Sony Blocks Movies from Xbox 360

[MikeyLSU]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Annnnnnd was Sony legally obligated to offer content just to help MS sell 360s? Apparently not.

But MS was first to "not play nice" here.

So, as in most P&N discussions, the correct answer is "both parties are jerks."

Yes, but Sony doesn't gain anything from this. MS had a lot to gain (or lose) by purchasing sole streaming rights.

I don't think that there are any consumers out there who were thinking "Boy, I was going to get Xbox Live and Netflix, but not anymore since I can't get Sony movies".

Call Microsoft a jerk, but they had a reason to pay for the rights. Who knows how much they paid, and if ultimately it was a good business decision or not.

Sony however gains nothing. As an average user it means that I just wont watch their movies on my 360 (which probably actually lowers their licensing contract with Netflix) and I'll dislike Sony.

you say they gain nothing, but I'm sure they are doing it for a reason. My guess is to try to pressure netflix to not go XBOX exclusive.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

you say they gain nothing, but I'm sure they are doing it for a reason. My guess is to try to pressure netflix to not go XBOX exclusive.

Depends on how long Microsoft's contract with them is. Netflix can't just go back on their contract.

 

[Baked]

I laughed.

MS: "LOL, let's throw another chunk of money at Netflix and get exclusive rights like everything in our library. Don't worry, as long as we throw contents at the consumers, they'll forget about the shitty quality of our systems."

Sony: "Fuck it, have our lawyers write a letter to Neflix and block all our movies from getting streamed to Xbox 360."

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Annnnnnd was Sony legally obligated to offer content just to help MS sell 360s? Apparently not.

But MS was first to "not play nice" here.

So, as in most P&N discussions, the correct answer is "both parties are jerks."

Yes, but Sony doesn't gain anything from this. MS had a lot to gain (or lose) by purchasing sole streaming rights.

I don't think that there are any consumers out there who were thinking "Boy, I was going to get Xbox Live and Netflix, but not anymore since I can't get Sony movies".

Call Microsoft a jerk, but they had a reason to pay for the rights. Who knows how much they paid, and if ultimately it was a good business decision or not.

Sony however gains nothing. As an average user it means that I just wont watch their movies on my 360 (which probably actually lowers their licensing contract with Netflix) and I'll dislike Sony.

you say they gain nothing, but I'm sure they are doing it for a reason. My guess is to try to pressure netflix to not go XBOX exclusive.

Valid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

 

[MikeyLSU]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasianValid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

Yeah, I understand that part, I don't like either side doing what they did. I'm getting sick of the exclusive crap like XBOX did with HDDVD and now this. I get why they did it, and I also get why Sony did what they did, but I don't like either.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Baked
I laughed.

MS: "LOL, let's throw another chunk of money at Netflix and get exclusive rights like everything in our library. Don't worry, as long as we throw contents at the consumers, they'll forget about the shitty quality of our systems."

Sony: "Fuck it, have our lawyers write a letter to Neflix and block all our movies from getting streamed to Xbox 360."

That's the way it's always been. Do you think the people who are buying 360s are unaware of the reliability issues? Some are not, but most are. If they buy at a store that sells warranties, the salesman will definitely tell them. Content is king, and content has sold the 360 to so many people despite its issues.

The same was true of the original Playstation and the PS2, both of which had their own widespread reliability issues - people still bought them because of the game library.

Since Microsoft extended the warranty to 3 years you won't find many 360 owners complaining about the RRoD. Yeah it sucks to go without your 360 for a few weeks, but the game selection makes it worth it. The people who seem to complain about the RRoD the most here don't even own 360s.

 

[flashbacck]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Annnnnnd was Sony legally obligated to offer content just to help MS sell 360s? Apparently not.

But MS was first to "not play nice" here.

So, as in most P&N discussions, the correct answer is "both parties are jerks."

Yes, but Sony doesn't gain anything from this. MS had a lot to gain (or lose) by purchasing sole streaming rights.

I don't think that there are any consumers out there who were thinking "Boy, I was going to get Xbox Live and Netflix, but not anymore since I can't get Sony movies".

Call Microsoft a jerk, but they had a reason to pay for the rights. Who knows how much they paid, and if ultimately it was a good business decision or not.

Sony however gains nothing. As an average user it means that I just wont watch their movies on my 360 (which probably actually lowers their licensing contract with Netflix) and I'll dislike Sony.

you say they gain nothing, but I'm sure they are doing it for a reason. My guess is to try to pressure netflix to not go XBOX exclusive.

