CEO of Longbox, Rantz Hoseley has been hinting at a big partnership for a while, and the news that Longbox will let Xbox 360 owners purchase and read digital comics on their consoles, is quite a big deal. Readers will be able to download, read, navigate, zoom, and otherwise enjoy their comics on the Xbox 360, right along with Netflix, Twitter, and Facebook.
There aren't many more details available now that we haven't already heard, so the real question is when people will finally get their hands on the service.
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Comics in HD on my TV? So long as this works in conjunction with what will be available on PC/Mac (ala Netflix), I am more than sold on this service. Congrats to Rantz and co. on this partnership!
This is pretty awesome. I will definitely be looking into this.
That will be pretty neat. I don’t know if I would use it like the more portable options but its nice to have. I hope Microsoft over inflate the price like they do with most things on XBL. $5 avatar lightsaber meet $5 comic? I hope not.
Beta codes………..need beta codes……
Very, very cool. I hope that this can help in getting new audience members as well.
My only question is whether the downloads are linked to your sign on or to the X-Box itself? Meaning, can I read my comic on somebody else’s X-Box?
Of course it’s XBOX and not PS3.
@MisterJ Everything from save games to dlc to even purchased XBLA games are tied to your Gamertag so I believe downloaded comics will be the same.
I can’t comment on the XBox360 version, other than to say that it is SEPERATE from the Big Time Consuming Deal that has been taking up all of the time, and pushing things back slightly.
Very big things afoot, looking forward to the (very near) time when we can talk about it.
so will this be on Canadian xboxes?
Awesome this is great for someone like me. I won’t buy many digital comics but would love to use this to preview 1st issues or part of runs. If I like them then I’ll pay more to buy a trade or single floppies.
I wonder if this will be region restricted like Netflix and some the 360’s other services.
I don’t have an Xbox yet, but this could be the tipping point.
(What, if anything, can Xbox do with PDFs?)
@Jimski As far as I know, the XBox can do nothing with PDF’s at this point.
This sounds great and all, but if i can’t share my comics library between my computer (Mac) and my XBox…this isn’t really a big deal.
Interesting. I don’t have an Xbox, but giving consumers as many ways as possible to access your product can only help.
As an XBOX consumer I must say:
It’s a great idea but I still have no desire to read digital comics. I’m not here to judge harshly or anything, cause I will conceed this is a big move by Rantz. Considering how crappy my tv is right now though, I just can’t see myself ever using this. But again, this is unexpected but exciting news.
i need a xbox…again
This seems pretty impracticle, but I still want, want, want it.
dont have an xbox but i have to say im very glad its official now
Awesome for other people, but nothing less than a tablet will satisfy my desire for digital comics.
Ah geez. Congrats, Rantz, this is quite a coup.
Unfortunately I dont have an HD TV yet so Im sure the print would be horrible. Great idea though.
I’m assuming it would be tied to your longbox account and therefore allow equal access through Puter, TV, IPod etc.
If its intuitive, then sure, why not. But I have gone through 7 xbox 360s in the past 3 years. I will never buy another microsoft game console unles they provide me some kind of sexual favor involving Scarlett Johansson.
This is all still vaporware, their website is still a stub. When are they finally going to launch?
This puts comics in front of WAY more eyes, more conveniently than the desktop app will. I’m glad this has become official. Can’t wait!
longXbox? is that some new straight edge band?
I cant wait for the inevitable PS3 vs 360 arguments when it comes to this.
Maybe Sony will get Comixology and the war will finally begin.
Comixology and Longbox aren’t direct competitors, as of yet. Comixology, iVerse, Panelfly, etc, are all competitors.
@josh: I pray that WWIII is started during the Boxgate vs Comix-Sony war.
I need another excuse to have my Xbox turned on all day. This will do nicely 😀
This is good news but it I wish they would release something. Wouldn’t it be good to have the desktop version out and build the library up a bit before spreading it across other platforms? Then again I guess having this deal in place could make it easier for them to get deals with bigger publishers.
@gobo – If I’m not mistaken the reason Longbox is launching on desktops is because the installed user base worldwide is MUCH larger than either iPhone owners or X-Box owners. For those of us who are tech savvy, the other mobile and TV related platforms are much more appealing, but let’s not forget how many people worldwide own PCs and laptops.
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The iFanboy crew now has the beta in their hot little (virtual) hands… public access coming up
Good god I hope New Zealand gets this feature, we don’t have netflix, we have movies on demand, and no isp has a deal with M/S so it destroys our bandwidth, and as we only have small data caps for horrendous prices or massive caps for your soul, it makes it difficult to get…. but comics are small….. hopefully…. 5-20mbs….. fingers crossed 🙂