Xbox and Netflix Taste Great Together
Filed under: Home Entertainment
I've ranted once or twice about some of the geekier goodies I've found through Netflix, but somehow this one got by me. It'd been a while since I'd visited Hacking Netflix, which is an excellent blog by the way, and it was there that I read ... huh, what's this? I can now view ALL* my "Watch Instantly" titles through my Xbox 360? Really? Well I just had to check that out.My system needed to update to the jazzy new 360 dashboard, but introducing my Xbox to my Netflix queue was remarkably easy. Now, you can't exactly browse through the Netflix website -- in fact the 360 system only accesses your WI queue. But I watched two episodes of Heroes (Season 3) and the whole of Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (starring James Caan AND Robert Duvall!) in one enjoyable sitting. (Yeah, I'm a good sitter.) Just another reason that Xbox is cooler than Playstation ... says the guy who plays games with his console maybe five times a year.
In other Netflix news, I've discovered a few more obscurities that might be worthy of note: In addition to the aforementioned Peckinpah film, I recently watched a few Gene Hackman ones from 1977: March or Die and The Domino Principle. Both uneven, but dang I love Gene Hackman. Other recent flicks include George C. Scott in The Hindenburg (meh), Marooned (more Hackman!), and THX 1138 (more Duvall!) And I finally saw the mega-weird Spider Baby. Sheesh. Frankly the Netflix Watch Insantly service has improved exponentially since they partnered up with Starz. Now there's NO excuse for me not to have a movie on at all times.
(* Nope, not all. Some of your queued titles will NOT be available via your 360. According to the HN blog, looks like it's all the Sony-owned titles.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2008 @ 1:08PM
JT said...
Netflix says the issues with the sony titles are not x-box specific. They are just having license issues I guess, so there is some hope. Check this link out.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/20/sony-pictures-netflix-issues-not-specific-to-xbox/
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11-20-2008 @ 1:39PM
Rufus said...
I actually do think it's Microsoft vs. Sony related, because I can watch my Columbia (Sony owned) movies instant on my PC and Mac, but all of a sudden, not on my streaming Xbox 360.
Oh, and amen on the Netflix/Xbox . It's so easy it's painless.
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11-20-2008 @ 3:00PM
Clark Parker said...
Perhaps the exciting field of Online Journalism affords him the privilege of not caring about a paltry* 50 bucks a year (or 7 -1/2 cents a day, if you prefer)... Or perhaps he is using Xbox silver, which retains most of the same features of Xbox gold, only without the ability to play games online. All you need is an Internet connection; something I imagine is a given considering his aforementioned career.
Personally... I am betting it's the former.
As for this Sony nonsense... They are bold-faced lying.
They pulled their films yesterday (the day this netflix service launched on the 360) and they did so only from the 360 itself, all other versions of the service still stream Sony films just fine. That's an awful big coincidence given the cutthroat competition these two companies are in. Pretty sad actually… Not that both sides don’t have their share of petty behavior.
*And it really is... Considering how much you get for that 50 bucks, it's more then worth it. The service is far more robust then either of it's competitors and with this New Xbox Experience, including Netflix, it's even more worth the 7 cents.
11-20-2008 @ 3:03PM
Clark Parker said...
Forgive me Rufus, the first half of my comment was directed at Exidor, down below, regarding why Scott would pay for Xbox Live.
11-20-2008 @ 3:45PM
Exidor said...
"Or perhaps he is using Xbox silver, which retains most of the same features of Xbox gold, only without the ability to play games online."
Obviously he's not using the Silver because that level doesn't give you the Netflix streaming. So he's paying for the Gold, and assuming it's the annual membership and he only plays 5 times a year, then he's paying $10 every time he plays. Not bank-breaking, but I wouldn't call it paltry. I suppose you could argue that he gets access to game demos earlier, too, but who would pay for that?
I'm just pissed that as a Netflix member and an Xbox360 owner who never plays online, I have to pay $50 a year if I want to use Netflix streaming.
And I'm sorry, but the new avatars are horrible.
11-20-2008 @ 1:57PM
Exidor said...
If Xbox really wanted to be cool, they wouldn't charge $50/year for this feature.
I'm curious, Scott. Why would you pay for XBL if you only play 5 times a year?
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11-20-2008 @ 4:05PM
Cam said...
Maybe writing for a blog allows you to write it off come tax time?
:)
11-20-2008 @ 2:17PM
filmmakingfiasco said...
I finally signed up for NetFlix because of their new service with the 360 I'm just doing their 2 week trial run but so far, I'm rather enjoying it. The first movie I watched was The Thing in HD.
It gives me a reason to start using my 360 again (that and Gears 2) but I'm still extremely partial to my PS3.
Can the Netflix stream not do 5.1 sound or am I missing something? Everything is in stereo that I've screened so far.
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11-20-2008 @ 4:04PM
Cam said...
I read somewhere (probably engadget or joystiq but am currently too lazy to find it for you) that the HD streaming is HD video, but stereo audio. Probably too much data to stream if they include 5.1 audio.
11-20-2008 @ 4:02PM
Cam said...
"(* Nope, not all. Some of your queued titles will NOT be available via your 360. According to the HN blog, looks like it's all the Sony-owned titles.)"
Hilarious!
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