Canadian Xbox Live Video Store

[GrilledCheese]

Any of my fellow Canucks getting fed up with the desperate selection of this service? There are a few gems in there - Jesse James, Blade Runner. But only 50 movies, and most of them are not classics to say the least.

[GrilledCheese]

bumpity bump

[Jimbo976]

What is their definition of "HD"?

[DustoMan]

720p (Some with 5.1 audio.)

[GrilledCheese]

Final bump. If I don't get any replies I'll just let this thread die.

Any Canucks even care about this service?

[jayl]

I care, it sucks I know...

[GrilledCheese]

Thanks man, I needed some validation!

The movie count has been around 50 for a month. I am not sure why it doesn't get all the new releases...

[twinsen]

I started to use XBL for video last December when it first came out. I was disappointed that it only had Warner titles in the beginning but I still had to try it so I rented Ocean's Thirteen to save money from buying the HD DVD. When the movie started I noticed my receiver was still in Pro Logic II and that's when I realized that only certain movies were in HD and only certain had 5.1. When I went back to XBL after Warner's HD DVD announcement I noticed that the sound was upgraded to 5.1 so there are small improvements since launch. During February, I noticed Warner releases were all day and date on XBL with the disc releases. When rumours started flying about Toshiba stopping HD DVD, I noticed Paramount started putting their Q4 HD DVDs on XBL. And then shortly after I saw Lions Gate releases. The last two studios seem to adhere to the 30 day vod delay from retail. Warner, except for I am Legend this year has released their HD offerings day and date so I hope it continues. They even had a Nancy Drew release on XBL day and date with no BD or HD DVD equivalent which was interesting to me (the concept not the movie).

Until they sign to get more studios on for Canadian release I doubt we'll see more. Because of the HD disc format war, I'm sadly conditioned now to look at a movie trailer and my mind will immediately try to identify the studio and whether it's going to be HD DVD or Blu-Ray. Now I just do the math for XBL: Paramount and Lions Gate 30 days from release and Warner is mostly day and date.

It still beats iTunes for Canada which is nothing like the US store. I'm not sure about Vudu for Canadians.

Microsoft needs to upgrade their xbox.com site for Canada. You have no ideas what movies are on the service and it pales against the US site which itself is already bad at showing new and upcoming movie releases (yes, even after the upgrade)

[JAC35]

Is there any way to use the US store instead? I have a US live id that i was not able to change to Canada. (long story) When I browse the store I suee US but it tells me not avail from my location (assuming it is reading my IP address) so I can only window shop!

[GrilledCheese]

I believe there is a way to trick up the account so you can access the US live store. If I remember correctly, Microsoft was auditing some of these and banning people, although I stand to be corrected on that.

[twinsen]

I had a dummy account in the beginning for guests to use when they come over and play Live with me. I either got gentle reminders to move from US to Canada or they just moved it for me in the end.

Either way I doubt they would let you register a Canadian credit card with a US locale Live account.

Anyway I watched I am Legend the other day and One Missed Call, which was day and date. I am Legend was a good deal softer and less detailed than the HD DVD/BD copies.

One Missed Call -- well I really wouldn't miss any detail because it wasn't a great movie but I'm sure it's better than a regular SD DVD. I guess Lions Gate and Paramount are still on the 30 day delays since Beowulf and Saw IV only recently came on.

I noticed Transformers got pulled from the offerings. They had an I am Legend trailer in the featured trailer section. TV show offerings are still blank. The Xbox Live website is still empty for Canada so I rely on the RSS feed and coming soon page on xbox.com for US to guess-timate what I'll see on the Canadian service.

[themovieking]

I remember reading on another forum that people that were using accounts from different countries ended up getting suspended.

I don't think that I would ever actually pay to download a HD movie from there, but it would be nice if there was more choice.

[JAC35]

I tried to change my live ID to canada to us but it was greyed out. tried the live website and through the xbox to no avail so I just left it. I dont think my credit card is associated with it but what would be stopping me from buying a points card from BB and using that with my us account for HD movie downloads? would probably have to use a proxy of some sort as well so that I had a US IP address.

[twinsen]

Nobody would stop you from redeeming points but there might be a check when you press movie download to make sure your ISP is listed as US. I think they would be more strict about checking movies than if you were to buy an Arcade game (which I believe are mostly global region-free releases)

It's probably a pain in the rear end but why don't you give them a call and see if they can connect you to a Live person (not necessarily Xbox) to sort it out for you.