News - Xbox 360 users prefer watching to doing

[HEXUS]

Rest your thumbs, people.

Read more.

[Agent]

Now all they need to do is spend some more time polishing Windows Media Centre and they could easily dominate the living room for most users.

I've been using MCE since it's first release at my parents due to its simplicity and they absolutely love it. My dads friends with Sky / Virgin boxes are always blown away when he shows them several hundred albums, recordings, holiday snaps, weather apps, a film library, iPlayer streaming...and so on.

To say how much Microsoft want to get into the living room, they keep offering patchy support once a product is pushed. Getting hold of an *original* (not Chinese copy which misses features) of a MCE remote is next to impossible

[Whiternoise]

Haven't we known for a while now that it's not piracy that's killing high street sales, it's digital distribution. There was a recent story about France: piracy is at a low due to the clampdown measures, but sales of CDs and DVDs have also plummeted while services like iTunes continue to boom.

Absolutely it's ease of purchasing. You sucker people in with little buys that add up over time. We buy things because "£2" is nothing for a TV show - I spend more than that on sandwiches every day.

When you go into HMV and they want £13 for the latest CD release, no wonder people balk. I bet a lot of people don't even have CD players any more; certainly not like the walkman era.

This is why Netflix, Kindle, etc are so popular. You can hop on, buy something for under a fiver and hop off. Your bank account doesn't instantaneously suffer and you're happy.

[cheesemp]

Well its the exact opposite for me. I only use my xbox for the odd single player game or to play racing/board games with my other half. The kinect lies unplugged and I haven't paid for gold in years. My bluray player on the other hand is hardly ever off as I get access to BBC iplayer in HD (far better quality than the xbox) and its silent unlike my 3/4 year old xbox. I guess its finding popularity as its often plugged in to the internet so they get these services and don't release their are better ways of getting them...

[crossy]

Incidentally, some tech commentators say this ease/speed of purchasing is a better way to fight piracy than all the copy protection and DRM efforts of previous years.

Haven't ... folks ... on ... Hexus ... been ... saying ... THIS ... for ... years !!!!

When you go into HMV and they want £13 for the latest CD release, no wonder people balk. I bet a lot of people don't even have CD players any more; certainly not like the walkman era. This is why Netflix, Kindle, etc are so popular. You can hop on, buy something for under a fiver and hop off. Your bank account doesn't instantaneously suffer and you're happy.

Doesn't hurt either that buying "digitally" is cheaper than getting a "real" copy - although HMV shops are bl**dy expensive, even compared to HMV online.

I've never bought music or film via XBox - preferring to get the former via Amazon (used to use 7digital, but their naming convention for downloads is "unique", whereas Amazon is easier and cheaper) and the latter via FilmFlex/Virgin. Nope, my XBox get's used for games, with the odd film DVD stuffed in now and again.

[Brewster0101]

Well its the exact opposite for me. I only use my xbox for the odd single player game or to play racing/board games with my other half. The kinect lies unplugged and I haven't paid for gold in years. My bluray player on the other hand is hardly ever off as I get access to BBC iplayer in HD (far better quality than the xbox) and its silent unlike my 3/4 year old xbox. I guess its finding popularity as its often plugged in to the internet so they get these services and don't release their are better ways of getting them...

+1

I've only recently noticed iplayer and other streaming services on the xbox. Films seemed rather expensive to rent or own. I guess once they get Lovefilm or Netflix (in UK) on there, then the prices will come down. But I love steaming on my smart TV.

I think as more and more smart TV's and bluray players find there way into people's living rooms, people will be less reliant on their xbox to bring in media streaming services.

[KeyboardDemon]

I'm another person that spends more time streaming content than playing games with my 360. It's a great way to enjoy Sky without having to go to the expense of having cables run from my dish to my bedroom plus I get several on demand services with content growing at an increasing rate.

[GingerNinja]

If xbox is to remain in my living room for entertainment other than games purposes it needs to be silent which it aint not even the newer models.

[Carlh]

My xbox is currently used both for games and also streaming videos at present - well when I can get my son of Skylanders anyway .

Netflix is currently available for the Xbox and from testing it a few times the quality isnt too bad although the amount of films is limited at the moment.

If you have a Sky Go login then this is also handy for the Xbox as it gives you access to quite a lot of channels as well as a good variety of videos from the Sky Movies section.

[HalloweenJack]

^^ watched game of thrones in HD on monday on the xbox with sky go

[Lord Midas]

I prefer playing games and streaming video from PC to Xbox. Don't use the Sky player (already have Sky+hd), and don't use any of the other apps.

Actually that's a lie. I've used Youtube and Last.fm a couple of times. Until they reward achievements for watching stuff then count me out.

"Achievement Unlocked: Watched 20 hours of Sky = 10G"

[Nzyme32]

Games are too expensive and basically the xbox becomes the mini PC that allows people to catch up on TV and films. Really, if a small pc capable of this was built into the tv, the xbox would be gathering dust

[crossy]

Games are too expensive and basically the xbox becomes the mini PC that allows people to catch up on TV and films. Really, if a small pc capable of this was built into the tv, the xbox would be gathering dust

You could always get one of those tiny PC's that can use the VESA mountings that some TV's have - slap on a copy of MythBuntu or similar. Job done.