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Xbox 360's new Netflix Movie Parties disabled for Starz Play titles?

by Ross Miller posted Jul 25th 2009 at 4:54AM

Ever get a sinking feeling in your stomach, like it's November 2008 all over again? Yes, just like when Sony Pictures blocked its films from Netflix on Demand for a then-fresh New Xbox Experience update, so too are the early adopters of the new Xbox Live Dashboard update seeing select films excluded from the joys of its group sharing "Movie Parties" mode. Our BFFs at Joystiq have done some preliminary testing on the issue, and it seems the common link is that all guilty videos hail from the Starz Play catalog. In other words, you can all but forget about watching Pineapple Express synchronized with your Xbox 360-toting friends and family thousands of miles away -- for now at least. With any luck, like the previous issue with Sony Pictures, this problem will eventually fix itself, and with any luck, it'll be smooth sailing by the time the Xbox Live Dashboard update is officially pushed out to the masses on August 11th. Video proof of the misdemeanor can be seen after the break.

Continue reading Xbox 360's new Netflix Movie Parties disabled for Starz Play titles?

Xbox Live tallies 1 million Netflix Watch Instantly activations, 1.5 billion minutes served

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 5th 2009 at 3:01AM


Bad news first: there might be a bit more competition than you expected for that home theater giveaway. Good luck bringing down Netflix's shooting star though, as if last week's good news train wasn't enough comes news that over a million Xbox Live Gold members have already downloaded and activated the Watch Instantly app since its NXE debut last November. That's more than 10% of Netflix's just announced 9.4 million subscribers who've already watched over 1.5 billion minutes of TV and movies through their consoles. They're not the only ones happy, while streaming may be eating into DVD rentals, Xbox Live Marketplace rentals are up 174 percent year over year. The streaming library is up to 12,000 titles, with a "growing percentage" in high definition, for the rest of the celebratory details check the full PR after the break. Nothing left for us to say but congratulations and hey, if you get a minute, could you fix Nilay's HD streaming on the Xbox? Thanks.

Continue reading Xbox Live tallies 1 million Netflix Watch Instantly activations, 1.5 billion minutes served

Xbox 360 HDMI audio fix arrives tomorrow morning

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 2nd 2009 at 5:33PM


Notice something missing from your Xbox 360 ever since the NXE went live? Some HDMI-connected gamers lost all audio after the update, and a fix is finally on the way. According to Major Nelson, it's due to arrive February 3 at 2:00 a.m. PST in a mandatory dashboard update that should address the issues experienced with some HDTVs. That problem with your idiot friend always triggering the witch while playing Left 4 Dead? Still unaddressed.

Columbia Pictures flicks restored to Netflix Instant Watch

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 6th 2009 at 8:21PM


We all remember the terrible tale of NXE-eve, when Superbad, Karate Kid and more went from fully available to not-on-Xbox and in some cases eventually disappeared entirely. Fear not, as whatever the licensing issue was, it appears to have been amicably resolved, sending Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and many of the rest flowing though a series of tubes near you.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Columbia Pictures flicks -- mostly -- back on for Xbox 360 Netflix streaming

by Richard Lawler posted Nov 25th 2008 at 10:29PM


We never got a satisfactory answer for why they disappeared in the first place, but it seems the majority of the Columbia Pictures' movies on Netflix Instant Watch lists suddenly switched to "not available on Xbox 360" are once again open for streaming to all devices. The Karate Kid series, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and others now stream to Microsoft's box, however Columbia Pictures movies tagged with the "available through Starz Play" logo -- including Bad Boys and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story -- are still out. Hopefully the remaining relevant parties are contacted soon, as Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett have work to do, but this is a great start.

[Thanks, Hunter!]

Poll: How are you enjoying HD Netflix streaming on the Xbox 360?

by Darren Murph posted Nov 22nd 2008 at 12:00PM


Now that HD Netflix streaming has finally arrived on the Xbox 360, we have no doubts whatsoever that legions of you have already given it a spin. We've heard mixed impressions right out of the gate, but we're hoping some of the first day glitches have worked themselves out by now. At any rate, how has your experience been so far? Are you impressed with the quality? Are there any aspects that could be improved upon? Break off a paragraph or three in comments below.

How are you enjoying HD Netflix streaming on the Xbox 360?

