you need "gold" membership just to watch netflix on 360?

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cannondale06

[H]F Junkie
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I thought I would try out a 360 and I will be damned if they don't require a freaking gold membership just to watch netflix. that is asinine as its free on other consoles and I already pay 8 bucks a month for netflix which I hardly can justify that some months. my console experience so far has not be great...:(
 
I've brought this up a couple of times in other threads, and I got attacked quite promptly for it. Apparently paying someone to use a service you already pay someone else for is pretty cool...
 
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Exactly why I did not renew live this year. Decided to let it pass, and I have been playing PC and the PS3 much more.
 
Welcome to the world of the 360. People keep paying for it so it's not going to change. I think the reason Microsoft does it is because people share Netflix account information, at least by requiring Gold they are making some money off it.

The issue is much larger though. The idea of how Microsoft is running their console all together is flawed. They pay an absolute tremendous amount of money to companies to get exclusive content, because they can't get exclusives without paying for it. Plus, they've lost billions due to flawed hardware. Then you get shafted when using Live, paying for services that other companies give you for free. Has Microsoft even got into the black with the 360 yet?

The 360 had an entire year head start, plus the benefit of most people having to buy 2 or 3 of them (due to RRoD), and still can't outpace the PS3, which is on the verge of overtaking it.
 
My friend only used his 360 for netflix, and he had a "smart" tv, and I asked him why he isn't just using netflix on his TV. He was puzzled that he could do that. He since sold his xbox and just uses his TV.
 
bigdogchris said:
Welcome to the world of the 360. People keep paying for it so it's not going to change. I think the reason Microsoft does it is because people share Netflix account information, at least by requiring Gold they are making some money off it.

The issue is much larger though. The idea of how Microsoft is running their console all together is flawed. They pay an absolute tremendous amount of money to companies to get exclusive content, because they can't get exclusives without paying for it. Plus, they've lost billions due to flawed hardware. Then you get shafted when using Live, paying for services that other companies give you for free. Has Microsoft even got into the black with the 360 yet?

The 360 had an entire year head start, plus the benefit of most people having to buy 2 or 3 of them (due to RRoD), and still can't outpace the PS3, which is on the verge of overtaking it.
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The last estimate I saw had about half of the 360 userbase having any kind of Live account (as in completely offline, not even signed up with Silver), and only a percentage of that population actually has Gold. MS is far better off making a lot of these features accessible to the Silver membership level to get people to at least sign up, where they can then entice them with special Gold-exclusive offers. Then again, Micosoft's business model is pretty backward...
 
Plague_Injected said:
I've brought this up a couple of times in other threads, and I got attacked quite promptly for it. Apparently paying someone to use a service you already someone else for pay for is pretty cool...
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jmilcher said:
Exactly why I did not renew live this year. Decided to let it pass, and I have been playing PC and the PS3 much more.
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scojer said:
My friend only used his 360 for netflix, and he had a "smart" tv, and I asked him why he isn't just using netflix on his TV. He was puzzled that he could do that. He since sold his xbox and just uses his TV.
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/thread

I use my PS3 for netflix.....it's still free on that platform
 
I could justify it if I actually had another reason to get a gold account but I don't. oh well I will just keep watching on my pc for now but it would be nice on the big tv.
 
I actually really like Live and have been paying for it since beta. Requiring Gold doesn't affect me but I think it's kinda crappy too. The Netflix interface on the 360 is absolute junk though. I have a Roku, AppleTV, PS3 and Wii all hooked up to my TV in addition to the 360. I'll use any of them for Netflix before I use the 360.
 
SIde question why would any company develop a title exclusively for ANY console without some sort of additional compensation? Limiting your distribution/scope for Microsoft's benefit alone makes zero sense.

Anyways, can someone tell me if those Roku players, etc, are worth a damn? My Live sub is up in a week or two and usually I'll just scoop another year for $40 on Black Friday. I'm sick of paying for it though, so I'd like to just get a blu-ray with wifi, Roku, something. Unless that something isn't going to be cost effective ($100+) in which case the Live at $40 is probably a good deal.
 
Another person here that hates this. You can't use one damn app for a service you already pay for if you don't have a Gold subscription. YOU CAN'T EVEN USE THE INTERNET BROWSER!

Might as well go ahead and mod your 360 so you can steal games because if you're not going to buy a Gold subscription then there's no reason to have it online and no risk you're going to be banned from Live for having a modded console.
 
I will be getting the PS4 for this reason. I will not be paying for xbox live just to use Netflix and other internet apps.
 
The Netflix app on Xbox is utter junk ever since they 'updated' it. I know a few people who use t mostly for Netflix, they should just buy a roku and save money.
 
Why get a game console at all for netflix... if thats all you want, just get a media player like a Roku. Then you don't have to worry about the other end being down and causing you problems...

It's $60... about the cost of a year of live...
 
Demon10000 said:
Why get a game console at all for netflix... if thats all you want, just get a media player like a Roku. Then you don't have to worry about the other end being down and causing you problems...

