Xbox Live Video Marketplace goes live

Surprise, surprise, it's November 22nd (happy birthday Xbox 360!), and Microsoft has taken its new Xbox Live Video Marketplace live. The biggest mystery at this point was price, which turns out to be $2 for SD TV shows, $3 for HD, while movie rentals will run you $3 for SD and $6 for HD. This is all converted from the various, confusing MS Points involved in each purchase (80 Points = $1), which we're sure we'll all be well sick of after a couple months of using the Marketplace -- if not already. The current word on selection is 48 movies and 50 TV shows available for download, and we're sure that'll be growing -- though V for Vendetta is already available as a HD rental... what more could you want?

[Thanks, TexRob]

UPDATE: Joystiq has some more info and pics galore of the service. They clarified the pricing scheme as well: movies are divided into "New" and "Classic" releases, and priced at $6/$4 for the former, $4.50/$3 for the latter.

[Steve Wiseman @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:18AM]

I wonder if this works with Media Center. Is it for viewing on just your 360, or can you view these on your 360 in its capacity as an extender?

Steve Wiseman

[Nando @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:19AM]

WAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brad @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:26AM]

Awesome news! I hope we'll get Battlestar Galactica in HD. I can't wait to get off work and see what's available.

[Chris @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:27AM]

Stop bi*ching about mspoints....

Lets see to buy something on sony if i dont have a credit card ... well.... ummm.... im screwed

To buy something on xbox live... go to store buy a XBL Points card and go home and use it

Yes the non 1:1 conversion isnt the best but then again... if u were in the EU and it was 1:1 with the USD it would still not be easy... or if your in india and use rupels... mspoints are mspoints its a currency get over it.

[Derrick @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:31AM]

Let's try English next time. Nintendo seems to have launched WiiConnect24 with $1 = 100 points.

[stealth_samurai @ Apr 26th 2007 7:40AM]

they use rupees in India not rupels

[dtrenz @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:32AM]

is this all going to appear on the Zune Marketplace as well?

weren't people bitching about the lack of video content for the Zune? That should quiet them down for a while, eh?

[Captain Obvious @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:34AM]

Wow. That price point is ridiculous. How can I go from Netflix's $9.99 or $13.99 a month for unlimited HD-DVDs to paying $6.00 for one movie? I just cannot justify that. I was holding off on getting the HD-DVD until the download service came out. Now I'm definitely picking one up.

[dtrenz @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:46AM]

so you're honestly comparing a monthly mail-order SD-video service such as Netflix, to an on-demand HD-video service?

OK.

i'll agree that $6 is not cheap, but it is reasonable. and more importantly, people will pay it.

[TexRob @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:40AM]

Sadly Captain Obvious, that is the boat I am in. This makes the decision to get the HD-DVD that much easier for me also. I had high hopes of MS using their big player status to really offer some killer price points, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. It might not be all them, but the studios and networks, in which case they are killing downloadable services.

[JK @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:44AM]

You can rent 33 HD movies for what it'll cost you to buy the add-on drive, btw. If you plan on watching at least that many HD movies (last I looked blockbuster.com had 50-some titles), then go for it. This is a good comprimise for people who don't want to invest $200 in a possible format loser, and just get some HD glory occassionaly. I'll definitely use the service some, but not as my primary movie source.

[Captain Obvious @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:49AM]

I ran the calculations, too. I'm currently on the $9.99 a month Netflix plan, with unlimited rentals, one movie out at a time. So, assuming I watch one movie each weekend, I'm paying $9.99 a month for four movies. With XBL, I'm paying $24.00 for the same number of HD movies.

That's a difference of $14.01 a month. At that rate, in just over 14.25 months, I will have recouped the cost of the HD-DVD player. And then its all gravy. Not to mention the fact that the HD-DVD drive also gives me something that I can play purchased HD-DVDs on, which I admit I won't be purchasing a lot, but there are some movies that I will buy.

