PlayOn video streaming beta playing on Wii now
by JC Fletcher 
{ Aug 26th 2009 at 2:00AM } 
There's a 14-day free trial of the software, after which you have to pay $39.99 for the full version -- by the way, we couldn't help but notice that the price has increased, and the duration of the trial decreased, since last year. $40 is kind of a lot, but not when compared to the cost of an Xbox 360 or another Netflix-capable device. Unless it turns out not to work well -- which many of us are no doubt on our way to determining right now.
[Via Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ripslymemc @ Aug 26th 2009 2:08AM
So we're one step closer to cloud computing?
Special Agent Steve @ Aug 26th 2009 7:24PM
AND ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND!
PR0F3TA (PSN - PROPHETA) @ Aug 26th 2009 2:26AM
is this like TViristy? Streaming... if so, why would i want to pay for media streaming?
oh and while i'm on the subject... fuck hulu for dropping ps3 browser support and honerable F U to YouTube for not letting me watch anything thats copywritten
MonKENy @ Aug 26th 2009 4:21AM
youre upvoted for that..I hate you tube now and I dont know what hulu is but fuck them too
Riley @ Aug 26th 2009 5:03AM
They don't allow copyrighted material because they don't want to get sued
Ben! @ Aug 26th 2009 7:23AM
Copywritten?
borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Aug 26th 2009 9:00AM
Well, not to mess with your unholy rage but it does Netflix and adds plugins like Revision 3 which save me a good deal of hard drive space. Plus, I've moved on from TVersity. PS3 Media Server is where its at for me now. Streaming 5.1, video_ts, and subtitles for the win.
Besides, I bet you haven't even tossed Tversity a 10-spot yet for your extended use of the product. There is value in rewarding products, yea even free ones, for helping you out. PlayOn's just not stupid enough to count on the charity of cheapskates.
Night Elve @ Aug 26th 2009 9:07AM
But what's the main advantages of PlayOn against TVeristy? I'm asking this because I use TVersity and if PlayON plays nicer well I might give it a chance.
borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Aug 26th 2009 9:27AM
"But what's the main advantages of PlayOn against TVeristy?"
They're not really direct competitors unless you count the Pro version of TVersity. PlayOn is meant more as a vehicle for media services (Hulu, Netflix, CBS, etc). They just added local streaming capability, but it's not up to the level of TVersity yet. And if you don't give two shits about media other than your own it probably isn't worth it.
They also have a library of plugins, though the only official one is for the Revision 3 network. I still have another media server (though as noted above, I did swap TVersity for Playstation 3 Media Server) for local content.
oxymoronx420 @ Aug 26th 2009 2:28AM
Tversity is a far better solution... and it's FREE!
Don't get duped folks, this is an ad.
754Boy @ Aug 26th 2009 2:42AM
I'd have to disagree. I've used both Tversity and Playon with my 360 and PS3. I personally think PlayOn wipes the floor with Tversity. $40 is too much to pay imo though. I bought it during their summer half off sale. It's constantly updated, plus there are many plugins available that add more internet media, including pr0n. Plus Hulu is great.
On the other hand, Tversity is free, and it does mostly the same lol.
Omega2k3 @ Aug 26th 2009 3:55AM
I'll have to agree with 754. I couldn't get TVersity to work, and PlayOn is working flawlessly with Hulu. I would definitely love a cheaper price though, I don't think I'll use it past the trial.
I couldn't even get TVersity to work with Hulu or anything other than stuff I could stream with Orb...
deaftly @ Aug 26th 2009 7:37AM
http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/
MUCH better than any other streaming software. Works with 360 also.
Ian @ Aug 26th 2009 9:50AM
Granted, I haven't tried TVersity in over a year, but when I did, it would crash at least twice a day. PlayOn has been rock solid since day one. It just plain ol' works on the 360 and PS3. I have no need to use it on the Wii, but PlayOn is worth the money for the plugins.
Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, BBC iPlayer, NFL.com, MLB.com plugins make it very worth it.
sleepypersons @ Aug 26th 2009 2:30AM
Seems pretty useless you really have to watch stuff on a TV.
Ian @ Aug 26th 2009 9:51AM
You and your friends like to sit around your PC and watch stuff on Hulu? Or would you rather sit in the livingroom and watch it on the TV. Unless you don't have any friends.
Seasick Pirate @ Aug 26th 2009 2:39AM
Any they still offer no Mac support. I tried using the trial in Bootcamp, but after ten minutes of troubleshooting (and three hours of installing programs) I gave up the ghost.
Q-Kid-Kyle @ Aug 26th 2009 11:05AM
agreed. where is the mac support. and it better damn well be snow leopard compatible when it does come out.
warioswoods @ Aug 28th 2009 9:23AM
You must be screwing something up. I've been running it in Boot Camp without a single issue or setup complication, and I've also run it equally smoothly within OS X by using VirtualBox, the freeware virtual-machine app.
Seasick Pirate @ Aug 28th 2009 10:32AM
Yea, I've read a lot of people have had success getting it to run, I just didn't feel like troubleshooting it very much at the time.
