a video service up and running for the PS3. The Xbox 360 and Apple TV have an incredible head start - both in terms of technology and in the number of titles. Secondly, what’s up with the size of the HD files? I just purchased “Hell Boy” to test out the service and I’m downloading 7.1 GB of data. WTH?!?!?!? Now I know it’s in high def and all.. but is the file size the same for the other services? Somehow.. I think not. I suppose I’ll have to compare the picture quality of comparable titles to see if the Sony service is better. Finally - I’m sorry… I’m a huge fan of the XrossMediaBar interface but the PlayStation Store UI is just a bit .. well.. ugly.

Unless there’s a compelling reason for me to download movies on the PS3, I’m going to have a hard time wanting switch out of Apple TV and the Xbox 360 console.

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