[nodnetni @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:45AM]

@ Chris

Its really not that hard to make a $1 to 1( or 100 ) conversion. Just make the cards region sensitive, and adjust prices accordingly. Nintendo was able to figure it out.

The reason they do the odd conversion is because that way you cant break even you have to keep buying points. Always need to carry a balance.

Kind of like Apple's iTune cards, nothing costs an even dollar, if you get a card, you have to get 101 songs and spend $100 to not be carrying a balance. Or use a credit/debit card.

[Roger Rees @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:50AM]

Netflix has both HD-DVD and Blu-ray available.

[TexRob @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:52AM]

dtrenz, Netflix has offerred HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs since the first discs were available, so get your facts straight. There is no HD plan on Netflix either, you can get DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-ray, all on the same account, same price.

[CobraRob @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:56AM]

Dtrenz,

Netflix is not just SD-video service.. I have already received several HD-DVDs that I have watched on my HD-DVD addon drive.. Which I must say was AMAZING to watch...


Though I have another question what size did the movies end up being? seeing as how a stock drive only havs like 13Gb free this could be a big issue.

[Shecky @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:48AM]

Microsoft is taking money from their pigeons, er... "customers" and placing it in an interest-bearing account to earn themselves more money on their generous customers' interest-free "loans." Microsoft's "points" are designed to confuse consumers and generate interest income from "left over" amounts.

http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/zuned_whats_the_deal_with_microsoft_points/

[andy @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:51AM]

6 bucks is too high. HD is not that important. The content is important, not the format, and for the price difference, SD will show me all I want to see.

2$ for an sd show? I'll tivo it in HD from my free over the air tuner thanks.

[Mystic @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:53AM]

I was exited about this, but they NEED to make everything the SAME price! I was on there this morning and not only do SD and HD movies have different prices, but different movies have different prices. Everything should be $3 or $4 across the board. Too bad Major Nelson and Microsoft, I would have loved to rent movies from ya, but this turns me off.

[Richard Bitting @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:55AM]

But you can only watch the movie in a 24 hour period. I think that is a big problem. Like maybe I download a movie at 7:00 P.M and watch half and something comes up and the next day at 7:01 P.M. I come home to watch the rest and it's gone now. With Netflix you have the HD-DVD (or BluRay) and can keep it as long as you need to. At $6.00 a rental it's too much for that short of a time. I suppose it is convenient to just download something and watch right away. I think they would do a lot better with a subscription type service like Netflix for both movies and TV shows. Plus the fact you can not put them on the Zune is baffling.

[James @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:59AM]

I set V for download before I left this morning and it should be done about now. The only thing that I don't like right from the start is this: You get to rent the movie for 14 days, but at the same time, after you hit play the first time you only have 24 hours to watch the movie and then you can't watch it anymore. What's up with that?

[Jeff @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:01AM]

$6 for a rental! That is insane. You can spend $9 at gameznflix and probably watch 4 HD-DVD in a month. By my calculations you would have paid for the drive by the end of the year. What's the motivation?

[Brad @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:14AM]

Aye, $6 for a rental is obscene compared to ANY video rental place you can name.

I think they do the point conversions so kiddies and idiots dont actually realize how much money they are spending. Way to go underhanded style, M$. Xbox Live, putting the $ in M$.

[Matt @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:03AM]

I bought a 360 primarily to stream content from my MCE to the other rooms but figured the VOD service would be worth a shot...boy was I wrong. Either way I have my Netflix and get atleast 4 HD-DVD's a week and just added a Blu-Ray drive to my Media Center so over a year or so I will have covered my losses considering the deals I was given for the BD Drive.

Thanks Microsoft, you showed me the right path to take and it isn't entirely the one you had planned.

[Jeremy Kates @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:03AM]

It's just a start. This is the real future of content, but it's going to mature like any other medium. I have been using netflix for a couple years and it's great. Like anyone else I occasionally forget to update the queue or get the movies back in time. This medium will eventually make all this sending and waiting irrelevant. Truly never having to leave the home. Just get the fiber to the house LOL.

