Xbox Live apps unlocked for non-Gold members this weekend

Fancy trying ESPN on your Xbox 360? Or maybe you just want to watch YouTube videos. Microsoft is hoping to sell you a Gold subscription with its new "Entertainment Unlocked" promotion.

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Fancy trying ESPN on your Xbox 360? Or maybe you just want to watch YouTube videos. Microsoft's console has a number of entertainment apps, making it one of the most versatile media boxes for the living room. Unfortunately, all of these services, whether they're paid (a la Netflix) or free (a la Crackle) require a subscription to Xbox Live Gold.

So what if you're not willing to shell out $60 a year for Gold services? Microsoft is hoping to change your mind with its new "Entertainment Unlocked" promotion.

In the US, these are the apps that will be unlocked, starting Thursday, April 19th:

  • CinemaNow
  • Crackle
  • Dailymotion
  • EPIX
  • ESPN
  • HBO GO
  • Hulu Plus
  • iHeartRadio
  • Last.fm
  • MSN
  • Netflix
  • Syfy
  • TMZ
  • TODAY
  • UFC
  • Verizon
  • VEVO
  • Vudu
  • Xfinity TV on Demand
  • YouTube

Note that while all these apps are "unlocked," some have additional requirements, such as subscribing to a specific cable provider. Some services, like Netflix and Hulu Plus will offer free one month trials upon access--assuming you haven't previously received a trial.

The promotion ends on Monday, April 23rd, and unlike previous Gold free weekends, online multiplayer will not be enabled for non-Gold accounts.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 17, 2012 12:15 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Xbox Live apps unlocked for non-Gold members this weekend.

    Fancy trying ESPN on your Xbox 360? Or maybe you just want to watch YouTube videos. Microsoft is hoping to sell you a Gold subscription with its new "Entertainment Unlocked" promotion.

    • reply
      April 17, 2012 12:43 PM

      fuck MS. I have a PS3 for this...charge to let me access netflix, they can burn in hell. NEVER will I pay for Gold membership.

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        April 17, 2012 12:53 PM

        Haha, BURN IN HELL. You get a little bit more than just Netflix for that Gold membership, but if all you need is Netflix than it doesn't make sense.

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          April 17, 2012 1:32 PM

          But like this burn in hell thing. Is the the company? I mean, and if so, is the OP referring the the Citizens United ruling that deemed corporations as having the same rights as people? Because that's some forward thinking

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 2:10 PM

        Look at this motherfucker who can't even afford a liter of Gatorade a month.

    • reply
      April 17, 2012 1:20 PM

      EH.:choke:..hm.hma.he.ho.hma.ha.ha.wha...air.. wt... who...wha... no...wai...

      THESE Apps were all locked for GOLD membership ?

      Are you freaking micro smelly kidding me ? Youtube ? Dailymotion ? GOLD ?

      I can't believe it ... you would have to pay 60$ to watch youtube .. up until now... are you serious.

      Well ... another point to check in my memory database of "microsoft's business practices in the console industry"

      Obviously that's why they could survived the RROD repair loss and release-loss.

      Expect that and much better on WiiU for free ... hopefully they don't surprise us in a bad way at E3. ... FAYV HUNDRED AND NAYNTI NAYN

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        April 17, 2012 1:21 PM

        ... US DALLRS

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        April 17, 2012 2:00 PM

        how old are you, son?

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        April 17, 2012 2:09 PM

        Comedy GOLD!

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        April 17, 2012 2:16 PM

        Ruski, I'm prettys sure you're drunk durring the day, but here I go anyways. MS was the first to offer the media center game console thingy with the Xbox (whether they meant to exactly or not). Their base got used to the subscription model and voila, you got what you have today. Personally, I'm grateful that pressure from other devices has finally gotten them to allow this level of functionality for free over their network. Now Sony and Nintendo just have to up their game next gen to at least the 360's current online presence and we'll see them dropping a bunch more stuff to silver.

