Microsoft today rolls out the Xbox Live dashboard update that brings – at long last – Movies On Demand to the Xbox 360 console in Australia. Have you checked it out yet?
Some of you will have had access to the dashboard preview for the past few weeks. And as with all beta tests, we understand if things are a little hit and miss. Personally, I was unable to stream in HD due to my useless connection, but HD downloads worked fine, as did SD streaming.
One concern out of the beta is the limited selection of movies available, with only around 100 titles – many quite old – to choose from. Speaking to Screen Play this morning, Xbox Live product manager Andrew Jenkins promises we’ll see a steady flow of new weekly releases.
“By the end of November you will see things like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hangover, State of Play, and by the end of the year you’ll see Transformers 2, Star Trek, all these huge blockbuster titles are coming to our service… I’m excited that Harry Potter and The Hangover, those are things that we are getting day-and-date with DVD.”
But now that the service has launched to the general public, how does it perform? If you’ve tested it today, let us know your experience.
UPDATE: Looks like I jumped the gun a little. It’ll hit at 9pm AEDT tonight.
Ben Eklom
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:06 PMHow do I even get this update onto my 360? I’ve booted it up but can’t seem to find anything that will allow me to use these new features.
jarrard
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:08 PMits pointless if it uses up your bandwidth in my opinion. till they sort out a deal with isp’s i wont be using the service.
withdrawn
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:31 PMhey ummm iinet has a deal that you get completely free unlimited download with your xbox. So it won’t cost you anything in bandwith to download :)
Darius
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:07 PMexcept that this shiznit isnt free
check it out before you bust your download cap
Daniel
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 11:18 PMAn iinet rep was quoted as saying (on the whirlpool forums) that “Movies on demand is currently not in the freezone DESPITE xbox live being a freezone area”.
He mentioned how it’s difficult to “unmeter” the data that is already being sent to and from their servers, let alone High def streaming. They apparently have had 3 crashes by unmetering xbox live in the past year or so.
They have their reasoning, but i also have mine, and i simply won’t use something that will eat my monthly quota for breakfast. I’m prepared to wait for their capabilities to be expanded
Crono
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:11 PM“day-and-date with DVD.”? But Harry Potter is out today…
Ben Harring-Harris
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:15 PMThis has been no doubt answered many times, but due to iinet not counting downloads to the usage are the HD downloads also not counted?
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:37 PMThe iinet website says:
“In partnership with Xbox, iiNet is now offering unmetered Xbox LIVE content (excludes all paid for content such as movies etc) on all iiNet broadband plans. This means you can download all the free game demos, trailers, arcade games and console updates without it affecting your monthly quota.”
DavidR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:55 PMDude, Westnet.
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:12 PMWestnet is the same as iinet.
DavidR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:18 PMHmm, I’m pretty sure we’ve had this conversation before. Westnet offer unmetered Xbox downloads for everything, even paid-for content. I rang them to confirm and you even went so far as to say something like “Viva, Westnet!”.
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:21 PMYeah, I remember that. But their description of their Freezone content on their website is (almost) identical to how iinet describe it. I remain sceptical.
DavidR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:25 PMRighto. I’ll be over here. Enjoying free HD downloads.
Riavan
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:26 PMIn imagination land?
I’m rather skeptical also.
DavidR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:50 PMHey, I’m not mad here. Call them and they’ll tell you themselves. Unmetered Xbox Live downloads INCLUDING PAID-FOR CONTENT. I’ve had this confirmed to me multiple times and downloaded a veritable truckload of stuff that I’ve paid for without it affecting my quota. What, you think I’m just dancing in front of my Xbox blindly thinking my bandwith rules without checking this stuff out? I’m trying to spread the word of this awesome opportunity here.
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:53 PMLies!
;-)
Stinky
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:07 PMIf that includes game downloads, which are “paid for content” then the unmetered service is pretty useless.
Peter
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:17 PMIf that’s true the service will fail. I’m with iinet and will consider paying for this service BUT only if it’s not part of my quota.
Sarge
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:17 PMWhat Jarrard said – until it gets bundled into some kind of deal with one of the ISPs, I can’t see me using it very much.
James Dunn
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:21 PMI gave it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. Though 1500k wont do HD stream SD worked with out a hitch.
Tristan Hennessy
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:22 PMI was about to say Ive been waiting all day and it still hasnt come up.
Do you know whether or not that movies will be added at the same time as its DVD release date or will it solely depend when M$ chooses to add them?
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:34 PMThe launch dates of each movie are at the discretion of the film studio, not Microsoft.
Gerby
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:24 PMStream movies in Australia? Bitch you must be crazy.
Mr Waffle
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:29 PMDoes it tell you how much download it is before you commit to it?
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:34 PMYes.
Stinky
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:09 PMHow much do they cost?
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:24 PMThe current selection ranges from 240 to 420 Microsoft Points (ie. $4 to $7), depending on age and whether it’s HD or SD.
Stinky
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:33 PMThat’s reasonable. I still rage at MS point “change” though.
Strange
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:31 PMI wanna see “Harry Potter and the Hangover”.
DavidR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 2:54 PMI’ll check it out tonight. If it works okay, even in SD, that sounds good to me.
James
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:04 PMI wonder if Sony will refuse distribution rights for any SPE/MGM titles on the service as a way to boost the equivalent services on their console?
Cost?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:14 PMWhat does it cost per movie? I’m very interested if the price is right.
Tim
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 3:49 PMI have been using it a little in the beta phase, and I can confirm it still uses your quota on iinet. Having said that, SD streaming is gold. Went to try HD, but my internet speed varies from day to day, and that day it was having a hissy fit, so it wouldnt let me.
Also, they asked us all to watch the same movie on the same night a couple of weekends ago, so streaming still works even when there is load on the system. I was a bit shocked to see the size of the HD download though.. 11.8 gig for harry potter and the goblet of fire, which is precisely 1.8gig more than my peak allowance gives me. which pretty much blows any chance I had of HD movies straight out of the water. As soon as it is quota free though, I am in. and it is on. like donkey kong.
Ben
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:02 PMWon’t be using it till bigpond lift their game and increase monthly quotas and make all xbox live content free..
Anthony Bates
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:45 PMBigpond lift quotas? Good luck with that.
Satyr
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:47 PMWon’t be streaming or downloading expensive, stale movies that disappear in 14 days..
..I’ll just be lamenting the fact that Last.FM is missing from today’s update.
DavidR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:55 PM@ Wildgoose.
lol
attila
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:02 PMHow big is an HD download?
AussieSniper
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:51 PMIt’s basically a worthless update for Aussies. Do you really want to use Twitter and Facebook from your 360? Not me. And like everyone else says, the bandwidth usage negates the movie streaming. You might as well just torrent a movie that you can keep if your bandwidth is going to be used up getting it.
invizzi
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 6:57 PMit is now 6:57pm on november the 17th and i don’t see any shitty updated anything, no facebook no nothing.
David Wildgoose
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 8:24 PM9pm EDT.
Do$hOne
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:11 PMIts 9pm just turned on my xbox and still no update.
Snapsushi
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:11 PM9:10 still no update…….. Anyone…?
Philip Konnecke
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:18 PMIt’s now 9:17PM.
WHAR?!
Cheez
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:21 PM9:20 no update
FatShady
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:30 PM9.30 no update???
FatShady
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:32 PMI will point out however that Major Nelson did suggest it would vary based on where you live, but then again this report was 9pm AEDT. Eitherway, we will get it when we get it!