I'd like to point out that I really can't draw before this article goes any further. We clear? We cool? Great.

Alright, so, just under a month ago some news leaked out that Sony’s personal video recorder add-on for the PlayStation 3, PlayTV, was going to be sort of rubbish. The initial plan was that all of the TV shows and movies that you recorded from the various channels (in the UK this means all of your Freeview ones; all you need to get PlayTV working is an aerial connection) would not only be watchable in PlayTV but you could also transfer them to your PlayStation Portable to indulge in some Top Gear on the train, or (eurgh) Big Brother on the bus.

This was apparently shelved, with only Remote Play functionality planned, but CVG’s review of the device seems to have given us a little bit of hope. Maybe. Hit that jump, boy. Or girl. Not wanting to be sexist here.

In an article I wrote last month, I expressed some severe disappointment at Sony’s decision to axe copying of TV programs to your PSP, since it was pretty much the main reason I was buying the thing. Ripping TV programs to your PSP through DVDs is one thing, recording them off the box and then transferring them to your handheld is another. And it’s certainly cheaper.

Alas, this wasn’t to be, with Sony giving no reason as to why the feature had been axed. I previously speculated that it may have been a DRM (digital rights management; a method of copy protection) issue with TV show producers, who didn’t want their programs being copied to portable media and from there spread around the internet. That sounds pretty reasonable, but not even this was given as a reason by the oddly shadowy and mysterious folks at Sony.

Then I got thinking about where else Sony’s investments might lie. In collaboration with Sky in the UK and Canal+ (that’s pronounced ‘Canal Ploos’ since it’s French; consider yourself sophisticated) Sony recently launched a PSP video-on-demand service entitled Go!View, which allowed users to rent or buy TV programs and movies, iTunes style*, and download them straight to their PSP to watch on the go. Naturally, being able to record most of these programs by yourself with PlayTV would eat into those potential tasty profits that Sony would seek with a service such as Go!View.

As it is though, the service must not be doing very well because CVG’s review of the PlayTV kit reports that PSP copying is very much in, and I know what else I want for Christmas aside from a Sumo Omni. To quote directly from the review, which itself talks about the initial bad news:

Or, brilliantly, you can export videos to your PS3’s XMB menu as MPEG-4 video (despite rumors suggesting the feature had been removed). From there you can use it like a normal file – watch it on your PS3, put it on PC, transfer it to your PSP… whatever you like.

Handy. Although their wording of it being a rumor is a little off (since Sony told some sites directly that the feature wouldn’t be included) the revelation has cheered me up a little as PlayTV was looking pretty interesting (and a Sony press release issued today confirmed that it scooped the ‘Best Innovation’ award at the awards ceremony for the Games Conference in Leipzig, meaning that it’s impressing a fair few people). It’s good to see that Sony are learning to use their common sense rather than misplace it all the time..not that their track record is quite perfect yet.

Still, way to go. Pat on the back, cookies, etc.

Review: PlayTV – CVG

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