Changes to XBOX Live Canada

Boges · December 6, 2011

Microsoft Corp. has rolled out the new dashboard for its Xbox 360 console, bringing mainstream television programming to millions of Canadian Xbox owners.
The company, which has partnered with cable providers in other countries, announced Monday that the Rogers on Demand service, LeafsTV and DisneyXD will all be offering TV content to viewers through the Xbox 360 gaming console.

The initiative is another push by Microsoft to make the Xbox gaming console the heart of entertainment systems. The console has allowed users to play video games and DVDs since it was initially released in 2005.

It was updated early on to allow users to play music and movies stored on a nearby computer. In more recent years, Microsoft has added Facebook connectivity, Netflix and Internet radio to be streamed over the device. The announcement marks the first time the console has streamed TV shows from major networks and providers into the living rooms of Canadian consumers.

"It's been a passion in terms of how we've been evolving the Xbox platform," said Glenn Purkis, Microsoft Canada Xbox Live manager.

"It's about bringing it all into place."

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Xbox+dashboard+brings+Canadians/5815929/story.html#ixzz1fm9Veucr

They still don't have a date for this, I'm hoping this month.

An XBOX Live Gold Membership costs like $60-$70 a year. I get it so I can do online gaming (Battlefield 3 is Fantastic). You can always buy content on Live but it has this ridiculous points system (With set levels) that makes you pre-pay for points instead of buying the products you want. (Like iTunes) You can currently buy current shows onDemand but it's pricey, similar to Apple TV.

But if you can get Rogers onDemand included with your Live membership, it'll be very difficult to justify your cable bill. Granted the bandwidth will be pricey. Also nothing can really compete with The Movie Network (at $19/month) unless you're a thief.

If Bubber Miley was pissed about DVRs then he must be really pissed about this.

They also say their offering a free movie service. This might mean Netflix is now useless to me. I'm very curious to see what these changes will mean for getting content.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Boges

wyly · December 6, 2011

They still don't have a date for this, I'm hoping this month.

An XBOX Live Gold Membership costs like $60-$70 a year. I get it so I can do online gaming (Battlefield 3 is Fantastic). You can always buy content on Live but it has this ridiculous points system (With set levels) that makes you pre-pay for points instead of buying the products you want. (Like iTunes) You can currently buy current shows onDemand but it's pricey, similar to Apple TV.

But if you can get Rogers onDemand included with your Live membership, it'll be very difficult to justify your cable bill. Granted the bandwidth will be pricey. Also nothing can really compete with The Movie Network (at $19/month) unless you're a thief.

If Bubber Miley was pissed about DVRs then he must be really pissed about this.

They also say their offering a free movie service. This might mean Netflix is now useless to me. I'm very curious to see what these changes will mean for getting content.

?..I'm not understanding all this, free movies on xbox live?

Boges · December 6, 2011

?..I'm not understanding all this, free movies on xbox live?

Ever used Netflix? It's unlimited onDemand Movies/TV with a $8 charge. The movies and shows aren't very current though.

Rogers onDemand is basically like Hulu in the US but you pay for it with your cable subscription. You can stream mainstream Television shows (commercial free) onDemand.

Well with this system, apparently, you get Rogers onDemand included with your Live Gold subscription. A Gold Subscription comes to less than $7/month so it's by far the cheapest way to receive content online other than, of course, if you steal.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Boges

wyly · December 6, 2011

Ever used Netflix? It's unlimited onDemand Movies/TV with a $8 charge. The movies and shows aren't very current though.

Rogers onDemand is basically like Hulu in the US but you pay for it with your cable subscription. You can stream mainstream Television shows (commercial free) onDemand.

Well with this system, apparently, you get Rogers onDemand included with your Live Gold subscription. A Gold Subscription comes to less than $7/month so it's by far the cheapest way to receive content online other than, of course, if you steal.

but what's the rogers connection? we have xbox gold with telus how does rogers figure into this?

Boges · December 6, 2011

but what's the rogers connection? we have xbox gold with telus how does rogers figure into this?

Rogers does cable TV too, it's not just a cell provider. You can only get Cable provided by Rogers in the immediate GTA. Otherwise it's something like Shaw or Cogeco, no where near as good.

Microsoft is clearly partnering with Rogers to provide content. Not sure what's in it for Rogers but I suppose they have access to a larger customer base than they have access to now, It also does an end-around to get to Bell customers. They can always sell ads that go on the interface as well as before each onDemand video starts.

cybercoma · December 7, 2011

Ever used Netflix? It's unlimited onDemand Movies/TV with a $8 charge. The movies and shows aren't very current though.

