My/Microsoft’s Video Marketplace Blunder
I raved about Microsoft’s Video Marketplace on the Xbox 360 several months ago when I popped my cherry with The Nanny Diaries.
Two nights ago I had a group of friends visiting, all of us in the mood for a few scares (watching The Descent the previous night should have put me off). With the closest Blockbuster having recently been closed down, probably due to this inconvenient recession we’re finding ourselves in, Video Marketplace was my only option for anything outside of my own DVD collection.
Naturally, I assumed my experience would be much like my last one, which was entirely blip-free. Common sense told me, however, that we would have to wait a little longer before playing the movie as we had opted for the High Def version instead of the Standard Def version.
An hour later after many nachos and a few beers, the movie was only at 13% complete. We were still waiting for the ‘Play Now’ option to become available, like it did last time at only 2%, but with no such luck.
Defeated, we stuck on one of my HD DVDs instead (The Reaping, which really wasn’t very scary at all despite there being a Devil child), and even after that had finished our Video Marketplace movie was only at 53%. 3 hours had passed and we’d given up all hope of watching the movie that night.
Yesterday my download resumed while I kept myself occupied with exploring coastal Thailand for a second time round with Miss Croft. We’d rearranged our scary movie night for tonight instead, but I’m still having problems downloading!
The movie keeps stopping every few minutes with a notification (which I keep mistaking for an Achievement) popping up to inform me downloading has stopped, but with no explanation as to why. Not only that, but now Video Marketplace has disappeared entirely from my Dashboard. Where the hell has it sodded off to?!
So, I’ve had two very different experiences with Video Marketplace, which has left me with one real conclusion. Downloading a HD movie is too much of a bitch, so I’ll stick to my sub-par quality for the sake of actually being able to watch my purchase.
One Missed Call, you better be worth it.
*Mutters usual derogatory remarks about Microsoft not being able to do anything right*
I don’t have anything derogatory to say about Alan Wake. My advice to you? Spend a night in Bright Falls and soak up the eerie atmosphere. Alan Wake excels at thrilling you psychologically. Which is why it’s called a psychological thriller, I guess…
Los Havros