xbox 360, microsoft points, on demand movies

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Snowflake

#94393 9-Dec-2011 21:45

so i was browsing around the xbox tonight, looking at the zune video marketplace, saw that a typical movie on demand seems to cost around 1900 microsoft points to "purchase" the SD version, or around 400 to 500 points to rent the SD or HD versions.

i wondered just how much this translates to in $NZ terms.... so i logged into the xbox marketplace and followed the 'add points' link, having never done so before. It appears that 6000 points costs $99, and that would would make the movie purchase around $33.

are my calculations right? that sounds a bit steep for an SD version of a movie that you can probably nip down to the warehouse and buy for $20 or less...

the rent option, where available, seems to work out to around $8 which seems ok for a new release perhaps - but for a back catalog movie from 1995?

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mthand

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Master Geek

#556276 10-Dec-2011 11:17

I had a look at some of the back catalogue and they were 370 points which is about $6. I think that this is a bit disappointing since video stores frequently run specials on weekly hires.

Local Civic video have half price Wednesdays for new releases and that's a bit hard to argue with, but a random Saturday night that doesn't need be leaving the house would be good.

Full time use will be a no-no though, unless they have a special on Points

Edit: typo

Ropenuts

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#556456 10-Dec-2011 20:45

Yeah I don't understand the pricing either. It does work out to be about $33 for a new realease, which is laughable. Plus it takes up about 5 or 6 gb of your data for a HD movie. This would seriously be my main go to for movie rentals if the pricing was reasonable and I had more data. Im only on a 20gb plan... so its down to the video store for me

gehenna

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#556457 10-Dec-2011 20:49

Comparable to iTunes movie costs. I see digital distribution as only viable for rentals personally.

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Snowflake

#556977 12-Dec-2011 14:33

gehenna: Comparable to iTunes movie costs. I see digital distribution as only viable for rentals personally.

seems crazy to be able to buy a physical DVD for half the price of the online one. really going to be a hard sell in that case.

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crackrdbycracku

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#557493 13-Dec-2011 15:16

I think it is crazy that digital distribution is as expensive as it is. I mean seriously, no inventory cost, no shipping cost, no retail staff cost... Oh, yeah, and eBooks bought on Amazon are significantly cheaper than books in shops for all of these reasons.

My guess is it comes down to a lack of competition and that media isn't the core MS, Apple or whoever business so they are not yet looking to maximise the experience.

I think iTunes is a bit cheaper, pricing starting at $2.99 for back older standard definition, unless I was reading US$ prices (can't check now as I am at work).

I'm about to set up my Live Account, mostly to get YouTube at this stage and then to do the VPN + NetFlix thing down the track.

I can see myself using this service on a rainy weekend when I really don't want to leave the house but really want to see a particular film. The rest of the time there are simply better cheaper options, the Vid Store near work has oldies for $1 from Monday to Thursday and TV Box Sets for half price, $5, on a Tuesday, both for 8 days. Also Fatso is now able to turn around twice in a week thanks to FastPost and is good.

The main thing Zune et al may have over physical discs is that nothing much makes me madder than not being able to watch a movie because the disc is scratched.

I'm looking forward to new, better options in the future.

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merve0o0

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#558339 15-Dec-2011 15:03

I thoughts the rental prices where not bad as dvd's from the video store are $8 over night.

The thing about digital distribution I don't get is mum gets ebooks from the library but only one person can have the book at a time. Just seems so backward to me.