But you can still get sony movies by streaming to PC or mail, can't you? There's not much pressure on Netflix.

On some level what MS and Sony are doing is the same. They just want exclusive content for their own console. The difference to the consumer is, MS is giving us something and Sony is taking part of it away.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasianValid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

Yeah, I understand that part, I don't like either side doing what they did. I'm getting sick of the exclusive crap like XBOX did with HDDVD and now this. I get why they did it, and I also get why Sony did what they did, but I don't like either.

I'm with you. I didn't know that MS bought exclusivity rights to Netflix streaming for consoles, but that is pretty low IMO. They've been doing that for a lot of stuff (lots of Xbox-exclusive DLC). They should be trying to make the Xbox 360 good on its own merits, not just from buying exclusive rights to stuff. That's something EA would do.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Sony has something to gain, assuming this isn't just a negotiating tactic for more $$ (also a gain):

* content exclusives for their own movie service ( + attractiveness of PS3 & PSP)
* smaller selection of movies in 360 streaming ( - attractiveness of 360)

Since the 360 and PS3 are competing, both are good reasons for Sony to exercise its right to hold back content it owns from the 360, just like Resistance is PS3-only and Gears is 360-only.

So do we start saying it's "not playing nice" that Gears is 360-only?

So Sony's master plan is to get people to watch their movies on a PS3? Genius! So they think the consumer will pay $12+ a month for Netflix and then an additional $x dollars just to watch the Sony movies that they removed. Awesome strategy.

In the end, it doesn't kill the 360 since there are still tons of other movies, but it does lop off a large viewer base of Sony films, which hurts Sony. It could also take money directly from Sony if there was an additional royalty paid by NF to movies allowed to stream (which I am sure there is)

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Baked
I laughed.

MS: "LOL, let's throw another chunk of money at Netflix and get exclusive rights like everything in our library. Don't worry, as long as we throw contents at the consumers, they'll forget about the shitty quality of our systems."

Sony: "Fuck it, have our lawyers write a letter to Neflix and block all our movies from getting streamed to Xbox 360."

I find it funny that you think the 360 is a shitty console. Yes, there was one problem with the initial design, but it carries a 3 year warranty now for that problem, and the redesign runs great.

I wouldn't consider Netflix's streaming movies just more content either.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Sony has something to gain, assuming this isn't just a negotiating tactic for more $$ (also a gain):

* content exclusives for their own movie service ( + attractiveness of PS3 & PSP)
* smaller selection of movies in 360 streaming ( - attractiveness of 360)

Since the 360 and PS3 are competing, both are good reasons for Sony to exercise its right to hold back content it owns from the 360, just like Resistance is PS3-only and Gears is 360-only.

So do we start saying it's "not playing nice" that Gears is 360-only?

So Sony's master plan is to get people to watch their movies on a PS3? Genius! So they think the consumer will pay $12+ a month for Netflix and then an additional $x dollars just to watch the Sony movies that they removed. Awesome strategy.

In the end, it doesn't kill the 360 since there are still tons of other movies, but it does lop off a large viewer base of Sony films, which hurts Sony. It could also take money directly from Sony if there was an additional royalty paid by NF to movies allowed to stream (which I am sure there is)

MS felt it was worth paying money for Netflix streaming on the 360 to sell more consoles, and felt it was worth paying extra (services or whatever if not direct cash) to keep Sony from being able to stream Netflix too.

Sony apparently agrees with MS that having streaming Netflix content helps sell consoles, so they've chosen to reduce the amount (and so the value) of the content on the 360, and only offer the content on the PS3 & PSP.

As I said, both are being "not nice."

 

[NaOH]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasianValid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

Yeah, I understand that part, I don't like either side doing what they did. I'm getting sick of the exclusive crap like XBOX did with HDDVD and now this. I get why they did it, and I also get why Sony did what they did, but I don't like either.

I'm with you. I didn't know that MS bought exclusivity rights to Netflix streaming for consoles, but that is pretty low IMO. They've been doing that for a lot of stuff (lots of Xbox-exclusive DLC). They should be trying to make the Xbox 360 good on its own merits, not just from buying exclusive rights to stuff. That's something EA would do.

And Sony has their blu ray player, and their own exclusive games...what's your point. Every console has their exclusive content or else we would have the same consoles..

This does nothing but further piss off people who just want to enjoy services that they are paying for. I'm not going to go out and buy a ps3 because they blocked off some movies that I can still rent normally through the regular disc method.

 

[BoberFett]

It'd be funny if Windows stopped working on VAIOs next week.

