In SCEE’s press conference in Leipzig, new services for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable were announced: the Go!Video Download Service for the PSP and PlayTV for the PS3. However, a follow up announcement from SCEA reveals that neither will be available in the U.S. SCEE Executive VP Phil Harrison explains why.
Harrison explains that the services aren’t available because the tech that makes the services possible for other areas aren’t available in the U.S. yet. Terrestrial Television, which makes it possible for Japan’s 1Seg tuner to pick up TV signals on the PSP, is currently only available in San Diego which isn’t enough for Sony to make a nationwide effort. This also scratches off PlayTV for the PS3 in the U.S, since it works on the same technology.
As for the Go!Video download service, there’s no nationwide service in the U.S. that supports video downloads by subscription so there’s no universal form of delivery for Sony to offer the download service. As a result, PSP owners will have to stick with UMD movies and converted content from their PCs while they wait for the service to become possible.
Although these aren’t available for now though, Harrison explains that once the technology that supports the services are available in the U.S., Sony will release the services. As SCEA commented in its announcement: “We understand and respect the consumer interest in this type of service, and we will continue to explore downloadable content options for our territory.”