Sony’s movies-on-demand service for PS3 commences shortly, with a fistful of blockbuster releases and the backing of several heavyweight Hollywood studios.

Wrap your dentistry around this one – the ‘PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service’. Catchy, isn’t it? Nevertheless that’s the name, so you’d better get used to it. And Microsoft execs will have plenty of cause to do so, since their chief rival’s initial offering rather shades their own. Headline movies for Sony’s launch include Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Angels & Demons, Casino Royale and The Hills Have Eyes among many others.

On top of all that, the PNVDS (nope, that’s a rubbish acronym) has the likes of 20th Century Fox, Disney/ABC/ESPN, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal and Sony Pictures all lining up to offer their wares. There are 40 movie studios on board in total. Small wonder that Sony already claims that it has Microsoft’s Video Marketplace offering well and truly beaten!

But that remains to be seen. And Microsoft still has a couple of unplayed aces up its sleeve – 1080p live-streaming movies and the new Zune functionality, which apparently brings thousands of pieces of video content. That’s the plan, anyway.

So let battle commence. By common reckoning that’ll be later this month too, although we note that neither Sony nor Microsoft has actually provided a solid date for the launch their on-demand products. Is that the result brinksmanship or just poor marketing? As soon as we find out we’ll be sure to let you know...