Video Games (2009-2011)

[Terpfan76]

So apparently, along with the recent split pricing, one charge for streaming and one charge for physical media, Netflix has decided to totally spinoff the DVD-by-mail business into a new venture called "Qwikster."

Why post that here?  Because Qwikster is also going to do games by mail in addition to movies, that's why.  I'm just going to drop to the streaming only plan though.

Will the games by mail be included in dvd service or will it be separate?

[Obed_Marsh]

The games and videos are included in the number of disks out but selected as a extra cost item. a.k.a like Blue Ray.

Here is the update after I had disputed them charging me the combined price for this month. (They refunded half of it, thereby resolving my dispute with them).

Dear Obed Marsh,

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.

If that wasn't long enough, more information is here: http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflections.html?lnktrk=EMP&g=8B277DE8140D95B8DDDC6DE8E84DC8260AC0315E&lkid=netflixBlog

[UMDNats]

They think separating Netflix into two companies will make customers happy?

And the preferences for streaming (like ratings, etc) don't transfer?

freaking idiots running their company into the ground.

[Lintyfresh85]

The Show added Peacock, Lombardozzi and Brown to the roster... but still left off Milone.

Hope he makes the next update.

[Kevrock]

The Show added Peacock, Lombardozzi and Brown to the roster... but still left off Milone.

Hope he makes the next update.

Does the Show have that "play today's game" feature that 2k has?

(Didn't pick up the Show this year because of a lack of updates to Franchise mode)

[Lintyfresh85]

I don't think it does.

[Kevrock]

Hmm, but if they update the rosters regularly, you could pretty much do it yourself, I suppose.

[cmdterps44]

Here are the BF3 requirements:

Minimum System Requirements
OS: WINDOWS VISTA (SERVICE PACK 2) 32-BIT
PROCESSOR: 2 GHZ DUAL CORE (CORE 2 DUO 2.4 GHZ OR ALTHON X2 2.7 GHZ)
MEMORY: 2 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD (AMD): DIRECTX 10.1 COMPATIBLE WITH 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON 3000, 4000, 5000 OR 6000 SERIES, WITH ATI RADEON 3870 OR HIGHER PERFORMANCE)
GRAPHICS CARD (NVIDIA): DIRECTX 10.0 COMPATIBLE WITH 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 OR 500 SERIES WITH NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GT OR HIGHER PERFORMANCE)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
DVD ROM DRIVE

Recommended System Requirements
OS: WINDOWS 7 64-BIT
PROCESSOR: QUAD-CORE CPU
MEMORY: 4 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD: DIRECTX 11 COMPATIBLE WITH 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 OR ATI RADEON 6950)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
DVD ROM DRIVE

http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3/1/beta

[Lintyfresh85]

Hmm, but if they update the rosters regularly, you could pretty much do it yourself, I suppose.

Yeah, updates weekly.

[The Chief]

Here are the BF3 requirements:

http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3/1/beta

I'm glad they specified on the DX11 cards, because "DX 11 w/ 1GB" is incredibly vague.

Looks like you're gonna need a fairly top-of-the-line machine to play that thing the way it's meant to be.  I wonder what settings on the PC will be approximately equivalent to the console version.

[cmdterps44]

I'm glad they specified on the DX11 cards, because "DX 11 w/ 1GB" is incredibly vague.

Looks like you're gonna need a fairly top-of-the-line machine to play that thing the way it's meant to be.  I wonder what settings on the PC will be approximately equivalent to the console version.

I'm not quite sure about the console v PC specs but I did see a picture of it on the console vs PC and it seems like its missing quite a few things, but nothing really important. Like the PC version has much more destruction on the ground (rocks, metal pipes, etc). I'll look for the pictures.

edit:




I mean this was obvious but cool to see it.

