Happy birthday Xbox 360! For your first birthday, daddy got you something really cool ... downloadable movies and television shows! While the PS3 Blu-ray marketing machine is busy selling folks high-def movies on little discs, Microsoft decided to forgo the discs and just sling the bits straight into your 'box. They already spilled the beans on this one a couple weeks ago, and we even picked Microsoft's Scott Henson's brain on it, but there was still one thing they wouldn't dish on: the price.
Prices are broken down into six categories: new release movie rentals, classic rentals, and television purchases, with high-def and standard-def offerings in each.
New releases
"Classic" feature film Television purchase So far they've got 48 movies and 50 TV shows broken down between 2 movie studios and 12 television networks. We're surprised Universal, who're supporting the HD-DVD and Zune platforms in a big way, didn't climb on board for the initial launch but we're certain there's a warehouse full of lawyers working to get more content partnerships established. Pics of the service after the break.
[Update: Video of the service added after the break]
Nothing new here ...
What's that? Movie and TV Shows and Star Trek?
The Movies page. KHAAAAAAAAAAN!
9-1/2 Weeks totally nails the lonely teenager demographic ... well, it doesn't nail it. You see, what we meant was ...
A classic, to be sure (and one of our favorites) but it didn't win the Academy Award for best picture in 2006! At least the prices reflect the "classic" scheme.
V for Vendetta on the other hand is most certainly a new release and priced accordingly.
Here's a classic without a high-def counterpart. We wonder if there will be a reduced fee upgrade option should one arrive ...
If you can't see The Lake House in high-def, then why bother, y'know?
High-def movie trailers; another arena where Microsoft is challenging Apple's dominance.
The TV Shows page ...
More Star Trek. What are they trying to say?
More demographically astute programming.
You can search by network so you can keep all your CW shows in one place!
Check out the branded sub-pages. Pretty swanky.
Where's our Daily Show? We're guessing the whole "daily" part may be a problem.
Some shows even have the network branding built right in there, like CSI here.
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(Page 2) Reader Comments
I'm surprised there's so much whining going on here. It's a service that you don't have to use if you don't like it. Microsoft also has a good track record of improving the IU of the dashboard and adding good content on Xbox Live. Looking forward to seeing where this goes from here...
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Sure, but my computer is not hooked up to my 90" projector.
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You're absolutely right. Sony will come out with a better service. If anything can attest to this fact, it's the awesome shape Sony's current online implementation is in...
...oh wait
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http://www.kotaku.com/
they have 2 posts with a full list of both tv shows and movies. basicaly its alot of content more than even i expected
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ahtheirony-shoo fly, you just fucking bother me
maximus-rental, means temporary ownership, look it up
you can add a standalone USB hard drive to your 360 if you're freaked about space. so that isn't an issue. as far as the price, where the hell are you going to get HD movies rented for less than $6? netflix? go ahead. but this is content available in just a matter of how long it takes to download. cutting netflix out from shipping time. i don't understand why so many people feel the need to bitch about everything. but then again, i bitch about the bitchers, so what? that's more fun to point out how stupid they sound.
check here for additional storage:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/mods/USB%20Hard%20Drive%20Mod.htm
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That's really the deciding factor to me. If it's HD and compressed too much to allow faster downloading it will still look like crap.
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So, far, only South Park is worth trying.
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The only problem with that is that you can not write to the drive, only read off of it. For whatever reason MS has locked that capability. Here's hoping they change their tune soon.
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and this service seems alright, it takes less time to download than for netflix to ship, plus i dont have to deal with my local Blockbuster being OUT OF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME.
Plus there is a device that lets you transfer files from your 360 to your pc. im at work so i dont have the link. WEEEEEE
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3 dead consoles? I'll believe it. 3 dead HDDs? I call bullshit. Sure almost everyone I know has had a launch box crap out but so far I haven't heard of 1 person who's had their HDD die on them. Seriously, now...do you even have a 360?
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5+ gigs is large and will take a while.
Joystiq, why don't you download one and tell us how long it took.
Just looking on Amazon, most Blu-Ray and HD-DVD titles are $18-$28 new.
I guess $6 is reasonable, but not a steal.
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HD Movies I can probably do without, but I'm sure there will be one or two I'll spring for.
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Great job on the service and the look and feel of it all.....although $6 for an HD movie is a too steep for me.....I like the TV setup though....being able to DL and keep certain episodes of the shows is cool.......
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Too late, Microsoft. HD-DVD should have been in the box since last year.
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It takes about 15 minutes or less to download a 1 gb game demo. Someone said earlier that they tried it today and it allows you to start watching the video before it it finished downloading.
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Somebody needs to read again. I never said 3 dead consoles. I said I'm on my third console. I have 1 now, so 1 - 3 = -2. 2 Dead consoles. Again, 2 dead HDDs; the third one has yet to be sent by MSFT, which seems to be too cheap to actually pay UPS. The one that came with the console died, and the 2nd one they sent didn't work to begin with. Capisce?
"ahtheirony-shoo fly, you just fucking bother me"
Truth hurts, I know.
"You're absolutely right. Sony will come out with a better service. If anything can attest to this fact, it's the awesome shape Sony's current online implementation is in...
...oh wait"
I love how everyone does the "oh wait" thing. Try something more original next time. And by the way, try playing Resistance and being sarcastic again. It's better than Gears of War already. NO LAG, unlike microsofts LIVE service, which isn't even free!
"Yeah, if you are a loser.
I have a 10 mbit connection and it seems to be working pretty nicely to me.
Enjoy your ps3 fanboy."
