Quick Look: Google Play offers a pay-as-you-go model for video delivery. You can rent or purchase movies and television shows, including individual episodes or entire seasons.
The channel separates the movies and television into several categories to help simplify the browsing process. Categories include: New Movie Releases, Recommended for You, New and Notable TV, Family Favorites, New and Notable Indies, 99-cent Movie Rentals, Lots of Laughs, Free TV Episodes, and Most Popular TV. Each of these categories is further broken down into sub-categories like Action/Adventure, Romance, Horror, etc. In addition to the standard categories, there are "Seasonal" categories that carry movies that pertain to that particular season.
In addition to the categories there is an intuitive search option that helps locate a particular movie or television show, saving hours of random searching. Simply start typing in the title and the options are narrowed down based on your input. There is no current information on how extensive of a library there is, but they do seem to have movies available before many other subscription-based movie channels. In addition to the rental options if you purchase a movie or television episode the channel will store it for you in your personal library. Finally there is a "Gift from Google" tab which provides a free movie, the current offering is X Men (2000).
New releases are not always immediately available for rent. A majority of the videos in the "New Release" category are purchase-only, which can set you back up to $14.99 for SD and $19.99 for HD movies. Most rentals run from $1.99 for single television shows up to $4.99 for 24-hr HD movie rental. The rental period and price differ depending on the popularity and age of the movie, as does the purchase price. Not all content costs money, though; there is a Free Television category that offers some random programs, and even some popular titles, but you only get a sampling of the show with 1 or 2 full episodes available.
To get this channel installed you must link your Roku which is fairly painless, simply click on this link, enter the code provided by the Roku channel, set up a PIN, and you are ready to start renting.
-- Information is current as of October 31, 2014
Developer's Channel Description:Discover a better movies experience with Google Play. Enjoy thousands of Movies and TV shows - from the latest blockbusters to the unforgettable classics - weeks before they are available on DVD, Redbox, or Netflix.
CHANNEL STORE CATEGORY: Movies & TV
DEVELOPER: Google
FEES: None
RELATED LINKS:
Google Play
