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Netflix Is Now Sort of Kinect-Enabled

Don't expect Minority Report just yet. Wait, is that on Instant Streaming?

By Brad Nicholson  |  April 14, 2011

So, this morning I used Kinect at home for the first time since around launch. That’s great. But I wasn’t using it with a game; I used it with Netflix. As Xbox Live guru Major Nelson noted on his blog earlier today, the long-awaited support for Kinect on the streaming service’s channel is now live, allowing Kinect owners to pick and choose movies, and fast forward and rewind content without a controller. Voice is also thrown into the mix, too, so prepare to talk to your TV like crazy men do.

The support, as a whole, is extremely limited. For starters, you’re restricted to the suggestions tab, which whittles down your hands-free content options if Netflix doesn’t have your interests pegged. Also, in this lone menu, you only get a total of four movies to choose from per tab. You’ll need to wave your hand around to get to another set of four, and then another, and then another. 

Pretend this is the suggestions queue and then whittle down the options.
Pretend this is the suggestions queue and then whittle down the options.
You can use your voice to pick your content, too, by saying the number of the selection. In the actual movie or TV show, you can tell the content to pause, fast forward, stop, or rewind and tweak the speed of that even further by telling it to go faster or slower. 

This probably sounds a bit familiar to you. This support is very similar to the original Kinect UI experience, which has you pushing through menus with your hands and stating flat commands.

The takeaway I get from this is the same takeway I got from using Kinect with most of the games released so far: it works, but it’s not an ideal or incredibly precise method of control. In the specific case of the Netflix app, you need to pick up a controller to browse through your Instant Queue or do anything that you would normally do, so I’m sort of at a loss as to a practical application here. I suppose it’ll be nice to scream at my Kinect to fast-forward, but I very rarely re-watch or blaze through Netflix content.

So... I know I won’t be replacing my controller with my fist in Netflix anytime soon, but hey, it’s there and it’s free. That's always a plus.
27 Comments
Chirag4on April 14, 2011 at 3:03 p.m.
YAY
Prestoon April 14, 2011 at 3:04 p.m.
Wow, that's sort of lame how limited it is.

edit: you son of a bitch
allenibrahimon April 14, 2011 at 3:13 p.m.
Main thing this article did: Made me check to see if Team America really is on Streaming, realize it's not, and rage.
CoheedFavorHouseon April 14, 2011 at 3:19 p.m.
i'm quite enjoying not having to keep my controller on me. i'd much rather yell.
isleson April 14, 2011 at 3:32 p.m.
Woop?
Krakn3Dfxon April 14, 2011 at 3:39 p.m.
Just tried this.  Why did they even bother?  Better to just ignore requests and save face rather than implement it and have it be useless.
This_Dudeon April 14, 2011 at 3:44 p.m.
wow,  that's really terrible,   there's absolutely no need for this if you are limited to the suggestions tab.   the movies found there are almost never a reflection of things you like.
Vonocourt is online on April 14, 2011 at 3:48 p.m.
Don't have Kinect, but that four movies at a time thing is really off putting. I have 233 in my queue.
iam3greenon April 14, 2011 at 4:10 p.m.
wow seems pointless to put that if you can only put in suggestion tab. they should let you do everything just without a controller. i don't have netflix account, so i don't use netflix.
MrKloroxon April 14, 2011 at 4:26 p.m.
Haha you use a controller to navigate netflix? The 360 has an IR port. Most universal remotes work on it.

Using a controller to navigate a video service is dumb.
Xpgamer7on April 14, 2011 at 4:43 p.m.
Sometimes netflix glitches on me and skips an episode or rewatches one. I have a near perfect completion rate and I don't want to spoil it. Still the 4 movie thing kinda sucks. I have 500 movies in my instant queue.
bkoon April 14, 2011 at 5:27 p.m.
Boy, is Microsoft all in with its Kinect support or what? Superb job, boys. You got your sales so you no longer care.
Wolverineon April 14, 2011 at 5:29 p.m.
I'm pretty happy about this. There is something nice about being able to use voice commands to pause and play the show I'm watching.
chickdigger802on April 14, 2011 at 6:56 p.m.
who cares. Give a few months and I'll be dancing my ass off to control Netflix on my pc.

awesome pointlessness. The best kind.
CowsWithGunson April 14, 2011 at 9:26 p.m.
Here's a better solution to not using a controller.  Buy a cheap 20 dollar universal remote and program it to work with your xbox 360.  Now you don't have to speak to your xbox or have a controller connected to it!  I just don't see the point of kinect yet....
Pittaon April 14, 2011 at 9:48 p.m.
@CowsWithGuns said:
"
                Here's a better solution to not using a controller.  Buy a cheap 20 dollar universal remote and program it to work with your xbox 360.  Now you don't have to speak to your xbox or have a controller connected to it!  I just don't see the point of kinect yet....
            "

Who has wired controllers?
teh_destroyeron April 14, 2011 at 11:24 p.m.
@Pitta said:
" @CowsWithGuns said:
"
                Here's a better solution to not using a controller.  Buy a cheap 20 dollar universal remote and program it to work with your xbox 360.  Now you don't have to speak to your xbox or have a controller connected to it!  I just don't see the point of kinect yet....
            "
Who has wired controllers? "
haha, i broke all mine :).
UncleBennyon April 15, 2011 at 12:43 a.m.
can we hack the kinect SDK so that it rewind the film back 7 seconds and hit pause whenever it hears the sound of pee hitting water?
Sjuppon April 15, 2011 at 1:05 a.m.
@UncleBenny said:
" can we hack the kinect SDK so that it rewind the film back 7 seconds and hit pause whenever it hears the sound of pee hitting water? "
Does it take you 7 seconds to get up, go to the bathroom, unzip and then piss?
You are either a ninja or live in a very small house.
detectivepberton April 15, 2011 at 1:24 a.m.
this is pointless and major nelson is a total dumbass
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