Sony Releases In-Theater Movie on PSN for Free

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Sony Releases In-Theater Movie on PSN for Free



Why go out to the movie theater when Sony allows you to get the same experience at home for free?

Sony may have a new movie release strategy for its online distribution platform, the PlayStation Store. Normally, a movie won't go up on the store as a digital download until after it's out of theaters, and consumers can pay to rent or purchase it. The newer strategy may be to release movies for free while they're still trying to earn a buck in the theater, as it mistakenly did with crime thriller Armored [http://www.amazon.com/Armored-Matt-Dillon/dp/B0021L8UWG/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1282155295&sr=1-1] last week.

According to reports, Armored was available to download for around five hours on the PlayStation store, and it didn't cost a single red cent. The movie, which tells the tale of an armored car robbery gone wrong, is not up on the service anymore, so those of us late to the party will just have to suffer. Despite the star power of Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon, Armored wasn't received too well by critics, with 50% positive reviews [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10010705-armored/] on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. Free is free though, no matter how much someone may try to tell you otherwise, and I'm sure a gaggle of people now own it courtesy of Sony's mistake.

This type of situation was unheard of back in the old days, with physical copies of movies not arriving in stores until long after their theatrical releases. The wait for Back to the Future [http://www.amazon.com/Back-Future-Anniversary-Trilogy-Digital/dp/B00198X0UO/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1282155329&sr=1-1] to hit VHS was almost painful. Now things have changed, with movies able to be magically beamed into our homes possibly even before they hit the big screen. Though it would cripple the movie theater as we know it, I wouldn't be surprised if someday movies are released in the same manner that Sony has done here with Armored. It'll just remember to charge for them next time.

Source: Joystiq [http://playstation.joystiq.com/2009/12/30/break-into-the-playstation-store-get-armored-for-free/]

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Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Intresting strategy. Get some big names up there and might perk my intrest a little more.
 

Jadak

New member
Nov 4, 2008
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Sounds like lawsuit material to me, doubt whoever gets the money Armored makes it going to be too pleased with Sony over this.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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I never go see movies, as I find games are superior entertainment in nearly every way, but this would work for me. Then again, I never used Netflix much either.
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Sep 26, 2008
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Tom Goldman said:
Free is free though, no matter how much someone may try to tell you otherwise, and I'm sure a gaggle of people now own it courtesy of Sony's mistake.
Free is free, but it still costs you a couple of hours to watch a sub-par movie, and there's no refund on that.
 

Jamash

Top Todger
Jun 25, 2008
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Doesn't Sony also charge the publishers for bandwidth used on the PSN when people download their products (or does that only apply to things like games, demos and patches)?

It they do, it must be a bit of a kick in the balls for Armored's publishers, having to pay for having their film downloaded for free...
 

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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WhiteTigerShiro said:
Tom Goldman said:
Free is free though, no matter how much someone may try to tell you otherwise, and I'm sure a gaggle of people now own it courtesy of Sony's mistake.
Free is free, but it still costs you a couple of hours to watch a sub-par movie, and there's no refund on that.
so true
 

AvsJoe

Elite Member
May 28, 2009
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Damn! Now I'm gonna have to pay the $2 to see it at my local cheapies (cheap theater). Oh well, I don't own a PS3 anyway so I couldn't not miss this boat.