[bitstream @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:04AM]

The HD rental would be more interesting if they had exclusive "rental" windows which ran in parallel with Pay Per View. Then again, HD PPV is about the same price, though it's occasionally a dollar or two cheaper, depending on who you get your tv service from.

[Greg Legowski @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:05AM]

One thing I have to say about the points system, in its favor, if that it's very possible to get some nice discounts going on it. At the very least, go to Best Buy, get one of the Games gift cards with the "$5 off any purchase of a video game or accessory priced $19.99 or higher" coupons on the back. Then buy 1600 Live points for $14.99 plus tax, go home, and giggle at the suckers on Sony's system that can't get discounts like that. (I'll be doing the same thing for Nintendo points when some compelling content comes up for my Wii).

[bradders @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:13AM]

did I miss the bit where they announced a bigger hdd to store it all on?

[Jason @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:49AM]

Store what? You can only watch it for 24 hours, there's no real point to hordeing a drive full of content.

[John @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:54PM]

You can store the video content on the XBOX Live Service itself, there isn't 'necessarily' a need for the larger hard drive.

[Adan Galvan @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:21AM]

This is amazing. Microsoft attempts to add some value by offering more choices, and all we get is a bunch of whiners. What do you want, free movies and shows? VOD is the future, within 5 years I can gurantee that Netflix will move away from physical media. As it currently stands, Netflix is allocating 1-2% of revenues towards exploring VOD services. Plus, Netflix doesn't offer games. You really have to look at the big picture.

Netflix: Huge Selection, Waiting Period of 1-2 days to get movies, great price, No games!

Xbox Live: Small Selection, Small Waiting Period (minutes for certain shows assuming buffering), so-so price, downloadable games, plus they've offered a physical device in the HD-DVD

In summary, think of the big picture people!

[CobraRob @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:26AM]

Adan,

I think if they would have hit the price point of $4 per movie.. ALOT more people would be raving about it.. I would be more then willing to get movies from there between my netflix HDs at that price.. for $6 probably get 1 or 2 maybe....

I also agree a nonminal subscription like all you can watch for $15/month would be a HUGE boost as well.

[CaptCaveman @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:34PM]

Thank you Adan Galvan!
I've not heard this much moaning since I last watched Caligula.
If you plan on watching a movie every night of you were planning on using the Live service as your primary rental portal, then yes, it will be expensive to feed you viewing habit. However, I look at this as a spur of the moment, I'm bored, or, hey, I've I've been meaning to see that movie... Type of service.

I've not set foot in a B&M rental store in about 10 years. So I don't know what they charge now for rentals. I also have Netflix (3 out plan), which is very good. But sometimes the turn around time doesn't fit / sync up with when I want to watch a movie. I see this as filling the void between when I'm waiting for something else to come in from Netflix / when I want to see a movie now (or rather in a hour while it's downloading).
Are the HD movies a bit pricey? Yep, just a bit. Do I want them to cost less? Yep, I want HD movies to be $1 each and I can watch them as many times as I want for up to a year. Am I being realistic with what I want vs. what is fair to the distributors / MS? Nope, not even close.

But I look at it like this. MS has brought the service to the masses. Yeah, I know, they are far from being the first. But I think that many more people are aware that this is out there then they were of Cinema now, Movie Link, and others that have been trying to break into the service for years now. I think that the service will also force Sony to counter with a similar service which may spark even more competition delivering the movies in other forms such as straight to your PC (yes, I know this has already been happening for years now). Competition in many cases means lower prices in the long run. So I'm happy that the service is out. I will not be renting very many movies. But I do plan on seeing V and Posiden. I may check out a couple of TV shows.

[Chris @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:26AM]

lol really? i pay 8$ for hddvd rentals locally

as for a bigger drive it isnt really needed sine the 1-4gb movies are RENTALS that expire... so stop whining, and the tv shows you can redownload whenever you want once you buy them you own them... unlike itunes

People whine aobut pricing, microsoft may have influenced pricing ot be competitive but you can be damn sure its the studios that set the baseline pricing for content.

