Microsuck strikes again.

[VonVulcan]

This may be old news for most but I just discovered it this weekend. Got an xbox 360 this Christmas for my son. I was creating a profile for my use, and wanted to use the netflix feature. It required me to setup an xbox live account. I found that in order to watch Netflix content which we pay for, on our xbox, which we payed for, hooked up to the internet that we pay for, Xbox requires a gold membership which is free for the first month then you have to pay for it. Now I have a Blue ray disk player that I have always used to access netflix so it's not a big deal though it does piss me off that they want to ride on netflixs back. I mean it's not like it costs xbox/microsoft any bandwidth. It's conditional use of a product? It ain't right I tell ya!

[Thenior]

yeah, kinda sucks. Basically, anything on an xbox that allows interactivity with other users requires a Gold Membership. You wouldn't think Netflix would fall under that, but they have this weird theater mode, where you can watch stuff with you people.

[Isaac]

I wonder if wii users have this problem with their Netflix app.

[VonVulcan]

No Issac, wii has no such policy, no charge.

[snoopy]

Yay for BD players that support netflix.

Lately I've been hearing a lot of "the corporations are banding against netflix." I wonder what will come of it.

[Foil]

I have a Wii, but I use a media PC for streaming NetFlix to my TV, simply because there is more selection (more movies, by a long shot) through their website than any other interface I've seen.

[Jeff250]

The PS3 has no additional charges too. I don't have a Wii, but I'd be concerned about its lack of hi-def output.

I have a Wii, but I use a media PC for streaming NetFlix to my TV, simply because there is more selection (more movies, by a long shot) through their website than any other interface I've seen.

What do you mean? Are you saying that if you do a search, you get fewer results on the Wii?

[Thenior]

Yeah, the Wii Kind sucks HD wise.

As for Xbox live, if you keep your eye out, you should be able to get a 12 month subscription for around $3/mo. It didn't matter for me, because I share I Netflix account with my bro, and I already paid for xbox live gold to play online.

It does seem kind of stupid to have to pay for gold to stream netflix though.

[Foil]

I have a Wii, but I use a media PC for streaming NetFlix to my TV, simply because there is more selection (more movies, by a long shot) through their website than any other interface I've seen.

What do you mean? Are you saying that if you do a search, you get fewer results on the Wii?

From my experience, yes.

That said, last time I did a comparison was a few months ago. It may have changed since then.

[snoopy]

I have a Wii, but I use a media PC for streaming NetFlix to my TV, simply because there is more selection (more movies, by a long shot) through their website than any other interface I've seen.

What do you mean? Are you saying that if you do a search, you get fewer results on the Wii?

From my experience, yes.

That said, last time I did a comparison was a few months ago. It may have changed since then.

Hrm. My understanding was that your instant queue was you instant queue. I think that if you try to browse the site from the device, maybe not all titles available show, but if you add titles to your instant queue from a computer, you can then watch the items in your instant queue from any netflix device.

[Foil]

I think that if you try to browse the site from the device, maybe not all titles available show.

This is what I was referring to. When I compared the list of available titles from browsing a category on PC and via another device a few months ago, there was a pretty big difference. Might not be that way anymore, not sure.

[Sirius]

I guess Thenior probably has the reason for it. It's not the first time I've heard complaints about this policy though... an XBL subscription isn't hugely expensive in the grand scheme of things, but it's an extra just-over-half the cost of a Netflix subscription that you otherwise wouldn't have to pay.

[VonVulcan]

The BD player (LG BD300) I use only shows the queue and can't search. I log into netflix with my PC and add shows to the queue.
The Xbox appears to be able to search and browse and add to the queue so that's nice but not when I can do it from my PC for free.
I haven't used the wii much cuz of the HD issue.
I don't play much xbox so I can't justify paying for gold just for netflix. I hate the controller.

[Top Gun]

Yeah, this is something I really don't understand about how XBox Live works. (My brother just got a 360 this past Christmas, so I've been figuring things out since then.) If the service is free to use on any PC, so long as you have a Netflix subscription, why should you have to have a Gold account to use it on the 360? What makes even less sense is that you need a Gold account to access streaming content on ESPN3.com, which you can do completely for free on any PC without any sort of subscription. It's nothing more than Microsoft trying to goad more people into buying Gold accounts.

On the plus side, when I bought Batman: Arkham Asylum a few weeks ago, at least I didn't have to go through the bother of creating a Games for Windows account, since they're shared with XBox Live. The fewer accounts I have to remember, the better.

[Lothar]

streaming content on ESPN3.com, which you can do completely for free on any PC without any sort of subscription

ESPN3 has contracts with some ISPs (like Comcast) to stream without any end-user subscriptions. If you are not on one of those ISPs, you can't stream anything from them at all. It's not possible for me to gain access to ESPN3 without switching ISPs.

[Avder]

streaming content on ESPN3.com, which you can do completely for free on any PC without any sort of subscription.

ESPN3.com is the business model that poses the greatest threat to the internet, in my opinion.

Also, none of the isp's in my town even offer it, so if there is something I want to watch that is absolutely exclusive to it, I have to jump through all kinds of hoops and use all kinds of weird proxies just to get it. Thankfully, nothing I care to watch has been on it, cause all ESPN cares about during the winter is basketball, and I think basketball is just becoming more and more of a joke sport with every passing year.

[Ryujin]

I canceled my live account a while back. Although it's inexpensive up front, they nickel and dime you for additional content such as maps and you're almost forced to pony up the 12 bucks for 1-3 maps because of the odd tiers for microsoft points and because some of your friends pick it up. When they added Facebook and Twitter, that was the last straw. Just a whole bunch of useless for me. I'm not paying a company for access to the Internet when I already have it.

Has anyone tried to cancel their Gold membership? Holy jebus do they try hard to keep you! See what I mean.

[Thenior]

Yeah it is a pain, unless you call them. It's even hard to get off automatic billing. You can do it, but they hide it in their control panel, and you have to go through like 3 pages of M$ ads (reminded me of those "Get a $100 Wal Mart card" ad sites).

I just went on eBay and grabbed a 12 month card for about $35. Anytime I wanted a game, I would buy the download code on Ebay.

[snoopy]

Sounds like AOL.

I never had it, but I heard that the best strategy (was) to call them, give them all of your info (Make sure they know who you are, and know which is your account), say "I want to have my account canceled" and immediately hang up. If you do it right- Make sure they know which account is yours, and make sure that they know that you want it canceled- they are legally obligated to comply.

That is, unless you agreed to something to the contrary in the wall of text that is the EULA.