Netflix is Streaming Movies Directly to the Xbox 360

by Joe Stewart on Tue, 2008-11-18 14:47

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Netflix' New Xbox Experience premieres nationwide November 19. This helps Microsoft achieve their long held goal of creating a set top box for television viewing. The Xbox 360 stands out from other Netflix-ready devices to let users instantly watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix.

According the the press release, "Netflix members simply add movies and TV episodes from a growing library of more than 12,000 choices to their instant Queues at the Netflix Web site. Those choices are automatically displayed on the TV screen via the Xbox 360 and, once selected, will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds." There is no additional monthly fee for Netflix members who are also Xbox LIVE Gold members.

Comments

Netflix

Submitted by Traume (not verified) on Tue, 2008-11-18 16:09.

Netflix is a good company. I'm glad to see them leading the way with this.

Works great!

Submitted by webbster (not verified) on Fri, 2008-11-21 06:22.

I signed up for Netflix through xbox on the premiere day of the new xbox live and everything went very smoothly. When everything was set up, I was able to watch movies of my choice and they streamed great with no problems and good quality--as good or better than the on-demand movies I get through the cable company. One caveat perhaps is that some of the process does require using your pc and is not done completely through the xbox. Most of the account set up and putting movies into your queue is handled through Netflix's web site. Not a problem for me and I prefer typing through a regular keyboard but for some it might be. One thing I really like is the way the queue is handled on the xbox when you are selecting your movie. You just scroll through the "3-d" dvd covers on the screen and select the one you want to play. Player controls work fine and you can fast forward and rewind your video, pause, all the regular features you would expect. Also if you stop watching, it remembers your place until you restart it. Also, unlike my cable company's on-demand movies, you don't have to watch the movie within 24 hours of starting it. It evidently stays in your queue until you remove it. There is also no apparent limit on the number of movies you can have in your queue. Of course not everything Netflix offers for rental is available for instant viewing, but the selection and variety is very good. I give it 2 thumbs up.

Thanks for the great report

Submitted by Joe Stewart on Fri, 2008-11-21 09:39.

Thanks for the great report on your experience using Netflix on the 360. I was wondering about having to make the choices via the PC and whether that would be a hassle. I'm curious if being able use the Xbox only is planned, or is there some limitation in the Xbox interface that Netflix just wants to keep their regular website interface.