Japanese movie theatres resorting to PS3 technology to screen films?

by Chris MaGee

I have to admit that I am of two minds about the use of film as opposed to digital video. On one hand film represents a tradition that goes right back to the genesis of motion pictures, and seeing your favorite film in a pristine 35mm print on a big screen can be a real treat. On the other hand film has proven to be a fragile and expensive medium, while digital video is fast becoming the medium of choice for young filmmakers around the world. If you head out for a night at the movies in the past few years there's a good chance that what you're seeing up on screen is a digital print projected from a computer server as opposed to celluloid on reels, but if what a report posted over at Destructoid (via Japantor ) is true then the digital revolution in Japanese theatres has just taken a step down a notch... or up depending on how you see things.

Apparently an audience member at a recent screening of "Kara no Kyoukai" in Japan said that the animated film was interrupted when a low battery controller warning from a Play Station 3 gaming console appeared on the screening. What it looks like was going on was that the movie theatre was using the PS3's hard drive to project an HD file of the film! I guess if the technology works then you should use it, but I fear that this blurs the line between the theatrical and home viewing experience even more than it already has. Why not have your friends over to catch your favorite films screened of your PS3? Puts a whole new spin on things, doesn't it?