Netflix Steps Up Console Development
The posting, noticed by Gamasutra, seeks an "Engineering Leader" with "deep experience developing and testing media rich applications on current generation gaming consoles."
Netflix movie streaming is currently an exclusive feature on Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Microsoft announced in February that over one million Netflix users had activated their accounts for use on the Xbox 360 since the service's launch in November.
Rumors of Netflix plans to extend the service to the PlayStation 3 and Wii spread following the leak of several Netflix surveys, in which the company supposedly asked customers whether they would purchase a $10 disc to enable streaming on the consoles.
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This is a great idea, I hope they go through with it. For those who do not want to wait and find out, there is a service called "Play On" (free trial / 30 dollar 1 time license fee) that will stream netflix, hulu, youtube to your ps3, wii, 360. http://www.themediamall.com/playon I tried otu the trail on it and netflix and after my trial was up bought the 30 program and the 10 netflix subscription and couldnt be happier. It works great, lets you watch anything from your instant queue, etc. Works great with Hulu as well.
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I never understood why anyone would buy this, unless they wanted an "all encompassing" media solution for everything instead of using the free stuff that comes with each platform. 360 can stream Netflix and is a full-blown Media Center extender (which can stream WMV HD in 5.1 and TV if you have a tuner). PS3 has a full-blown web browser with Flash 9 to support Hulu (which takes some tweaking to get looking decent), plus YouTube videos look good and run well fullscreen. Wii, well, that just doesn't count ;)
I guess 30 bucks wouldn't break the bank if you didn't have both systems (or a PC hooked up to your TV).-
Its quick and easy, the ps3 browser isn't a PC browser and isnt' nearly as simple. There is something nice just going to the Video section in the ps3, hitting Playon Media Server button, clicking Netflix, and seeing my entire Instant Queue ready to be activated at any time. You don't need to mess with the browser, and the images look great.
All I'm saying is its worth a trial, but I understand that it's not for everyone. It's a must have for ps3 exclusive owners, but for those of you who have a 360 I'd obviously just go with the built in Netflix support....unless you don't want to pay for live, then I'd say 30 one time fee is better than a 60 dollar annual.
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