Mike Bantick
Thursday, 22 October 2009 10:41
Entertainment
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The integration of applications such as Facebook and Twitters also opens up the possibility for games to make use of the features. Jenkins touches on the possibilities explaining that the API has been opened up for game developers to use if they wish.
“Games going forward will have the option to add a feature that will allow them to take snapshots in-game that will automatically post up on Facebook” Jenkins said, “With Twitter, something very similar, game developers have the option of enabling Twitter inside their games, and it will work with the Twitter account. The tools are there, it is just a matter of developers using them”
The most exciting feature for the 750,000 Australian and New Zealand based Xbox 360 owners will be the Zune Video Marketplace, a movie-on-demand service being rolled out world-wide, providing instant-streaming access to hundreds of movies.
And it works well, for the beta test there are only a hundred or so titles on offer, a broad range from ‘family’ through to ‘horror’. Whilst the choice is broad, the new releases for the beta test are not particularly new. Jenkins points out that this is purely under the guise of beta testing however, and the plan for this updates launch, is to have a large library including soon-out-of cinema options as part of the range.
Pricing may also be an issue with movie rentals starting at around AU$4,00 and edging towards AU$8.00 for high definition versions of new releases. Choosing Watchman in HD for the beta test rang up a HD version bill of AU$6.93. This is right on the cusp of acceptable costs for this kind of service.
There are preview options, as well as a choice of SD or HD (in most cases) versions of the film to watch. Once selected you have fourteen days to begin watching, and 24 hours from that point to complete watching the rental. If you stop the stream, and return later, even after powering down your Xbox 360, the Zune Video Marketplace will resume the movie from where it left off.
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