Amazon Prime Streaming Available on PlayStation 3

The PlayStation Network, Sony's digital media delivery service for the PS3, is the first and only gaming console to have Amazon's content available for streaming.

To view the content Amazon's video streaming service from the PS3, users will have to download an app to their console. The app will give them access to more than 120,000 commercial-free movies and TV shows for either rental or purchase. The service also gives viewers access to 17,000 Amazon Prime Instant Videos, which are movies and shows that can be played on-demand at no extra cost.

Amazon Prime is currently available for a free 30-day trial and will cost users $79 per year. Depending on how much time you spend watching television and movies, this could be a worthwhile deal.

The move will help Sony stay competitive with Microsoft, who just announced that it would be giving access to HBO Go, MLB.TV and Xfinity through partnerships of its own. According to a Washington Post report, Microsoft claims that Xbox Live subscribers are using their consoles for entertainment purposes more than they are for gaming.

Both Microsoft and Sony's partnerships indicate a strong shift toward creating all-encompassing media devices. Nintendo, whose current video game system doesn't support the same sophisticated online capabilities that the Xbox and PS3 do, will also be pursuing an internet-friendly console when it releases its new console, the Wii U.