Microsoft brings Netflix streaming to the Xbox 360 for Live Gold members

After months of speculation and rumors, Microsoft just announced that it's partnering with Netflix to allow Xbox 360 owners to stream movies from their Netflix queues for no extra charge. Microsoft says the 360 will be the only game system that allows Netflix access for no additional cost -- which isn't entirely accurate, since it sounds like only Live Gold members will get access. Streaming movies can also be shared with your Live party, allowing you to watch content together. Users will have instant access to their Netflix instant access queues, but it's not clear what resolution the content will be streamed at -- we'd guess it's roughly the same DVD-quality res that Roku's Netflix streamer is getting for now, but hopefully that'll change when the service launches in the fall with the new dashboard.

[KEROLiUKAS @ Jul 14th 2008 2:24PM]

lol where's the story? i just see a title.

[FreeRange @ Jul 14th 2008 3:47PM]

Yeah Paul,
And I want to click your affiliate link to do it! SCORE!

[coffee @ Jul 14th 2008 4:34PM]

affiliate link? wow, that's even lower than "I wrote about this in my blog http://nolife.blogtard.com". And that's saying something.

[Tone @ Jul 14th 2008 2:26PM]

omgz someone stole the story.

[wmchiefs @ Jul 14th 2008 2:30PM]

Sony better show up big tom. to top this.

[Jon Doe. @ Jul 14th 2008 3:16PM]

Heh. I was thinking Blockbuster better show up big time. This is going to kick their ass.

[white_ultras @ Jul 14th 2008 5:08PM]

X360 FTW, after hearing that, I am now fully commited to 360.
Netflix is the way to go..

[nxtiak @ Jul 14th 2008 2:33PM]

Roku Netflix Player box OBSOLETE if you have 360!

[horizontaleight @ Jul 14th 2008 3:33PM]

Absolutely not. Free to Microsoft means you need to have an Xbox LIVE Gold account. Screw that.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jul 14th 2008 3:49PM]

And free streaming for Roku means a paid subscription to Netflix.

[vypergts @ Jul 14th 2008 4:02PM]

This is great, now I can either move my 360 or my roku to the other room and watch Netflix movies on more than one TV without any new hardware!

[horizontaleight @ Jul 14th 2008 4:49PM]

It is not free with a Gold account. You still need to have a Netflix subscription. You are paying for two services at once where the Roku player is a one time hardware cost.

[Mark Anderson @ Jul 14th 2008 5:02PM]

Some people with Xbox 360's don't already have Gold accounts?

My word!

[Murphy Mac @ Jul 14th 2008 2:36PM]

Thought about getting the Roku box when I saw Netflix had 10,000 movies available for streaming. The first 10 movies I searched for on the Netflix site were only available as DVDs. The streaming feature is a novelty at this point.

[Jomolungma @ Jul 14th 2008 2:41PM]

At this point, maybe. But this could propel the service forward. If it's an exclusive, I think it's a pretty big scoop over Sony.

[Jarrett @ Jul 14th 2008 3:38PM]

I couldn't agree more with you. Hopefully at some point the appropriate licensing will be taken care of and it will become worthwhile.

[phinnvr6 @ Jul 14th 2008 3:16PM]

This is a great idea if you have Netflix. The PS3 could use this. I already watch Blu-rays all the time on it because its like $8.99/month for unlimited (and once you watch Bluray you can't go back to anything else). But having both would be sweet.

[kal326 @ Jul 14th 2008 2:41PM]

Well one would hope they are coming in HD at some time. Granted you would need some pretty big pipes coming into your house to "stream" an HD movie. It would be nice to allow the HD movies to be downloaded to the hard drive to play later, while the SD content movies are still streamed. This could be the reason for the size bump in the Pro and/or Microsoft's stance that they are not adding a HD format drive to the 360 and instead or focusing on the Live Marketplace for HD content. Either way, good thing I have Netflix and a 360. Digital download FTW!!

[Fernando @ Jul 14th 2008 2:44PM]

I don't think so I have an AppleTV and the HD rentals start within 2 minutes and never stop again. I also have a 360 and I cannot wait for this now. I have it connected to my mac and currently have 200 movies and 300 tv shows this is a great announcement.

[Rob @ Jul 14th 2008 2:54PM]

They'd migrate into HD soon. Let's keep in mind that Xbox Live HD movies are under 4gigs. So, Netflix might do that. But, they may have to increase prices somewhere to cover their bandwidth. I can't see Netflix carrying the expense of HD-required bandwidth at its current rates.

[Pochi @ Jul 14th 2008 3:39PM]

Dream on, man. People are all over Netflix. They have all sorts of new partnerships, money is pouring in, and consumers aren't really complaining. Everyone I know that has Netflix is in love.

Their download service is in its infancy. You're not getting HD Netflix anytime soon, especially since people are excited for SD downloads already. Hell, the streaming now is sub DVD quality. Why waste their bandwith and money when they have absolutely no need to?

[FreeRange @ Jul 14th 2008 5:06PM]

Pochi - There's a reason Blu-Ray exists despite the fact people think DVD is good enough. For some people, it isn't.

[Pochi @ Jul 14th 2008 10:30PM]

@FreeRange

Congratulations on missing the point completely.

[Rob @ Jul 14th 2008 2:42PM]

This will be the deciding factor of keeping/canceling my Netflix subscription. Let's hope they make it available soon. Actually, I even have my 360 on right now, maybe they'd shoot out the update right away.

[Jeff @ Jul 14th 2008 2:43PM]

Netflix better get some more movies available for streaming. I mean I'm a big fan of Ghost Busters, but I can only watch it so many times.

