“You don’t need to invent anything, you just have to do traditional research where you look at history and then compliment that with scientific research where you’re trying to do something new. That can lead to a lot in the business and technology sectors these days” – Bill Buxton
A chat with Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton, Part I
Ever since the New Xbox Experience was released a couple weeks ago people all around me want to know what my opinion on the Netflix HD video service is and how it compares to Sony’s flagship HD media option, Blu-ray. It’s hard to compare the two considering one is a download service and the other is a physical product. For argument’s sake let’s look at them this way: they both offer HD content to a general public that knows very little about high-definition media and what it has to do with entertainment. The statistics are overwhelming in favor of low-resolution DVDs and non-digital television leaving one to think that neither Netflix HD nor Sony Blu-ray really matter all that much to anyone other than gamers and computer nerds.
Personally I think there is not an assumption in the world that is more wrong. HD content is the future of movie and television entertainment, it’s only a matter of time before the FCC follows through and removes non-digital cable and more companies jump on the high-definition bandwagon. For that reason alone this battle between Blu-ray and the Netflix HD service on the Xbox 360 is important to everyone who cares about this form of entertainment. I will look at the positives and negatives of each service and at the end choose a sole winner, based only on these points and my personal interaction with the service (which has ramped up over the past month for purposes of this article). This is only a comparison of the actual Xbox 360 Netflix service, as that is what most of our readers would want to know about.
Blu-Ray: It’s well-known that the major reason Blu-ray was able to conquer HD-DVD in the format war was the release of the Playstation 3, which had a built in Blu-ray player and was offered at a much lower price than anything the competition could sell. Once the format war was over and Blu-ray won it’s right to be the lone-provider of disc-based HD content to consumers most thought this was the end; it was Blu-ray or nothing (see below why this is not the case). Blu-ray has a ton of positive things going for it: 1) the resolution is unbeatable, 2) it is easier to sell movies in a physical form, for now, 3) thanks to the PS3 it has a huge user-base, and 4) many studios exclusively support Blu-Ray for their HD content. The negatives for me are a bit more serious: 1) expensive (around $20 per movie), 2) expansive but not complete catalog of available films, 3) physical nature of Blu-rays can be destroyed/lost/damaged, and 4) inconvenience of going to brick-and-mortar store to pick-up/purchase a Blu-ray (or delivery time from internet).
Netflix HD: It was a big day when Microsoft announced that it’s New Xbox Experience (NXE) would include the option to use Netflix’s service right from the comfort of your own home via the Xbox 360 console. At first I was a bit skeptical but after some time with the service it has become a daily thing in our family’s home. If there is some down-time me and my wife pull up the Netflix webpage, put some movies in our queue and sit down to decide what to watch. The process is so simple that I have taught my brothers, sister, and parents how to do it (they all now use Netflix instead of their Blockbuster subscriptions). For me the positives of the integrated Netflix HD service are overwhelming: 1) ease of use, 2) availability of HD movies, documentaries, and television shows (lots of unknown content), 3) instant access (no wait for store trip or delivery time), and 4) decent HD quality of content. The few negatives are: 1) not as large of a selection as Blu-ray and 2) depending on internet issues watching movies can be a hassle.
And the winner is . . . Netflix HD, by a small margin. This could change over time and feel free to bash and/or disagree with my opinion. The future of entertainment is heading in a downloadable direction, personally I have been getting a lot more use out of the Netflix service than my growing Blu-ray collection. People want instant access to things, and Netflix HD is currently the best option for that. Only time will tell if the service continues to be supported and the movie selection continues to grow. Sound off in our forums by clicking the link here or in the comments section below.
Source: PlanetXBOX360
Tags: NetFlixHD, Xbox 360, Blu-Ray, Sony HD movies, nxe, Xbox Live
Source: Blorge.com
This generation has seen a new battleground for the console wars: the online community offerings. Up to now, few would argue that the Xbox 360 has ruled the roost, with Xbox Live offering a brilliant and user-friendly place for gamers to congregate. But the battle lines are now being redrawn as the all-new Xbox Live attempts to go up against Home on the PS3.
