HBO Go coming to game consoles, internet-enabled TVs

via Gamasutra Details are sketchy right now, like when and which consoles/televisions will be suppoted. Although, I'm puzzled by this a bit: how many game consoles will be hooked up on televisions that don't already have cable boxes (since you'll still need an HBO subscription, which means you'll still need cable), and what does HBO Go offer that would be better than using On Demand through the cable box?

If they make it a service that doesn't require a cable subscription, I'm in day 1.

Well, my cable provider doesn't support HBO Go yet (the joys of living in Iowa!), but my understanding is that HBO Go provides a much more extensive backlog than regular HBO On Demand does. On Demand will have occasional back seasons of shows, but will often be totally missing shows that aren't current, or will at least miss older seasons, whereas HBO Go is supposed to have full backlogs of most HBo original shows, even the ones not currently on air (so all of The Wire, Deadwood, etc.). This does only raise the question of why they can't just put all that stuff on demand, instead of having to go through HBO Go.

I think this is awesome for me. We just canceled netflix and have no cable - but my Dad has cable and no xbox. Hopefully this means I can log in as him and have HBOgo!

Tanglebones wrote:

If they make it a service that doesn't require a cable subscription, I'm in day 1.

Won't happen any time soon. They are still beholden to the MSOs for the majority of their revenue, so are going to be very unlikely to decouple themselves.

Just like ESPN.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Although, I'm puzzled by this a bit: how many game consoles will be hooked up on televisions that don't already have cable boxes (since you'll still need an HBO subscription, which means you'll still need cable)

Two of my three Xboxes have no cable box on the TV. I only pay for one cable box for On Demand, with everything else running through a four stream CableCARD tuner in Windows Media Center as a DVR/TV tuner. The Xboxes are extenders, and I watch live TV through them. Don't even have coax everywhere I have an Xbox serving up TV.

and what does HBO Go offer that would be better than using On Demand through the cable box?

Last time I check On Demand, it didn't have near the back catalog of HBO shows. You can watch about any season of most of their shows on the HBO Go platform.

SallyNasty wrote:

I think this is awesome for me. We just canceled netflix and have no cable - but my Dad has cable and no xbox. Hopefully this means I can log in as him and have HBOgo!

Does he pay for HBO? That's currently a requirement. If so, it will probably work.

Ooh.. hadn't thought about that angle. Might be able to yoink my brother in law's account. I'd still rather give them some money for the service, but I'll be damned if I'm subscribing to cable.

MannishBoy wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

I think this is awesome for me. We just canceled netflix and have no cable - but my Dad has cable and no xbox. Hopefully this means I can log in as him and have HBOgo!

Does he pay for HBO? That's currently a requirement. If so, it will probably work.

Indeed he does, sir!

Tanglebones wrote:

If they make it a service that doesn't require a cable subscription, I'm in day 1.

Not going to happen. When Netflix approached HBO to stream their content they basically said that the only way they'd provide content is if Netflix charged $20+ a month. HBO is stuck in the cable mindset: it wants the same revenue from a streaming customer that it gets from cable.

Not excited. HBO Go as-is cannot be used through our provider (Time-Warner).

OG_slinger wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

If they make it a service that doesn't require a cable subscription, I'm in day 1.

Not going to happen. When Netflix approached HBO to stream their content they basically said that the only way they'd provide content is if Netflix charged $20+ a month. HBO is stuck in the cable mindset: it wants the same revenue from a streaming customer that it gets from cable.

A man can dream

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Not excited. HBO Go as-is cannot be used through our provider (Time-Warner).

That's where this info is coming from. Time-Warner's adding it and was the one to mention it's coming to consoles and networked TVs.

OG_slinger wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

If they make it a service that doesn't require a cable subscription, I'm in day 1.

Not going to happen. When Netflix approached HBO to stream their content they basically said that the only way they'd provide content is if Netflix charged $20+ a month. HBO is stuck in the cable mindset: it wants the same revenue from a streaming customer that it gets from cable.

I'd pay that, but given how much sturm und drang there was about the recent Netflix price adjustments, I'm not sure who would be on board with me.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
OG_slinger wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

If they make it a service that doesn't require a cable subscription, I'm in day 1.

Not going to happen. When Netflix approached HBO to stream their content they basically said that the only way they'd provide content is if Netflix charged $20+ a month. HBO is stuck in the cable mindset: it wants the same revenue from a streaming customer that it gets from cable.

I'd pay that, but given how much sturm und drang there was about the recent Netflix price adjustments, I'm not sure who would be on board with me.

$20+ for Netflix and HBO Go is worth it to me. I don't have cable though.

$20+ for Netflix and HBO Go would hook me too (also don't have cable)... maybe a "premium level" Netflix streaming is in our future.

beeporama wrote:

$20+ for Netflix and HBO Go would hook me too (also don't have cable)... maybe a "premium level" Netflix streaming is in our future.

I'd be on board for that.

MannishBoy wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Not excited. HBO Go as-is cannot be used through our provider (Time-Warner).

That's where this info is coming from. Time-Warner's adding it and was the one to mention it's coming to consoles and networked TVs.

Heh, well I guess that'll teach me to RTFA.

Norfair wrote:
beeporama wrote:

$20+ for Netflix and HBO Go would hook me too (also don't have cable)... maybe a "premium level" Netflix streaming is in our future.

I'd be on board for that.

Yup, me too.

