| nightsurge said: I agree with you. The Zune Marketplace streaming videos just made Xbox 360 the definitive OnDemand entertainment offering in the world. I only have a 720p TV but I rented a movie and it was flawless and looked and sounded identical to my blu-ray movies at 720p. I should be getting a 1080p TV soon so I can give my updated opinion then. My internet did stutter at one point, but it was amazing how the video very smoothly transitioned between resolutions without stuttering or pausing. It jumped for all of 1 second to SD then back up to HD as my internet stabilized again after that momentary spike of traffic or whatever. |
I agree--I don't know how it was at the very beginning, but as of about 2 years ago when I got my 360, the video marketplace content was always worlds beyond what I could get on Comcast OnDemand just from the standpoint of sheer volume. It's almost like my cable box on demand service is like one of those Red Box kiosks and Xbox Live is liking having the entire video store. (maybe not that drastic of a difference, but you get the picture.) Now you have the same selection, but with the added bonus of instant streaming instead of downloading. It's the first time I've felt like the video marketplace is a AAA service. Having to wait for the movie to download before watching it discouraged me several times from renting movies on my 360. That problem is now solved.
Again, the only drawback is cost. My Netflix membership, even paying for BluRay access, is a far better deal. But for those times when we're in between movies, Zune Marketplace will now be my go-to option rather than my cable company. You can't beat the selection and the instant streaming 1080p. And I will reiterate, it is definitely BluRay quality. If you are a 360-only owner and that little green monster has been getting to you about PS3 having BluRay, that problem has now officially been solved on the 360 and has proven to me once and for all that proprietary physical media formats are simply no longer needed. If Netflix could get its entire library to do what Zune Marketplace is doing, BluRay would simply no longer be a viable format for people who have a good internet connection and either a PS3, 360, or some other form of Netflix compatible hardware.
