Sony’s VidZone: Any Good?

Each time Sony adds a feature to their home console’s interface, whether that be Home or the Information Board, players take a look for a few minutes, but soon lose interest in what at first seems like a novel addition to PS3. This cycle changes with VidZone, and for the past three weeks it’s been probably the main reason I’ve been logging in time at my PS3. The music video delivery service may seem like a lesser version of the already available YouTube, but after spending a significant length of time with the service, its functionality and huge library make it a much more important update to PS3.

The library on offer here was the first shock when exploring VidZone. With a near complete catalogue of Sony Music artists, with all of their videos, the choice is already massive. Add to that the deals made with other large record labels such as Universal, and there really is something for everyone. The huge catalogue makes complaints about certain songs not being included seem pointless; there will be few unhappy people with the videos on offer here. And there aren’t just music videos either; live performances and interviews have made the cut too, with these making the deal that bit sweeter. I was very surprised by just how many videos, current songs and classics, are available now, with upwards of 20 added in the last two updates. If the library can be consistently updated week in week out, this can only get better.

The video quality of VidZone is easy to compare to YouTube, but with some additional tweaking, the quality varies depending on how the internet connection is at the time. This makes for an interesting variety of video quality, with the best far surpassing YouTube, especially when in full screen. Obviously these files are still streaming from the net, making some take a while to load if the connection becomes laggy, but this doesn’t become too much of a problem when on a decent internet connection. With this quality of video, I found it easy to watch the videos just like I would watch a music channel-made much easier by the inclusion of custom playlists. Watching the latest chart hits was simple too, with premade chart and new release playlists available at any point in the game.

VidZone does have its problems though, with the search process being especially bothersome. Rather than having the ability to type out artist, song or genre names, each letter must be selected from a list. This means that certain artists, such as those that begin with ‘The’ can become troublesome to find in a short amount of time, this being a tweak that could be made by an update down the line. The loading times to boot up VidZone, and during this search option are annoying too, where to just get started it can take anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes to be in control. This is frustrating, but hopefully can also be fixed down the line.

So far there haven’t been any functionality updates, but the promise that VidZone has, with the ability to buy ringtones and videos for your Sony Ericson mobile, and hopefully PSP down the line, it could well become a defining feature of the PS3. I’ve been creating lots of Playlists, an easy task that allows for easier access to your favourite videos, and with each packed update, the library becomes more and more impressive. VidZone may well be the best App for the PS3 so far. Music Channels may not be obsolete as of yet, but as a free service, VidZone is top notch.