This Christmas I finally got my son an Xbox 360. We’ve had a Wii console since they first came out, but have never hooked it up to the internet.
Since a lot of the content for the Xbox seems to come from online, I figured out how to connect that to the Net and how to get Netflix instant videos. Nice. But, unless I misunderstood something, it seems I need to have an XBox Gold membership (or something like that) to use it to access the Netflix queue.
A few questions I’m looking to answer:
Does Xbox require a paid membership to see Netflix videos, or did I misunderstand that?
If so, are there other benefits to be gained by this for Xbox 360?
Does Wii also have some extra charge for accessing Netflix?
Can Google TV or similar also provide this, and if so, what are the costs, if any?
It did seem that the Wii interface can be a little easier, but misses some features that Xbox has as well as XBox 360 seems to have better picture quality (from what I’ve found online).
Know I’m a little late to the party on this, so sorry if I missed an earlier thread that covers this.
Our Netflix subscription gets us Wii downloads included(we have an unlimited streaming subscription). We added a tile for Netflix onto the Wii so we don’t have to keep up with the disc and it’s golden. The only complaint we have is you can’t manage your queue, instant or disc, from the Wii. If you want to watch something on the Wii you have to add it to your instant queue from a computer and then it will be there on the Wii. They have some canned categories like “stuff you might like” “New releases” “Random Genre” “Random Genre II Electric Boogalo” but if you are wanting a specific title the only way we’ve found(well, mostly the wife and kids, I don’t watch much Netflix) to get it is through the computer.
Picture and sound quality I can’t tell you about. We don’t care because we have a small(27") standard definition tube, not a high def flatscreen with a stereo surround or something similar.
Yes, you need to pay for XBox live to watch Netflix on the 360
Benefits are that Microsoft gets richer (and your son can now play online with the rest of the world). You can also browse and add movies to your Netflix queue through the 360, and there is a search features as well (but its really a lot easier to do that on a computer with a keyboard)
dunno (I have a 360, but I don’t have a Wii)
also dunno, but I do know that a lot of Blu Ray players, and newer TVs can also get Netflix (you still need to hook them up to the internets, though. The netflix site probably lists all of the devices capable of doing so.
As for picture quality - depends on your connection speed. Some movies can be sent in Hi Def, but not all of them.
The Gold Membership on XBOX, which is what you need to use Netflix, is the same fee you pay to connect the xBox to networked games. So if you already pay for networked gaming, there’s no additional fee. If you don’t use that service already, it is additional, I think its about $60/yr, and it gives you access to more than just Netflix.
Edit: you can manage your live queue (not your disc queue) through the Xbox. They just added a search feature.
I use Netflix through my Wii at no charge. I just uploaded the Netflix Channel and am able to watch anything on watch it now. I don’t know about Mtgman, by on my Wii I can search Netflix for any title I want and find it relatively easily. I just got my Wii for Christmas so maybe this is a new feature, but you can definitely search by title or genre.
I have both. I have been known to watch Netflix on one or the other, depending on which device the AV switcher has engaged.
Xbox requires the Xbox Live Gold Membership. The rate for Gold just recently went up to 60 bucks a year.
With the membership you can also have voice chats with other Xbox users and play multiplayer games, HALO and the like, UNO, etc. You also have exclusive deals on games bought for download, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and selected content from MSNBC [Olbermann’s Oddball piece, Nightly News and TODAY segments] New Yorker and Dilbert Animations.
Wii access to Netflix is free. Of course, you are still paying for Netflix, and you are still paying for your ISP
Netflix puts up money to obtain its content to offer you. The negoations and clout they bring to the table means they could obtain things that Google Video could not. It all comes down to money at a certain point, and I think Netflix is the leader, if not in the main pack among streaming content providers. All of that to say I think Netflix is the best choice among the rest.
We got a PS3 for Christmas and Netflix is free to access through it and you get the higher quality resolution that the Xbox boasts. Don’t know about being able to add titles to your queue with the PS3 as I haven’t tried.
We also have a Wii and use it to stream Netflix as well, also free of charge. The kids like to use it because the queue menu is easier and more intuitive to navigate than the PS3 one.
We have a Wii and a PS3, but generally use the Wii for watching Netflix. This is because we have had an endless stream of problems with the PS3 losing its connection to the Internet while streaming movies. We never have any problems with the Wii.
The video quality is noticeably better on the 360, so since I’m paying for Xbox Live anyway that’s what I use for Netflix. I don’t know if I’d pay for Live if Netflix was the only thing I used it for though, I’d probably just suck up the difference in image quality and use the Wii.
A lot of Xbox games will come with a card with a 2 day Xbox Live Gold trial code, you could try to find one of those (or ask for a code online, they’re useless to people that have Gold anyway) and see the difference for yourself.
We use Netflix on our Wii. It is free and while my TV is rather old (63 inches - 780i) the picture and sound quality are as good as a DVD.
We pay for Netflix and get to have a couple actual disks at home as well. Which is good because there is a lot of weirdness in the streaming realm. Like, I can get Terminator 2 on streaming, but Terminator 1 is only on disc through the mail. Party Down Season 2 is on streaming, but I have to get season 1 through the mail. Just weird…
I have it through the Wii. I have had a Wii for a year or so now and when I had the Netflix account to get three at a time I got the Wii disk. One day I got a message on my Wii that said “You don’t need the disk anymore, just download the Netflix channel” so I did. I do not question what the technology in my home says to do.
I can search titles and the menus have really opened up since I moved from the disk to the Netflix channel. I haven’t run into something yet that I could not find on the channel, but I also have the Netflix app on my iPhone so if there is anything I can’t find or maybe if I’m out and don’t feel like searching I will add it to my queue from my phone and just pull up Instant Queue when I get home.
Now, if I could just find the damn DVDs I got 8 months ago and send them back in I can switch back to a one per month disk feature…
We have the unlimited streaming/2 disks at home Netflix plan. We have the XBox and Wii but we rarely use the xBox so we have never used it for the Wii.
We have never had a problem with the Wii or Netflix. Our only problems have come from the internet going out. Yes, the Wii streaming is free. I have no idea if the xbox quality is better but my TV is older so I doubt I’d notice anyway. The Wii streaming quality looks and sounds exactly like DVD quality to me and it’s really easy to use. Yes, you can search for a specific name through the Wii.
My sister uses the PS3 and she says it’s more complicated than I have indicated that the Wii is but she says the quality is really good on her much newer tv.
