Netflix...more than renting movies

Gamers and movie buffs alike have (probably) been rejoicing ever since the movie-rental-by-mail service Netflix became available for Xbox Live and Playstation Network. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who hadn't taken advantage of this feature before now. I recently decided to check it out and see what I've been missing, and I must admit, it's pretty cool.

For those who aren't familiar with Netflix, it's an online service that allows you to rent movies from the comfort of your home computer. You search their large library of movies, which includes new releases, classics, documentaries, and indie films, and add the ones that you'd like to see to a queue. Depending on the type of account that you have, they'll send you one or two DVDs that you've selected and you can send them back after you watch them. There aren't any late fees, you just won't get any more DVDs until you send back what you already have. You can also stream certain movies immediately right there on your computer without having to wait for a DVD to arrive in the mail. That's nice, but who wants to sit in front of a monitor and watch a movie? That's where Xbox Live and PSN come in.

Courtesy: Netflix

With your Xbox 360 or PS3, you can login to your Netflix account, select a movie to stream, and watch it right there on your TV screen. If you have a good big screen TV, it can be quite pleasurable compared to watching movies on a monitor. There's no limit to how many movies you can stream from your console, so you can watch one after the other.

Now, I haven't had a Netflix account for very long, so I'm new to this, but my brother has been partaking in this service for quite some time and he says there are a lot of benefits to streaming from your console. He's a major movie buff, so he's on every night watching movies that he normally would not have been able to find in stores and probably would have paid a lot to order. He likes the fact that there's lots of stuff for his kids to watch, something that has been an issue for him in the past. My brother feels that Netflix on Xbox has saved him hundreds, maybe even thousands. Good for him!

If you're like my brother, you should probably give this a try. I'm not as big of a movie fan as he is (or most people for that matter), but there are movies that I'm interested in, and being able to stream them from my Xbox is a convenient way to check them out. As I said, it's available for Xbox Live and Playstation Network, but it's also coming to Wii soon (it will require some sort of "instant streaming disc"), so Wii owners won't be left out. Do any of you stream Netflix movies from your consoles already? Leave some comments about your experiences.