XBox Live Video MarketPlace now called "Zune Store"

[Zunefanboy34]

This is interesting i read on Engadget that the video games they are releasing on the xbox live will be able to be purchased with credit card. So strange that these movies would be rentals. but i know the netflix integration is huge so however that works.

1080p video surprises me, as does the on-the-fly bitrate control. While I don't see myself taking advantage of this service, I'm impressed with their implementation. Though it doesn't have any direct impact on device sales or Pass subscriptions, I'm glad for the brand awareness this will bring, especially if the experience is painless and pleasant.

EDIT: It looks like Zune Thoughts just found out that the service is completely rental-based; no purchasing is possible on the 360. While that is a bit of a disappointment, there are a lot of users out there with only 20GB hard drives, so there's no way they'd be able to save a 1080p video in the first place. I'm looking forward to seeing this in action.

[typoink]

For what it's worth, the fella on Zune Thoughts is Canadian where Xbox Video is currently subscription-only.  Maybe he got Canada-specific info.  Or maybe not.

It's really too early to pass judgment on this until more details trickle out.  Price is going to be key.  Nothing above $.75-ish for a TV show or $2.00 for a movie makes sense to me, financially.  If it's rental only and the price is higher than that, I'll never use the service despite being their EXACT target demo, and that's a bad sign.

[Trastan]

I'll never use the service despite being their EXACT target demo, and that's a bad sign.

If your requirements are that it be that cheap, then no, you're not the target demographic. XBox Live's video download service has been plenty successful thus far, and they have been charging quite a bit per rental ($5+ for HD, if I recall correctly). I'd say you're a bit too savvy/stingy to fit their target exactly. The truth is, from what I can tell, changing the video marketplace to feature the Zune logo and adding more shows and movies is all that is occurring here; I highly doubt that the pricing will be altered much, if at all, from the current rates. But that's just my speculation; we'll have to see what Microsoft does this fall.

[typoink]

Nah, I am definitely their target on this -- I'm a young, tech-oriented person who uses my 360 extensively for video / media.

I've used the Xbox video marketplace in past to purchase TV shows.  If they replace that purchase option with rentals-only, I expect those rentals to be cheap.  Even the purchases were largely overpriced -- buying episodes through them was substantially pricier than buying DVDs or even Blu-Rays for much of the content.

If they continue to charge $6 for a movie rental, then two rentals could get you a Netflix subscription for a month.  That price point just doesn't make a lot of sense, and I really can't see the service taking off.

You say the service has been plenty succesful so far, but I'm not really sure of that.  I've gotten the impression that the early versions were intended as almost a test program.  If they're intending to go more mainstream, I really think they need to work more justifiable pricing into the plan.

Edit:  And looking at their current pricing, I think it's pretty simple what they SHOULD do -- just use the current SD pricing for everything.  $4 new movies, $3 old movies.  Don't price differently for HD -- given the smart streaming tech they're bragging about, I think it makes sense to have a single price.  The cost is still higher than I'd generally want to pay, but not so high that I'd never use it.