Microsoft Announces TV and Movies for Xbox Live

PreacherTom writes "In the latest of several recent upgrades to their online service, Microsoft has announced that their Xbox Live service will begin offering movies and television on demand starting on November 22nd. All subscribers (including those using the free service) will have access to movies from Paramount and Warner Bros. along with TV shows from CBS and MTV. Prices haven't been officially released as of yet, but MS has stated that they are attempting to be competitive with similar services from iTunes and cable companies." There is lots of commentary out there on this one, so Read More to reference the many other sites discussing this story. Besides commentary on the announcement itself, Eurogamer has Sony's snarky commentary on this move by Microsoft.

Comments

Re:Haha

[ProppaT]

How can something be dominating when it has no competition? When the PS3 and Wii are released, then let the speculation begin?

My favorite part of Sony's commentary

[ProppaT]

Sony "would never segregate or shut out any of our consumers from our entertainment experience because they didn't buy the top of the line system."

I think you just did Sony. I sure as heck can't afford your console and, seeing that I've bought multiple PSX and PS2 systems (mainly because your hardware is garbage and dies after a few years of use) which definitely qualifies me as one of your consumers, you've pretty much "shut out" or alienated me. I much prefer MS's approach. Although I prefer Nintendo's the most. Keep it simple, keep it a console, offer something intriguing and new.

"All subscribers"

[Fishy]

I wonder if that really is all subscribers, or all *american* subscribers?

Unfortunately...

[Xest]

It seems to be US only judging by Major Nelson's comments. This seems rather silly when iTunes already has the US covered for downloadable content, it's as if companies don't want our money in Europe and the rest of the world. I'd gladly pay to download movies or TV shows such as Lost however they simply don't seem to be available in a legitimate form here.

I've heard some European countries are able to get some content, however not the same as is being made available to the US. We'll have to see how this plays out but whilst Europe is left behind by the media and entertainment companies with the later releases of the Wii and PS3 and so forth it's really no surprise that Europe has a noticeably smaller console market than Asia/US.

I really do think Europe is just crying out for goodies like this and the first company to offer something in full, and not at greedy profiteering higher price than the rest of the world that company is going to be onto an absolute winner. If Microsoft really isn't to give Europe the same movies and TV shows as the US here then they're really only letting themselves down however of course, that's not to say it's necessarily Microsoft's fault, I'm sure the movie industry has a lot to do with this having historically left Europe 6months or so behind in terms of film releases alongside charging it more even without taxes taken into account.

Now if only I was in a position to setup a company which could offer films and TV shows to Europeans at the same time and for the same price as the US, if no one else wants to rack up fortunes from the extremely strong Euro and British pound then I'll gladly take the money! ;)

Re:Haha

[THESuperShawn]

You make a very good point. However, I can see where they are coming from with their point of view. MS has had Xbox live for some time now on their last two generations (well both) of consoles. While the PS2 had online capabilities, there was no "centralized hub" from Sony in which to offer upgrades, expansion packs- well, anything at all. "Xbox Live" offered a centralized hub for updates at first, but has grown into something much, much more. No matter what your stance is on MS or the console market, you have to admit that MS has done a pretty good job. Hell, GameSpy and IGN basically offered more online content/features for the PS2 than Sony did.

Before I am labeled simply "pro-MS", let me say that I own a PS@ (and had a PS1) and will probably purchase other next-gen consoles as well. I am not a fan of a particular vendor, I am a fan of consoles, gadgets, and games.

I am actually hoping for Sony to launch a centralized portal for their systems. Nintendo (while not a Game Cube fan, I do have a DS) as well. I look forward to more options, (hopefully) competitive pricing structures (to keep prices down), and competition to keep content fresh and attractive.

All this on a 20gig hard drive???

[Rude Turnip]

Given that the Xbox 360 only has a 20 gig hard drive, I'm hoping these TV shows and movies will be priced as disposable rentals. Hell, use DRM to have them expire after 30 days, so long as you make them cheap enough on that basis. The few game demos that I have on my unit already eat well into that space.

Re:HD is too small for HD

[ben there...]

Assuming 12 Mbps VC-1 WMV, which would be about 3 GB per 1/2 hour episode, about 6 episodes or 2 movies. That would be decent HD. But MS will likely offer something near-to-streaming, about 500 kbps - 1 Mbps, making that at least 72 half hour episodes or 24 movies.

FTFA:

There are clearly some caveats that will slow the uptake of the service. First, downloading videos, particularly high-definition ones, is a time-consuming proposition. The speeds depend on the data transfer rate of the user's broadband connection. But for many folks, downloading a high-def movie will run about three times as long as the movie itself. That means customers will need to pick a movie when they walk out the door in the morning so that it's ready for viewing that night. Viewers can start watching programming in standard definition roughly two minutes after they begin downloading.

Sounds like SD will be 500 kbps or so, HD more like 1.5 Mbps. So 4 HD movies.

FTFA:

A second challenge comes from the ownership rights of the viewer--or the lack of it. After customers download a movie, they'll have two weeks to watch it. And once they start watching it, they'll have 24 hours to finish it before they are locked out. Customers can keep TV programs and watch them as long as they like. But there's no way to transfer the program to a laptop or CD for viewing later, say on a plane trip. It's locked to that Xbox Live account.

Sounds like movies will be similar to Cable VOD. TV episodes is like iTMS or Unbox, except only enough room for a few seasons of shows. Not being able to ever burn those shows makes them pretty much a waste of money, much worse than buying them from other services. They should be free, considering you're eventually going to need to delete them.

Well

[Sv-Manowar]

I'm all in favour of Microsoft's new plan, it will be good to see some more media content on the Xbox Live Marketplace rather than just game trailers or promotional clips, however what makes me worried is the size of these things. Take for example you are the average user of an Xbox and you download a few demos first (Need For Speed Carbon alone is 1.1gb) and then you decide to rent 2 movies or so. I'd say you will very quickly find yourself running out of harddisk space on premium consoles, or cores that have been upgraded. Especially the way they are letting people buy and keep TV shows, it seems as if they will need to start upping the hard drive sizes pretty quickly if they start offering this amount of content, not to mention the speed of the network which already almost grinds to a halt during weekends due to the huge amount of traffic. It will be interesting to see how it works out and how much competition there will be between the Xbox 360, the iTV and anything Sony can produce in the entertainment section with the PS3.