Sony nudges the PlayStation 4 into the TV limelight with 10 part superhero detective show
Microsoft announced several original TV shows for the Xbox One last year
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Your support makes all the difference.Sony has announced that it will be joining the likes of Netflix and Amazon by commissioning its first original TV series.
The Japanese electronics giant said this week that it had ordered 10 one-hour episodes of Powers, a series based on a comic book that combine elements of the superhero and police procedural genres. The series will be available exclusively to subscribers to Sony's PlayStation Network.
Industry site Deadline describes the show as “set in a world full of people with superhuman abilities and where all of those powers are just another catalyst for mayhem and murder.” Producers involved in the project include writers of the hit drama The Walking Dead- also based on a comic book.
Sony Pictures had originally optioned Powers for a film production back in 2001, with US TV network FX later picking up the license for a TV series scrapped in 2012.
The announcement from Sony is significant as it mirrors the strategy of rivals Microsoft. During the launch of the company’s Xbox One gaming console, the American company said that it would be experimenting with a number of different TV-style shows.
These included a TV series to accompany popular sci-fi shooter Halo (with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer) as well as an ambitious – if vague – project that would supposedly integrate a video game experience along with a TV show.
Both companies attempted to position their consoles as entertainment hubs to varying degree, and although Sony has found success by favouring a more game-centric pitch (as well as a cheaper box price), the announcement of Powers suggests that home consoles will still be making a move to supplant TVs
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