5 Reasons to Cancel your Cable

Be honest. Do you really need a cable or satellite TV subscription in the days of online movie rentals, streaming shows, and downloadable episodes? Even if you do have a Tivo or one of those fancy video-on-demand services, you're still paying those big monthly fees, and for what? This is 2008, and there are better ways. Here's five ways to leverage your existing gaming hardware to watch those shows and movies you love, and they'll all free you from your cable addiction.

VIEW HULU SITE

1. Hulu's hitting your console

Yup, it's true. New York-based MediaMall Technologies is preparing to launch a product for PS3 and Xbox 360 that'll allow viewers to watch shows from the popular hulu.com website, which offers streamable versions of shows like The Colbert Report, The Simpsons, and The Office. Viewers will also be able to watch video from CNN, ESPN, and even YouTube. Who needs cable when you can watch footage of fat kids twirling pretend lightsabers all night? The service is called PlayOn, and goes into beta on Monday -- so if you're quick, you can be the first of your friends to be in on the action.

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2. 10,000 Netflix movies and shows on the Xbox 360 (and quite a lot on Xbox Live too)

Microsoft just announced a new partnership with online movie rental king Netflix - it'll let you stream about 10,000 movies and TV shows directly to your Xbox 360, with no PC or other set-top box needed. Not bad, eh? The new service, which launches this fall, further bolsters Xbox Live's already bulging download service, which boasts Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Rambo, and Cloverfield among its more recent additions. On the TV side, Reaper, The Sarah Silverman Show, 30 Rock, and Heroes are some of our favorites. Did we mention that many of Xbox Live's selection (including all those we named) are available in high definition, too? Not only can you suck down your pick of your favorite shows, but in many cases it'll be better quality than your cable, too.

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3. Stream straight to your PS3...

Jumper. The Eye. 10,000 BC. Family Guy. Afro Samurai. All these and more await you on the PlayStation Network. Although the PS3's selection isn't as bulging as the Xbox 360's, and there isn't quite the same assortment of high-def content on offer, it's still more than adequate, and it's expanding all the time. And there's one bonus that the PS3 offers that the Xbox 360 will never match...

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4....and the PlayStation Portable, too

Got a PSP? Although Sony's UMD format for movies didn't exactly take off (OK, so it failed dismally) all is not lost for PSP-toting movie fans. If you've downloaded content to your PS3 from the PlayStation Network, all you need is a wi-fi access point, and thanks to the magic of Remote Play you'll be able to access any and all of your movies and TV shows, wherever you happen to be. (You can do the same with music and some games, too, but that's a different article.)

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5. From the PC...to your TV

Already have movies or TV shows on your PC? Either the Xbox 360 or the PS3 can stream video from it. The Xbox needs a Windows PC with either Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune software, and unless you want to get fancy, it likes its files to be in a specific few formats. Most will work straight away, but some may not. On the PS3, things are a little simpler: all you need is a UPNP server (available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and even some NAS devices) somewhere on your network, and it'll do the rest of the work.