Xbox 360 Has "Exclusive Partnership" For Consoles With Netflix

By Brian Ashcraft (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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The summer dashboard update for the Xbox 360 has gone live, bringing new Netflix features to the Microsoft console — and only that console.

According to the Xbox.com site, "This exclusive partnership offers you the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via Xbox 360. Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers, at no additional cost."

The new Netflix updates for XBLA include:

Movie Parties – Xbox LIVE Gold members can sit together in a virtual theater with up to seven friends no matter where they are while your Avatars watch a movie, flirt or even throw popcorn at each other.
Manage Your Queue – Browse the Netflix Instant Watch video catalogue, choose from the most popular movies and genres and add to your queue all from the comfort of your couch – no computer required.
Enhanced Playback Experience – Enjoy a smooth viewing experience when your internet bandwidth fluctuates.
Friends Info – Richer information is now displayed in the Friends channel and in the Guide showing what you and your friends are doing.

We have contacted Microsoft for further clarification about this "exclusive partnership" and what exactly it entails.

Dashboard Updates [Xbox.com via gdgt Thanks, davej!]

I dont think Sony want Netflix to compete with their internal Playstation Video Store. So "exclusive partnership" probably means exclusive partnership, not much to read into.

This was a no brainer and should have been known from the start.

BluRay players get Netflix because they do not directly compete with the 360.
TVs will eventually have it because they do not directly compete with the 360.

Wii and PS3 will not get it because they do compete directly with the 360, more so the PS3.

Why would they make their decisions this way? Easy, the Netflix CEO is on the MS Board of Directors.

This is common knowledge by now.

If anyone didn't know this, Windows Vista's Media Center has NetFlix now for download and installation.

I did not know that, but that's pretty cool.  I'll have to check and see when I get home if they included that in the Windows 7 RC or not.

That's good hopefully nexflix users will keep growing.

Good news for Microsoft.

Well, since Reed Hastings (ceo of Netflix) is on Microsoft's board of directors, I really didn't expect it on any other console.

I didn't notice it in the RC when I had it for a week...as Win7 is already released to OEM (Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Toshitba, etc.) right now, so there is no way to include it now.

they have an exclusive with embedded for 2 years but after 1 year there might be disc based ones for the ps3 or wii although who knows how well those would do
Microsoft did well here by getting people to think of the 360 as a media center.