According to Variety’s report, the Japanese PlayStation 3 owners should pay attention. Starting with early 2008 they will be able to download high def video to their PlayStation 3's hard drives. Quoting reports from the Japanese press, Variety said that Sony is getting ready to launch its video service early in 2008.

Variety reported that the first videos that Sony would offer through this new service would be racing videos and a BBC documentary about cars, which would presumably target Gran Turismo fans.

Sony would introduce its new service by offering a three-part documentary about Nissan’s GT-R racing car for free download, with the first part coming on December 6 and the other two going online after Gran Turismo Prologue will be launched.

Despite the recent press reports, Sony hasn’t yet officially announced the date when its highly expected video download service will be launched. However, no matter when the service gets eventually released, its great significance will remain the same both for the Japanese company and for its fans.

Sony’s video on demand service will offer PS3 owners the possibility of downloading movies, TV shows and other media content on a pay-per-item basis, similarly to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.

On December 13, Sony is set to release Gran Turismo Prologue, which represents the fifth game of the popular series of racing video games.