It's $60... about the cost of a year of live...
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of course I am not getting a console just for netflix. I was getting a 360 to play the few exclusives and Red Dead Redemption. having tried out a PS 3, I never would have imagined that Microsoft would require a silly gold account just to watch netflix.
 
I fully agree. Its dumb. I hate the entire stance MS has taken on its video "Apps".

But since I play Live constantly Its not a big issue for me. However its still fucking bad taste.
 
It all depends on how you look at it, for instance you can buy cable, then need to pay extra for specific channels like HBO etc...

Get used to it mass market products have always done this, you buy an iPod, you still have to buy a freaking charger, for years we paid for cable, while they raked in money of ads, then still had to pay extra for services.

Once a company has a hot product they figure they can just charge from every possible angle. If you do not want to deal with that then you need to pay extra for freedom, there is a reason the cost is subsidized.
 
rudy said:
It all depends on how you look at it, for instance you can buy cable, then need to pay extra for specific channels like HBO etc...

Get used to it mass market products have always done this, you buy an iPod, you still have to buy a freaking charger, for years we paid for cable, while they raked in money of ads, then still had to pay extra for services.

Once a company has a hot product they figure they can just charge from every possible angle. If you do not want to deal with that then you need to pay extra for freedom, there is a reason the cost is subsidized.
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none of those are logical analogies. netflix is a service that is already paid for and is free of additional fees to use on comps, smart tvs and all other consoles. only Microsoft makes you pay for an additional service to access what you already pay for which is stupid.
 
Yeah. This really ticks me off. I have a 360 and bought one for my son. Now i have to pay another xbox membership fee so he can use it to watch netflix in his room.
 
this annoys me as well.

It's equally annoying on PS3 too, which thankfully you don't pay for, but still requires you to be signed into PSN to use it (but can still use the web browser when youre not signed in to PSN). There have a been a small handful of times where PSN was down and had to use another device to use Netflix.

It seems dumb to force users to connect to their networks to use a 3rd party service like netflix or hulu. Wish I had another AppleTV for my living room. I'd just use that for all my media consumption.
 
I agree. Why anyone thinks its fair to have to pay for the privilege to use a service you already paid for on a device you already paid for baffles me.
 
ymMWL.jpg


10,000 hours later in mspaint
 
Plague_Injected said:
I've brought this up a couple of times in other threads, and I got attacked quite promptly for it. Apparently paying someone to use a service you already pay someone else for is pretty cool...
Click to expand...

Just drink the Kool-aid, and stop thinking.
 
Plague_Injected said:
I've brought this up a couple of times in other threads, and I got attacked quite promptly for it. Apparently paying someone to use a service you already pay someone else for is pretty cool...
Click to expand...

jmilcher said:
Exactly why I did not renew live this year. Decided to let it pass, and I have been playing PC and the PS3 much more.
Click to expand...

bigdogchris said:
Welcome to the world of the 360. People keep paying for it so it's not going to change.
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These.
I let my Gold run out. Fuck it. I'm tired of paying for it when it's free everywhere else.

The other day when I did play my 360 for a bit I was shocked at how slow and shitty the GUI is especially now that Metro is in full effect. I was even more shocked that you have to have a Gold account to use Crackle, which is completely free on PC. It's utter BS.

If the PSN stays free (as it probably will be since that's a good selling point for Sony), I'll be buying a Ps4 before I buy a 720. I'll probably do that anyway since MS seems hell bent on making their console a media hub/AIO device and Sony (and Nintendo even) are the only ones focused on making games first and foremost anymore. God only knows what BS they're going to put in the 720 but I'm sure it'll include content from channels I already get on TV.
 
I'm still shocked this policy hasn't changed with other consoles offering it free and so many streamers that are near the price of gold. Plus those use less energy, better apps, start instantly, and silent. I've dropped cable almost 2 years ago and been using Netflix through my smart tv, buying certain episodes on the 360, and using Play On for streaming Hulu to tv, usually through the PS3. Though, it was a pain to start up the 360, navigate my way to the Zune marketplace, which also had to load, etc. Finally got an Apple TV and would never go back. Paying for Hulu Plus on it has been worth the convenience, Netflix app is great, purchased 1080p tv episodes stream instantly at full quality, the 360 Zune marketplace episodes always start off blurry, ruining the start of shows, such as Gumball's intro.

I have two 360s and hoped to use the spare Core for media streaming, less likely to red ring, being a 3rd refurb from MS. Well, that's when I discovered your gamer ID can't be on two consoles in your own home sharing the same network. I expected it would be fine if the other 360 was off. Nope, you have to either do a long recover process or grab the HDD off the other 360. Not just for Gold related features, but just for streaming with DLNA from your computer required Silver logged in or I got some odd error. Also, since MS sent me refurbs for repairs, all my arcade games see it as a different console. Paying for Gold to use Netflix and other apps is bad enough, two consoles complicates it even more.

