This past major update to the Xbox 360 software gave you the option to buy a lightsaber and download games directly to your hard drive, but it also significantly upgraded the Netflix service. The streaming service was already a big hit with Netflix subscribers, but this update brings some fantastic new features. The most important upgrade is the addition of several additional lists of films, no longer leaving you restricted to what is already in your 'Watch It Now' queue. Genre specific lists, with one-hundred items each, give you plenty of additional options for your viewing that you might not have realized were available for streaming. Better yet, the genre listings are user-specific, giving you recommendations based on your viewing history. The only list that is the same for everyone is the 'New Releases' list, which keeps you current on the service's most recent additions. Similar to the Netflix website, the service now also provides a separate recommendation listing for each of the movies you recently streamed.
They could improve a few items, like offering a listing of friend recommendations available on the service and a better sorting or grouping method for the genre. A search feature would be helpful and the listings remain a fraction of what is currently available for streaming but this is a huge step in the right direction. The service also added the ability for a party of four Live members to watch a movie together in a virtual Living Room. The party system is confusingly separate from the regular Live party system, forcing you to create a party within the Netflix service even if you are already in one with the friends you want to watch a movie with. After working through the kinks of the clunky party system, those in the party can flip through their lists and recommend a movie or TV show to the party to watch. Unfortunately, not all the selections in the service are available for party viewing and it seems arbitrary as to what you can watch with friends. Some of the best choices for enjoying with friends, like Point Break or Lost, are unavailable.
There needs to be a filter to remove the unavailable party films from your lists, to remove the frustration of digging through your lists to find one that works. The best part of the user-specific genre listings is that it really opens your party to many more choices, even if finding out your friend has Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell in their queue leads you to question what they have been watching. The host then selects which movie the party will watch, from the selections in the party menu, with all your friends' avatars standing proudly next to their choices. The movie syncs up with the viewers perfectly, with only the host has the option of controlling the 'remote' to fast-forward or pause the film. The default view of the party mode is reminiscent of Mystery Science Theater. You sit in a row of four movie theater style seats below the screen, with your heads out of the action; removing any headwear from your avatar that might obstruct the screen.
The walls are royal blue, with the large big-screen television taking up around 85% of the screen. The signature red envelope on the stereo cabinet to the right of the screen is a subtle reminder that you are watching Netflix. Each user gets their own control over the view, customizable to full screen, letterbox, stretch, or native views for those who do not want to see the avatars. You might be wondering why you would ever watch something with friends, but one viewing of a hilariously bad B-movie like Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is all it takes to hook you. Seeing Jesus kicked in the crotch by a lesbian vampire, on a sunny day at the beach, demands you experience it with friends. The service is so perfectly suited for making jokes about bad movies with friends that Netflix absolutely needs to add a B-movie genre listing to make them easier to locate. If the movie and chatter amongst friends is not enough to entertain you, hitting Y brings up an emote menu.
The eight options, ranging from sad to playful, are as entertaining as those in 1 Versus 100 and have a handful of random actions tied to each, again staying out of the way of the movie itself. The Risky Business style sliding entrances and host calling time-out when controlling the film are clever touches that make the presentation work. Users also have the option of showing their friends what they are watching, rather than the generic 'Netflix' message before the update. Whether you want your friends to know how many chick flicks you watch in your spare time is up to you. The party feature admittedly sounded silly when announced, but will definitely win you over. The additions Microsoft included with the latest dashboard update basically upgraded the Netflix service from a nice feature to one of the coolest things you can currently do on your Xbox 360.
