Our Netflix streaming queues just got considerably shorter on the eve of the NXE launch. Acting on a tip, we popped into our Netflix account and sure enough, our "Instant Queue" had a new "Notes" column with an oft-repeated, red (nobody likes red!) notice: "Not available on Xbox." Logging onto Xbox Live (with an NXE account) confirmed that these titles were no longer available for streaming on Xbox 360.

We've reached out to Microsoft for a full explanation -- so keep your fingers crossed that this is just a launch period mishap (like someone flipped the wrong switch ... or something). We're betting on licensing issues, though, which could further cripple the service. Currently, there's no way to tell if a title is excluded from Xbox streaming until it's added to the Queue (reminder: this can only be done from a separate computer). We're not much for statistics, but we can tell you that 13 of 110 items in our Instant Queue are now unavailable, all of which are feature films. The blackout seems to have hit a range of flicks, from: Superbad to Bad Boys; Drunken Master to the entire Karate Kid trilogy (that's right -- the entire trilogy! We don't count that Next Karate Kid noise). We'll update when we learn more.

Update: We've found a common thread! All of the affected titles from our Queue are distributed by Columbia Pictures. Columbia Pictures, of course, is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Microsoft rival Sony. Case closed?

Oddly enough, Sony Picture Entertainment movies (listed here) are still Xbox-enabled.

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Something tells me Sony might be the people to lose on this decision..

I mean how much money do you think they will lose when it comes down to it in the end.

Still weird how Sony Pictures still have their movies up tho...

This reminds me of NBC pulling out of iTunes. But then they eventually went back to iTunes because of the backlash and lost opportunity.

I doubt that's it. Sony Pictures has almost nothing to do with Sony games so Sony pictures would have nothing to gain from not having their movies shown on an XBox.

his reminds me of balls

Wow! I still can't wait to use this service though!

How much of the movie industry does Sony own? Because that would one nasty trick to pull :-/

Although it'd just give them more cash for movies, so that's a huge advantage over "not doing it because it's MS".

For one, it's like saying "no" to money.

But on the other hand, it's good from turning people away from the Xbox when they want movies. Get a PS3, get them on BR.

the truth is, we don't know why yet, stop assuming.

Sony Pictures movies are already not available on the marketplace, so this is not surprising, they don't really don't lose that much when you think about it, they're still on psn, hulu and itunes.

This can only be good if they are available on PSN for decent prices.