Quick Review of MLB.TV on the PS3

A few weeks back I wrote about a $20 price mistake for MLB.TV that I was able to jump on. Today, that purchase became even more valuable when MLB.TV made it's way to the Playstation 3. There's a lot of ways to watch the games. But I'll say this: MLB.TV on the PS# is awesome and if you're a big baseball fan (and have a PS3) it's worth every penny to lay down the full price to get it for the rest of the year. Let's give you a quick preview I found on the Playstation Blog:



When I got home from work, I went back and watched the half inning where A-Rod turned the triple play. Maybe in a few months I'll want to go back and watch the near-no-no that Phil Hughes just threw or CC Sabathia threw before him--and I can do that too. It's unbelievably awesome and almost feels like it was silly that it wasn't in place before. They've basically made Neftlix streaming this easy so why would it take so long for MLB's media, which CNET says is the No. 1 most profitable video-streaming service on the Web? It's worth the wait, though. Globe and Mail says that it's a game changer and I totally agree. As a Premium subscriber, I can listen to home or away broadcasts and pause live games. Interactive scoreboard to pick from games. Whatever game you want. It's baseball a la carte and baseball a la mode. It's an iTunes for MLB games. Streaming On Demand--in 720P HD. I love it.

There are a few things they can fix. MLB.TV on the computer allows you to watch picture in picture of the games, watch in HD, and lets you watch up to 4 games at once (see this). You have only one game on the PS3 currently. Also (and this will probably never be changed), you can only watch out-of-market games. So if you're in New York and you don't want to listen to Michael Kay, you can't go and watch the road broadcast--though you can watch the feed for Red Sox or their visitors. There doesn't seem to be the Yahoo! Fantasy integration the web version has which is also quite awesome for someone like me that wants to be able to track the players on my team(s). And the fastforward and rewind were pretty raw (I have the PS3 DVD remote and you don't get to use those DVD keys) though I'm sure this is something they can fix along the way.

HD Report has one word for the service ("wow") but does warn that the price could go up like the iPhone app has done from a free service to something that costs $14.99. The San Francisco Chronicle says "This is a nice addition for hard-core baseball fans who can follow all the action across the league, right from their big screen in the living room.The service also boasts a live scoreboard that lists upcoming pitching match-ups and in-game scores."

But it's CNET that truly throws down the gaunlet for this revolutionary service:

Baseball is putting itself in a position to potentially compete with the regional cable operators that broadcast games throughout the country. It's possible that if Internet viewing ever becomes widely adopted, baseball has the technological ability to cut out the middleman (think no more blackouts) and deliver games directly to viewers over the Web.

Overall, if you're a big baseball fan, have a PS3, and you think you'll occasionally watch out-of-market games or tune in to some games at work on the road, invest the money and buy a subscription. It's definitely worth it. Even if you don't have a PS3, the ability to watch the games on the computer and on many other devices makes it totally worthwhile. And if you're one of those person who's OK watching games that you missed after the game is over, you can watch any game from the entire season--or just start over from the beginning the broadcast of the game if you got home late. It's extremely awesome.