Adv2k1 @ Aug 26th 2009 2:52AM
Damn that's expensive.
for all the bureaucracy you need to set up i hardly think its worth it.
If I already have a computer to install the program why not just watch Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix on the monitor ?
yeah the wii or whatever might be in the living room so your paying for connivence, but $40 is excessive .
abelpc @ Aug 26th 2009 10:17AM
40 bucks is too expensive?.. You own a console right? How much gameplay do you get from an average game?
I don't want to go and "Advertise" but I don't regret the 1 time payment to stream both my 360 and PS3.
This isn't a monthly fee.. this is 10 bucks less than the top tier Wii games.
bkmulder @ Aug 26th 2009 3:06AM
I use Playon, and like it. I use it to watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which means I no longer have any reason to get cable (and consequently, don't). It's also easy enough that my wife can use it, and we can watch these shows on the couch together.
For some people it isn't worth the $40, I'm sure... but it's saving me hundreds.
bkmulder @ Aug 26th 2009 3:09AM
Note - obviously if you torrent all your video, then PlayOn doesn't add anything extra. But I like the convenience of streaming from Hulu and Netflix without having to mess with all that.
bkmulder @ Aug 26th 2009 3:15AM
And one more note - TVersity apparently does the same thing... if you buy the $30 Pro version. Slightly different feature set (no Netflix, it seems, but it does have support for some sites that PlayOn doesn't). Haven't used it myself, though, so I can't compare.
Either way, stop giving money to your cable company! HD broadcast is best over the air anyways!
Nobledevil @ Aug 26th 2009 4:03AM
I love PlayOn - $30 (cuz I got it nice and early) and I get Netflix and Hulu (among others that I gove a crap about) on my PS3.
It's incredibly convenient for watching a lot of shows like the day after they air on TV so you can watch your favorites on your own schedule. Daily Show or Conan during Lunch the next day? Hell yes.
Ryan Hamilton @ Aug 26th 2009 4:59AM
Hey, better late than never, Okay Nintendo, now all you need is a Hard Drive, HD and games people wanna play.
Nigeria: Charmy Bee DF @ Aug 26th 2009 5:43AM
"games people wanna play"
Says a guy rocking a Megaman avatar.
Ryan Hamilton @ Aug 26th 2009 5:51AM
OMG Megaman games aren't selling? You really got me lol. Oh yeah, Nintendo has all those popular games people wanna play, like um. That game with uh, yeah that game, wait wii sports resort, some violent cartoony game with chainsaws and a third party game guitar hero 5. Wait hold up, I gotta go play Halo, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, Batman Arkham Asylum, Ghostbusters with modern graphics, Shadow Complex, Bioshock, Mass Effect, on a real online community full of gamers. You go play your last gen games, posing as modern games on some half assed online baby community. What? Wii is the best selling system? Fact 80% of people who own the Wii don't play the Wii. Yeah you got played!, NEXT!
Kai Cherry @ Aug 26th 2009 6:10AM
"Fact 80% of people who own the Wii don't play the Wii. Yeah you got played!, NEXT!"
But *100% of the people that bought them* bought way more of them than Xbox360's (with damned near a year's head start...) and PS3's...so obviously for *more people* (like the million or so that *just bought* Wii Sports Resort...just in the US...) your XBox360 list doesn't really matter to them, huh?
Probably because they don't think $60 for a freaking *video game* is a remotely reasonable price to pay for dick-wagging rights to a frustration factory? Likely because it insures they are less likely to run into an ass like you on CussBox Live?
Only on the internet does someone find a way to sidestep the Number One Video Gaming Platform by pointing out the "advantages" of the...not Platform of Choice for consumers...the losers...the Number Twos.
Enjoy not being a Winner :)
Nigeria: Charmy Bee DF @ Aug 26th 2009 6:45AM
"on some half assed online baby community"
I have no retort to your pleasant prose, for I have no idea how I could ever possibly best 'baby community.' In fact, I have no reason for picking out these seven words of wisdom. It just struck me as very - I don't know. Maybe you'd be tad less angry if you didn't use video games as a substitute for your penis.
"Yeah you got played!"
I, so, just got served. WoooooooooO! Woo!
Mr Khan @ Aug 26th 2009 10:59AM
Your facts are intriguing to me, and i would like to subscribe to your monthly newsletter, or at least smoke whatever you're smoking.
Paper @ Aug 26th 2009 9:35AM
Well this is great news to me I shall give it a try to stream netflix to my ps3 tonight if it works then 40 dollars is worth it for the software considering the 360 wants me to pay 50 bucks a year on to top of my monthly netflix fees to use them to do it.
EL_WAPO @ Aug 26th 2009 9:52AM
I have playon and you can stream now to 360, PS3, and Wii which i have all 3 of these consoles. I got it half off I put up an antenna to get local digital HD stations looks beautiful. I also use playon for streaming TONS of internet TV. I've never used tversity but this is what I currently stream with Playon.
