iPlayer could come to PS3 too

By Ellie Gibson Published 10 April, 2008

BBC man reckons it's "almost inevitable".

BBC technology journalist Darren Waters has explained the thinking behind the decision to bring the iPlayer to Wii - adding it's "almost inevitable" the service will also make it to PS3.

In a post on his blog Waters wrote, "How ironic that it is the Nintendo Wii, and not the PlayStation 3 nor Xbox 360, that becomes the first of the current generation of consoles to have a truly dynamic range of online video content... [The announcement] makes something of a mockery claims by Sony and Microsoft that their consoles are the true multimedia machines."

So why aren't the Wii's rival machines getting iPlayer too? Waters quotes Erik Huggers, future media and technology group controller at the BBC, as saying, "If you want to get on the PlayStation or Xbox, they want control of the look, the feel and the experience; they want it done within their shop, and their shop only."

Waters continues, "Reading between the lines it would seem Microsoft was unwilling to work with the BBC unless it was given more control over how the content was accessed and presented inside Xbox Live.

"It seems more puzzling for Sony to take this approach. It has said often that PS3 is an "open platform" and all it would take is a small update to let gamers access iPlayer in the web browser."

Such an update is likely to appear in the future, according to Waters: "I think this is almost inevitable - and so Sony gamers shouldn't be too distraught."

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • HiddenAway #1 4 years ago

    OK, I didn't see that last bit...

  • manic_mouse #2 4 years ago

    Or, just release an application like Folding at Home?

  • kungphu #3 4 years ago

    I would have though a flash update for the web browser would be more appropriate

  • Raziel #4 4 years ago

    iPlayer?

  • NoQuarter #5 4 years ago

    What have they done in partnership with Nintendo? I went on it yesterday and all they appeared to have done was ported the iPlayer flash player to whatever flash version Opera on the Wii uses (7?). There was no option to play in fullscreen and instead I had to zoom in. At that zoom the Wii is entirely unable to play it at any decent frame rate and it utterly chugs along at no more than 10fps.

    In its current state it is a waste of time and short of upgrading the Wii CPU I can't see what improvements they can do.

  • 2099net #6 4 years ago

    If you have a PC you can stream iPlayer downloads from the iPlayer folder if you add it to your shared folders on Media Player. Just make sure to ignore the size limit, or else new downloads won't be added - as they will start-off less than the minimum size specifed for inclusion.

    When played, normal iPlayer usage restrictions will apply. I do this on my 360 and the result is just a smudge below the normal Freeview picture quality. I assume it works on the PS3 too being as the actual files and DRM is negotiated on the PC through Media Player, not the PS3.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #7 4 years ago

    Whilst it'd be really nice to download BBC programmes from Xbox Live, I can't imagine MS allowing us to do it for free sadly (maybe 4OD is a better bet, as they charge for shows).

    However, I've very happy at the moment downloading shows on my PC and streaming it to my Xbox. That's the future, people! ;-)

  • Darren #8 4 years ago

    Waters continues, "Reading between the lines it would seem Microsoft was unwilling to work with the BBC unless it was given more control over how the content was accessed and presented inside Xbox Live."

    Why does that NOT surprise me? LOL

  • Garulon #9 4 years ago

    "I assume it works on the PS3 too being as the actual files and DRM is negotiated on the PC through Media Player, not the PS3."

    I dunno, it'd be cool if it did, but IIRC the PS3 refuses to play protected WMV content. Anyone with a PS3 willing to sit through a BBC show to find out?

  • niz #10 4 years ago

    iPlayer for PS3 would be great. However, the web version doesn't allow you to watch anything if it detects that you are accessing it outside the UK. I'm sure you can fool it with some proxy trickery, but still.

    The web site says they are working on an international version, but what are the chances it will contain anything else than the stuff you get on BBC World?

  • Darren #11 4 years ago

    How come suddenly internet streaming of TV programmes is "better" than setting your video/DVD recorder to record the programmes for you to watch later? For me, it's the absolute last resort as the quality and download speed make this more annoying than useful in my experience and I have an 8 Mbps connection... :?