Unlimited until you go over the extremely limited upload/download caps our

ISPs have. Then you have to mortgage your house to opay your internet bill.

Moonlight Graham · December 7, 2011

If most of this is free, or at least a good chunk of it, then cool. If I have to pay it's useless since I already have cable plus don't want to waste bandwidth.

I don't have Netflix but it is popular on Xbox Live and a convenient idea, but most of the other stuff, like Facebook and Twitter, is just fluff I don't use.

Why don't they just include a freaking internet browser so I can just surf the web (i'm sure it has everything to do with media control and $$$). Even the Wii has web browsing.

blueblood · December 7, 2011

If most of this is free, or at least a good chunk of it, then cool. If I have to pay it's useless since I already have cable plus don't want to waste bandwidth.

I don't have Netflix but it is popular on Xbox Live and a convenient idea, but most of the other stuff, like Facebook and Twitter, is just fluff I don't use.

Why don't they just include a freaking internet browser so I can just surf the web (i'm sure it has everything to do with media control and $$$). Even the Wii has web browsing.

Thats where the ps3 comes in handy, just that the browser sucks. It is free however.

Boges · December 7, 2011

Thats where the ps3 comes in handy, just that the browser sucks. It is free however.

Part of this re-vamped Dashboard includes Bing Searches and Youtube so I'll assume there's some internet browsing capabilities.

Hydraboss · December 7, 2011

I never did get over MS screwing up the dashboard from the original. Just what I always wanted...a bobblehead character so I can look like I belong with the rest of the 8 year olds on WII. That, and it made my Arcade version useless (although the standard one still worked).

Xbox never had browsing capabilities and still doesn't (Bing doesn't count because it's garbage). I don't know why I ever bought three of these freaking things (1 original, 2 360s). The PS3 seems better (only bought it to play Blu-ray) but it's just kept in the motorhome. I liked the way it streamed video from the computer, but typical Sony machine won't play half of them for some reason (DRM?) Our WII is only used by my daughter the odd time - so it sits.

If there will be "free" movies on Live, you can bet your ass that there is an annoying catch. MS gives nothing away for free, or without bothering the hell out of you. Wouldn't surprise me to see them demand paid product placement in the games from their developers or something along those lines. XBOX could actually function as a "whole home" entertainment center, but first they would have to quiet it down from the 180dB or so it runs at...

Boges · December 7, 2011

I never did get over MS screwing up the dashboard from the original. Just what I always wanted...a bobblehead character so I can look like I belong with the rest of the 8 year olds on WII. That, and it made my Arcade version useless (although the standard one still worked).

Xbox never had browsing capabilities and still doesn't (Bing doesn't count because it's garbage). I don't know why I ever bought three of these freaking things (1 original, 2 360s). The PS3 seems better (only bought it to play Blu-ray) but it's just kept in the motorhome. I liked the way it streamed video from the computer, but typical Sony machine won't play half of them for some reason (DRM?) Our WII is only used by my daughter the odd time - so it sits.

If there will be "free" movies on Live, you can bet your ass that there is an annoying catch. MS gives nothing away for free, or without bothering the hell out of you. Wouldn't surprise me to see them demand paid product placement in the games from their developers or something along those lines. XBOX could actually function as a "whole home" entertainment center, but first they would have to quiet it down from the 180dB or so it runs at...

I don't mind the sound it makes. The newer onces are silent. I also think the Avatar thing is lame but oh well.

I'm not as interested in the movies, Netflix is pretty good. But I accidentally deleted my wife's recording of New Girl last week. If there was an onDemand option for TV shows included in my Live bill that's pretty awesome. They better not raise the price of Live though.

Boges · December 15, 2011

Total false alarm. :angry:

Downloaded the Rogers onDemand app for xBox yesterday. You have to be a Rogers customer to use it. Which is retarded because if you already have Rogers Cable then you already have Rogers onDemand.

I do subscribe to Roger's wireless services so I was able to register by entering my account number.

The content is crap. Stuff I already get on Cogeco on demand. It's just CanCon that I likely would never watch. I'll keep checking it to see if they actually put anything good on there but it's definitely not something that'll make you cancel your cable bill.

The RealSports thing is yet to be released, that might be cool. There's also a Bing App and a Youtube App that I still haven't tried but look cool.

They revamped Netflix as well and it appears they added more content.

cybercoma · December 15, 2011

Rogers onDemand is awful.

