Rumor has it that Microsoft might soon launch a service that allows users to download HD movies for a $4 rental fee. If this is indeed true, Microsoft might have a massive hit on its hands. This could essentially usurp the entire rental industry.
An Xbox 360 HD download service would be capable of rendering the iTV obsolete before it even drops. No need to get an iTV for use as a digital hub when you can just get an Xbox 360 and play real games, not wimpy ones.
The main foreseeable limitation is the current hard drive size of the 360, but it’s well known that larger capacity drives will soon be available. So I guess that’d be a double hit for Microsoft. Mass desire for movie downloads and existing Xbox owners being forced to buy new hard drives.
Xbox Live to offer HD movie downloads? [Engadget]
This would be a HUGE step forward for MS and the Xbox 360. Imagine, for the same price (or in some cases less) that you can rent a DVD from Blockbuster you can just fire up Live and be watching it in a few minutes.
Looks like with the PS3 and Wii trying to catch some thunder Microsoft has still got something up their sleeve.
It’s hard to imagine firing up Live and watching a movie in a few minutes on todays’ broadband speeds!
A typical HD movie would be larger than the current SD movies on DVD which are about 5 Gig on average.
There are only 2 options: Download the entire file (With the DRM of course!), which would take a number of hours.
OR
Stream the file, which would be impossable with current BB speeds.
I do believe though, that this will be the future!
Oh Sn1per, you’re letting facts get in the way of a good story :-)
We’ll go with…you can just fire up Live and be watching it in a few hours.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they would let you buy the movie? (like how they let you buy arcade games…)
Lydon is right; offering an Xbox Live movie download service is a step in the right direction for Microsoft. As the company enters 4th quarter, some aggressive new strategies must come into play if Microsoft is to dominate the next-gen console wars.
This scenario is entirely plausible.
A featured article at Gizmodo.com:
http://whistler40069.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/stream-amazon-unbox-video-to-your-xbox-360-211438.php
I think, in fact, that the above link IS the scenario described in the link above. Sometimes facts can be skewed once they hit the internets.
…so far.. this doesn’t work (DRM.. stupid, stupid DRM). But perhaps with time this will be resolved at a later date. We know that MS has big plans with the Zune media player, this may all be part of the master plan.
Certainly MS intends to give Sony a hard fought run for their money.