Sony's PlayTV begins European rollout September 10th in UK

So much for early 2008 or even July for that matter. Sony's David Reeves now confirms that PlayTV -- the €99 PS3 TV tuner / DVR add-on -- will hit the UK on September 10th. The service will then march onto the continent before completing the European rollout in December -- Australia and New Zealand get theirs in January or February. Notably, the service will in fact record television in the background without interrupting your regularly scheduled gaming regimen thanks to the recent 2.41 firmware PS3 update. Phew, for a moment we felt threatened by a lack of manufactured distractions.

[Via gamesindustry.biz]

[collegekid13 @ Jul 18th 2008 4:49AM]

i've always wondered. will the recored my satalite feed directly, or as an output from my supplied box??

thanks

[Nytrojen @ Jul 18th 2008 4:58AM]

I think it only works for regular FTA tv, not satellite. I could be wrong though... when it comes to satellite tv, i can barely get through the first chapter of the manual without spilling piping hot gravy all over myself.

[Kespar @ Jul 18th 2008 5:25AM]

I doubt sky would allow people to record directly onto a ps3, undermining their sky+ box sales, its gotta be for freeview/terrestrial only surely?

Will be interesting to find out, wither way.

[benny boy @ Jul 18th 2008 5:47AM]

I seriously doubt it will work with Sky unless they have some kind of partnership like the Go!View add-on for the PSP.

However, it would be good if it worked with Freesat as well as Freeview because at least Freesat has some HD material.

[superaktieboy @ Jul 18th 2008 6:14AM]

if this is freeview, then it's stupid, tho they might have delayed it because of freesat? coz apparently freesat is the future here in the UK, also if it's satellite it would be even better since ive got currently 2 boxes, one being satellite and one a freeview box, if this comes with satellite and freesat, then i can get rid of both :)

[deyanimay @ Jul 18th 2008 5:36AM]

Did a bird take a dump in the top left corner?

[Ethan @ Jul 18th 2008 5:58AM]

No a graphic designer did.

[deyanimay @ Jul 18th 2008 6:09AM]

Lol

[superaktieboy @ Jul 18th 2008 6:13AM]

if this is freeview, then it's stupid, tho they might have delayed it because of freesat? coz apparently freesat is the future here in the UK, also if it's satellite it would be even better since ive got currently 2 boxes, one being satellite and one a freeview box, if this comes with satellite and freesat, then i can get rid of both :)

[superaktieboy @ Jul 18th 2008 6:13AM]

if this is freeview, then it's stupid, tho they might have delayed it because of freesat? coz apparently freesat is the future here in the UK, also if it's satellite it would be even better since ive got currently 2 boxes, one being satellite and one a freeview box, if this comes with satellite and freesat, then i can get rid of both :)

[TimeyWimeyStuff @ Jul 18th 2008 9:21AM]

Sure Freesat is good, free and HD, but you need a Sat dish. Plus theres no Freesat PVR's available yet, and when they do exist, you can bet your ass you won't be able to upgrade the hard drive in them as easy as you can in the PS3.

Freeview comes thru your normal aerial, so no need for some dangerous DIY.

Freeview HD should debut in the next few years, and PlayTV will support it, as it contains 2 DVB-T Hi Def tuners.

Lets just hope a 1Tb 2.5" SATA drive exists when Freeview HD opens its doors....

[Mauricio @ Jul 18th 2008 6:46AM]

Globalization? Hell no!

I bought my PS3 on USA and brought it to Europe (yeah... Euro Vs. Dollar.. I do care). Recently, Nissan and Sony launched a promotion in Europe called GT Academy www.gtacademy.eu which I could not join because I had an american PS3.

Now, Sony launch the movie service and I can not use it because I am in europe.

Conclusion: I'm screwed... I have a EUR252 PS3 but no GT Academy, no movies.

Is the movies working here in Europe? I upgraded to firmware 2.41 yesterday and couldn't see anything new y Playstation store.

[Olivier @ Jul 18th 2008 7:09AM]

Mauricio
You're not f*ck*d. Just subscribe to a US VPn service and run your PS3 connection through that (using a cheap router or your PC). They will think you American PS3 is in the US and you will get the movies. Works great

[neofolklore @ Jul 18th 2008 8:21AM]

You sir Mauricio, are not a hacker.

-2 internets

[KarlW @ Jul 18th 2008 9:32AM]

There is no video store in Europe. SCEE wouldn't pass on a chance to make us feel screwed over!

[paul smith @ Jul 18th 2008 6:55AM]

this is freeview only, and only the freeview tunre built into the playtv box. nothing coming from any external device will be picked up. this is the reason why I wont be getting this, well that and the fact that it is ridiculously over priced for a dual tuner.

[Spunky @ Aug 28th 2008 12:54PM]

£69.99 pre-order online, may find it cheaper by a tenner or so nearer the time

[tony @ Jul 18th 2008 7:08AM]

question: if it's 99 euros, how much will it cost in sterling? i've got my eye on getting a ps3 at the end of the summer, and being able to turn it into a freeview HDR would really seal the deal for me...

[Aaronage @ Jul 18th 2008 7:09AM]

I think i'll finally jump in to recording freeview with this, always found dedicated freeview recorders to be a little well... meh lol

160GB 2.5" HDD for PS3 + Play TV = Good times!

[Kespar @ Jul 18th 2008 7:29AM]

99 euro is going to be around the £50-£60 price point I should imagine.

freesat is an interesting proposition for this, but it does seem un-sony like for them to allow it to record any old gubbins from external devices.

Freeview all the way, which is rubbish....except if you like watching old csi & top gear re-runs I guess.

[StephenD @ Jul 18th 2008 7:51AM]

More like €99 = £80 these days...

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Jul 18th 2008 7:29AM]

How surprising an European Launch in the UK? Did you think us Canucks were finally gettin some love?

[Kane @ Jul 18th 2008 7:51AM]

Anyone know if they got dual record on it? Just because it has dual tuners doesn't mean dual record. The Mrs records a lot of stuff on the MCPC

[neofolklore @ Jul 18th 2008 8:22AM]

So they finally released PSX?

[Adam @ Jul 18th 2008 11:16AM]

Wow something on the ps3 I actually want, damnit 360 step up to the mark.

[Dr_Fruit @ Jul 18th 2008 12:40PM]

DO WANT

[Tony @ Jul 27th 2008 10:55AM]

USA USA USA!!!

[Spunky @ Aug 28th 2008 12:54PM]

I can take a coax feed off the back of my sky box into another tv, so theoretically i can watch the same through playtv without any issues. Only downside with that is I'll only be able to watch/record one channel at a time, I don't have sky+.
However, if I was to change my LNB to a double one, would I be able to watch/record two different channels with sky, or does sky definitely need a sky+ box?