 

[NaOH]

If anything i believe this is an error and doesn't mean Sony is blocking content because their other movies work. It'd be a really dumb move otherwise.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasianValid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

Yeah, I understand that part, I don't like either side doing what they did. I'm getting sick of the exclusive crap like XBOX did with HDDVD and now this. I get why they did it, and I also get why Sony did what they did, but I don't like either.

I'm with you. I didn't know that MS bought exclusivity rights to Netflix streaming for consoles, but that is pretty low IMO. They've been doing that for a lot of stuff (lots of Xbox-exclusive DLC). They should be trying to make the Xbox 360 good on its own merits, not just from buying exclusive rights to stuff. That's something EA would do.

And Sony has their blu ray player, and their own exclusive games...what's your point. Every console has their exclusive content or else we would have the same consoles..

This does nothing but further piss off people who just want to enjoy services that they are paying for. I'm not going to go out and buy a ps3 because they blocked off some movies that I can still rent normally through the regular disc method.

And what are you doing there? Giving Sony what they want.

Sony's end goal here, is not necessarily to get people to buy their consoles, but to take away from the 360/Netflix streaming partnership. And what will people do? If they want to watch movies that happen to be under Sony, they'll just rent/buy the discs. That's fueling the disc-based revenue for Sony, which is partly the end goal.

As a consumer, I do not care what so ever about either issue here: Microsoft having an exclusive Netflix agreement, and Sony blocking netflix-x360 streaming. Why? I do not subscribe to Netflix and do not care, and even if I did, I hate streaming as I foam at the mouth for HD.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: BoberFett
It'd be funny if Windows stopped working on VAIOs next week.

Oh, that would be freakin' hilarious!

 

[Kromis]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: BoberFett
It'd be funny if Windows stopped working on VAIOs next week.

Oh, that would be freakin' hilarious!

:thumbsup:

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: flashbacck

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Annnnnnd was Sony legally obligated to offer content just to help MS sell 360s? Apparently not.

But MS was first to "not play nice" here.

So, as in most P&N discussions, the correct answer is "both parties are jerks."

Yes, but Sony doesn't gain anything from this. MS had a lot to gain (or lose) by purchasing sole streaming rights.

I don't think that there are any consumers out there who were thinking "Boy, I was going to get Xbox Live and Netflix, but not anymore since I can't get Sony movies".

Call Microsoft a jerk, but they had a reason to pay for the rights. Who knows how much they paid, and if ultimately it was a good business decision or not.

Sony however gains nothing. As an average user it means that I just wont watch their movies on my 360 (which probably actually lowers their licensing contract with Netflix) and I'll dislike Sony.

you say they gain nothing, but I'm sure they are doing it for a reason. My guess is to try to pressure netflix to not go XBOX exclusive.

But you can still get sony movies by streaming to PC or mail, can't you? There's not much pressure on Netflix.

On some level what MS and Sony are doing is the same. They just want exclusive content for their own console. The difference to the consumer is, MS is giving us something and Sony is taking part of it away.

Maybe it seems this way to you, but those Blu Rays don't just magically appear at your door. Netflix has to pay for them. If more people are renting those movies, Netflix has to buy more. I read somewhere (I forget where), but the movie studios get more money for a DVD/Blu Ray sold than they do for the licensing rights to streaming content. Therefore, by Sony forcing you to get the movie via Blu Ray, they ARE making more money....all the while lowering the appeal, even if very slightly, of the 360.

 

[flashbacck]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: flashbacck

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Annnnnnd was Sony legally obligated to offer content just to help MS sell 360s? Apparently not.

But MS was first to "not play nice" here.

So, as in most P&N discussions, the correct answer is "both parties are jerks."

Yes, but Sony doesn't gain anything from this. MS had a lot to gain (or lose) by purchasing sole streaming rights.

I don't think that there are any consumers out there who were thinking "Boy, I was going to get Xbox Live and Netflix, but not anymore since I can't get Sony movies".

Call Microsoft a jerk, but they had a reason to pay for the rights. Who knows how much they paid, and if ultimately it was a good business decision or not.

Sony however gains nothing. As an average user it means that I just wont watch their movies on my 360 (which probably actually lowers their licensing contract with Netflix) and I'll dislike Sony.

you say they gain nothing, but I'm sure they are doing it for a reason. My guess is to try to pressure netflix to not go XBOX exclusive.

But you can still get sony movies by streaming to PC or mail, can't you? There's not much pressure on Netflix.

On some level what MS and Sony are doing is the same. They just want exclusive content for their own console. The difference to the consumer is, MS is giving us something and Sony is taking part of it away.

