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Netflix to Offer Movie Downloads
kev0153 writes "Over at CNN Money they are reporting on a story about Netflix offering a video on demand over the web service in '05. They are also eyeing the multibillion-dollar video game market. "We're playing it a little defensively, because if we lose the digital download market, you'll soon be hearing about the rise and fall of Netflix," said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings."
They are also eyeing the multibillion-dollar video game market video game market.
They must be eyeing it with both eyes.
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Someone will still be upset about the DRM and decide to crack it. Then again movies are harder to distribute then mp3s. At least high quality ones.
The servers with the porn titles better have some mighty good hardware.
The coolest voice ever.
They are also eyeing the multibillion-dollar video game market video game market.
Hmmm - so they are going to market video games inside video games? Wow - that's like, so cool!
I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
I really wonder how they ever expect to have this idea profit, while shooting GB's worth of files constantly down the pipes, and if I can download it off bit torrent, why would I want to pay for it?
Cool idea, but some questions should be answered first
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Download speeds for files as large as full games and video are still too slow. Video download services are going to be a niche market until that can be improved. I hope netflix isn't staking their near term future on this.
I agree. I think the U.S. market is trying to push too much through the bandwidth. This ain't exactly Japan where everyone lives 3 inches away from each other with 100baseT networks.
Hastings expects that Internet VOD market is still relatively small, with relatively long download times for even those with cable or DSL Internet connections.
Is there a rental timeframe? Wouldn't it suck if your download didn't finish before the period was up?
"Just 5K more to go! Just -- "
"Sorry. Your rental period for 'My Pipes Need Cleaning' has expired. Thank you and please come again."
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I guess they want to take on the currently established market leader....Kazza. I just hope Netflix edits out those annoying messages, the ones that say this is a screener copy only so call this number if you are not suppose to be watching this.
DVD writers probably have something to do with this. With the release of personal dual layer DVD writers, the world of (DVD) movie rentals will change.
I don't think anybody can launch a Hollywood-movies-on-demand without having the cable companies on board. They can place servers closer to their users, and have the advantage of being able to allocate more bandwidth to themselves on their cable systems. They're going to have an advantage over any outside provider...
Is not announcing your product an entire year ahead of launch - giving your competitors plenty of time to catch up.
Case in point: Apple suprising everyone with iTMS - and than not getting a windows version out until all the other win music stores were released.
Uhh, the previous post should probably read:
They're still developing their Video-On-Demand system. That probably should read:
They are also eyeing the multibillion-dollar bufferring...bufferring... video game market.
I read an article about 6 months ago where the Netflix guys said they weren't interested in the video game market. I'm glad they've wised up.
In the meantime, Gamefly is an excellent video game rental service. The pricing and service are almost identical to Netflix.
So I get a video on demand over the internet - and I assume that it'll stream and make use of my cache (or some other temp file). If I keep the cache/temp file, does that mean I can keep/own the movie??
Or will these guys have some kind of no-cache proxy in place?
It's an online DVD rental system -- you pick out DVDs to rent, they mail them to you. You can keep them as long as you want, no late fees -- but you can only have three checked out at a time. $20/month, they pay for shipping both ways (USPS first class). Huge selection, lots of hard to find movies, in ~20 warehouses around the U.S.
I'm already copying and burning DVDs from netflix as fast as I can get them. Game rentals will be awesome for my stock pile.
Getting ready for the day when everyones dead, except me. And the power is still on. Oh yeah, and my girlfriend will be there too.
Yea for piracy. I love piracy. It feels like I'm making money!
It won't be easy to pull all of this off. VOD is going to require a wholly new infrastructure and business model for them. Renting video games might be a problem too, when people start "losing" the games. A DVD probably runs about $5 in bulk... a game will probably cost them $30 or more.
Still, it's great to see some innovation left in the dot-coms of the world....
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I'm sure they mean renting the actual disc, like they do for movies. I doubt that games would be downloadable, at least for the current generation of consoles.
Sony seems to be pretty interested in it as a future distribution method, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it in a couple of years. The story-driven, linear RPGs popular in Japan could work, if you are able to download the content as you go. Each night download the next few levels, and unless you run through a lot of the game in one sitting it wouldn't be a problem.
will they be starting abm.netflix? or maybe #netflix on some dcc friendly irc network??
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The article doesn't say that they are going to offer downloadable video games. It just says that they may enter the market for renting them.
The story-driven, linear RPGs popular in Japan could work,
Or the rocket-driven (but also linear) RPGs popular in Soviet Russia...
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To be honest, I can't see movies being so much quicker to license these rights to Netflix, even if it is larger than Greencine.
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"How can games be downloaded from netflix or any other place."
There's a relatively simple way, well simple if Microsoft lends a hand. XBOX's have a network port. Connect that to broadband. Then, create a disc that alters things on the XBOX a bit, where the data that should be coming through the optical drive is instead pulled in from the network connection. So, in essence, the data is pulled down from the net in real time as if the disc is in the drive. There are obvious issues here, but I've seen a variant of this technique done on the PC before. It'd require broadband and a special disc.
"Derp de derp."
Lion's Gate (LGF ) owns a majority stake in CinemaNow, the closest competition. LGF stock has been all over the place in the past few months due to Video-On-Demand deals with major studios. Unlike LGF, which grew from strength to strength after acquiring Artisan Films, is based in Hollywood, and has exclusive rights to several hundred movies as well as ties with the major players in the entertainment business, Netflix is more a rental mall for DVDs.
otoh, Netflix's CEO has been predicting his entry into the VOD market for the past few years, and they did trails with sample footage for most DVDs.
Competition's always beneficial to the consumer.
How did the MPAA not managed to shove similar legislation down our throats?
Has the video industry just not been successful at squashing Netflix via "senators-in-the-pocket", or are they actually embracing these rentals?
They deliver DVDs and games to your door in under an hour. Order your movies or games online or by phone and they'll be at your door before a pizza would.
Their trick is they have vans driving around with all of their inventory inside. Talk about bandwidth!
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I decided not to do business with Netflix a while back, because they send spam. (That's not my page, but the guy who posted it apparently got the same spam messages I did.) I encourage everybody to avoid doing business with them until they stop abusing our inboxes.
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