Netflix on PS3? Yep, but not without special disc.

Watch Netflix movies on a PS3 starting in November, but not without popping in a free disc.

Jake Turcotte/The Christian Science Monitor

October 26, 2009

So the Playstation 3 is getting its stream on.

Two years after Netflix first rolled out instant Web streaming of movies to its subscribers, the Sony gaming console is getting in on the act. Once limited to computers, Netflix instant streaming is currently available on the XBox 360, LG and Samsung Blu-ray players, TiVo, a set-top box from Roku, and even some special TVs.

Playstation 3 roll-out of the feature is expected for November, but PS3 owners shouldn't expect to just turn on their consoles sometime after the end of daylight savings and have instant access to the thousands of titles in the catalog.

Why?

"Initially, watching movies instantly streamed from Netflix via the PS3 system will be enabled by a free, instant streaming Blu-ray disc that is being made available to all Netflix members," according to the official press release.

Why's it needed?

"The free instant streaming disc leverages Blu-ray’s BD-Live™ technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet."

In other words, the PS3 doesn't yet have the software to deal with Netflix's interface, and until Sony releases a software update (downloadable for free), PS3-equipped Netflixers will still have to do the disc shuffle. How very 2003.

Call it "one disc to rule them all."

Netflix members can reserve their free PS3 dummy disc by heading here, and can expect delivery (likely in one of those joy-inducing red envelopes) one business day after they're released.

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