Is this yet another blow to our beloved Xbox 360 Media Center Extender?  Is there a valid reason for this to come to Xbox 360 MCX?
http://www.destructoid.com/rumortoid-hulu-coming-to-the-xbox-360-in-the-near-future--133909.phtml

If anything, I think it will be more like the Netflix service on the xbox currently.

1. It will be limited to Xbox live Gold members only.
2. Won't be available through extender mode, only through the dashboard.

Even if that is the case though, I'll be pretty happy about it.

+1 
This makes it worthless to me. 

Foxer:

If anything, I think it will be more like the Netflix service on the xbox currently. 1. It will be limited to Xbox live Gold members only. 2. Won't be available through extender mode, only through the dashboard. Even if that is the case though, I'll be pretty happy about it.

++1

Agreed. Seriously Microsoft needs to mature as a team here and get their Media Center act together. It's annoying when the Xbox team can get things going on their own because it slows down the "integrated" experience from happening.

Case in point, supported video formats. From xbox dash, you get a wider support than from within Media Center (on an xbox).

Stinks.

I really want to make the MS Media Center the honest to goodness center of my network, but the pieces just aren't meshing yet.

If its in the dashboard, i'll be happy.  If its in MCE, i'll be happy.  Its only 1 green button away either way.

Well,….

Yeah,…

I guess its expected that Microsoft would once again leverage their “Live Gold” account to bring something new like Hulu to the Xbox 360. I suppose I don’t really blame them (for trying) I understand where its coming from.

I’m not really interest in paying for a “Live Gold” account though. Not for playing games, not for accessing Netflix WatchNow and not for accessing Hulu.

Maybe if they had some sort of pay service that would then be free with the “Live Gold” account,….but not for stuff that’s already free and or accessible to me with out it,….no sir.

I think Xbox Live Gold is the wave of the future.  For $50/year (eg. $4/month) you get access to additional content.  That's a fantastic idea.  Why?  Because the price is right and it actually encourages Microsoft to bring in more content.  We all hate the Media Center Internet TV plug-in because there is no content, and there is no content because Microsoft stands to make nothing by licensing it.  The alterative is advertising, but to attract advertisers you have to have a decent number of users which Media Center likely doesn't at this point.

Going forward I can see Microsoft making a rasing prices of the Xbox Live subscription, but maybe for the better.  $50/year gets you traditional gaming access on Xbox Live, or $20/year gets you entertainment access, or $65/year gets you both.  Even at $65/year it is just over $5/month.  If the content continues to increases, that's a fantastic deal when you consider it brings all of the content to a central UI (when we have been spending $1000 for a Media Center PC, plus $250 for each Extender).

Sure, it doesn't replace the Media Center concept but the low price of entry plus the low monthly cost equals a win to me.

BTW, you can often find Xbox Live membership cards on sale online.

Octavean:

Well,….

Yeah,…

I guess its expected that Microsoft would once again leverage their “Live Gold” account to bring something new like Hulu to the Xbox 360. I suppose I don’t really blame them (for trying) I understand where its coming from.

I’m not really interest in paying for a “Live Gold” account though. Not for playing games, not for accessing Netflix WatchNow and not for accessing Hulu.

Maybe if they had some sort of pay service that would then be free with the “Live Gold” account,….but not for stuff that’s already free and or accessible to me with out it,….no sir.

Agree 100%, I don't care if it costs ¢1 a month.  I had better get a real product for my purchase, not a contrived effort to make me pay for something that is free elsewhere or should already be free(game playing, m$).  I don't want or need another subscription/rental device in my entertainment system, 1 is enough.  If they continue down this path that they appear to be traveling, I'll dump my 360 and the games, buy a ps3, and just hook up my laptop directly to the tv, regardless of how much I despise that idea.  I have no ties to the 360 outside of its use as an extender.  The games are fun, but I would have just as much fun with a ps3, and then I could actually play games online with some friends, FREE!!  Anyways, if I don't get all of the function out of the 360 as an extender that I need, I'll move in a new direction. 

Are you listening m$?

I know, probably not, but not for lack of me trying. 

