Sony and Netflix recently announced
that on-demand streaming of movies from the ultra-popular rental
service would be hitting the PlayStation 3 in November, and it looks
like users will be able to start watching content as early as this
Friday. While it will be a software solution later on down the line,
PlayStation 3 owners currently need to sign up for a free PS3 streaming
disc from Netflix (via http://www.netflix.com/ps3)
to take advantage of the service, and a number of IGNers received
emails today that we'd find the disc in our mailboxes tomorrow.


The email is very simple and to the point:


"Dear Mr. Bigglesworth,


Your free instant streaming disc for PS3 should arrive by Friday, Nov 06, 2009.


Meanwhile, add TV episodes & movies to your instant Queue now
so you're ready to watch instantly when your instant streaming disc
arrives.


- Your friends at Netflix"


This short message is followed by instructions on how to add movies
to your instant queue via a web browser, which is nothing new. Aside
from the fact that we should start seeing discs arrive tomorrow, the
email also makes it sound like you won't be able to browse for content
via the PS3, but will instead need to add it to your queue from your
computer and then head to your console to watch them. This is how
Netflix on the Xbox 360 originally worked, though a later update
allowed users to browse content directly from the system. Since PS3
users will have to use a disc until it becomes a software solution next
year, it sounds like we'll be stuck with this inconvenience for a while
as the discs likely can't be patched in any fashion.