LOL, nice argument man. I mean, you don't have a 10Mbit connection, THEREFORE you MUST be a loser. God you crack me up. Anyway, I have a 10 Mbit either, and I don't think it is enough anyway. 54 Mbit connection is too far away unless you live in Japan, Sweden or London. They have 1Gigabit even, but not where I live. You need at least 54 Mbit to stream HD content. So yes, it's not enough. Thanks for not getting the point though, that cracked me up. Priceless.
Frosty22 (#42) is calling himself an idiot. LOL.
I find it ironic that "360_haters_suck" calls me "dumb enough", but anyway, PS3 is already "the shit". Learn to use Linux. Learn to install new HDDs. And the movie store is coming really soon, so really there isn't much to fuzz about this, unless Sony never sells movies of music through PS3. Common sense tells us that it's coming too soon, as they need income to keep financing PS3.
So many 360 fanboys here at joystiq. Incredible.
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Now granted, this feature is launching with limited titles at the moment, however, I have no doubt that Msoft will improve the titles in the near future. I feel the price is comparable to what an HD rental would be.
Now the TV show feature is awesome. Oddly enough, I have a HDtv, but basic limited cable, and no Tivo function. So this is welcomed news to me and I will use it. The only drawback is the storage space, however, I am willing to bet that Msoft will announce a newer HDD after Xmas (so it doesn't interfere with Holiday sales).
Good job Msoft, keep up the good work.
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This translates bad for Canadians, $5 for a TV show seems steep after you download a full 24 episode season.
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I'll skip stragight to your RFOM comment as the rest of your response is assanine at best.
If you look at Joystiqs page, what's one of the first stories you see? How the PS3 had less than 200,000 units for North America at launch, which they sold. Less than 100,000 copies of RFOM, a game that isn't that great to begin with. Now add to the fact that even getting online with your PS3 is retarded and what do you have? Sony fanboys gushing. I'm not surprised, unless you had an Xbox or a 360 you wouldn't know what console online gaming is like as the PS2's online was, well it was the PS2 online, nuffsaid.
Get back to me when Sony actually has some units out, you know numbers that matter, and all those people who buy ROFM try and play at the same time. Enjoy your crap online service while you can, all 12 of you. You get what you pay for, just because it's free doesn't mean it's quality and you and millions of other PS3 fanboys will soon see, well maybe not sone as Sony is having severe production issues, but nonetheless you'll all see the difference between a software company that knows online and has invested the time and money to do so (MS) and a hardware company, albeit an over priced hardware company (sony).
Just remember I told you so. Oh yeah, before I forget, the next time you talk to Ken, let him know the only emotion I got from the emotion engine was anger as people are still waiting for the emotion, hell i'm still waiting for Toy Story graphics.
Anyway, when you come to your senses just remember, it's never to late to "Jump in" instead of "Paying Beyond"
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oh and there is a workaround for this.
1. Create a new hotmail account based in the US
2. Create a new live account linked to the hotmail account created in step 1
3. Purchase MS points cards
4. Download and enjoy!
You will requre a full zip code and US phone number but thats quite easily found on google/msn
etc
Can someone please confirm that silver users can fully access this service too?
oh yeah... the network is laggy tonight, i think its been really put thru its paces...
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Its amazing how you have the psychic ability to bash a game you never played, RFOM. All the revieweres couldnt possible be wrong if they all say the online play is great. These reviewers have all played 360 games, and for them to say that, means something. No reason to get so defensive...
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The 360 video marketplace seems like a good deal as far as rentals go. Competitive rental pricing and convenient, plus you save a little more by not having to drive back and forth to the rental shop.
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It's pretty cheap too. If there was a new release out and it looked good, instead of travelling the whole way to the video store and spend more money, I can use the afternoon to download it (or background download it! :) ) and then watch it in HD glory in the evening!
Class!
One question though, if the movies expire, can I still transport them to another 360 to watch them there instead of just on the box I download it to?
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I checked the MS website (xbox.com) but couldn't see anything. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you and goodnight :)
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However, back to reality, Sony doesn't offer anything like this yet, so if you hate Sony, you have nothing to worry about... Right?
I think I'd rather just buy the HD movies on disc (HD-DVD or Blue-Ray) - storage is taken care of for you.
I think the writing's on the wall: If Microsoft wants to sell you a HD-DVD player that plugs in and sits next to the 360, and then tries to offer you a downloadable movie in excess of 5 gigs when they only give you 13 gigs to deal with, then a 'Media Center 360 with built in HD-DVD and 100gig hdd' for $600-700 is likely in the pipeline.
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If you find a movie you really like, by the time you've rented it 2 or 3 times, you've already spent enough to just buy a copy.
Rentals, unless they're free, are just not worth it to me.
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1. Even though the official 360 HD is only 20GB, couldn't you just hook up an external HD with as much memory as your heart could desire??
2. For people who use XBox live, how fast are your download speeds? Just trying to gauge how long a 6GB file would take to download.
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Oh... and good luck finding a PS3. With roughly only 150,000 units available in the US and less than half a million world wide, Sony is set up for failure. They are already talking of putting Metal Gear 4 on the 360 because there simply aren't enough PS3 consoles for game developers to make a profit. Why do you think Assassin's Creed is 360 bound now? The PS3 will have its place, but it shouldn't even have launched yet in my opinion. I'll wait for it to be $300 and for Parappa 3 or Um Jammer Lammy 2.
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It's every episode of southpark for friggin free.
Also, my blog has several shows. intipsicated.blogspot.com
Click the index link. King of the hill is a broken links for now.
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