I think the vision of the Live Gold membership is not necessarily an additional fee for content, but eventually to supplant some of the other content fees. For example, I pay $105 per month for my cable TV service including some movie channels. Replace that with Live Gold and free last.fm, and that’s $4 / month. Obviously at this point I wouldn’t have the comparable content, but that leaves me a budget of $101 per month for Netflix, or for them to integrate something like Hulu, or maybe a Discovery Networks Suite, a Yankees Baseball Pass, a Zune Movie or Music Package, or some other a la carte for content that I am interested in.

It would be a paradigm shift, but I think paying only for the content you want is a good approach for the consumer. I have no comment on how studios and networks feel about this, or how far away this is from a reality. But from a technology standpoint we are already there, since we will be able to stream 1080p and 5.1 instantly with the Xbox in the fall.

Keep in mind that I am a rabid Media Center fan, and it pains me personally to see the emphasis put on integrating these services into the Xbox. My next anticipated disappointment will come this fall when I can’t get Zune Marketplace integrated into Media Center. (I have an Xbox and a Gold membership, but I only use it for games and an Extender because I prefer everything integrated into a single experience.) But I think for general consumer adoption of Microsoft technologies it makes sense as a strategy to focus on the Xbox. It’s a $200 box that can theoretically pull all of the content you want from the Internet or LAN, and outputs it to your TV/home theater with an HDMI cable through a single GUI. No video card registry settings, no CableCARD PIDs, no SideShow Bluetooth driver updates. You want to get that same content on another TV, get another Xbox that reads from the same Internet. You want to view personal photos or listen to your music library, upload it to your SkyDrive or Home Server and have the Xbox(es) stream that too. There’s your Extender. Then sync it all to your Zune HD or Windows Mobile.

I have no idea how practical this is in the near future, but I think Microsoft is putting a strong technology platform in place to support this availability of content at what I consider a competitive price and fee. Until then, I’ll be continually upgrading the drivers and OS on my dedicated CableCARD Media Center PC, modifying the GUI to launch Hulu Desktop, and hacking whatever I can to get my Media Center to squeeze out at least the same content available on Xbox Live.

Chris - Moderator:

I think Xbox Live Gold is the wave of the future.  For $50/year (eg. $4/month) you get access to additional content.  That's a fantastic idea.  Why?  Because the price is right and it actually encourages Microsoft to bring in more content.  We all hate the Media Center Internet TV plug-in because there is no content, and there is no content because Microsoft stands to make nothing by licensing it.  The alterative is advertising, but to attract advertisers you have to have a decent number of users which Media Center likely doesn't at this point.

Going forward I can see Microsoft making a rasing prices of the Xbox Live subscription, but maybe for the better.  $50/year gets you traditional gaming access on Xbox Live, or $20/year gets you entertainment access, or $65/year gets you both.  Even at $65/year it is just over $5/month.  If the content continues to increases, that's a fantastic deal when you consider it brings all of the content to a central UI (when we have been spending $1000 for a Media Center PC, plus $250 for each Extender).

Sure, it doesn't replace the Media Center concept but the low price of entry plus the low monthly cost equals a win to me.

BTW, you can often find Xbox Live membership cards on sale online.

This I can get behind.  Ultimately, I just want a solution that works.

However, I still think that Microsoft needs to maintain the extender model if only for the $20/yr entertainment only option.  Also, for those with multiple entertainment zones a $65/yr option would add up pretty swiftly if it was only Xbox-centric.  Hell I would have to replace three MCX(s), which are in the MBR, Family Room, and Fitness Room with three Xbox(s).  Coupled that with the 1 xbox that I already own that would get very expensive and would change the dynamics of the purchasing decsion from impulse to making room in the budget with the wife's approval.

I don’t know Chris,…

If Microsoft integrated the cost of a pay service into the existing Live Gold annual fee then I could see the value in that. Even if they reduced the serve somewhat to do it. Such as a free Netflix account with every Live Gold membership. Let say no physical disc rentals only a limited number of hours per month of WatchNow. Those Netflix members of whom maintained their own Netflix account would be bumped up to an additional movie out for the physical disc rentals.

Maybe Microsoft could work something out with CinemaNow or similar services for free rentals or low cost (~$0.99) movie rentals of all movies exclusive to Live Gold membership.

