Microsoft, Netflix bring streaming movies to Xbox 360
by Mike Smith
Today's Microsoft press conference held one big piece of news for 360-owning movie fans: a new partnership between the software giant and the pioneer of online movie rental, Netflix, will link the console to Netflix's streaming movie service.
You'll need both an Xbox Live Gold account and a Netflix subscription to join in the fun, but assuming you don't mind shelling out for those, you'll have instant access to over 10,000 streaming movies and TV shows. Microsoft tells us they should start streaming within 30 seconds of being selected, so lucky subscribers won't have long to wait. Previously, the only way to enjoy Netflix's streaming service on your TV was either to hook it to a PC, or to pay extra for a $100 set-top-box.
As if that wasn't enough, you can also get together with groups of Xbox Live buddies to watch the same movies simultaneously. The prospects for heckling, arguing over bathroom breaks, and movie-inspired drinking games are nothing if not impressive. Plus there won't be anyone around to steal your chips. Sold.
That wasn't the only news to come out of the press conference, of course, and here's a round-up of the day's other announcements:
- Final Fantasy XIII will come out on the Xbox 360
- Gears of War 2 hits the mean streets on November 7
- Resident Evil 5 will feature online co-operative play; launches March 13
- Fable II will be out in October
- Xbox Live is getting a cleaner facelift, and Mii-like avatar characters
- You'll be able to install Xbox 360 games to the console's hard drive, cutting load times
- Rock Band 2 will include AC/DC's "epic rock anthem" Let There Be Rock, and Bob Dylan's Tangled Up In Blue
- Xbox Live will gain a new service called Primetime, "the world's biggest virtual game show stage". First out of the gate is a quiz show called "1 vs. 100", which pits one lucky Xbox Live player against 100 others.
- The 360 will get a motion-sensitive microphone controller, and a karaoke game ("Lips") to go with it
- New game "You're In The Movies" promises to -- well, put you in the movies, courtesy of an included video camera and a set of comic backgrounds
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