PlayStation 3 Gets YouTube App This Afternoon

You could always visit YouTube on the PlayStaiton 3’s web browser but, as anyone who has ever done so can attest, it hasn’t exactly been a great experience. The page has a problem with freezes, hiccups and the image is never a very good quality. That’s all about to change as Sony has announced the official launch of the YouTube app for PlayStation 3.

Sony made the official announcement prior to its Gamescom press conference via the PlayStation Blog, letting everyone know that a proper YouTube offering was coming this afternoon through the PlayStation Network, for free.

Sure, this would have been nice to have through the console’s first five or so years on the market but, hey, better late than never, right? Anyway, this latest offering has been “designed for the big screen and optimized for the PS3,” so hopefully that means all of those issues I was talking about will be a thing of the past. If the PS3 app is anything like the one currently available on the Vita, we should be in for a very nice experience.

The PS Blog post also highlighted a few of the apps key features, including search, access to your subscribed channels, and the ability to use your smartphone as a remote. In short, you can find the video you want to watch on your phone and, with the press of a button, send it to play on your TV. You can then control the video on your phone or begin queuing up the next selection without taking up room on your television. That sounds perfect for when I have friends over and we end up on a two-hour YouTube marathon of “Oh, wait, have you seen yadda-yadda-yadda…”

So, there you have it. You can finally watch YouTube on your PS3 without feeling like you’re dealing with a dial-up connection.