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        April 17, 2012 2:17 PM

        Jesus christ, stop posting already

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 2:28 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 2:30 PM

        hahaha you just implied nintendo knows what an internet is

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 3:11 PM

        memory database of microsoft's business practices in the console industry

        that seems like a very specific memory database

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 3:15 PM

        WHAT THE HE DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS?!?! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 3:18 PM

        oh my god i have missed me some front page gold lately

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        April 17, 2012 6:03 PM

        Nintendo would have never thought to offer these apps if Microsoft hadn't paved the way first.

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          April 18, 2012 6:30 AM

          Hehe - nintendo is actually all about the games they have, and their philosophy tells them it has to be appropriate, professionaly and quality designed hardware that works well, that's why they will never offer thier games to some non-nintendo hardware.

          The industry forced them to do this - as your point might be totally fine - it's all about the perception. The reality is that nintendo has to offer this things to survive and they just have to do it because some other company scores better sales because of it while a company like microsoft that doesn't necessairly understand the primary industry which is gaming - microsoft has zero creative/talent interest, it's all employees that do stuff there, directors and boss have only pure western dogshit capitalist background - bill gates is an evil elitist selling toxic vaccines to africa.

          Nintendo's CEO Iwata was a game developer who founded and worked at HAL Labolatories, he made Kirby and the idea of Super Smash Bros. were one of his big hits. People and media go like crazy when they see Nintendo Stock dropping and that idiot investor wanting mario on iOS, while it's actually the current directors (iwata and miyamoto included) and Yamauchi family that own majority of the stock - so that apple investor won't be missed nor taken seriously as nintendo already re-confirmed recently that they have no intentions to expand to other platforms.

          The legacy of nintendo is far stronger, far better, far longer and actually authentic / genuine talent, than any other gaming company in histroy of this planet. These are all facts if you want to check them your self - i am a humorous person but i don't post BS.

          Just look - their DX is proprietary, they have a PC monopoly and in consoles, but it's also don't to the drivers that need to be open.

          Good thing we have the people like John Carmack and Tim Sweeny who push the hardware manufacturers (asus,gigabyte,nvidia,intel,amd,and many memory RAM manufacturers) to get to transition to some open source and software driven hardware that doesn't require proprietary firmware, and unified memory. This will then FORCE microsoft to respond and their limited DX will be useless.

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            April 18, 2012 6:33 AM

            I personally never cared about app store, and such kiddy features like social stuff ... i can do all that on PC and i don't need to be "ONLAYN" all day.

            The very busy fast paced stlye of life that is in the west is the primary reason for the demand and importance for such features.

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              April 18, 2012 6:38 AM

              So i won't really miss it and online doesn't really worry me - all these netflix and all that media media stuff - i don't watch movies at all and the ones i do very rarely - i was some worthwhile documentaries like Ray Mears Extreme survival which i have hooked up to PC share via samsung AllShare to connect to HDTV for streaming (so no need of a console at all) ... then there's all the top 5 shows from discovery and that's it i don't really watch TV at all otherwise :P

              My biggest worry is the amount of RAM - which is the most unknown variable we have in the community i am discussing and reading. The minimal should be 1 GB but we don't quite agree with that since that won't enable games to be more scoped than old gen, we target 1.5 GB as the at least marker and in the line of being fine, but truly they need to stay afloat in long term and not have this crucial bottleneck in the next gen so 2 GB should be totally deserved and great.

          • reply
            April 18, 2012 6:50 AM

            Also don't think i made that term up my self. ...
            http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Western%20Dog%20Shit
            http://www.gametrailers.com/video/used-game-pach-attack/728746 (skip to last question, 5:00)

    • reply
      April 17, 2012 1:26 PM

      Huh? It makes so much more sense to just use a PS3 if you have it.

    • reply
      April 17, 2012 1:30 PM

      Bastards, I was hoping this was going to be permanent.