As i said MSpoints > sony wallet... because i can charge it from a store card via cash instead of just a credit card.

If they had made 100 points = 1usd then the euro people would be pissed and vise versa ... just use the damn msp calculator if you need to wine that much....

every thing on live is about the same price they dont have 320msp and then something for 330 and 340... to confuse you no their all pretty darn standard prices, 200 320 800 there numbers that after a few uses are pretty recognizeable so stop whining about it.

Yes after 14 months of rentals you might be able to recoup the cost of the hddvd buy in but their are some people that arent willing to foot an upfront cost....

ITS CALLED OPTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People that have the extra cash can get an hddvd drive and just use netflix ... or buy the videos....

Those that only have a little extra to spend each month and cant afford a 200$ addon can just rent movies from the live marketplace.

Why is it everytime microsoft launche something new people ignore the fact that its OPTIONAL, you dont have to use the hddvd and you dont have to use the video marketplace... its your choice on which route you want to take.

Personally im gonna rent videos as they come out on marketplace until i can save up some cash for the hddvd drive as im a bit broke at the moment.

[Roger Rees @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:43AM]

I know its about options. I just don't like this one. I will opt to purchase the HD-DVD drive and stay with Netflix, thank you very much!

[PreGHz @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:58PM]

Chris:

"lol really? i pay 8$ for hddvd rentals locally"

Where do you live? My local rental shops charge the same price as regular DVDs.


"as for a bigger drive it isnt really needed sine the 1-4gb movies are RENTALS that expire... so stop whining, and the tv shows you can redownload whenever you want once you buy them you own them... unlike itunes"

If it really is high def, it's gonna be bigger than 4GB. And what if your family uses it, and someone else rents a movie? Or you've bought a good number of games? Or you are storing your music on there? People are whining for good reason. You say we are getting options, but the options they are giving us aren't really condusive with real world scenarios.

Also, with iTunes, once you buy it, you do own it. If I accidentally deleted my episodes of Battlestar Galactica on iTunes, all I would have to do is hit the "Check for downloaded purchases" button. It would redownload all the files I've bought but don't have on my computer.

"People whine aobut pricing, microsoft may have influenced pricing ot be competitive but you can be damn sure its the studios that set the baseline pricing for content."

How is it that the iTunes store is so competitive? Don't be a fool and think that Microsoft isn't getting a large chunk out of this.

"As i said MSpoints > sony wallet... because i can charge it from a store card via cash instead of just a credit card."

You do know that you can also buy cards for the Sony wallet, right? So uh... fix your reasoning.

"If they had made 100 points = 1usd then the euro people would be pissed and vise versa ... just use the damn msp calculator if you need to wine that much...."

Localized marketplaces. The Wii seems to be able to do that. Why can't Microsoft? You CAN have 100pts = 1USD. You can also have 100pts = 1 Brit pound. It's not hard. At all.

"every thing on live is about the same price they dont have 320msp and then something for 330 and 340... to confuse you no their all pretty darn standard prices, 200 320 800 there numbers that after a few uses are pretty recognizeable so stop whining about it."

Some movies have non standard prices. Also, they could have skipped all this and used equal conversion rates. Or they could have just skipped it all and used real money.

"Yes after 14 months of rentals you might be able to recoup the cost of the hddvd buy in but their are some people that arent willing to foot an upfront cost...."

You're saying that people would rather get their wallets gouged than invest in the future? After 14 months, HDDVD will still be here. People are ridiculous.

The reason these people only have a little bit of money at the end of the month is because they choose to spend the little they have on convenience. They say, "hey, I'm broke, so I can't go anywhere. Oh, here's a six dollar movie I can just download." They'll spend their remaining cash, and screw themselves over.

Save a penny here, save a penny there and you'd get up to 200 pretty quickly.


"Personally im gonna rent videos as they come out on marketplace until i can save up some cash for the hddvd drive as im a bit broke at the moment."

