PlayTV Live Chat Hands-On

Sony's PlayTV is just one of the many ways with which Sony has broadened the appeal of its PlayStation 3 in Europe. Alongside Vidzone, the music video streaming platform, BBC iPlayer, the British broadcaster's catch-up service, and the upcoming indie cinema portal Mubi, PlayTV offers owners the chance to view and record television programmes from services such as Freeview in the UK. Now, the next step is for the makers of the device from Sony's Cambridge studio to take the software into the social space.

The latest version of the PlayTV interface will allow you to share your thoughts and recommendations with the world right from the PlayStation 3. When you're watching a programme, you can create a private, public, or invite-only chat room and use text chat to air your thoughts on the current show to up to 63 other people. You can also recommend programmes to your friends either on the PlayStation Network or over Facebook. It's the logical next step for consumers who post their thoughts online during live programmes such as the X-Factor, only this removes the need for a laptop or mobile phone.

We got a hands-on with the new interface at Sony's pre-Gamescom press conference, and while the closed network at the event limited the scope of the new social features, we were impressed with what we saw. Sony project manager Anja Liebl walked us through the new options in the familiar PlayTV menu system, which she stressed will only be accessible to those aged 16 and older. If you start a chat session, the current programme is shrunk to about two-thirds of its original size so that messages can be displayed down the left of the screen. You can, however, go back into full screen at any time, and if the idea of typing a message on the DualShock 3 pad turns you off, you can also plug in a standard USB keyboard.

You can also recommend anything you've enjoyed within a couple of button presses. If you recommend an episode of a show to friends, they'll receive a message in their PSN inbox with an attachment, and if they click the attachment, PlayTV will start and they'll jump right into the show. If they get the message late, then they'll have the option to set up a scheduled recording of the next episode of the show. You can also shout about your great taste on the social network Facebook. Sadly, no Twitter support will be built into the first version of the Live Chat software, but it's something that Liebl admits Sony is looking into.

One of the other cool social features is being able to crowd source the most popular programmes using the data from the network. There's an option in the main menu to check out the most watched programmes, so you can get a feel for what people are enjoying right now, as well as the programmes with the most scheduled recordings, so you can see what they're looking forward to. Of course, it then only takes a couple of seconds to watch the current most popular content or schedule in recordings of your own.

On top of this, a new series link feature will be enabled for UK users of the new PlayTV software, meaning that you can automatically have the PlayStation 3 record every episode of your favourite show. This is a big deal for Sony, as it satisfies one of the most requested features for the device since its launch. Sadly, the UK won't be able to receive high-definition broadcasts thanks to Freeview's decision to use satellite transmission technology, but HD will still be watchable on PlayTV in Spain, France, and Australia.

PlayTV Live Chat Edition won't be free, sadly. You'll have to pay a small premium for the update, according to Liebl. It will be compatible with all PlayTV hardware already out there, but Sony is considering whether it will issue a new bundle to herald in the first major revision to the software. We can't wait to check out the upgraded interface in action on a wider network, so check back with GameSpot toward the end of the year when Play TV Live Chat edition is scheduled to go live.