Maybe it seems this way to you, but those Blu Rays don't just magically appear at your door. Netflix has to pay for them. If more people are renting those movies, Netflix has to buy more. I read somewhere (I forget where), but the movie studios get more money for a DVD/Blu Ray sold than they do for the licensing rights to streaming content. Therefore, by Sony forcing you to get the movie via Blu Ray, they ARE making more money....all the while lowering the appeal, even if very slightly, of the 360.

I guess if NXE attracts more netflix subscribers, netflix will buy more discs, but they're still getting your $8.99/month so it works out for them.

 

[NaOH]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasianValid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

Yeah, I understand that part, I don't like either side doing what they did. I'm getting sick of the exclusive crap like XBOX did with HDDVD and now this. I get why they did it, and I also get why Sony did what they did, but I don't like either.

I'm with you. I didn't know that MS bought exclusivity rights to Netflix streaming for consoles, but that is pretty low IMO. They've been doing that for a lot of stuff (lots of Xbox-exclusive DLC). They should be trying to make the Xbox 360 good on its own merits, not just from buying exclusive rights to stuff. That's something EA would do.

And Sony has their blu ray player, and their own exclusive games...what's your point. Every console has their exclusive content or else we would have the same consoles..

This does nothing but further piss off people who just want to enjoy services that they are paying for. I'm not going to go out and buy a ps3 because they blocked off some movies that I can still rent normally through the regular disc method.

And what are you doing there? Giving Sony what they want.

Sony's end goal here, is not necessarily to get people to buy their consoles, but to take away from the 360/Netflix streaming partnership. And what will people do? If they want to watch movies that happen to be under Sony, they'll just rent/buy the discs. That's fueling the disc-based revenue for Sony, which is partly the end goal.

As a consumer, I do not care what so ever about either issue here: Microsoft having an exclusive Netflix agreement, and Sony blocking netflix-x360 streaming. Why? I do not subscribe to Netflix and do not care, and even if I did, I hate streaming as I foam at the mouth for HD.

What are you talking about? I have always been subscribed to one of these online rental places. I just recently switched to netflix because they have this streaming option which is a big plus in my book even if sony takes away streaming their movies only on the 360. You know why? Because I can still stream on my computer. I can still rent them like i normally would through the mail. So I'm only being inconvenienced by not having the option to stream these certain movies, which only a handful I would watch anyways. How am I fueling anything if I was already subscribed because I like to get movies in the mail? Explain that to me. Even if I had both systems, it'd still piss me off because now I can't stream to my xbox OR my ps3.

If you don't care then why are you in here posting. Obviously you care enough to have your opinion heard. Also, if you read up, you will learn that they also allow streaming in HD (maybe not hddvd or bluray quality, but it's a nice perk to not have to run to the store or wait for something to come in the mail regardless).

I'm sure if Microsoft crippled Windows in some way for people running bootcamp just to get people to buy a REAL PC to get the full usage out of it, you'd be singing a different tune for them.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: BoberFett
It'd be funny if Windows stopped working on VAIOs next week.

Oh, that would be freakin' hilarious!

LOL, counter pwnage.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasianValid as your points may be, you have to look at this from the consumers perspective, and to most people what MS did is okay, and what Sony did is just low and immature.

Yeah, I understand that part, I don't like either side doing what they did. I'm getting sick of the exclusive crap like XBOX did with HDDVD and now this. I get why they did it, and I also get why Sony did what they did, but I don't like either.

I'm with you. I didn't know that MS bought exclusivity rights to Netflix streaming for consoles, but that is pretty low IMO. They've been doing that for a lot of stuff (lots of Xbox-exclusive DLC). They should be trying to make the Xbox 360 good on its own merits, not just from buying exclusive rights to stuff. That's something EA would do.

And Sony has their blu ray player, and their own exclusive games...what's your point. Every console has their exclusive content or else we would have the same consoles..

This does nothing but further piss off people who just want to enjoy services that they are paying for. I'm not going to go out and buy a ps3 because they blocked off some movies that I can still rent normally through the regular disc method.

And what are you doing there? Giving Sony what they want.

Sony's end goal here, is not necessarily to get people to buy their consoles, but to take away from the 360/Netflix streaming partnership. And what will people do? If they want to watch movies that happen to be under Sony, they'll just rent/buy the discs. That's fueling the disc-based revenue for Sony, which is partly the end goal.