[OQuaTanginWann @ Jul 14th 2008 2:55PM]

If they fully commit to this project, it would be the best option to save movies from going the way of music.

Assuming all the movies are loaded just like rentals, then you have an inexpensive legal system for all-you-can-watch 480p movies. It's a perfect setup for the stuff my wife and kids watch.

Then buy your favorites on blu ray.

[kjb434 @ Jul 14th 2008 2:54PM]

So, what's a PS3? LOL

I don't use XBox 360 or PS3, but you have admit that this a big move forward for the 360.

Sony really has step up to this if it is to be taken seriously.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jul 14th 2008 3:56PM]

Well, I gotta say. With neither console you are really missing out!

[kjb434 @ Jul 14th 2008 4:05PM]

Well, I'm not big into gaming. The most I'll do is the sports and fitness stuff that shows up on Wii, but I do that when I'm drinking at a bar.

Most of the bars are adding Wii as a free feature here in Houston, Tx.

I follow the console wars because i'm interested in technology.

[indecks @ Jul 14th 2008 2:57PM]

There's currently a solution for this but it requires Vista, and doesn't support windows XP. Does anyone know if this will remove that limitation? I'm not going to use Vista because it's poopy.

[Pochi @ Jul 14th 2008 3:00PM]

"..but hopefully that'll change when the service launches in the fall with the new dashboard."

If you think you're getting 1080p anytime soon with Netflix streaming you are in dream land.

[crgwbr @ Jul 14th 2008 3:02PM]

Great, except you can already do this (and save the movie to ur hard drive) with a media center plugin that extends to you're 360

[natels @ Jul 14th 2008 3:19PM]

Well you can exclude people like myself (Mac users) or younger kids with consoles who probably do not have the knowledge/skillset to set up streaming from the PC to the console.

[ZeroCorpse @ Jul 14th 2008 3:22PM]

Yeah. Try explaining to your non-techie wife how to get a Netflix movie via the media center PC to Xbox 360 method. She'll roll her eyes and call you a nerd.

Some people like having less to do in order to seek entertainment.

[booticon @ Jul 14th 2008 3:40PM]

That also requires Vista or XP MCE.

[dickieb @ Jul 14th 2008 4:46PM]

My "non-techie" wife can use vmcNetflix (Media center plug-in) just fine, and in fact my whole family uses it on regular basis. It's a one time setup process, after that it works via nice big GUI.

In fact you don't even need xBox 360 - I use DMA2100 media center extender and NetFlix plugin works fine.

[Bassir @ Jul 14th 2008 3:05PM]

Good thing I'm done with Netflix. Or else I would've wanted a 360. I don't have the money to want such a thing now.

[Brent @ Jul 14th 2008 3:07PM]

I'm loving having Netflix Watch-Now and Movie Previews on my HTPC (SageTV). The content selection is a bit stale for sure, but there are plenty of good titles and even TV shows in there. Nice to browse from the comfort of your couch - you Xbox360 guys will love it!

[Galicki @ Jul 14th 2008 3:08PM]

Who cares.. most the movies I like are good enough in 420p. Not a big will smith movie watcher. This is a more useful announcement than iphone now does 3g.

[Sporkinum @ Jul 14th 2008 5:16PM]

Yeah, i still have a regular TV, and until it dies, I don't anticipate replacing it with something HD. Also, 99% of movies are crap, so I doubt I could come up with enough stuff to watch to justify a netflix account. I bet I don't spend more than $3-$4 month renting from the RedBox at the grocery store. Then again, I torrent tons of BBC stuff that I can't get through cable. Top Gear for the win!

[phanbouy @ Jul 14th 2008 8:07PM]

it's not the resolution i mind, it's the low bitrate of netflix streams. really cuts into the enjoyment of most flix unless you're not really that interested in that particular movie

[Jason @ Jul 14th 2008 3:11PM]

No point if it doesn't offer HD.

[George @ Jul 14th 2008 3:17PM]

Didn't netlfix earlier say both consoles were getting this?

I'd rather have this for a PS3.

[Quicksilver4648 @ Jul 14th 2008 3:33PM]

I just watched the Press Conference and Netflix is 360 exclusive. Never going to PS3.

[Mojo_Yugen @ Jul 14th 2008 5:44PM]

"Microsoft says the 360 will be the only game system that allows Netflix access for no additional cost"

That implies (to me) that other game systems will have Netflix access, just at additional cost. Otherwise they would just say that the 360 will be the only game system to have Netflix PERIOD! (Assuming the quote is accurate).

[Mojo_Yugen @ Jul 14th 2008 5:50PM]

OK, after looking at the press release it does seem to say that this is an exclusive. Wow. MS must have thrown some serious cash at Netflix to get that deal.

[Rob @ Jul 14th 2008 3:17PM]

Fuck that!!! I'm not paying for watching Netflix movies on my 360.

[inteller @ Jul 14th 2008 3:18PM]

too bad they haven't hooked up the Zune Marketplace to use your Zune pass to stream music to your xbox. Downloading and then playing is a PITA.

[Rob @ Jul 14th 2008 3:19PM]

Forget it. I'm not paying for watching Netflix downloads. I pay enough by paying for the service, then MS wants me to pay them too? I don't think so. Those who don't use Live Gold should not be the only ones allowed to use the Netflix service.

Oh well. Back to wishing for an option other than buying the Roku unit.

[ZeroCorpse @ Jul 14th 2008 3:26PM]

Not sure why you'd object to a $99, silent, low-wattage, dedicated, tiny-footprint device like the Roku unit. I bought one and I'd say it's the best purchase I made this year.

And jeez. $109 total. I already had Netflix, so that was a no-brainer.