I was disappointed to find that Quickflix streaming, now that it's finally available on my XBox, requires an XBox Live Gold membership to actually use it, and that costs extra. I am already paying for Quickflix streaming, so why do I need to pay an extra ongoing fee just to get that feature on my XBox? If I were already paying for XBox Live Gold, it wouldn't matter at all, but I don't currently have any need for it, besides Quickflix.
While I'd like to rant about it some more, I also understand where it's coming from. Microsoft already sell streaming movies through their Zune store, which makes Quickflix a direct competitor. If Microsoft just allowed Quickflix members to access streaming content on their XBoxes without a Gold membership, they'd be cutting themselves out of the profits. I'm cutting both of them out of the profits, though, because I'm not going to opt in to a "pay and stream and pay" service any time soon.
Then again, there's a suspicious inclusion on the (free) Silver-level membership tier: "Rent your favourite TV shows and movies with FOXTEL On Demand". So unless there's some kind of profit-sharing partnership between FOXTEL and Microsoft, someone's being inconsistent.
Personally, it doesn't affect me much yet. The Quickflix streaming library, although it's growing, is still way too small to be a regular part of my viewing. In summary, I won't be signing up to XBox Live Gold just to get access to Quickflix, especially when an HDMI plug device from Kogan for about the price of one year's Gold membership can give perpetual access to Quickflix streaming.
Mokalus of Borg
PS - A Foxtel On Xbox subscription does require Gold membership.
PPS - Quickflix on the Playstation Network doesn't cost extra.
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