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Sony, MS want control of PS3, Xbox iPlayer, Beeb boss claims

Our platform, our iPlayer

The BBC's launch of a version of its iPlayer for the Wii left one question on gamers’ lips: why isn’t the streaming service also available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3? This week, the broadcaster claimed it’s because Microsoft and Sony were too demanding.

Erik Huggers, head of future media and technology at the BBC, said in a Corporation blog that both manufacturers want the service for their consoles, but each wants too much control over iPlayer’s look and feel.

“If you want to get [iPlayer] on the PlayStation or Xbox, they want control of the look, the feel and the experience. They want it done within their shop, and their shop only,” Huggers claimed.

BBC blogger Darren Waters, the author of the BBC blog, concluded that, on the PS3 at least, iPlayer support is "almost inevitable". Sony states the PS3 is an open platform and features a web browser, so the console will only require an update to the browser app in order for iPlayer to run successfully on the machine. As a result, Waters believes “Sony gamers shouldn’t be too distraught”.

Since the Xbox 360 has no browser, the Microsoft console is far less likely to get iPlayer, Walters suggested.

The launch of iPlayer has already caused the BBC and ISPs to row over who should pay for the extra network costs incurred because of the extra strain that the service supposedly puts on networks.

Network upgrade costs should be met by ISPs, according to the BBC. But a spokesman for ISP Tiscali has already said that the BBC should contribute to the cost.

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