As a consumer, I do not care what so ever about either issue here: Microsoft having an exclusive Netflix agreement, and Sony blocking netflix-x360 streaming. Why? I do not subscribe to Netflix and do not care, and even if I did, I hate streaming as I foam at the mouth for HD.

What are you talking about? I have always been subscribed to one of these online rental places. I just recently switched to netflix because they have this streaming option which is a big plus in my book even if sony takes away streaming their movies only on the 360. You know why? Because I can still stream on my computer. I can still rent them like i normally would through the mail. So I'm only being inconvenienced by not having the option to stream these certain movies, which only a handful I would watch anyways. How am I fueling anything if I was already subscribed because I like to get movies in the mail? Explain that to me.

Also, even if they wanted more profits, they would make a whole lot more if they would allow netflix to pay them for a license to stream AND rent out their discs. You can't stream bluray now can you? You can't stream extra dvd content now can you?

If you don't care then why are you in here posting. Obviously you care enough to have your opinion heard. Also, if you read up, you will learn that they also allow streaming in HD (maybe not hddvd or bluray quality, but it's a nice perk to not have to run to the store or wait for something to come in the mail regardless).


I'm sure if Microsoft crippled Windows in some way for people running bootcamp just to get people to buy a REAL PC to get the full usage out of it, you'd be singing a different tune for them.

I posted my opinion, because people need to stop hating on Sony but yet praising Microsoft/Netflix. Both Microsoft and Sony are competing, and they are going to do things that in effect, hurts the other, not necessarily just do things that help them.
While 'fueling' was a bad word, it still is pretty much correct, because if you still rent a disc or stream in some other manner, Sony is still winning out. Either being paid for streaming rights, or potentially getting Netflix to purchase more copies of the disc if demand increases. Because one person, yes, won't do anything, but a lot can definitely have that effect.

But my point was, you would still be renting the video, so while it may be an inconvenience to you, you still went and rented it and thus, no loss to Sony. Now whether this happens all the time, I don't know. Sony is taking a gamble, but they likely felt they needed to do something to hurt the Microsoft/Netflix agreement.
Still waiting for Sony to get with Blockbuster, although that might hurt their Netflix relationship even more.

Sony is still allowing streaming of movies, just not to 360s. So, no loss there in terms of streaming rights. And, sure, while you can stream HD, the video will not be up to par, and the audio is going to be lackluster. Part of the package of Blu-ray is the amazing HD picture, but the other part, just as important, is the increased surround sound quality. Heck, does streaming even include surround sound? That's the one thing I'm not aware of, but it definitely won't include the HD audio codecs, because the data would be too much to tack onto the video stream.

 

[Kur]

I thought the year of sony bashing was done?

It appears that the sudden yoinking of Columbia Pictures films from NXE Instant Queue access is a licensing issue with Sony after all. MTV Multiplayer pinged us with word that, on the rental service's official blog, Netflix corp. communications VP Steve Swasey writes:

"As watching instantly becomes a more prominent part of the Netflix service, our goal is to have all of our streaming content licensed for all of our partner devices. We're doing well in this area, but it will take some time before we fully achieve that goal. Today, titles regularly come in and out of license and there is a natural ebb and flow to what we have on license at any given point in time. In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console. Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers' computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they'll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly."

Source

I see you guys are using the jump to conclusions mat again...

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Kur
I thought the year of sony bashing was done?

It appears that the sudden yoinking of Columbia Pictures films from NXE Instant Queue access is a licensing issue with Sony after all. MTV Multiplayer pinged us with word that, on the rental service's official blog, Netflix corp. communications VP Steve Swasey writes:

"As watching instantly becomes a more prominent part of the Netflix service, our goal is to have all of our streaming content licensed for all of our partner devices. We're doing well in this area, but it will take some time before we fully achieve that goal. Today, titles regularly come in and out of license and there is a natural ebb and flow to what we have on license at any given point in time. In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console. Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers' computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they'll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly."

Source

I see you guys are using the jump to conclusions mat again...

Good job bolding the part of the post that is not applicable to this thread. There is a natural ebb and flow to what is available, and you'll see that in your Netflix queue as "Until <date>." Separate from that there is a set of movies, coincidentally the ones from Sony-owned Columbia Pictures, that are available to be streamed on any Netflix-enabled device except the Xbox 360 (and which were, as it happens, available to be streamed to the Xbox 360 this past weekend if you had the new dash). Netflix hopes to have those movies available later, but that's up to Sony.

This has nothing to do with the "natural ebb and flow" of movies going in and out of license.

 

[Trader05]

this thread is way out of hand...you guys are arguing like you want the next mario bros game on 360