The Tokyo Game Show has brought few surprises, but some interesting announcements, nonetheless. In terms of the new online offerings from both companies, Sony confirmed that its long-awaited Playstation Home service, exclusive to the PS3, will be here by the end of the year; while Microsoft announced details of its New Xbox Live ‘Experience’ – coming to a 360 near you on November 19th.
Home has been a long time coming and there are still mixed views over whether it will actually live up to the hype built over the past three years. It’s still not quite here, currently stuck in private beta, but a full, open beta has been promised before the end of 2009.
Home will allow PS3 owners to create an avatar and decorate their own apartment. They will then be able to live out a virtual life, online, in a kind of Second Life way. Community will be the order of the day, with meeting new people, chatting, hanging out together and generally cohabiting being the main bulk of the experience.
Other features will include a virtual cinema, showing movies, stores by companies such as EA, Rockstar, and Sega, and of course the chance to play against other gamers online for free.
The New Xbox Live ‘Experience’ demonstrates a whole new way of thinking by Microsoft. According to an interesting look at the new online playground by CNET, the Experience is mostly about the new avatars, which themselves are just a rip off of Wii Miis.
Another new feature will be ‘Parties’, a new way of interacting with friends and keeping track of who’s playing what. But apart from that, there doesn’t look to be too much to get excited about. And to be honest, I can see many Xbox Live veterans not being happy at the changes, clearly intended to appeal to the more casual end of the gaming spectrum.
I can see both services having difficulties for a few months, with Xbox 360 owners struggling to adapt to the changes while PS3 owners will have to come to grips with the complete change of pace on their network. In the end though, despite all the difficulties, delays and disappointments in getting Home here, I think it’ll prove to be the ultimate winner.
Tags: Microsoft, Opinion, PS3, PlayStation 3, Sony, Xbox 360, Xbox Experience, Xbox Live
Microsoft has announced at the TGS08 that the release of the New Xbox Experience – in 24 countries, localized in 19 languages, is coming to everyone on November 19th.
Tags: NewXbox Experience, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
While you worrying about Xbox Live being down for another 4 hours last night, a new feature was added to the New Xbox Experience feature list. Xbox Live users who this fall take advantage of the Netflix Instant Stream service, can now experience Starz Play. Starz and Netflix inked a deal to provide Netflix users with Starz Play access as part of there Netflix subscription.
Not stoping there, Netflix also added CBS and ABC to their list of partners. This fall Netflix will have all CBS and ABC shows on demand 24 hours after its original show time. These deals add significantly to a growing library of over 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly through your Xbox 360.
Source: Analoghype.com
Tags: XBOXLive, XBOX Experience, XBox Live Experience, Netflix, Starz Play
Source: Analoghype.com
With Xbox Live down for maintence, everybody is digging for more information on the upcoming Xbox Live experience. Saturday, Xbox released a new site to preview some of the features for the new experience. They may have released more information then they wanted. If you look at this video with Xbox Live General Manager, they come across a “Browse” feature very breifly.
This may be reaching or wishful thinking, but only time will tell.
Tags: XBoxExperience, IE7, Xbox 360, XBox Live
Source: Techtree.com
According to the industry insiders close to the Inquirer, Intel is rumored to be pursuing Microsoft quite aggresively, with the intent of putting its upcoming Larrabee chip inside Microsoft’s next XBOX console. Yes, you read it rigt — Microsoft’s next-generation XBOX console — already.
In a related development, AnandTech predicts that Microsoft is already planning for the next Xbox console — let’s call it the Xbox 720.
For a historical perspective on this timeframe, recall a Peter Moore interview — March 2007, with the Electronics Gaming Monthly magazine. Back then Peter Moore was the head of Interactive Entertainment Business division for Microsoft (he is now gainfully employed by EA), he had indicated that the production team was already working on next-gen Xbox. Fast forward to June 2008 when Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division at Microsoft also indirectly confirms that people were already working on new technologies.
As per the rumour yarn currently spinning, Microsoft will officially announce their next console come end of 2009. During the first quarter of 2010, Microsoft will finalize the components to be included in the console. Incidentally, the year 2010 happens to be a ‘Tock’ phase as per Intel’s ‘Tick Tock’ model wherein Larrabee’s refreshed version built on a 32nm process can be expected.