NXE creating HDMI headaches for UK Xbox 360 owners?

by Richard Lawler posted Nov 21st 2008 at 6:33PM


The path to Netflix-enhanced glory hasn't been entirely trouble free for everyone, this time it's posters on AVForum noticing a distinct lack of audio on Xbox 360s connected to their HDTV by HDMI. So far suggested solutions for the afflicted include plugging in the hard drive while the system is on, or waiting several minutes before switching the monitor to HDMI, and repeating them every time the system is started. It's not the first time we've heard of UK-centric HDMI weirdness, any of you hearing a whole lot of nothing while gaming (that's not attributable to hard drive installs)?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Xbox 360's lack of Sony Pictures films streaming on Netflix "unrelated" to competition

by Laura June posted Nov 20th 2008 at 9:35PM


You probably recall that two days ago, when the new Xbox Experience launched, sadly, about 300 Sony Pictures films were unavailable for Netflix Watch Instantly on NXE, thus quashing your hopes of streaming The Karate Kid series. At the time, it seemed possible that missing titles were due to the fact that Xbox 360 manufacturer Microsoft and Sony are direct competitors. Well, according to a Sony spokesperson, the problem isn't specific to the Xbox, nor is their beef competition-related in any way. Sony also says it is in talks with the several "relevant parties" to work out these vague licensing issues, though there was no word on when the issue would be resolved. We really do hope it's soon because we're dying to see how everything turns out with the Cobra Kai.

[Via Joystiq]

Sony Pictures celebrates NXE eve by...blocking Xbox 360 Netflix movie streaming

by Richard Lawler posted Nov 18th 2008 at 10:14PM


Just hours before the Xbox 360's newest dashboard update hits tomorrow morning (10:00 a.m. GMT), our friends at Joystiq noticed the list of movies available for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming has suddenly dropped. The culprit? Sony Pictures Home Entertainment subsidiary Columbia Pictures, flicking previously available titles like Superbad, Bad Boys, and We Own the Night over to "Not available on Xbox" status (curiously, SPHE movies are still available to all.) Word from the official Netflix blog cites "the ebb and flow" of what is available on license at any given time, causing a few hundred titles to be "temporarily" unavailable on the console, while still open for streaming for other devices, with an eye towards licensing them for the Xbox 360 soon. There's no way to know what movies won't work until adding them to your queue, so when you find your Karate Kid trilogy watching time suddenly wide open for more Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead action, just remember you have Sony to thank.

[Via Joystiq & Multiplayer]

Xbox Experience now available to all who signed up, Netflix HD streams too

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 18th 2008 at 4:10AM Breaking News


Microsoft's new Xbox Experience dashboard doesn't officially launch until Wednesday the 19th. But if you signed up for the preview (and who didn't?) with a valid console ID then it's available now according to Major Nelson. What's more, Netflix has confirmed its Xbox 360 launch details: more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes and 300 streaming HD titles. Remember, streaming is free for Netflix members who are also Xbox Live Gold members. The HD video streams will be limited to SD audio, however -- multi-channel audio is in the works as are additional HD titles. Now get outta here kid, NXE awaits.

[Via Joystiq]

Read -- Major Nelson
Read -- Netflix

Debunk: Xbox 360 streams HD Netflix over component just fine

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 30th 2008 at 12:37PM


There's some hysterical outrage out there right now over the New Xbox Experience's HD Netflix HDCP restrictions -- apparently it only works with HDCP-compliant digital displays, which is prompting a lot of hand-wringing about copyright restrictions and whether older 360s will get "locked out." Well, we're here to make it all better -- that's our NXE-equipped 360 connected over component, happily playing back HD Netflix at 1080i. See? Works fine. The problem is that some older LCD monitors don't support HDCP over DVI, so if you're in the minority of people using an HDMI to DVI adapter to drive an older display that doesn't do HDCP, HD Netflix won't work, since it can't authenticate. That's not the best situation, but DVI isn't a default supported 360 output, so we wouldn't expect 100 percent compatibility -- and besides, you can always run VGA. We're waiting on official confirmation from Microsoft of all this -- we want to get things absolutely right -- but in the meantime you can console yourself with another shot of HD Heroes over component after the break.

Update: Yes, it works with movies too -- we just tried it with The Orphanage, and it looked great. Pic after the break.

Continue reading Debunk: Xbox 360 streams HD Netflix over component just fine





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