Tag: Netflix

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 to Release Entire Campaign From the Start

Treyarch, the developer behind the Call of Duty franchise is doing something different this time around with the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. They are going the Netflix way and will release all campaign missions from the start. What this means is that you can choose to jump right to the final chapter without having to work your way up the game.

Netflix does this with shows like House of Cards and Daredevil, where it releases all the episodes at once. The reason behind Treyarch’s move is that it doesn’t really matter. People can choose to start from the end and reach the beginning, or jump from one level to a totally different one, or go the traditional chronological way. It’s totally up to the gamers.

Jason Blundell, director of the campaign and Zombies mode for Black Ops 3 told Eurogamer that,”It gives them the flexibility to consume the content how they want,” He also added that,”Consumers and game players in general are far more mature these days. There are so many things vying for our interests today. It’s about, how do they want to consume it? Maybe they put it down on level two, and then they’re in work the next day, and some guy says, ‘dude, you’ve got to check out level four!’ And he’s like, ‘okay, I’ll have a quick look.’ That’s totally fine. I think it’s their choice.”

This would make giving away spoilers much easier, but Blundell is unconcerned by this, comparing the campaign to Netflix’s House of Cards. “If you see the end you’ll say, I need to understand this more,” Blundell said. “When Netflix release House of Cards with all the episodes, does everyone just jump to the end and go and play the last episode? Sure you can. But it’s about the journey, though, right?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is available for pre-order on Flipkart for PC, PS4, Xbox One. PS3 and Xbox 360 will not come with a campaign mode and will only feature an online mode.

October 13, 2015
Virtual Reality is Now Affordable Thanks to Samsung’s $99 Gear VR

The Netflix experience is about to get a whole lot better. Samsung announced the newest edition to Gear VR in collaboration with Oculus , along with a slew of new features and apps. The headset will have a redesigned trackpad, a new Xbox-style Gamepad with dual analogue design, and a new, lower price that’ll be available this November in the United States.

The Gear VR is also getting a major media boost with Netflix, Hulu and Twitch among the few new services that will be available for the headset. The Netflix app, for example, creates a virtual living room for the viewer to watch in. The virtual television in front of you will have the Netflix UI on the screen. You simply look to move the cursor and tap the touchpad on the side of the Gear VR to make your selection. Currently the app allows almost no choice for the user in terms of the environmental changes or the distance of the screen.

The Oculus -made Samsung Gear VR will work with the whole 2015 line of Samsung Smartphones including the Note 5, S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge+, and will be priced at $99, a $100 less than the previous Gear VR.

“Virtual reality that’s accessible to consumers is still very young and so it was all about developing the ecosystem,” said Jim Willson, director of immersive products and VR at Samsung. “We had to make sure there was enough content, both in terms of video content … and on the gaming side.”

Wilson hinted at a captive audience that an app like Netflix can provide with more number of hours being spent with these media apps. Apart from Netflix, Oculus also announced 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate, as well as Hulu, Twitch, TiVo and Vimeo for VR apps.

Samsung is looking to expand its consumer base and is looking to make the Gear VR not just a device for niche audience. It may take a while before people take to the virtual reality experience, but with PlayStation also working on its VR gaming technology, the future of media technology looks pretty clear. So, for those who want to experience the next season of Daredevil in virtual reality can get their hands on the Gear VR from November.

September 25, 2015
Netflix to Enter India Soon; Here are Some of the Challenges it Will Face

A report suggests that Netflix, the US streaming giant, will enter India by 2016. This is great news for us film and TV buffs across India; we have been practically raised on a steady diet of films and TV shows. We recreate the famous train scene from DDLJ at railway stations to Dubsmash-ing the famous “Kitne Aadmi The?“. Even our politicians get filmy sometimes. No one loves films like Indians do.

Netflix has produced shows like House of Cards

Netflix will not be the first company to provide a streaming service in India. In 2015, rival TV Networks STAR and Zee launched Hotstar and Ditto TV respectively. Before that, Sony LIV was launched. Earlier this month, Hooq was launched as a joint venture between Sony, Warner Bros. and SingTel. Then there is Ogle, backed by media-person Pritish Nandy and Spuul. Still, Netflix’ s arrival is interesting because it has been established worldwide and is known for producing popular TV shows such as House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, which have a cult following in India.

However exciting Netflix’s arrival may seem, the company still faces some hurdles, the major ones being Internet speed, pricing, censorship and piracy. In terms of connectivity, Netflix demands at least 1.5 MBps Internet speed to watch the content. Most high speed Internet plans in India have a data usage limit and thus restrict the very nature of binge-watching, which has helped Netflix grow over the years.

“Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country yet.”

Even if Netflix survives despite slow Internet connections, there will still be some doubts over its commercial viability. In India, the streaming services can be categorized into two parts – free and premium service. Almost every service provides some sort of free service, because it guarantees audience. This goes against the business model of Netflix, which provides a trial period but ultimately charges. While Ditto charges Rs. 49 for a nine day pack, Spuul charges Rs. 150 per month for the Premium catalog. Hooq which has recently entered India, will charge Rs. 199 for unlimited access to Hollywood and Indian content. Combine that with the appropriate Internet package needed for streaming, the total bill for entertainment costs more than a High-Definition cable/DTH connection. Thus, Netflix has to decide a price which can suit the pocket.