The first Larrabee version will be able to directly tap Microsoft’s DirectX and Apple’s Open CL API, without needing any special go-between software. This would imply that Larrabee will be compatible with all current games. However, new instruction sets such as the Advanced Vector Extensions for Intel’s 32nm process chips ‘Sandy Bridge’. Larrabee is also expected to have computing power in the teraflop range.
Furthermore, the next Xbox will feature HDMI output as well as WiFi but might not use the Blu-ray disc format for its game media; instead opting for a high-capacity proprietary optical disc format. This next-gen console will also be compatible with the Xbox 360 game line up and will come with 60GB, 120GB, and 200GB hard disk variants.
Even Xbox Live will get structural changes — like an extensive music download service along with movies and TV shows. The next XBOX consoles in 60GB, 120GB and 200GB versions would be available for $299, $399, and $499. It will be released in 2011 where it might compete with the Sony PlayStation 4.
While all of this looks like so much speculation, it would be interesting to see if Intel does pursue Microsoft for adopting Larrabee. It would be a wise move on Intel’s part as such a deal would instantly make the Larrabee a must-support processor for game developers and would put Larrabee on both the PC and the console maps.
Source: | Gizmo Republic
Sony isn’t sitting by to let Microsoft take credit for making Xbox 360 the entertainment center of your living-room’s universe. No sooner did Sony announce its new PlayStation Video Store at E3 this week that it was alive and operable on your PS3. All you need is an Internet connection and the latest firmware version 2.41 to access the Video Store.
Netflix on Xbox LIVE will have to wait for this fall’s update to the Xbox 360 Dashboard. LIVE subscribers will get access to complete Netflix’s library of streaming movies. The library is massive but consists of generally older films. The best thing about the Netflix deal is that if you’re already a LIVE subscriber the service costs nothing extra. The biggest disadvantage to Netflix is no HD and sub-DVD quality video.
PlayStation Video Store is a download service much like the one Microsoft already has in place. You can rent from a selection of about 300 movies and 1,200 TV show episodes. Sony promises its library will grow in coming months but for now selection is limited. Like Xbox LIVE, many movies and TV shows are available in HD. One key advantage to PlayStation’s system is that many titles are available to buy rather than just rent.
If you’ve bought into the PlayStation family you may even own a PSP to go with your PS3. Sony has maintained interoperability between the devices by making the movies uploadable to your PSP so you can watch on the road. If you’re buying movies through your PS3 don’t worry about your hardware 60GB limitation. You can easily upgrade the PlayStation 3 hard drive so archiving is made easy. (See: PlayStation3 Hard Drive Upgrades Made Easy)
Both are worthy and unique movie delivery systems for a game consoles. But as a user of both consoles and a home theater enthusiast who values quality over quantity, ease of use or scalability, I would personally not use either system… ever.
Despite PlayStation Video Store’s better quality HD video exact resolution is ambiguous. You won’t know if you’re getting 720P, 1080P or some mash-up of pixels your display is forced to scale. And forget lossless audio, downloads are highly compressed. As for Netflix…I’d rather trim my toenails with a Bowie knife than sit through a Netflix streamed movie over my Xbox 360.
Fortunately for console gamers the best option for high-def movies with high-res audio is still PlayStation 3. Sony is after all the winner of the HD format war and the PS3 is still arguably the best and most affordable Blu-ray player on the market.
Tags: PS3, Playstation Video Store, XBOX Live, Netflix, HD XBox 360, Dashboard, 1080p
If you’re a Netflix subscriber and like gaming in any way, drop what you are doing immediately and go buy an Xbox 360. If you have an Xbox 360 and like movies in anyway, go sign up for Netflix immediately. Yes, the rumors were true. Microsoft and Netflix are teaming up to bring its “Watch Instantly” feature to the Xbox 360 gaming device this fall.With one fell swoop, Microsoft may have dealt its strongest blow to Apple in years. Considering Microsoft also added new release films from the likes of MGM and Universal to its Xbox Live service, the addition of Netflix could render the Apple TV a second-tier living room product.
N4G.com : Netflix comes to the Xbox 360. Did Microsoft just destroy the Apple TV?
Tags: netflix, xbox360, apple TV, XBox Live, watch instantly
