I love my Xbox 360 (with video download service) more and more each day. Tomorrow, South Park will be available in HD and for free (two weeks only). While 16:9 HD cartoons won’t change my life, it’s pretty cool to see high def content finding alternate avenues onto our televisions. (Note to Comedy Central: Not only do I not need to see the Sarah Silverman Program in HD, I don’t need to see it at all.)

I still have a few gripes with the Video Marketplace, and would like to see better navigation as the catalog grows and generally less advertising within the Xbox GUI. As long as I’m requesting features, instead of buying a Wii… how about Microsoft hook me up with a motion-sensing controller and associated games (in HD - take that Nintendo!). If they can’t deliver in the next few weeks, I’ll just have to pick up Guitar Hero II.

Now that my primary computer is a MacBook Pro (thanks, Sling) this Cocoa Xbox Live application caught my eye. MacLive logs into your account and displays your friends and their status, plus a list of games you’ve played. Selecting check boxes results in a visual notification when a buddy signs on or when the selected games are being played. The app, released through Google Code in December, is a little rough around the edges: Even the developer says it “leaks like a sieve.” However, it’s off to a good start and the price (free) is right… though I’d prefer it as a Dashboard widget.

After spending time with all three next-gen gaming systems, I finally decided on picking up a Xbox 360 last November. At the time, Micro Center’s deal seemed too good to be true ($200 for a $400 system) and involved playing Rebate Roulette. Fortunately for me, I won — in about 10 weeks I received two $100 checks. That one above just arrived today, actually ahead of when they had promised.

Knowing what I know now, I would have gladly paid full price for the 360: Xbox Live is so well executed and the new video downloads are a keeper (even if they use fake Microsoft currency and the selection is thin). Maybe I’ll just dump that bonus $200 into a HD-DVD accessory… Hm. Or perhaps I’ll apply it to a Wii when some interesting games come out this spring.

Today’s question was lifted straight from the ZNF comments. And I promise this will be the very last mention of Netflix movie downloads for quite some time. In regards to getting Netflix content onto a television screen (rather than a PC monitor), Josh wondered:

Couldn’t you do this on a Wii?

I don’t have a Wii (yet), so I again enlisted the help of my buddy Matt…

I tried to stream a movie through the trial version of Wii’s beta Opera browser (Internet Channel), but to no avail. I thought I could get a movie up and running on a television in front of a couch, but video isn’t enabled… at least for now. Regular sites/content/pics work surprisingly well, but no video. It will be interesting to see if we’ll be able to get video content when the final pay version is available this spring. I’ll keep you posted…and will look around a little more on this.

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I wasn’t one of the lucky 250,000 to receive Netflix’s new movie download service, but my buddy Matt got the hook up. Matt and I go way back and he’s always kept me current on the video game industry. As roomies in college he made sure we had 3DO and the Japanese Nintendo 64 months before US release… not to mention the Sega Saturn and the first Playstation, plus a huge Mitsubishi monitor to game on.

Anyhow, Matt’s Watch Now tab is active and he spent some time playing around with it:

It works fine — easy installation, no interruptions during the stream. Video quality is good. But the library of titles SUCKS right now (all old stuff). And uhhhhh, sitting at my desk to watch a movie… sucks too. Kinda cool overall, but I don’t see myself using this. I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it better!

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I’m still at CES… And not only am I behind on events/info occurring here I’m also still getting caught up on Apple’s announcements.

I just took a brief gander at the $299 iTV (now branded Apple TV), and am disappointed with the first rev of their software. What I’m bothered with as a consumer is that a Mac or PC is needed as an intermediary for iTunes video purchases. With a 40GB hard drive, it’s probably safe to say at some point they’ll take the computer out of the equation… right? For $100 more you could pick up an Xbox 360 with TV and Movie downloads direct to the console, no PC required. Oh yeah, you can do a bunch of other stuff too. The second issue I have is that Apple continues to lock us into their ecosystem — A model that has worked well for them with audio, but may not be as successful with video in the era of YouTube and DivX: The iTV has limited multimedia format support compared to products such as Netgear’s new Digital Entertainer HD.

Good, bad, or just average - I’m sure Apple will move a decent amount of product. They build sexy looking hardware and software, and seem to have the marketing game figured out. However, they can’t count me as an early adopter. I’ll be looking forward to Matt’s review if/when he picks up a box.