At the onset of E3, Sony announced a video store similar to the Xbox Marketplace, but for the PS3. I was sort of worried that they would be pulling the “me too!” mentality that comes with the video game market, but I am impressed by their ability to integrate it into the overall Playstation system seemed flawless and almost… right on the money. The minimalist design of the cross media bar is perfect for the multimedia function of the PS3. My only complaint so far is the rather obtuse way the store handles charges. First, you have to buy money to put into your online “wallet”. From there, you’re able to buy stuff off of the store. Lovely. Really lovely. Hey, the iTunes store is perfect in its integration that there is no step between putting in your information and actually buying the media- it’s one click shopping. What stops Sony from implementing this mindset? It doesn’t hurt their sales at all, and would probably help them in the long run. Hey, this game’s cheap, click and download. Another thing they can at least take down from the iTunes mentality is the season pass. Buy a season pass, and get the latest episodes as soon as they’re available on the store.

Xam’d is an anime from the animation studio BONES, and as such, has a hiugh artistic quality when it comes to the animation. The character design is similar to that of Eureka 7, with many characters sharing simiilar styles and looks to those in the E7 series. A slight steampunk look is given to many of the characters, with the setting being similar to modern day japan. The whole series is about 26 episodes, and within the first two episodes, I was hooked. There’s an entire subplot of tension between the different countries in the show (only described as the North and South), and even an entirely separate religion within the show.

Unfortunately, this had to come with a caveat. The entire series can only be rented, not bought. And at three dollars per episode (this is just the regular resolution, not the HD- HD can be rented for one dollar more) this is a serious money sink, and yes, the series is great, but not as great as to have such a ridiculous cost of about 78 dollars at the offset. I like the show, but no, please god no, don’t make me pay this fricking much for a show, dammit.

It is available on the bit-torrent, if you want to check it out. That’s where I’m going from now on.