But the Netflix VOD on the 360 isn't the same one that is on the computer, so perhaps that is the "loophole" that will allow Sony or Nintendo to get Netflix.

I have to admit that 95% of my xbox time is devoted to Netflix. The new update today is a huge improvement. I knew they would add the ability to browse movies but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they improved the streaming so that rewinding/fast-forwarding will not result in re-buffering. Its working great so far.

Sucks for Sony. The whole blu-ray as an advantage for Sony became a lot less of an advantage now that I can stream 1080p movies directly to my Xbox 360. Also got Project Natal coming down the pipes while Sony has a nice magic wand Wiimote ripoff... At least they still have Metal Gear Solid... for now.

Same here... have not been impressed with 360 games but netflix is great.

Who cares? I have a ps3 and don't miss having netflix. Nothing motivates me to getting old grubby dvd's when i can go to redbox and get a blu-ray.

You can't stream 1080p movies... you can stream pseudo-1080p movies. Just because a movie starts out as 1080p doesn't mean image quality is the same after it's compressed enough to stream.

As I said above... I like streaming netflix a lot, but it's no replacement for Blu-Ray.

I think that Microsoft paid Netflix to only be used on PC and Xbox360. I'm still glad I got 2 PS3's.

Sorry. I'll get out my microscope this time and be appalled at the lack of quality in these "pseudo 1080p" movies that I can watch instantly without the need to buy an overpriced and fragile disc.

no netflix for wii because netflix works on a service subscription [you pay a monthly service charge]. if you look at the wii in japan where nintendo is trializing the video service concept, it isn't based on a service model.

instead, nintendo wants a video rental service. it's like the good old days when one goes into their video store and checks out what they have on the shelf. if they like something they just borrow it.

in this instance, people would go into the video channel on the wii and surf what the video channel has to offer for movies or what not. if they like something, they just pay a rental fee for it, have about 2-3 days to watch the video [similar to those mom and pop service] and the video will expire [due date].

i wish it was cheaper though. the trial price in japan is $5 i believe. i hope it's at least somewhere between 2-3 dollars.

Frankly, this has been the killer app in our household. It's turned one of my expensive toys into something my wife uses as much (if not more than me). We've got a two year old kid and being able to stream kid's cartoons on demand has only added to the value. Microsoft really has something here and they're wise to corner the market and improve the experience. There is no doubt that we will continue our live gold subscription and our Netflix subscriptions because of it.

PlayON is a 30 dollar pc program that will pipe netflix and hulu, plus some other stuff right to the PS3. Although i will admit rewinding and fast forwarding are out of the question. Check it out if you want the availability to have Netflix on your ps3

PlayON is a 30 dollar pc program that will pipe netflix and hulu, plus some other stuff right to the PS3. Although i will admit rewinding and fast forwarding are out of the question. Check it out if you want the availability to have Netflix on your ps3. It's got a trial period so give it a whirl.

We live out in the sticks and had to resort to cellular internet which isn't terribly fast, but WAY better than dialup. I should download the 360 update and see if it will work on my slow connection. Or even on my Arcade edition for that matter.

MS acts like a lot of new tv's themselves can't stream netflix.

I'm still hoping Blockbuster gets their act together and streams to the PS3. I don't have there service now, but if I could use it on my PS3 I would definitely sign up.

Microsoft has done an excellent job of marketing their numbers to be on level with that of its competition. They started off without HDMI or 1080p capabilities and then just worked them into their units through firmware/software upgrades.

Since most consumers tend to just look at a number when purchasing a product (how many have purchased a vacuum and gone 'Well, this one is 6 amps and this one is 12, the 12 one must be better'), Microsoft has been very successful at staying on level with anything being thrown out there as "superior" in terms of figures.

In all fairness however, the resolution of a movie is blown out of proportion in terms of importance with regards to quality. Really, what matters are things such the codec used, bitrate, colour depth, etc. Streaming @ 1080p is an excellent marketing tool but don't be fooled into thinking its a substitute or parallel in quality to that which you get on bluray. But in line with tayb's comment, most people probably won't notice the difference...heck, a lot of people can't even see the difference between SD and HD, let alone 2 HD sources.

Resolution matters but people tend to use it as the only unit measure for quality HD material which is really short sighted but hey, most consumers tend to only look for the one figure so it'll work for the audience Microsoft is targeting.

I'm with the Vudu box anyway. Silly rabbit, gaming is for PCs, not consoles!!! LOLOLOLOL

I for one don't want my "significant other" watching a tom hanks rom-com on my games machine when I have fragging to do! One set of hardware for gaming; one for the family.

