It took a few years, but the PlayStation 3 has finally become competitive in the mainstream marketplace and no longer giving the Xbox 360 a free ride. After slimming down the size of their system earlier this year along with slashing the price from $400 to $300, the PlayStation 3 will now allow users to stream their Netflix "Watch Instantly" queue to their console. Hit the jump for details as XBox 360 fanboys snarl and gnash their teeth.
For no additional cost, anyone with at least an $8.99 monthly subscription to Netflix (which includes unlimited streaming and one movie mailed out at a time) will be able to stream their "Watching Instantly" queue to their PlayStation 3 console. Xbox 360 users will laugh mightily at this as they've enjoyed this technology since last year. And then a PS3 owner will mention that they'll be watching their streaming movies via Wi-Fi so suck on that. Following that, a "Gangs of New York" style brawl will break out between owners of the two consoles while Wii owners will flail their arms wildly but no one will notice or care.
There is a minor inconvenience however with the PlayStation 3/Netflix combo. In order to have your PS3 run Netflix, you must first install it via a disc. This is only temporary but since the PS3 received a firmware update last month, PS3 owners will probably have to wait until next year to download the Netflix software via the Internet. The disc will be available at no extra charge to Netflix subscribers and you can go here to reserve yours now: http://www.netflix.com/ps3. Additionally, the PlayStation 3 will allow users to add "Watch Instantly" movies to their queue directly from the console-a benefit that Xbox 360 users only received this past August. We suffered and waited for that feature, dammit! PS3 owners won't even appreciate it!
With the price difference erased and Netflix now on both consoles, Sony now holds a slight advantage over Microsoft because the PS3 by offering a Blu-ray player (which is nice since Netflix also allows members to rent Blu-ray movies, although they can't watch them via streaming). Even the debate about which console has better games will soon be erased as fewer and fewer titles remain exclusive to one console. This holiday season was already going to be a tough competition between the two systems but now PlayStation 3 just neutralized another 360 advantage. Or you could just own both systems and leave the petty bickering behind. Plus, you can still make fun of Wii owners.
Click here to read the entire press release.