XBox Live Video Marketplace in Canada
Well, thanks, I guess. The video marketplace is live now in Canada, so we can rent HD movies and have them downloaded to our consoles.
The cost varies depending on the movie - a way to gauge how tolerant we are of high prices?
Believers, for example, costs 440 Microsoft Points for the standard definition version, and 580 points for HD.
Points cost $15.50 for 1000 points in Canada, or 1.55 cents per point. So the cost for that HD movie rental is 580 * 1.55 cents, or $8.99.
$8.99 is a lot for a movie rental.
In the US, they pay 380 gamer points for an HD movie rental, and they pay $12.50 for 1000 Microsoft Points. That same movie would cost $4.75 in the US.
Our dollar is at par, and yet they're getting us on the price of the points, and getting us again on the higher cost of the movies.
I appreciate that it's probably taken them a ton of effort to offer this service in Canada, including cutting some deals with the studios that probably make them charge this much - but wouldn't it be better for everyone (including the studios) if they were willing to make deals that made HD movie downloads attractive in Canada, instead of pricing it out beyond reason?