OG_slinger wrote:

Not going to happen. When Netflix approached HBO to stream their content they basically said that the only way they'd provide content is if Netflix charged $20+ a month. HBO is stuck in the cable mindset: it wants the same revenue from a streaming customer that it gets from cable.

To be fair, when you're producing expensive television shows that aren't going to be massive hits, that has no advertising and that has little chance of syndication opportunities, you have to expect your audience to pay a premium for it.

And like others have said, I'm only in love with the convienience factor of Netflix and the quality of service. If they started charging twice as much but had the selection to match it, I would be greatly satisfied.

Pacman wrote:

Well, my cable provider doesn't support HBO Go yet (the joys of living in Iowa!), but my understanding is that HBO Go provides a much more extensive backlog than regular HBO On Demand does. On Demand will have occasional back seasons of shows, but will often be totally missing shows that aren't current, or will at least miss older seasons, whereas HBO Go is supposed to have full backlogs of most HBo original shows, even the ones not currently on air (so all of The Wire, Deadwood, etc.). This does only raise the question of why they can't just put all that stuff on demand, instead of having to go through HBO Go.

This is correct about larger selection in some areas. I subscribe to HBO (package deal) and have HBO Go going on my iPad for free. With my HBO sub, I get to watch somethings that are not offered on HBO demand (seems weird to me, but oh well). For example, I wanted to watch Game of Thrones again, but it's not offered on HBO Demand, but it is available on HBO Go.

I would so go for a Netflix/HBO GO combo deal. I'm already subsidizing someone else's cable bill $20/mo for HBO just so I can watch HBO GO on the web.

OK, so this is now on Xbox Live. My question now is, can I sign up for HBO without having any kind of cable, and just watch it on my 360? So far my searches are coming up empty, but I know nobody who has cable, so I'm hoping some folks here might be able to shed light on the situation.

ahrezmendi wrote:

OK, so this is now on Xbox Live. My question now is, can I sign up for HBO without having any kind of cable, and just watch it on my 360? So far my searches are coming up empty, but I know nobody who has cable, so I'm hoping some folks here might be able to shed light on the situation.

No. HBO has said they have no interest in allowing that, as it would disrupt their primary source of incomes through the cable companies.

Old media just doesn't get it.

Another case in point: Comcast and Time Warner are not allowing HBO Go on Xbox, although they allow you to use HBO Go on other platforms like PC and mobile. So stupid and rage inducing.

Drat, and apparently the HBO Go on Google TV deal fell through, because I saw it was announced, but it's not showing up as an app anymore, and I can't find any recent news about it being available.

There go my hopes of seeing Game of Thrones S2 before it hits home video.

MannishBoy wrote:

Old media just doesn't get it.

For once, we completely agree.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

Old media just doesn't get it.

For once, we completely agree.

Do we have a thing going that I didn't realize? This is the second time you've said something odd like that. Just because I enjoyed Darksiders doesn't mean we have to be enemies

MannishBoy wrote:

Do we have a thing going that I didn't realize? This is the second time you've said something odd like that. Just because I enjoyed Darksiders doesn't mean we have to be enemies :)

We're not enemies, we're just not usually on the same side of an argument. We seem to have just a teeny tiny overlap in our respective Venn diagrams.

Wait, no, this is the internet. I will hate you forever for liking Darksiders even the smallest bit.

ahrezmendi wrote:

Drat, and apparently the HBO Go on Google TV deal fell through, because I saw it was announced, but it's not showing up as an app anymore, and I can't find any recent news about it being available.

There go my hopes of seeing Game of Thrones S2 before it hits home video.

Yeah, your best bet is to find someone who has cable and HBO for whatever reason.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

Drat, and apparently the HBO Go on Google TV deal fell through, because I saw it was announced, but it's not showing up as an app anymore, and I can't find any recent news about it being available.

There go my hopes of seeing Game of Thrones S2 before it hits home video.

Yeah, your best bet is to find someone who has cable and HBO for whatever reason.

My parents do, but they only have the built-in DVR that came with their DirectTV, so I doubt I can have them record it then send it to me. There are other options, at worst I'll just wait until the home video release next year.

ahrezmendi wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

Drat, and apparently the HBO Go on Google TV deal fell through, because I saw it was announced, but it's not showing up as an app anymore, and I can't find any recent news about it being available.

There go my hopes of seeing Game of Thrones S2 before it hits home video.

Yeah, your best bet is to find someone who has cable and HBO for whatever reason.

My parents do, but they only have the built-in DVR that came with their DirectTV, so I doubt I can have them record it then send it to me. There are other options, at worst I'll just wait until the home video release next year.

The point was to use their log in to get HBO Go working on your Xbox. In their case, Direct TV's log in.

MannishBoy wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

Drat, and apparently the HBO Go on Google TV deal fell through, because I saw it was announced, but it's not showing up as an app anymore, and I can't find any recent news about it being available.

There go my hopes of seeing Game of Thrones S2 before it hits home video.

Yeah, your best bet is to find someone who has cable and HBO for whatever reason.

My parents do, but they only have the built-in DVR that came with their DirectTV, so I doubt I can have them record it then send it to me. There are other options, at worst I'll just wait until the home video release next year.

The point was to use their log in to get HBO Go working on your Xbox. In their case, Direct TV's log in.

With Comcast at least, you can create sub accounts (3 I think). Those accounts work with HBO Go if the main account subscribes to HBO. Of course, I've never, ever made use of this.