  • dr_shambles #12 4 years ago

    It'll happen just not yet.

    Sony will probably be worried it would impact on sales of the Play TV add-on. Anyone know what's happened with that? Seems to have vanished off the radar and thought it was meant to be out by now.

  • anomagnus #13 4 years ago

    Why would you want the BBC on your consoles anyway?

    The programming has become DIRE, and the news has become the day today tomorrow/brass eye like to the extreme

    FUR Q IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!
    Edited by 1 at 10/04/08 @ 12:15

  • knocker #14 4 years ago

    My wii isn't that bad on full zoom. The occasional dropped frame rather than jerky. Ugly as fuck though.

    "However, I've very happy at the moment downloading shows on my PC and streaming it to my Xbox. That's the future, people! ;-) "

    Good idea. Not exactly the future though ! ;) I've yet to find anything to beat the xbox1/xbmc/big f'k off NAS combo for this sort of thing. Streaming full (TV) screen video at an acceptable quality is a rarity and too much of a bandwidth hog for me at the moment.

  • paulf #15 4 years ago

    considering how popular iPlayer is, surely MS and sony wont want to be left out and will work out ways to get it on their respective systems as soon as they can - although i think ps3 will be first because it has the built in browser

  • MrGilder #16 4 years ago

    Well the iPhone/touch version just uses Safari, so with a bit of tweaking on the PS3 browser i can't see why they can get this working that way around....

  • Bumhug360 #17 4 years ago

    "considering how popular iPlayer is, surely MS and sony wont want to be left out and will work out ways to get it on their respective systems as soon as they can "

    Its only big in the UK though, on a global scale it hardly seems worth it. And considering the quality of even the downloaded version is crap on a big screen TV I cant see there being a huge rush

  • ligurmatic #18 4 years ago

    It's funny that all this talk about iPlayer comes at a time where I'm struggling to find anything at all worth watching on the service, and indeed anything of interest on any BBC channel.

  • sonmi451 #19 4 years ago

    these recent gems are worth catching on the Beeb.

    Life in Cold Blood, The Last Enemy, Hancock and Joan.

    All stunning.

  • paulf #20 4 years ago

    @ bumhug depends how much work it is, can't see it being too hard for the ps3 -

    a case of the bbc passing flash 7 video to ps3 browser rather than the flash 9 video i think you get in a osx or windows browser - I think this is the way they do it for the wii (both wii and ps3 use flash player 7 )- which is also why the video quality is a bit ropey in comparison - cause flash 7 video uses a older codec than flash 9 video

  • skillian #21 4 years ago

    I've yet to find anything to beat the xbox1/xbmc/big f'k off NAS combo for this sort of thing.

    XBMC was cool, but really just using a PC beats it every time.

  • bodypopper #22 4 years ago

    I'm no conspiracy nut but allowing the PS3 to access iPlayer would undermine Play TV as who needs to record BBC shows when you can watch them on-demand?

  • BarcaAzul #23 4 years ago

    Sort it out sony!!

    Perhaps they dont want to ruin the launch of the TV anywhere though !!

  • Nookyalar #24 4 years ago

    Who would've thought, Sony wanting minute control over the entertainment experience?

  • The-Bodybuilder #25 4 years ago

    I can download iplayer shows to my media laptop down stairs, then have it streamed to my 360.

    No problem for me.

  • The-Bodybuilder #26 4 years ago

    The only show worth watching anyways, is The Apprentice.

  • Kill_Crazy #27 4 years ago

    This is gonna look really great on a big hdtv, half the progs look shit in full screen on a pc monitor.

  • wayn3h #28 4 years ago

    Hows about they get it working on XP 64/W2003 first?

  • Les #29 4 years ago

    Apparently it is inevitable, whether the BBC cooperates or not...

    [link url=http://www.ps3iplayer.com/
    ]http://www.ps3iplayer.com/
    [/link]