These are the officially supported ones
Netflix
Hulu
CBS
YouTube
CNN
Espn
Revision 3
And if you head to playonplugins.com you can also add
Crackle
Fights
SouthPark Studios
Carton Network
Adult Swim
Animal Planet
BBC
MTV
Spike TV
PBS
AnimeShippuuden
NFLTeams
Fox News
HGTV
Syfy
NFL.com
Foodnetwork
Nba
Academic Earth
Wimp
Podcasts
MyoutdoorTV
Does tversity have even half this content?
EL_WAPO @ Aug 26th 2009 9:56AM
Because of both the antenna and playon I got rid of cable tv...45 a month cable bill or 1 time 40 fee...I am saving tons of money.....Totally worth it there is actually too much content to consume.
Professor Lario @ Aug 26th 2009 10:57AM
We recently got rid of cable, but no ESPN is killing me. How is the ESPN coverage/quality? Is there a better way to get ESPN - on the cheap that is?
EL_WAPO @ Aug 26th 2009 11:17AM
Seems to be alot of clips or small segments dedicated sports news. It not like real espn currently where you can turn on sports center and they loops scores and game clips all day. If they have Monday night football this year thats good enough for me.
Professor Lario @ Aug 26th 2009 11:31AM
"If they have Monday night football this year that's good enough for me."
This is exactly my thought. How do I get these games without cable cheaply and legally?
I am sure there are p2p groups that share NFL games, but I don't really want to go that route.
abelpc @ Aug 26th 2009 10:11AM
@JC Fletcher ... I don't know what you are talking about the Price? it was 39.99 last year too.. sometimes they run a special of 29.99 which is what I payed.. but the software is 39.99.. 40 bucks isn't too bad for what you get. The Netflix thing is redundant for the 360 but it is a welcome feature for my PS3.
Eric @ Aug 26th 2009 10:16AM
It blows my mind that people think $40 is too much for PlayOn. I can only imagine those people live with their parents and don't have to pay the cable bill.
I went from paying $60 a month for cable, and constantly having techs come out to fix crap,-- to Playon (which I got for $30 because I bought it early.--at $40 it's still well worthwhile) and an antenna for network broadcasts.
I run it on the 360 in the living room, and on my modded original Xbox(w/ XBMC) in the bedroom. Haven't tried it on the Wii yet.. that will be in my second bedroom once I get a tv in there.
It's seriously one of the best software purchases I've ever made, and I've used it more hours than any of the $60msrp Xbox-360 games I own, that's for sure!
Eric @ Aug 26th 2009 10:20AM
Also, about some of the things in the OP..
I don't recall the trial being longer than 14 days.. but my memory could be off
$29.99 was their introductory price-for those who purchased while the software was still in Beta. they also run specials occasionally for $19.99 or $29.99
abelpc: Netflix is redundant on 360 *unless* you don't have a gold Live account..
Highlar @ Aug 26th 2009 10:31AM
Sounds interesting. I only have a Wii for now, though, so is there anyone that has tried the Beta and can tell me how well it works with that system? I've always wanted Hulu on the TV and hated that the Wii's browser isn't compatible with it (yet if ever). Comments on the Wii beta in particular would be much appreciated, as it sounds like it works pretty well via the PS3/360.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Aug 26th 2009 10:55AM
This sound cool but can the Wii handle this? I don't want my Wii to blow the fuck up.
EL_WAPO @ Aug 26th 2009 11:27AM
It uses your browser so it should be fine. There will be reduced video quality I assume.
I've been using orb to stream video form my PC to my wii forever now it works well and my wii is still working great.
So i assume it will be pretty much the same.
alamos @ Aug 26th 2009 11:28AM
Common sense tells me that Wiis won't explode on attempting to stream media. It probably will explode anyway.
EL_WAPO @ Aug 26th 2009 11:34AM
@ alamos
Wii has the lowest failure rate of all the consoles. So I doubt that very much.
Professor Lario @ Aug 26th 2009 11:13AM
Are there advantages to streaming Netflix over a service like this rather than off of the 360 client?
EL_WAPO @ Aug 26th 2009 11:24AM
Not really the 360 client is probably your best bet. The quality is better its fast and no double converting. Also with the 360 now you can view the whole library and play them. You don't have to add movies to your queue on PC then run them on the 360 Playon has the advantage if you have a ps3 or a wii OR any upnp device so playon works for alot of devices not just wii 360 and ps3.
Altho a new playon update mentioned you can view all netflix movies so maybe you don't have to add movies to the queue on your PC anymore ill have to test.
Eric @ Aug 26th 2009 1:24PM
just that you dont have to pay for a Gold membership. if you need a gold membership anyway, the 360 netflix player is better
dronesensor @ Aug 26th 2009 5:13PM
EL_WAPO,
"Also with the 360 now you can view the whole library and play them. You don't have to add movies to your queue on PC then run them on the 360..."
Nah, that's not true at all. There are lists for newly movies and TV shows, but you can't browse the entire Netflix Instant Watch library from your 360.