Lovefilm does a Wii after rival gets loaded on new Nintendo Britain’s eight million Nintendo Wii owners now have a reason to blow the dust off their console and power it up once more. Well, at least those of them who also happen to be Lovefilm subscribers do. According to the Amazon-owned streamer of films and TV shows, it has just released a free app on the console’s online shop. The …
Lovefilm is a total waste of time on mobile if you have android, I don't know what Amazon have been thinking not realesing an app for it, I have Netflix simply because I can watch on the tv, then continue where I left off on my talet or phone, lovefilm, just a crappy android app to try to book DVD's / Blu Rays.
What Amazon should do is to do a bundle with Amazon Prime and Lovefilm on Android for a reasonable amount per annum of say £100 and I would switch.
Have to agree with you mate - Netflix + iptv/console/phone/tablet gives you that lounge-karzi-kitchen-bedroom continuity that LoveFilm simply doesn't have.
It might not have AAA titles but there's enough choice to keep me happy - and there's a great Netflix Kids section as well.
Device agnostic Netflix is the superior product. I've gone from laptop or tablet (iOS or Android) to the smart TV* and all this is seamless. You just carry on watching the same film.
Even when LoveFilm launches Android streaming, I'll probably not bite since their streamed content is generally not as good (at least for me) as Netflix.
* Because the smart TV is often being used for more important things, like watching soaps :-(.
The Wii pointer makes menu navigation on the wii better than on standard 360 or ps3. I use mine for iPlayer even though I have a ps3 set up next to it, Wii iPlayer crashes a lot less than the ps3 one.
Or does the fact you've stopped using something mean the rest of us should to?
I'm not saying the xbox ui isn't very accessible, I'm saying a pointer that works like a mouse pointer is better than a pointer controlled by a joystick or a button highlight controlled by a joystick. In response to the original comment about wii menu's being clunky.
Well, mine doesn't strictly speaking crash, it's better than that. It leaves the audio streaming but puts a big black box on the screen saying something like "network error, unable to stream program", all the while leaving the audio running so you know it's lying. The wii iPlayer doesn't do this.
Also the ps3 doesn't ship with a bluetooth remote and the wii ships with a wiimote, you're not comparing like for like.
LOL.
The problem with all these services, Netflix, Lovefilm, Sky NowTV is you need to subscribe to all three of these to actually get all the content you want because of all the "exclusive" releases and licensing deals the content owners do.
And then you have the additional problem that their software may not be compatible with you streaming device of choice, Wii, Xbox, PS3, WDTV, Smart TV, YouView, Linux HTPC, Chromebook, Android, etc.
No wonder BitTorrent is still popular.
I did netflix trial first, thought that was bad (No watchlist was such a fundamental flaw), and now on lovefilm trial. Wow, barely anything I want to watch, a stupid search that shows me DVD results when I'm not a DVD customer, no apps etc. Netflix is great in comparison. If they had more stuff I'd subscribe.
But really, until the day comes where I can spend a reasonable amount (£15 or £20 a month) , and get access to every film or television program ever made, I'm not going to be happy with these types of thing.
They are both end-of-the-line services, where movie companies can't get any more revenue for content, they end up there on their streaming services.
Loveflim is better, it's a quid cheaper a month, it has more content, and best of all, has the disks by post option (which is WAY better than any streaming, as it's recent movies and it's at full bitrate, not the rubbish streaming bitrates).
I just wish they would update their apps. Android streaming is missing (although clearly possible, as they seem to have magically made it work on the Kindle Fire), and NetFlix is easier to navigate (at least on the PS3).
@Barry Shitpeas:
If the best advantage of a streaming service you can suggest is that you can get the stuff sent out on physical media, it's a bit of a fail. Which, tbf, has always been Lovefilm's problem. If I wanted discs, I'd go to the surprisingly decent local DVD/Blu-Ray rental place down the road from me. Though if they've at least upped their game in the streaming stakes from the dreadful crap they used to offer at premium prices that would be something (£4 for streaming a crappy SD-res copy of a 5+year old film? Yeah, sure...)
For me, Netflix is a better bet because while it doesn't have the depth in a lot of film content, it does have a reasonable breadth of content - including lots of stuff I'd be idly curious about but unwilling to pay for specifically - and also a substantial amount of decent, current TV series. It depends on the viewer, of course - some people will already have watched it on Sky or torrents and not see any value - but for me there's enough I haven't seen that Netflix is worth it.
@AC 13:54
"Not everyone has the convenience of a store down the road or decent broadband."
Well, that's certainly true.
Why those people would be looking to a service that chiefly markets itself as a streaming-content-delivery service these days is beyond me, though. It's also hardly like Lovefilm's selection is so good (or price so compelling) that they'd be an insta-sell compared to any of a bunch of competitors - aside from anything else, if you like arthouse film or world cinema you'd probably be better off with something like cinemaparadiso.
As with virtually all tech, the big question is "what are you trying to do?", 'cos until you've answered that, there is by definition no answer to the question "what's the best way to do it?".
I don't have time to play my with my wii much *sniggers*
Ironically, I will probably one day fall down the stairs and brake all my bones, as you do, well as I do!, and will have weeks and weeks with bugger all to do but the only game console I own requires lots of wiggling about which isint easy to do with your limbs in plaster! So maybe Netflix and Lovefilm will mean at least the wii will have some use during that time, but I'll have to call matron to navigate the menus for me!
The Wii attached to our 12-year-old TV (by component leads) is our main media consumption device; the kids use it for iPlayer and me and the Mrs are currently watching Breaking Bad S4 at one a night via Netflix , having just got through all the available Sons of Anarchy (even the completely bogus Oirish episodes). After that, I fancy Californication, and then perhaps Skins. In fact, now she's not zombied out in front of Downton, I don't think either of us has watched any 'broadcast' television for ages, and if it wasn't for Juniors Cartoon Network addiction we could probably do away with the Sky subs altogether.
Lovefilm is a latest DVD/Blueray rental business with some bonus online streaming. If you consider it that way its excellent value (compared to say Sky movies). You are not going to get the latest movies streaming not in the near future anyway
I make it about 10 new Blueray 'rentals' + a few bonus streaming movies for around a tenner a month which seem a good deal to me
I haven't tried LoveFilm streaming (my brother tried it and he didn't like it) but I have Netflix and, while the content might not all be new (some of it is, I just finished watching the first half of Breaking Bad S5 on there and eagerly await the second half),
I think the amount and variety of content are absolutely excellent for the price.
I originally chose Netflix over Lovefilm for 3 reasons:
- Despite the fact I was very happy with the Lovefilm postal service and only left about a year or two before the streaming services came out because I had watched everything I really wanted to and was only adding things to my queue to keep the queue not empty, my mailbox was getting spammed by them asking me to go back to them, and that put me off.
- I preferred Netflix's one charge, access everything model, to the tiers on Lovefilm and the additional charges for newer content
- Netflix was available on more devices
So this move goes some way to addressing one of those concerns, albeit too late. Still, I wish them luck - competition is better for all of us.
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