Rogers is generally awful. They say you get thousands of channels, but they repeat even without the timeshifting. Between the repeats, timeshifting, and HD versions of station, you probably only get about 100-150 different channels.

Boges · December 15, 2011

Rogers onDemand is awful.

Rogers is generally awful. They say you get thousands of channels, but they repeat even without the timeshifting. Between the repeats, timeshifting, and HD versions of station, you probably only get about 100-150 different channels.

Do you need more than 150 channels?

cybercoma · December 15, 2011

Do you need more than 150 channels?

It's deceptive advertising, that's all. I don't even have that many channels because I only have the most basic package you can get. Even then, I barely watch any television.

Boges · December 15, 2011

It's deceptive advertising, that's all. I don't even have that many channels because I only have the most basic package you can get. Even then, I barely watch any television.

If you barely watch TV then you really can't appreciate Digital Cable then.

I'm sure if you include all the specialty packages, sports package, French Channels, Music/Radio Channels, movie package everything you CAN get. It probably would be at lease more than 500 channels.

But that's not what this is. This is about getting content online for something you would pay for already for different reasons.

Jack Weber · December 15, 2011

Do you need more than 150 channels?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPv-X1GGPVY

"In the blessed name of Elvis,I just let it blast!!!"

Moonlight Graham · December 16, 2011

the new dashboard design is stupid. It's a complete rehaul, so just causes confusion, and doesn't function as well with less options. Maybe they made it for Kinect users or something. This is the 3rd massive redesign of the dashboard in the life of the console and it's getting annoying. I looked for 5 minutes trying to find where I can change my freaking Theme and still can't find it.

GostHacked · December 19, 2011

All these computer like devices trying to actually be a computer.

Steam is free to sign up and use. I don't need to renew every year.

Boges · December 19, 2011

All these computer like devices trying to actually be a computer.

Steam is free to sign up and use. I don't need to renew every year.

It's trying to be an entertainment console not a computer.

Xbox Live has, and never will, look like a computer. It actually easily links to computers so you can play your music/videos on the xbox.

Why would Microsoft try to make something that would replace a PC.

Boges · December 19, 2011

Steam is free to sign up and use. I don't need to renew every year.

Steam should be free to sign up for because you use it to pay for/download content.

XBL Gold allows you to play video games online in a very user-friendly manner.

GostHacked · December 19, 2011

It's trying to be an entertainment console not a computer.

The Xbox can try to be a lot of things. And essentially the XBOX is a computer. Same components as a computer (motherboard, hard drive, ram, video ram, usb, hdmi, ect ect .... Your smartphone is a computer as well. The term computer is a broad definition that covers a lot of devices developed for specific functions.

Xbox Live has, and never will, look like a computer. It actually easily links to computers so you can play your music/videos on the xbox.

Well that is easily done when Microsoft also runs the computer operating systems

Why would Microsoft try to make something that would replace a PC.

Companies have been trying to replace the computer for some time. But the devices they develop over time end up to be more computer like than they intended.

GostHacked · December 19, 2011

Steam should be free to sign up for because you use it to pay for/download content.

XBL Gold allows you to play video games online in a very user-friendly manner.

Steam client is free, yes, and yes I have to pay for the games I download.

XBOX Live, you still have to pay monthly, yearly, as well as purchase the game. Also you need a proprietary computer called the XBOX in order to take 'advantage' of all that.

Also Steam is very user friendly.

Steam I can also play all my games on any other computer I want. All I have to do is re download them at no cost. I don't know if that is available with the Xbox.

Boges · December 19, 2011

I'm assuming your initial premise is that people shouldn't get an Xbox when there is PC Gaming.

Video Gaming Consoles are a popular and enduring method of playing video games. Xbox just ads being a Media extender to it's resume.

A more useless piece of hardware is the Apple TV that does what the Xbox can do sans the video game part.

GostHacked · December 19, 2011

I'm assuming your initial premise is that people shouldn't get an Xbox when there is PC Gaming.

Gaming on a PC is still miles above gaming on a console. Only n00bs use auto aiming or aim assist. Mouse+keyboard > gamepad.

Video Gaming Consoles are a popular and enduring method of playing video games. Xbox just ads being a Media extender to it's resume.
A more useless piece of hardware is the Apple TV that does what the Xbox can do sans the video game part.

And I can do all of that (even play older Xbox games) on the computer . Yes it requires a 'hack' in a sense. ROM Emulators like MAME are all of what you need.