Two days ago I traded in the Core at Best Buy for $100. Normally worth $52 without the 20gig drive, but the Wii U promotion ad says an original 360 is worth $100, so I took it up. Not bad for something I wouldn't sell to a stranger for $50 since it's just going to red-ring (6 total red-rings between 2 cores I've owned). It probably only lasted this long now that I primarily game on a Halo 3 edition, which I think included a few modifications to fix the problem, plus the first with HDMI. I hope the Wii U will be a fun edition to my extra room and for streaming.

Conclusion:

Get the 360 if you prefer it over the PS3. Even better if you play online and will have Gold anyway. If not, keep it anyway and save your self the trouble and invest in a streaming box like an Apple TV or Roku. It's so much more practical than using a console for quick simple access. Rokus can be found cheap, but if you have an Apple device, then an Apple TV could be worth the extra money for Airplay. The iPhone 4s and iPad 2 can do mirroring, while earlier models can probably still stream movies. The original iPad and iPhone 4 I had worked. Playing Youtube from the ipad or iphone device bypassed using the slow keyboard on the tv, or even better to play videos off webpages that streaming boxes can't access.
 
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TimothyB said:
I have two 360s and hoped to use the spare Core for media streaming, less likely to red ring, being a 3rd refurb from MS. Well, that's when I discovered your gamer ID can't be on two consoles in your own home sharing the same network. I expected it would be fine if the other 360 was off. Nope, you have to either do a long recover process or grab the HDD off the other 360. Not just for Gold related features, but just for streaming with DLNA from your computer required Silver logged in or I got some odd error. Also, since MS sent me refurbs for repairs, all my arcade games see it as a different console. Paying for Gold to use Netflix and other apps is bad enough, two consoles complicates it even more.
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Yes they can. I access my account from 2 360s in my house, as does a friend I play with. You just log in with your Live account. I even have my saves in the cloud so I can play a game on either with the same profile.
 
Maximus825 said:
Yes they can. I access my account from 2 360s in my house, as does a friend I play with. You just log in with your Live account. I even have my saves in the cloud so I can play a game on either with the same profile.
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Interesting, is this new, and cloud saves? Is that for gold and silver? I haven't tried it in a while, but I always had to recover my account. Looking for help last year I found the best solution was to transfer the account to a portable thumb drive. I'll look around again.

Edit: Well I'll be, looked around and they did update the system to allow profiles on more than one console, even passwords for security. I gave up so long ago I kept moving the hdd, never logging in with the 2nd hdd to notice the new message. The one that says to download the profile again to log into live, not the usual recover option from the past. The cloud option looks to be part of gold, which does add some value finally if you don't play multiplayer much.
 
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I agree with all the nerd rage in this post. I just bought my third PS3 yes 3rd PS3, I use it for netflix, amazon, bluray, streaming media from Windows Media center and, well, gaming. It all works great.

I have a 360 that I reflowed and I fixed it thinking I could use netflix on it, NOPE!

Oh well. MS tightass policy means I don't use the whole damn box. I have actually bought and rented movies from PSN and the quality is fricking great...and the only reason I bought them? Because I am used to using the PS3 for all this stuff.
 
Maximus825 said:
Yes they can. I access my account from 2 360s in my house, as does a friend I play with. You just log in with your Live account. I even have my saves in the cloud so I can play a game on either with the same profile.
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At the same time? I assume your friend is logging in as a guest
 
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I will say there is one thing the 360 does better than the PS3 and that is achievements.

For whatever reason, I just don't care about trophies on the PS3, but my eyes would light up after getting achievements...

Then again, after my 3rd xbox burned out, and getting sick and tired of talking to "customer service" at MS to re-access my arcade games after each xbox...I said enough is enough. PS3 it is.

For what it's worth, the 360 was a pretty solid console when I had it...back in 2006-2008.
 
I dont care anything about achievements or trophies. in fact I find that it ruins most games for me having that silly crap pop up.
 
TimothyB said:
Interesting, is this new, and cloud saves? Is that for gold and silver? I haven't tried it in a while, but I always had to recover my account. Looking for help last year I found the best solution was to transfer the account to a portable thumb drive. I'll look around again.

Edit: Well I'll be, looked around and they did update the system to allow profiles on more than one console, even passwords for security. I gave up so long ago I kept moving the hdd, never logging in with the 2nd hdd to notice the new message. The one that says to download the profile again to log into live, not the usual recover option from the past. The cloud option looks to be part of gold, which does add some value finally if you don't play multiplayer much.
Click to expand...


Ya the multi console thing is nice. I have 2 xboxs. One at home and one in my dorm, no need to recover or anything, xboxs just warns me my account was last signed in on another console and lets me continue. The cloud saves are handy, you can only save to cloud with a gold membership but can access your cloud saves with gold or silver.

As for prices, i game on my xboxs almost ever night, i payed $42 for a 14 month subscription which is worth the cost to me. But if wasn't for gaming there is better free options for a media center.
 
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