I don't play a lot (read *1* in the past 15 years) of video games, but the XBox 360 has been the greatest purchase I've made this year. In combination with netflix and an internet connection, I don't even have to go to my mailbox for movie rentals anymore and going to a store to rent videos (no more late night trips to Blockbuster and waiting outside until everyone is gone, ever again).
Netflix has signed some kind of agreement with XBox Live (a yearly subscription is something like $50, but I got it through my writing partner at Microsoft for $30) and with those two, you can stream HD video on demand to your XBox over the internet. The sound and picture quality are amazing and will impress anyone. The selection for instand download is pretty impressive (though is missing some of the big titles).
All you do is go to the netflix website, login, search for videos, and if they have a little blue "play instantly" sign, you can click the little dropdown "add to instant" button. In about 20 seconds, the title shows up in your XBox Netflix queue and you can watch it, in HD on your TV.
An interesting side effect of this is that I am seeing a lot of indy movies I never would have seen or noticed as I avoided people in a store. Also, going to my mailbox is enough of a disincentive for me (I go about once a week at four in the morning as to not bump into any neighbors who'd want to talk). Since I can see them all within a few seconds of making my selections, I don't feel the sense of self-editing that I normally would if I was trying to choose something that I'd have to wait for in the mail either.
It has a great pause feature in case I want to go back and finish a movie later, and remembers your place even if you leave it for a few days or turn it off.
I love it. You will too. Netflix costs about 8.99 a month and XBox live is $50 a year...well worth it in my estimation.
Like this tip? Buy my book - Yellow and Green - A story of a Chinese American Agoraphobic woman and her life with family, love, sex, friendship and food. Coming Soon to Amazon.com
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