Netflix Max For PS3 Arrives To Recommend New Content

The PlayStation 3 is the most popular device for Netflix streaming, so it makes sense that the company is launching its new feature exclusively on the console for now. It's called Max, and it's pretty much a personal assistant of sorts that recommends new movies and TV shows that you might be interested in watching.

There are a few different ways to interact with Max. First, you'll be asked what mood you're in and what types of shows and movies you're wanting to watch, at which point Max will then recommend a handful of shows that you might like to watch at that time. You can also pick a genre and then rate a few shows and movies to help Max better decide what you're in the mood for. Another way is to have the option of picking between two different genres, and if you're feeling spontaneous, you can even let Max just choose a show or movie at random.

There's also some dialog mixed in that allows Max to talk to you in a way, but it seems really cheesy and doesn't really offer any greater value. However, it seems Netflix is simply having fun with the idea, humorously saying that Max is "rumored to be the child of Siri and Hal 9000."

Netflix is treating the new feature as a beta of sorts, and only rolling it out to PS3 users for the time being, but the company says that if the feature becomes popular enough, they'll begin to roll it out onto more platforms, including the iPad at some point in the future. As for when that'll happen, there's currently no timeline. Netflix already has a recommendation algorithm, so it'll be interesting to see how this new method is greeted by users over the next couple of weeks.

SOURCE: Netflix