I can see the value in this, I cannot quit see the value in leveraging free services or services you already pay for,…..this means nothing to me and seems like an ineffective attempt to inject value into a something which has dubious vale to begin with.

For what its worth, I have an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3 and a Wii. I don’t mind paying for services but those services should make sense and have some degree of value / uniqueness if at all possible.

I’m not saying that “Live Gold” has no value, I’m just saying it has little to no value to me now. Throwing Hulu at it wont change this. In fact throwing thousands of free services at it wont change this.

jholliday69:

Octavean:

Well,….

Yeah,…

I guess its expected that Microsoft would once again leverage their “Live Gold” account to bring something new like Hulu to the Xbox 360. I suppose I don’t really blame them (for trying) I understand where its coming from.

I’m not really interest in paying for a “Live Gold” account though. Not for playing games, not for accessing Netflix WatchNow and not for accessing Hulu.

Maybe if they had some sort of pay service that would then be free with the “Live Gold” account,….but not for stuff that’s already free and or accessible to me with out it,….no sir.

Agree 100%, I don't care if it costs ¢1 a month.  I had better get a real product for my purchase, not a contrived effort to make me pay for something that is free elsewhere or should already be free(game playing, m$).  I don't want or need another subscription/rental device in my entertainment system, 1 is enough.  If they continue down this path that they appear to be traveling, I'll dump my 360 and the games, buy a ps3, and just hook up my laptop directly to the tv, regardless of how much I despise that idea.  I have no ties to the 360 outside of its use as an extender.  The games are fun, but I would have just as much fun with a ps3, and then I could actually play games online with some friends, FREE!!  Anyways, if I don't get all of the function out of the 360 as an extender that I need, I'll move in a new direction. 

Are you listening m$?

I know, probably not, but not for lack of me trying. 

 

I could not agree more! When my xbox live gold expires in September I will buy another roku box. Another thing is xbox live gold is full of ad's which I don't want or care about. If I am paying for a service I don't want to see ad's.

 

I'd be happy to pay for Live Gold but please give me an interface which doesn't look like a children's toy...aka the MCE interface. Tivo requires a subscription service...MCE could too...so long as we're getting something for out money. Heck...I'd pay the price of my cable for good HD IPtv.

Case and point:

Hulu Premium - Free Online TV May Not Last:

http://www.geektonic.com/2009/06/hulu-premium-free-online-tv-may-not.html

Now if this were to happen and Hulu Premium pay service was free to Xbox “Live Gold” members then I can see the value and you can count me in (without a significant price change in existing “Live Gold” pricing). If I have to maintain the Hulu Premium subscription price on my own and pay full price on the “Live Gold” membership then,…..I can’t see the value in that.

You have to give me something,….

Like maybe 35% to 40% off the Hulu Premium subscription with “Live Gold” membership.

You can’t just have your hand out for money if you know what I mean.

Chris - Moderator:

I think Xbox Live Gold is the wave of the future.  For $50/year (eg. $4/month) you get access to additional content.  That's a fantastic idea.  Why?  Because the price is right and it actually encourages Microsoft to bring in more content.  We all hate the Media Center Internet TV plug-in because there is no content, and there is no content because Microsoft stands to make nothing by licensing it.  The alterative is advertising, but to attract advertisers you have to have a decent number of users which Media Center likely doesn't at this point.

Going forward I can see Microsoft making a rasing prices of the Xbox Live subscription, but maybe for the better.  $50/year gets you traditional gaming access on Xbox Live, or $20/year gets you entertainment access, or $65/year gets you both.  Even at $65/year it is just over $5/month.  If the content continues to increases, that's a fantastic deal when you consider it brings all of the content to a central UI (when we have been spending $1000 for a Media Center PC, plus $250 for each Extender).

Sure, it doesn't replace the Media Center concept but the low price of entry plus the low monthly cost equals a win to me.

BTW, you can often find Xbox Live membership cards on sale online.

This would be a lot easier to swallow if MS were actually the one providing the content.  I really don't get why they think they are entitled to a monthly fee from me for the right to watch content that is either free-with-ads (Hulu) or has ALREADY BEEN PAID FOR (Netflix).  If XBL Gold is the way of the future I'll just say screw it and put a dummy PC under my TV for $500.