The other day I talked about the amazing little Roku set top player… a little box that goes for $99 and allows you to stream Netflix instant movies right to your television. It’s a fantastic device… and now it’s not alone.
Netflix and Microsoft just announced that starting this fall… Netflix instant movies will also stream for the Xbox 360. Reuters gives us this:
The service, expected to launch as a software upgrade for the Xbox 360, will be offered at no additional cost to Netflix subscribers who also hold Xbox 360 Live Gold memberships, the companies said at the E3 Media and Business Summit in Los Angeles. XBox users will be able to access more than 10,000 Netflix titles now available as part of a feature called “Watch Instantly” that Netflix launched in 2007.
Now this is fantastic news and is yet another brick in the yellowbrick road leading to a glorious future. The only part about this news that I don’t like so much is that not only do you have to own an Xbox 360, plus your netflix account… but you also have to be an Xbox Gold member in order to take advantage of this service (I don’t own an Xbox).
So if you’re not a gamer, stick with the Roku player (which is also rumored to be getting ready to stream Hulu and Youtube in the near future), but if you own an Xbox, you just got a great bonus feature!
Now I wonder if the person across the world you want to watch the movie with will have to have a Netflix subscription as well. Kind of pointless if so b/c they could just watch the movie on their own and you could talk over the phone or PSN or XBL whatever console you want to use. If I heard correct the PS3 HOME does sound better with a movie theater that you can go to and watch movies with friends as well. Also if the person you are watch the movie with on XBL gets it from your Xbox 360 and not from Netflix then you will have to be able to upload it too them which leaves out alot of people that live in areas that do not have cable or DSL have to use satellite, or cellular Evdo for high speed internet the better being Evdo but they do not have upload speeds faster then 100 – 200kb/ps. I know b/c I use the Evdo for my internet and online gaming and my download is around 2600 – 3100 max kb/s but the upload sits more around 150 kb/s and can dip down to 60 kb/s. And even if your on cable and your hosting to the max 8 people you still are not going to have the kind of upload needed for that. Anyone can shed some light on this for me.
Don’t you still have to pay for the netfilx membership? If so then this isn’t that great, I can still watch Netflix on my computer, and play ps3 online for free, do that XBOX users!.
Also, the xbox dashboard is a downgrade, they tried to copy Sony’s “Home”, Wii’s “Mii” and Apple’s “Cover Flow” and they did a bad job at it. Overall, i dont think xbox did anything special, the only reason to have one is for gears of war, and nobody knows if gears 3 will be only on xbox.
MAG owns every xbox game, period.
Also what to add, unless they have amazing special features I may never buy another movie in disc format again….
Just watched the Sony press conference and they announced today that they have added a Movie/TV service for the PS3. You can rent and/or BUY movie downloads starting tonight from there psn network.
Both SD and HD formats available.
Think this is kind of similiar with what I can get through cable with time warner, with the “rental” price point at 2.99 for SD movies. But for 1.99 you can get tv shows and also rent HD versions of the movies (for a little more 5.99?). Think the big thing you can actually buy the movies and download them to your system (for between 9.99 and 14.99). Plus if you own a PSP you can transfer it to that device and take it with you. Will be interesting to see how the library of movies will work out with older movies etc.
I really hope that PS3 will join in… and I hope that it would be with Netflix and NOT Blockbuster. However, it wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft has made a deal (or at least tried) with Netflix to block Sony and other game console companies from being able to compete.
I don’t really know the statistics, but I think that most people use Netflix instead of Blockbuster for their mail-in rental service (most people I know, including myself, joined Netflix because Hollywood video shut down and we didn’t like Blockbuster’s selections). So I think that making xbox360 the only gaming console available with Netflix would give it a slight advantage over the PS3 for people who are undecided on which console to buy.
If you have an xbox360 and don’t have a gold membership, don’t blame microsoft or netflix. Blame yourself.
The question I think that needs to be asked here, and I hate to sound like such a downer, is this:
Is it only in Canada that bandwidth has a cap? By streaming movies through these devices, how long would it take to hit that cap where you would then be charged by the MEGABYTE of data over that limit?
If you are streaming / downloading movies I imagine that would fill up pretty damned fast and the big telecommunication companies would have another business model for sucking the cash out of your accounts.
Zach that would be pretty sweet, to stream video games.
One question John,
If you have an HDDVD player port that you buy extra for the Xbox 360-will you be able to stream HD movies???
Thanks
The only thing left for netflix is videogames….that would be SICK!
with FFXIII, Netflix and Dashboard upgrade, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3. Microsoft has started off strong, wonder what Ps3 and Wii will pull out.
I think the netflix is a good feature, but i doubt i take part in it. Just cause i dont want to bother with getting an account. I may eventually but i doubt it.
If this EVER comes to Canada (I am sure it will – we now have over priced iphones) my cable company will be dust.
This is the way to go, and if they charged 4 times as much I would still use it.
BRING IT TO CANADA!!
I have a 360 Elite and I still don’t care about Netflix or streaming. Oh yeah that’s cause I bought it for games.
Make better games.
Hey Ivelja
1) You need a Netflix account
2) It’s not in Canada
Two questions.
1) If you have the xbox do you need to subscribe to Netflix as well, or can you do this over the xbox entirely?
2) Is this service not available in Canada yet?
Hey John and Doug.
A comment and a question.
1. Another feature (you may have discussed it in the podcast as I haven’t listened yet) of this partnership is that people can watch a movie together all over the country (and hopefully soon, the continent). So, if you have a few people on your Live Friends List and they also have Netflix accounts, you can all stream the same movie at the same time. So, get drunk, order up a cheesy movie, and have drunken commentary. Gold!
2. Is there any chance that Netflix is coming up here to Canada? I would love to take advantage of this convenient system, but cannot do so until the Great White North gets Netflix.
I was so happy till I heard that you needed a gold account.
I’m still happy. . . just not as much.
HAHAHA. XBOX 360 rules. HALO, GEARS OF WAR fucking rule and will make amazing movies.
Fuck sony.
This is huge, I wonder if Sony will try to make a move with Blockbuster.
Now if only the XBOX360 wouldn’t break by just looking at it:)
This is great news for gamers who also happen to be netflix subscribers. For those who can’t wait, there is a plugin that allows you to incorporate Netflix with the 360, albeit with minor bugs and annoyances.
http://lifehacker.com/396881/turn-your-xbox-360-into-a-streaming-netflix-player
i watched the microsoft press conference this morning for E3 and it’s been a rumor for a while. But it’s great to see it finally coming. I believe it will be part of the fall update so i’m saying sept-nov. It’s gonna be great but it’s gonna make it harder to find reasons to leave the house.
damn now i have to buy a Xbox. Lets see what Sony will do now