How about not renting at all for a few months, and get a drive sooner? Or go with someone to rent the movies, so you can go halfsies!.

Think.

[Billy @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:32AM]

I agree with most others in this thread, the pricing is horrible, as well as confusing. There needs to be ONE price, 4 price points depending on HD/SD and New/Classic is lame. As well, it's too expensive. I have the $9.99 netflix plan, in which I get between 4 to 6 movies a month, that averages out to about $2/movie. I don't have HD-DVD or Blu-ray - http://fuckbluray.com - but I am interested in HD video for sure. However I am NOT willing to pay $6 for an HD movie that I can only watch once in a 24 hour period. For $4, I would probably do it, maybe once or twice a month.

Adan, how much money you want to bet on that? Physical media isn't going to be completely gone in 5 years. Transitions take time. Lots of people don't like computers and internet stuff and just want their movies to work. These people will be around for a long time. These people will always create demand for physical media like DVD's.

[Jason Lynx @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:46AM]

I'm having friends and family over for Thanksgiving and wanted to show them my new Plasma in its HD glory. My options are:

360 HD-DVD player $200.00 + HD Movie $30 = 230.00 (plus tax)

or

6 dollars

Hmm. Tough call.

[Roger Rees @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:05PM]

This is not germaine to the discussion. Of course, if your sole goal is to show one group of people one demonstration of your TV on one day, there is no comparison between the $250 + HD-DVD (with a movie and tax) and a $6 HD download. But, why pay for the download? There are plenty of HD options available on Live already. Download one of the "Artist of the Month" videos in HD, which are free, and you can show off the glory of your TV.

[JasonLynx @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:51AM]

Also, to all you guys saying physical media will never go away... Look what's happening to CDs.

[Matt @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:01PM]

I agree the idea is good but when you can get a disc through Netflix in a day and pay just 9.99 a month and get 4+ a month, the pricing model doesn't work.

I may use it for a new release or a movie not available on HD media yet but it seems like more of a compliment for HD video instead of a new way to own or rent movies.

I wouldn't mind paying $15 a month for a subsciption based service provided the library grows past a handful of movies and UFC.

[b00da @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:11PM]

Microsoft should have just bought Netflix. They could have put "Buy a 360 Now!" ads on all of the Netflix mailers for free, and had an instant revenue stream to use while the downloading service got off the ground.

Then, to drive the VOD service, they could have pulled a standard Microsoft tactic and gradually increased the Netflix plan prices over 12-18 months until it became cheaper to use the Live service, and then slowly choked off the physical media side of the business. Or at least choked off Blu-Ray in favor of HD-DVD.

Much easier transition, much better customer satisfaction levels, a lot less confusion and grief, and still standard Microsoft strong-arm style.

[PreGHz @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:04PM]

Worse. Idea. Ever.

[Olivier @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:18PM]

Does anybody know how somebody in Europe can open a US based XBOX live account? Is it as easy as buying some MSFT points in Best Buy or something and then lying on your address?

[Brad @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:42PM]

To be honest I don't mind paying $6 for a rental. The only thing that bothers me about it is only having 24 hours to watch it. If they gave us a week, I would feel more comfortable with that.

Otherwise I'm stoked about the added content.

[John Miller @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:30PM]

$6 for an HD movie rental? That's way too expensive. I think I'll rent HD DVD's from Netflix instead.

[fli @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:57PM]

ppl why are you comparing this service to netflix, you gotta understand this is a service on xbox live which is a service on a GAME CONSOLE, its just another feature it's not the "holy grail" of movie service. Microsoft does not want to replace your current service, its just another feature of xbl.

[nick @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:07PM]

Personally i don't want to rent. I want to own the movies.

[Olivier @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:13PM]

PLEAAAASE Send this to the UK!!

[vudean @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:17PM]

Its all about having it at your fingertips when you want it, somehting the store can't do at all, Netflix does better, and cable on-demand probably does the best.
It beats my comcast's On-Demand prices. I think new HD movies are 7.99. So $6 is a fair amount but I think its market, if not below.