Now, I'm one of the few people in the world that has access to broadband internet who would rather pay for a good movie than pirate it. That said, Sony isn't making it easy for me to do this. On Canada Day (July 1st) this year Sony launched it's PSN video store in Canada (with about half of the content of the American store, I might add). I was very happy about this because I find the idea of being able to rent or buy movies and just download them very appealing (I'm very excited about having Netflix streaming in Canada) but me and Sony's service have gotten off to a bad start. The first problem came 6 months before the PSN video service was even launched here. Owning a PS3 and an HDtv I've been buying blu-ray movies, two of which are District 9 and Zombieland. If you own these blu-rays then you know that they come with a code for a PSP digital copy. Well there's two things about these codes: 1) they require the video store to download and 2) the codes expire very quickly. (I bet you can guess where this is going) So, the result? The codes expired before the video store was available. When I contacted Sony customer support (an effort I didn't think would pay off but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway) the response seemed to carry this message "Sorry, you got screwed." So my relationship with this was already that of that girl you like but who you heard through the gossip vine called you a dick. Now flash forward (which is a good show by the way) to July. Sony says Canadians who visit the video store between July 1st and July 14th will get a free code to download a standard definition copy of Charlie's Angels (an amazing reward, I know). Today I get the email with the code, I go to put it in the PSN Store and guess what? It doesn't work! Why? Why, Sony? How can you possibly fuck up sending a code to someone? You generate the damn code! So this is my experience with the PSN Video Service, I haven't bought or rented anything off it because I have a feeling I'll end up getting screwed again. Here's hoping the Netflix streaming that's set to release here this fall will work better. I really do like to buy movies, but until it's easier to buy and watch a movie than it is to pirate one, I won't be buying digital (I refuse to pay for an inferior experience to one that is avialable for free*).
*Yes, I know it's illegal although the RCMP has refused to arrest anyone for pirating media for personal use.
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