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      April 17, 2012 1:51 PM

      All of which I am able to get free through my bluray player and some of them through a Wii channel. Not to mention others will probably able to get these through any Smart TV or roku box. So it makes absolutely no sense to charge for something that isn't exclusive to your platform.

      • reply
        April 17, 2012 2:12 PM

        Do you guys have ANY common sense? I mean seriously. You don't want it fine, but all of you posting in every thread on the shack about it are fucking morons

        • reply
          April 17, 2012 2:17 PM

          I do have a Xbox360 and Gold Sub for gaming not for the entertainment apps. Every single one of those apps except for one or two is available free on other devices. That is pretty much a fact if you ever used them.

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            April 17, 2012 3:04 PM

            HBO Go is only one I can't get on any other device I own (that will send it to my TV). And its the one I use the most.

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        April 17, 2012 2:32 PM

        [deleted]

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      April 17, 2012 2:39 PM

      I know it's hate on MS time, but the ESPN app is really good. The interface is much better than the WatchESPN website, plus it streams in HD. And it even seems to include some live games that the website does not (or that I can't figure out how to access through the website).

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        April 17, 2012 2:43 PM

        and really - it provides more cricket and rugby than any other app!

        • reply
          April 17, 2012 3:14 PM

          I use it to watch NBA games. We don't have cable TV, so this app lets me watch any game that ESPN/ESPN2 is broadcasting. That alone is worth $50/year to me.

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            April 18, 2012 5:56 AM

            I thought that one only lets you watch ESPN stuff if you already get ESPN via cable/satellite.

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          April 17, 2012 3:36 PM

          it's amazing for college football

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            April 17, 2012 3:46 PM

            its amazing for cricket. I was bored one night and found some game from some obscure island in the Atlantic and it actually had all 4 boring hours of it.

    • reply
      April 17, 2012 2:48 PM

      It's Microsoft's way of making the Gold membership a 'value'. Nevermind the fact you've already paid for the apps(netflix) or they happen to be free(youtube) on any PS3, pc, or decent blu-ray player. It's really a dick move to gouge money from it's customers but this is an area MS is well versed at.

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      April 17, 2012 3:08 PM

      I don't see it as any different than paying monthly for TiVo. Yes, I could get it for free on a Comcast DVR, but TiVo does it way, way better.

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        April 17, 2012 3:23 PM

        with tivo, you get something in return that you cant get anywhere else. bloop. bloop. bloop.

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          April 17, 2012 3:58 PM

          The real reason you have to pay for Tivo is for the Electronic Program Guide updates.

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        April 17, 2012 3:45 PM

        Not free here. Comcast DVR is $16/mo on my bill.

        • reply
          April 17, 2012 3:47 PM

          That's an unavoidable fee though. If you went with TiVo you'd still have to pay Comcast monthly for the CableCARD that you put in the TiVo. It's probably a little cheaper than the DVR but that still means that using TiVo costs more per month than using the cable-provided alternative.

          Bottom line is you pay a premium to use TiVo even though it doesn't provide anything you can't do otherwise. It just does it better and more conveniently.

          • reply
            April 17, 2012 5:48 PM

            Cable companies actually credit you a few bucks a month if you have a TiVo. They (TiVo) sent around a survey to make sure all of the major companies were doing it. I get $2.50/mo. credited back to me for mine, and I have two cable cards (DAMN YOU SERIES 3).

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              April 17, 2012 5:52 PM

              Oh wacky!

            • reply
              April 17, 2012 5:59 PM

              I was wondering wtf all of these small credits were on my bill. I get 10 of them a month at 0.50 each

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      April 17, 2012 5:18 PM

      I bought a 360 arcade for $129 specifically as a Netflix player. Boy that was a dumb move.

    • reply
      April 17, 2012 5:44 PM

      Making people pay for this crap makes sense. Makeing people pay to connect to game servers not hosted by Microsoft makes none

    • reply
      April 18, 2012 5:53 AM

      Yo dawg, we heard you like paying fees so we put premium pay services inside your premium pay service so you can pay while you pay.

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