redbill

maybe they want more money now that the streaming userbase has increased by multiple millions overnight? I'm assuming their contracts don't pay per view, but a flat rate per movie.

Canis Firebrand

No one is stating that Sony shouldn't get money for their product. But what is highly suspicious is that once the ability goes live for all 360 owners that have netflix and a live gold account, only Sony movies are removed from streaming to 360's only. No other studio seems to have any licensing issues.

Larry C.

This is way sony sucks so bad. There pissed because the lost the console war.... Fuck them this is why I never buy Sony don't care what it is. Fuck you Sony, fuck you right up your ass!

dsa_shea

That is an excellent point and I don't see anything wrong with that. Remember that the more access people have to getting something for next to nothing decreases the chances that those people will go out and fork over dollars at a B&M to buy a hard copy of that same product (in this case movie title). Microsoft could be looking at this as a way to erode the sales of Sony titles in the physical format and Sony might want something in return. Business is business and Microsoft and Sony definitely are not going to hold each other's hand and gently embrace one another.

dsa_shea

Do you think that Microsoft might share some of their exclusive download content free with Sony any time soon? Didn't think so.

pinata242

Right on. Plus it's not like Microsoft is jumping at the opportunity to include BD into 360s natively or via an attachment. This on-demand HD streaming is another way around the need for people to have an in-home BD player and physical media.

dsa_shea

Maybe if Microsoft and Sony could agree to some things I think they could ultimately be mutually beneficial. The inclusion of a Blu-Ray drive in a future version of the X-Box would ultimately benefit X-Box users more than it be a detriment and for doing that Sony could share (license) a majority of their content with X-Box users. OT: You would be out of your mind to think that the X-Box couldn't benefit with a medium that holds far more capacity than the ancient dvd. If they're churning out some kick ass titles now imagine what they could do with far less limitation. Ultimately I see the video game hardware war as business but silly business with too many people holding bitter sentiments towards the other side.

Easy

Because it appears netflix licenses content per device. As their VP said:
The facts are plainly stated but I can see the conspiracy theorists will not be dissuaded.
One final fact: I had netflix this past summer and streamed content to my PC, which is connected to a HDTV. I recall a couple of movies in my cue had messages like 5 days left to watch... so items do slip out of license, regardless of device, just as the netflix VP stated.

chuckd21

And another thing... there is no quantifiable tally of "new" users who'll suddenly be watching all this Sony content.

To use Netflix on your 360 you need:

* A Netflix account.
* Internets.

To use Netflix on your PC you need:

* A Netflix account.
* Internets.

redbill

+Xbox live

Trevor

Good catch. But, remember that most, like 99.99% of PC users, don't have their PCs hooked up to their televisions.

I streamed one or two movies to my PC. I'll likely stream hundreds on my TV with this new feature.

redbill

and every device is registered as a netflix streaming device. so they know when a unique user is using the streaming functionality, and presumedly can tell what type of device it is (PC, Roku, Xbox)...

lordzeppelin

Petty...the word that seems to be defining this console generation. Look at the compatibility issues between music game instruments...

As for Sony on this...it doesn't surprise me. They ape the Wii with the stupid sixaxis, then ditch it when the consumers complained, ditched backwards compat in the new models, Home is a mess - Sony really doesn't know what consumers want and how to give it to them AT ALL in this gen. They tried to be the biggest, baddest, and best, and have yet to deliver anything but the best Blu-Ray player that happens to play games, of which, precious few are must have exclusives. I really can't believe they are botching this THAT bad...and people are still keeping their jobs @ Sony. I want a PS3, but the purchase just keeps getting put off further and further and further for me.

lordzeppelin

You're talking apples and oranges. Netflix is not 'exclusive content', it's Netflix, and films. Netflix is a separate business entity...it's just not the same.

dsa_shea

Offering content owned by other entities (Sony, etc.) for said licensing fee/price. When that base of viewers increases over night with no increase it revenues returned to Sony then I can see why there might be a problem. Especially when the device used to view owned content is their main competitor of their home console. Neither of these two companies are angels in this whole process and you had to believe that this might happen.

cruzness

Wow, talk about counting chickens before they hatch. PS3 has closed the gap in total consoles sold to 5 million behind 3fixme ( even with the 3fixme's year head start.) and PSN has just as many subscribers as XBL. And let's not talk about Micro$oft's dirty business practice of trying to screw the consumer with inferiorly constructed buggy hardware (which they knew had issues).

This is business and Sony want's to get paid

Groucho

U.S. Hardware sales for October 2008:
1. Wii - 803K
2. DS - 491K
3. Xbox 360 - 371K
4. PSP - 193K
5. PS3 - 190K
6. PS2 - 136K

Doesn't look like PS3 is "closing the gap" to me.

Don't you mean $ony? Or it only "evil" when Microsoft makes money?

edstein

Seems a console bashing war has begun.

dsa_shea

No, I think we should call both of them spades and not just one or the other.

Larry C.

Dude PS3 has fallen behind and still there are no good games. No one would have bought the freakin thing if it wasn't for the built in bluray.

Larry C.

Ugh Sony lover. You must be a Democrat!

pinata242

You guys might want to take this "debate" elsewhere. You're wasting your breath keystrokes and will quickly find yourselves on the path to a forced break from the forums.

fumanstan

3fixme? Ugh.

dsa_shea

I think I'll take your advice and make like Sony and their content and get out of here.

lordzeppelin

I see your point, but we're talking about something that is a universal format in streaming video. What's next, is Sony going to disable the content on Panasonic TVs? If it were games, it's a different story, because of disc format and programming languages and such...but we're talking a video format that is playable across the spectrum on many devices. Obviously, we don't know the details of Sony owned films contracts for licensing, but I'm assuming it's a standard model that includes per-view based fees. I shouldn't speculate on it, but you get the idea, no?

I guess the whole point to me is that the competition on games is one thing, but the streaming video is a console-less entity, and shouldn't be subject to the games rivalry. It's a different business line...