Then, there is the issue of censorship. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is responsible for regulation of TV shows and films. CBFC’s power can be estimated by the fact that movies which stream on YouTube carry a CBFC certificate. So, for those who hope to see the uncensored version of Orange Is The New Black may be left disappointed. Even HBO has to censor Game of Thrones, even when it airs exclusively on the paid service.

Last but not the least, Netflix’s biggest worry is piracy. In April, Netflix’s show, Marvel’s Daredevil was downloaded at least 150,000 times in India alone within its first week of premiere. There are mainly two reasons people pirate a popular movie or TV show: they either cannot pay for the service or they want the uncensored version. As a result, Netflix has to carefully consider what it offers in terms of content and pricing.

Still, Netflix’s decision to enter India is a wonderful thing, since it will guarantee quality programming. Moreover, if Netflix decides to produce local content, it will enhance Indian entertainment. As our government puts it, good days have come.

June 25, 2015
Netflix-Competitor HOOQ to Launch a Video Streaming Service in India

Singtel, owner of Australian Telecom giant Optus, is planning to beat Netflix to push video streaming in Asia with its new partners, Sony Pictures’s AXN network and Warner Brothers.

The new service which is called HOOQ, will work with Warner Brothers and AXN to buy, sell, market and produce films and TV products through an over-the-top (also called OTT, and sends TV and movies over any internet connection) service across a range of markets.

It will offer Hollywood movies and U.S. TV shows alongside domestic content from India, China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Korea and Japan. In total, HOOQ will begin with an initial catalog of over 10,000 shows and movies.

HOOQ will be the first video streaming service in Asia. Its biggest competitor is obviously is Netflix, but its expansion into Asia has been slow.

HOOQ will be rolled out aggressively in the Singtel Group’s Asian footprint. First in the line is Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Thailand, in the first quarter of 2015.

The company at the launch said that the service won’t be limited to credit card holders. Singtel said it will use its “billing capabilities” in countries where credit card ownership remains low.

This will be the first video streaming service in Asia. Its biggest competitor, obviously, is Netflix, but its expansion into Asia has been slow. Netflix ventured into Australia and New Zealand last year, but there’s no word on when it’ll hit the other markets.

Piracy and lack of awareness are often cited as major barriers for licensed streaming services in Asia. With peer-to-peer file sharing as well as VPN services at any user’s fingertips, people can easily access the latest shows as they are released. Even as local versions of Netflix become available, it sometimes fails to draw in audiences due to the limited range of programs caused by licensing issues.

January 30, 2015
Netflix Plans to Expand Worldwide in the Next Two Years

America, Europe, US and few more have privileges to access certain web content, while other nations face geoblocking. Willing viewers have to use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to stream their favourite programs. But Netflix has some interesting plans that will stop the need of VPNs; without permanently blocking the services to these sites.

The video-streaming giant Netflix recently made an announcement according to which TV shows and films will be available to the audience worldwide. That means people of all nations would be able to watch TV shows right at the time of their broadcast. NetFlix said that it was planning for expansion that will cover whole of the globe. This development will be complete within two years.

Meanwhile, the company said that its terms are the same. It can restrict access to users who use VPN to fetch content where they don’t have the right. From the statement, it is clear that Netflix wants to make the web content wide-reaching and break the geoblocking barriers. Netflix CEO and Co-Founder Reed Hastings said that their main goal for now is providing global content.

[We] had the vision to start to figure out how to get global rights for some of the content by moving up the food chain. And we have been pushing on that dimension, where we can get the global rights and we don’t have to go country by country across 200 countries, but instead can provide the producer upfront money, guaranteed money, and get great access.

According to the Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, studios would be interested in this deal and from this, their operations would streamline. To increase the viewership, Netflix is in preparation to telecast 320 hours of completely original content this year. Meanwhile, HBO is also launching its stand-alone streaming service.

This move by Netflix will be welcomed by the countries as the viewership of their shows is immense worldwide.

January 21, 2015
Amazon Reportedly Planning to Launch Free Video Streaming Service With Ads

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is set for a fresh move on video-streaming space. Since last year, Amazon has been gaining ground on Netflix as the most popular video streaming service in the US, and now it is planning something that could overtake its rival.

According to reports, the e-commerce giant will roll out a new ad-supported streaming offering early next year that will be separate from its $99-a-year Prime membership that includes a video service.

The ad-supported option — part of an overhaul of its media offerings — poses a serious challenge to streaming rivals such as Hulu and Netflix, analysts said. “If they do an ad-supported service, they will decouple it from Prime and that is a Netflix killer,” said Wedbush Securities Analyst Michael Pachter. “It won’t be $99 a year.”

In March, the WSJ came up with a similar report describing a free, ad-supported video service from Amazon. At the time, the company flat-out denied that this was happening. “We’re often experimenting with new things, but we have no plans to offer a free streaming-media service,” an Amazon spokeswoman told Variety in response to the WSJ report. The NYP report notes that the ad-based service is ‘a definite go’ but does not specify a launch date.

Although it will be separate from Prime, the ad-supported service is ultimately a bid by Amazon to lure people to eventually pay up for the Prime membership, said one ad source familiar with Amazon’s plans. However, the company has not confirmed anything and said it has not announced any plans to offer an ad-supported video streaming service. That doesn’t mean that the company won’t, though. This essentially means that they won’t comment on this particular subject.

November 22, 2014