This is a long overdue review since the Sky Player was released on the XBOX 360 for UK users on the 28th of October. Well, I have been keeping busy. But nevertheless, I am here writing this review. Sky player’s introduction into the Xbox could be a major game-changer in terms of sheer innovation, control, and distribution channels that this medium opens up, and the game console can finally state as it has arrived. Frankly because, Sky is certainly the lion’s shareholder when it comes to Cable and Satellite TV distribution. All the major sporting events – Sky Sports; Movie channels – Sky; TV Entertainment – Sky 1 shows – House, Fringe, Modern Family and Stargate Universe amongst others. So there is no denying that Microsoft did choose the right partner to collaborate with. But does the Sky Player meet all the expectations or does it disappoint? The answer is a mixture of both.

After the Jump, Full Review of the Sky Player on the XBOX 360 including screenshots.

Now, to begin with, the Sky Player on the XBOX took sometime to get configured. I tried to get it on the XBOX Dashboard, and I have still been unsuccessful. If anybody knows how to get it there, please shout it out in the comments.

What you need to get it started is given here: http://skyplayer.sky.com/watch/xbox360/

I did experience a lot of problems to get it started initially. The morning of 28th Oct, even after proper installation, Sky Player kept on showing Access Denied: Failure to connect. Talk about successful rolling out. The Sky website page for XBOX 360 was down. And Sky even released an apology notice.

We’ll not go into the installation part, and get straight into the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The interface and the UI used is as simple as it can be. Just use the game controllers to scroll and browse around the contents.

To go to the Sky Player, I currently go to Quicklaunch–>Latest Downloads–>and then select Sky Player. This means, that unless I am not downloading much stuff in the coming days, I am safe to use this method. And so I need help here to get the Sky Player on the dashboard. Now, once it is installed, and you have configured your login settings using your XBOX Live card, and your Sky ID, what you get is this.

As mentioned, the UI is simple. The channels can be browsed according to genres, and also the movies – Sky Movies, Movies on Demand etc.

The TV Guide reminds of the new EPG – which is still to be rolled on the Sky Box that we got.

The Live TV section is the one which disappoints the most. There’s no BBC or BBC iPlayer, no Freeview channels, and not even Sky1. All we have in the Entertainment section is – GOLD. And some programmes are not viewable in Live TV Broadcast. A message is displayed when it is so:

The Live broadcast as suggested by Live TV isn’t actually live as on selection of a channel, the following clearly indicates Buffering:

Finally, when the Broadcast does start, the output is quite amazingly good. At the current average bandwidth, the picture quality at a selected High Quality is normal Standard Definition broadcast as shown below.

Although the OnDemand service shows a lot of channels, the content isn’t as flashy.

And by not flashy, I mean this: The On Demand service on Sky 1 contains only few programs- There is no House, Fringe or Stargate. What you get is UK Border Force.

And even though, I am a subscriber of Sky1 as well as Sky1 HD, I need to pay a rental fee to watch these on demand programs. How much you ask?

Yes, you saw that right. Almost a pound to see these programmes, when I can just simply Sky+ them, or may be not even care about Sky+ them, coz these programmes are just not good enough for me to record.

On a positive note, one of the most fun parts of the whole experience is : Party Room view.

Feels like you are viewing in a huge hall with a wall of Telly. What’s even more exciting is that you can rotate the view using the gamepad controller, and the back-view of the party room has a wall LCD TV too.

And yes, I was just watching Drake and Josh on Nick – for testing purposes!

Coming to the Movies section:

Can be browsed on the basis of Genre, Alphabetic, Latest Releases, Live Movie Channels etc.

So what’s the verdict?

Skyplayer on the XBOX 360 is a remarkable feature and is indeed a giant leap in the usability of the console. The simple UI makes it easily accessible to anyone and everyone and with a huge line-up of movie on demand, and movie channels and sports channels – this is a perfect choice – provided you have the relevant subscription. But to me, the content needs to deliver more to make the arrival more dashing.

The Good:

I’ll say it again, Love the UI.

The fun Party Room.

Movies on demand, and Good n Fast Live Streaming at Standard Definition.

And the best of all: To use Skyplayer on the XBOX, you need just £15 per month for the XBOX Live subscription and no dish at all. Each Sky Player account can have four PCs attached, as well as one Xbox, and those consoles and PCs needn’t be in the same household as the satellite dish.

In other words, Sky is offering here is a second subscription for use anywhere you like, or a second set-top box for those wanting movies and sports in a different location other than your main viewing area.

The Bad:

It is still £15 for the subscription which doesn’t even have all Live streaming channels of Freeview.

Again, no BBC, iTV or any Freeview channel. All we get in the name of Entertainment is GOLD.

MTV cannot be played all the time as some programs are not available for viewing on the Sky Player.

The Ugly:

On demand Service for Sky has very less and unlikely to be rented content.

More so, the rental fees to watch on demand episodes is just ridiculously expensive. Who’d pay a pound to watch UK Border Force?

Why there is no iPlayer in the On Demand service? The On Demand Service needs to carry all the On-demand providers contents on it – from BBC, iTV, Channel 4 and Five.

So, as I said before, that with the inclusion of much more content, and more features with a subsidised pricing, the Skyplayer on the XBOX  is certainly a catch. But as of now, it doesn’t dazzle me.

P.S. For the entire pricing plans go here: [Sky Player Pricing Details - Guardian]

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