Battlestar Galactica flying onto Xbox Live [update 1]
by Joystiq Staff 
{ Aug 10th 2006 at 10:55AM }
We know a lot of you out there love you some Battlestar Galactica. Nay we say it's the best show on television? You better frakkin' believe it! Well get ready for more of the Sci-Fi Channel's hit series as it prepares for a PR offensive that includes the "first longform program ever to be offered" on Xbox Live Marketplace, according to GameSpot.The content being offered up, titled The Story So Far, is in preparation for the third season of Battlestar and more or less sums up everything that has happened in the series. There was no concrete date set (but the new season starts in October) or price. We can only hope because it is basically an advertisement, that the content will be free. If it is, we'd say this is a good sign of varying entertainment options being made available to the 360 and Xbox Live.
[Update: NBC Universal reps told GameSpot that the Battlestar Galactica episode would be free of charge and available in mid-September. The rep was unclear as to the size of the download.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andrew Yoon @ Aug 10th 2006 11:11AM
Yes, BSG IS the best show on TV. Period.
Tim Sykes @ Aug 10th 2006 11:19AM
sweet I love that show.
potato @ Aug 10th 2006 11:22AM
If they start selling TV shows on Live, I'm *so totally in* For one thing, unlike Apple, if you lose your files you can always re-download them, so no need to worry about backups and whatnot.
That and the Xbox is hooked up to the TV in the first place... the PC is not.
rjg @ Aug 10th 2006 11:24AM
Best show on TV? I keep reading this statement on various sites about BSG and I keep wondering if you people have ever seen a little show called LOST? Granted BSG is a top show, but after the way Season 2 ended I have serious concerns they are on the road to Smallville (aka, too many pointless and illogical non-arc story episodes that detract from the parts of the show that rocks hardests). I just hope these guys get a clue and watch some old Babylon 5's - that show knew how to keep the major story arc going without faultering. BSG is good, but unless they turn this thing around in Season 3, LOST, Rescue Me and even The 4400 are going to put some distance on them in the interesting plot department. I'll still watch BSG Season3 but they are on the edge of losing me and a few of my friends because of the haphazard plot development that seems to be taking over. I expect to get severaly frakked for my opinion however. ;)
CartoonBeaver @ Aug 10th 2006 11:33AM
Guess it's time to buy an XBOX 360!!!! Battlestar Galactica is the best thing since sliced bread!
cringer8 @ Aug 10th 2006 11:34AM
Oooh, oooh, Mr. Summa, Mr. Summa...Over Here!!
There's a typo! I see it right there in sentence two. It should say "may" instead of "nay!"
I'm so smart I should get a reward *smugness*
RP @ Aug 10th 2006 11:35AM
If they started selling HD episodes on live, I would never leave the couch again.
wakusei @ Aug 10th 2006 11:37AM
This is great news! Battlestar is an incredible show. I imagine we'll be hearing about that bigger HDD any day now...I'm assuming these are coming in HD. 12 episodes in the new season + the old eps and miniseries as well?
One can only hope. Regardless, I'm in.
Ryan @ Aug 10th 2006 11:42AM
Actually Cringer, it should say "nay". There should, however, be a comma after it. They aren't using the "nay" correctly, but what can you do?
cringer8 @ Aug 10th 2006 11:55AM
I'm not a Battlestar fan, but I can't take my eyes off that lady's stomach. What a sexy tummy. I just wanna raspberry it. *phtlllblllbbllbblllbblll* Yummy.
Jdoki @ Aug 10th 2006 11:59AM
I'd say a bigger HDD is on the cards if MS are going down this route - probably just in time for Christmas!
I just hope it's a significant upgrade from the 17Gb we get at the moment. I'd be hoping, realistically, for 160Gig, but suspect it'll come in at 80G - just to edge out the PS3.
potato @ Aug 10th 2006 12:09PM
Meh... BSG is a great show, but if you want to talk about totally-kickass-but-totally-unknown show, talk Veronica Mars.
It rivals BSG in sheer kickassery, but gets killed in ratings 'cos it's on UPN (ewww UPN). Look for it on the CW this fall.
OtakuCODE @ Aug 10th 2006 12:26PM
If they offer any content via Xbox Live that is fully HD and has surround sound... they will be knocked on their asses at the response. There is a large market absolutely DESPERATE for this kind of stuff. In most markets, it's only available through illegal channels right now.
I've been waiting ages for someone to approach it correctly... now let's start with TV in full HD glory, and move on to movies. On the day of their release in the theater. Soderberg style. I may have misspelled his name but Soderberg is a visionary and knows the way things will have to go down once someone has the nuts to tell the movie theaters that $12 for a cup of popcorn in a noisy crappy theater with sticky floors and a blurry screen is not our idea of 'fun' now that home theaters are cheap and easy to setup.