[The Chief]

Right I just mean that if you're okay with console-level graphics, I wonder what kind of specs are recommended for that on the PC

[JMW IV]

Right I just mean that if you're okay with console-level graphics, I wonder what kind of specs are recommended for that on the PC

the one thing I always liked about consoles, is that no matter what,  "system specs" are never even a thought.

[The Chief]

the one thing I always liked about consoles, is that no matter what,  "system specs" are never even a thought.

True, but playing FPS on a console has always and will always be a lesser experience, since MS and Sony don't want to allow mice & keyboards as controllers

I don't even care about the graphical differences, that's just a bonus.

[Lintyfresh85]

True, but playing FPS on a console has always and will always be a lesser experience, since MS and Sony don't want to allow mice & keyboards as controllers

Think of the disadvantages players with controllers would face. I think it makes sense for them not allowing mouse and keyboard. Either everyone has one, or no one gets one.

[The Chief]

Think of the disadvantages players with controllers would face. I think it makes sense for them not allowing mouse and keyboard. Either everyone has one, or no one gets one.

"BFD" is about all the enthsuiasm I can muster for a response.  Online PvP play is unfair by it's very nature.  Besides, it's not that difficult to add a filter setting for controllers only/KBM only/mixed.

Most big-name FPSes are a pass for me anymore because the console versions force you to play with a gamepad and the PC versions are usually horrible bug-ridden garbage ports of the console versions (not to mention the relatively higher difficult of dealing with hackers and cheats on PC).

Console + KB/M would be great.

[The Chief]

Come to think of it, there are already worse disadvantages in the wild.  Anyone who put down for the $150 tourney edition of the new MK game has a big advantage (because of the bundled joystick) over anyone playing with a gamepad (especially on Xbox).  At least most people already own keyboards and mice.

If anything, I'd probably get my ass whupped a lot worse if they allowed KB/M on console FPSes, but at least it'd be a matter of skill and not a matter of struggling against the interface.

[Nathan]

Come to think of it, there are already worse disadvantages in the wild.  Anyone who put down for the $150 tourney edition of the new MK game has a big advantage (because of the bundled joystick) over anyone playing with a gamepad (especially on Xbox).  At least most people already own keyboards and mice.

If anything, I'd probably get my ass whupped a lot worse if they allowed KB/M on console FPSes, but at least it'd be a matter of skill and not a matter of struggling against the interface.

Pretty sure you can use KB/M on ps3.

[The Chief]

Pretty sure you can use KB/M on ps3.

To play FPS games?  You can use a keyboard on 360, but only for typing and secondary stuff.

[Nathan]

To play FPS games?  You can use a keyboard on 360, but only for typing and secondary stuff.

Hmm, I thought so but maybe you need an adapter thingy.  I also know they make a ps3 keyboard with the mouse having the 4 standard buttons on it.

[Kevrock]

They sold KBM hookups for the original Xbox. I picked one up and tried to play Halo 2 with it. I could snipe like woah but couldn't do much else. Didn't mess with it for long.

Also, I enjoy FPS games much more on consoles than PC.

[The Chief]

Also, I enjoy FPS games much more on consoles than PC.

Mind if I ask why?  I don't mean to come across snarky, I'm just honestly curious.

[Kevrock]

Well, I should have said that I prefer consoles for multiplayer FPS gaming. I'll play the single player campaigns through on PC games (eg Crysis, Far Cry, Half Life) but never get into multiplayer.

I'm not sure why, maybe just familiarity with XBL and people to play with.

You weren't coming across snarky. I feel in the minority of console/PC gamers with this opinion. Also, I'm trying to cut down on FPS games in general, since I've sunk so many hours into mindless FPS games on the 360 and missed quality games because of it. They are crazy addicting.

[The Chief]

No I totally get that.  XBL/PSN are definitely where the MP scene is at these days, which is why I don't much bother with FPSes at all anymore.

[UMDNats]

Nathan/Chief, will I be able to run this game (even if it's on medium)? My specs were a few pages back.

Looks like I pass the minimum and come up just short of recommended. That's OK with me.