At the risk of sounding like a forum troll, I have to say, I'm not too impressed with the implementation of Netflix on Xbox 360.
The service, which is available to Xbox Live and Netflix -subscribers, allows you to stream movies to your TV via your Xbox 360, and on paper, it sounds ingenious.
Indeed, that's why I -- along with many others -- was so excited when Microsoft announced this forthcoming feature way back at E3 in July. Unfortunately, Netflix for Xbox Live users is now here, and it's not all it was cracked up to be.
For starters, the selection of streamable movies is lackluster. Netflix users who have used the service's "Instantly Watch" section know that there aren't an incredible variety of movies to pick from. There are few new releases available. Instead, the selection is composed mainly of films like Mission to Mars, The Abyss, Superman: The Movie, Batman Forever and Scarface.
There's nothing necessarily wrong with th... More »
There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
A week ago,“An Evening With Kevin Smith 2″ through the Netflix streaming service on my Xbox 360 but didn’t finish. Now, I can’t watch the rest.
Joystiq broke word this evening that Netflix stopped Xbox 360 users from streaming movies distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
This restriction only applies to Xbox 360 users. PC, Mac and other Netflix-enabled on-demand devices can still stream Sony Pictures Entertainment films, and is not a glitch.
“In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console,” Netflix VP of corporate communications Steve Swasey told MTV Multiplayer in an e-mailed statement tonight.
“Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they’ll be licensed for Xbox 3... More »
SCEA Associate Producer Chris Hinojosa-Miranda shared the following via PS Blog today:
Happy Friday Hot Shots Golfers! It’s been a while since our last HSG post, but we’ve been busy testing new features, new costumes and some very special items for a holiday surprise!
As you might have noticed, we’ve started to roll out some new costumes for the wonderful cast of Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds. The first batch was a hit, but with the second batch we wanted to throw in a little something extra.
Something that had a little more kick. Something that could be heard above the chatter... something like VOICE CHAT.
Yes, your eyes do not deceive (and pretty soon your ears, too): the Clap Hanz team has been arduously devoting their time to make sure that Voice Chat, a feature you the fans have been asking for, was flawlessly implemented into Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.
So now all users, for the low price of FREE, ... More »
For the third time, Sony is using Final Fantasy XIII to advertise the PlayStation 3 in a TV Spot.
This time it contains footage of the Pigtails Girl for about a second. Unfortunately it isn't anything new.
The commercial also contains Little Big Planet and Resident Evil 5. The original stream is available on the Japanese PlayStation Web site. It's uploaded it to YouTube courtesy of Kitmitsu to make things easier.
Though many previously bundled applets now will ship separately to Windows 7, Windows Media Player remains part of the core OS. Windows 7 will ship with Windows Media Player 12, which includes some surprising new features.
The UI itself is brighter and lighter than WMP11. Some buttons and toolbar items have been moved around, but the experience should be pretty familiar to users of version 11. What does represent a big change is the removal of the Now Playing button, which in WMP11 switches to a view showing the current playlist.
This is because WMP12 completely separates library management from what's currently playing, with two distinct player modes; Now Playing view, and Library view. Library view contains all the library manipulation features that should be familiar from WMP11. Now Playing view contains the current playlist, visualizations, and videos.
There's also a new taskbar miniviewer that works with the new Windows 7 taskbar, and WMP... More »
CNET has reported disappointment with the PlayStation 3's Flash 9 support stating that it is not working correctly with some sites.
To quote: Flash 9 should allow the PS3's Web browser to access more sophisticated Web video sites, including Hulu, ABC.com, and our own CNET TV (YouTube worked well enough with the browser's earlier version of Flash).
And, indeed, you can now watch those sites, but it's short of a perfect experience.
We couldn't get Hulu or CNET TV to go full-screen, and had trouble accessing the high-resolution versions of both (Hulu's 480p version was inaccessible, and the CNET TV "HD" stream produced a very low framerate).
What do you think of the latest PS3 firmware update: useful additions, or just an incremental upgrade? Is Hulu access a big deal, or do you use something like PlayOn instead?
2K Marin programmer Jake Etgeton reveals that the PS3 version of BioShock will feature new interactive load screens and graphical enhancements due to the use of Blu-ray and the ability to install data on the PS3 hard drive.
To quote: "There are improvements, such as interactive load screens which takes advantage of the increased space on the Blu-ray disc," said Etgeton. "The downloadable Challenge Rooms also offer a slew of new graphical and gameplay content, albeit outside of the fictional universe."
When asked about the PS3 install and how it will affect the game, Etgeton explained, "BioShock PS3 uses a standard one-time 5 GB install. It only takes 10 minutes, and there’s even a fancy movie accompanied by Bing Crosby’s 'You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me' to help pass the time if you’re not off making a tasty, preparatory sandwich."
"Installing to the PS3 hard drive allows us to 'stream' textures and audio faster than the Blu-ray ... More »
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