I really don't see the appeal in a crappy stream when you've already invested $700 to $2000+ in a TV to watch things in true 1080p. Last I checked the neflix to 360 stream increased and decreased with quality based on your connection. Besides, my HTPC can run this service without the Live subscription.

For the record, I have a $1300 TV, a $500 sound system, a $500 PS3, and an HTPC with about $1000 worth of hardware in it. I can afford a blu-ray disk to watch whenever (internet outage, on the go [digital copies], etc).

Except that you can already use your PS3 and Wii with Netflix (with Playon). The Xbox360 just has its own service I guess. I use an old Xbox with XBMC to stream videos to my HDTV every day.

lets hope no one gets your ip then honis lol jks

but yeah this is pretty big for M$, good for 360 owners. i am not one, just to clarify.

I would be impressed with this announcement if it wasn't for the fact that the movies netflix has available to stream is horrible. Sure they claim they have over 100,000 movies available to stream but if you look through that library it is garbage and for some reason very few of the good movies are available for streaming. That is why I left netflix after only 2 months (I don't feel like waiting 3 days to wait for a movie to come through the mail).

I sense a discounted double-membership to Xbox and Netflix in the near future.

@Honis: "crappy stream"?? Half the stuff I watch on Netflix is delivered in HD, which im figuring means 720p. In my book, thats pretty damn good.

@phatboe: I strongly disagree. Netflix has a great selection. Pinaple Express is one I think everyone can agree is an awesome movie. If you expect to be able to find any movie title that pops in your head, then sure, you may be disapointed when they don't have some.

As many have said, today we don't get 1080p from these consoles. The exclusive deal is for Xbox360, and i don't think that Netflix is dumb enough to lock it already for future MS's consoles.

The true HD experience on game machines will actually take off when bandwidth (and the cost) is not an issue anymore for most of us. By the time the next gen consoles are probably about to appear in the market, the deal could be very different (if Netflix still the leader).

And don't forget that Netflix is big only in N.America, and that's it. In other countries, people might have heard about it but... For example, Google never had been first choice in China, the Japanese do watch a lot movie/video on line, where's Netflix?

I do believe that the real war will start after a few years when we see the nextgen consoles.

For me, Netflix and the zillion HD broadcast channels I now get have replaced cable. At a tenth the price, there is always something better to watch on Netflix than there was on my 150 channels of nothing to watch cable. Nearly every show that I want to watch is either availible to stream or gets sent to me on DVD. The same subscription covers all of my TVs (Two Xbox 360s, one Blu-ray with built in Netflix), two laptops and a desktop. With used Xbox 360s going on Ebay for $100, this is pretty cheap Entertainment. The issue is not blu-ray vs Netflix, but Netflix vs cable, with the 360 being a viable choice as a set top box due to the other things that it does. Since it pulls media from my PCs and Zune, play games, and streams movies for 9 bucks a month, it is the best value I can think on on the market.

I been streaming netflick on my PC with 22" monitor and the quality is getting better, but still looks like crap. I can't image seeing this on the 40" tv. Maybe my eyes got use to blu-ray, so the saying is "one you go blu, you never go back." I get blu-ray from netflick too.

Quaility:
Netflick service is great, I complained years ago and they did some upgrading with silverlight or something and it is almost quasi-dvd quaility now, more like watching divx. So the poster above is right, it is not full HD, they maybe streaming 720, but that is compressed or basicaly upcoverted 480 DVD quaility. Blu-ray Full HD is 1080p. Comcast has a cap on 250gb downloading now. So that is like 10 bluray movies. As bad as the Netflick streaming selection is, they have gotten a lot better. Granted by the time they start streaming, I have already seen it on Blu-ray or dvd years ago. Need to get the new releases streaming faster, but they don't.

Bah. You need a Gold membership. Seeing as I just use my 360 as an extender, I don't want to spend $50 just to watch something that may or not even work on my slow ISP connection.

If you've got a 1.5 down like I've been stuck with until recently it works fine.

Er... Okay, you have a good 1080P TV... and limit video to crappy compressed video? Not even HD-Cable meets the quality of of a BluRay Disc.

There are STILL storage issues with Xbox... but whatever.

Screw NetFlix... and MS... ouch, that could be an illegal act. Theres a difference from having Exclusives for games vs movies... since the movies are not "made" to work on the platform.

Oh... it is possible for SONY to pull netflix supply of discs. In order to RENT movies, there is a LICENCE FEE/RIGHTS to be paid to the studios.

Sony Studios is about 1/4 the movie titles out there, its one of the reasons Blu-Ray won against HD-DVD.... NetFlix would take a bit of a hit to lose all those DVDs, Blu-Rays, etc.

I forgot a few blu-ray players can stream netflix and some new HD lcd can too.