RazorElite @ Aug 10th 2006 12:34PM
TV shows on XB Live would be quite a great idea. If they are ad free and HD, they could charge ~$1 per episode or whatever. The BIG problem is, however, the hard drive. I'm pretty sure these shows would come in at 500+mb each, and it'd take just about a season of one show to full up your hd. This probably won't be a good idea until a larger hd is released.
Pip @ Aug 10th 2006 12:50PM
LOST is very good, but it isn't on the same level of greatness as BSG. I think it would be a great idea to put the two hour pilot on the marketplace for free. That pilot is greater than most movies out there. Incredible cast and plotline.
Riot9 @ Aug 10th 2006 12:51PM
I know that you can play media off of hard drives plugged into the USB ports on the 360, but I don't think you can save anything to the drives from the 360. In addition to a larger 360 hard drive, I think they should allow users to redirect things they're saving to an external HD (At very least just video). I'm sure they could come up with a way to protect the data from being distributed.
I'd love to buy HD episodes of my favorite shows. They just need to be sure we have enough space. Allowing users to save shows to an external drive would ensure this.
RP @ Aug 10th 2006 12:52PM
A TV episode won't be any bigger than a demo, right? I have about 9 demos on my 360 right now, and I would gladly give up that space for some Battlestar, especially if Live remembers my purchase and allows me to delete and redownload old shows that I already own. I would definitely buy a season of HD Battlestar, and why not throw in some HD Firefly (which was just announced for UniversalHD)?
potato @ Aug 10th 2006 1:13PM
MS won't ever allow storing of XBLA content to external non-verified devices, so we call all stop dreaming :)
But, at the same time, if the content can be played while it's being streamed, that'd be perfect. Even on a 20GB drive, I'd only keep a couple movies around, and delete the rest. I love how you can re-download at will from XBL, since all your purchases are tracked to your account. So if I want that obscure episode of something, I can always go back and stream it.
AK @ Aug 10th 2006 1:14PM
Riot9, you can if you have media center. Just download it on your computer, and watch it from your 360.
It workks well once you get it all synched up.
The only thing that I don't like is that you only get stereo output, not 5.1.
rjg @ Aug 10th 2006 1:16PM
The BSG mini series is incredible - esp. in HD. But overall the story of the series has not sustained the level of writing of the current truly great shows on TV right now like Lost and Rescue me. It's fine if you are convinced otherwise, but if you look at the awards these show in particular have garnered, clearly Lost is pounding everything, and Rescue Me is doing quite well critically too (as is BSG but no where near Lost). Storywise, it's not even close, esp. when you look at the mess BSG has become at the end of season 2. I suppose it comes down to your background and how much you've read/written in your life because plotwise, Lost and Rescue Me are so beyond what BSG's plot is doing it isn't even funny. Right now BSG isn't even on par with Babylon 5 or Star Trek: Next Generation. It's between Next Gen and Deep Space Nine right now and it doesn't have to be. The way it started out, it was on the road to being the best Sci-fi TV show ever. It's possible they can turn it around - and I hope they do, I'm a fan, just not a fanboy - but as it stands right now, other shows have their plotlines running much much smoother than BSG. I'm convinced people that disregard Lost and Rescue Me simple haven't watched more than a few episodes. Much like Babylon 5, these show don't reveal their true brilliance until you are deeply involved in their respective heady storylines. Perhaps age plays a factor... I started programming on the Atari 400 to put this all in perspective. ;)
AK @ Aug 10th 2006 1:17PM
Sorry, I misunderstood your post.
You can't save things from XBL to your pc. My bad.
Zieb @ Aug 10th 2006 1:57PM
Woot, can't wait, and yes Battlestar Galactica is the best show out there!
SmittyX @ Aug 10th 2006 3:28PM
I have to agree. BSG is a great show. However, it comes in 2nd place for me as there is nothing better than 24. But if BSG comes to XBLM I am definitely in.
Jack-off-Thompson @ Aug 10th 2006 3:33PM
!!!
FREE!!!
from gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6155564.html?tag=latestnews;title;3
"[UPDATE] NBC Universal reps told GameSpot that the Battlestar Galactica episode would be free of charge and available in mid-September. The rep was unclear as to the size of the download"
PiratePete @ Aug 10th 2006 6:00PM
I'm a fan and fanboy of BSG. If you think about it what they have done with the IP is realy great. I never expected it to be that good.
fcodc :: Exploding Barrels @ Aug 10th 2006 6:15PM
If Microsoft started offering HD programming through the Marketplace (along with a bigger hard drive) and stuck it with a fair price (I like Apple's $2 dollar model) per episode, it could easily be one of the best services, hands down. The 360 would become THE media center of the future.
Keelog @ Aug 28th 2006 10:12PM
I'll care when The Shield hits my 360. Or Law and Order: SVU. Or CSI. Until then. I couldn't care less. But it could open the door for those shows, so I care.