Microsoft Unveils HD Movie and TV content over Xbox Live Markeplace

I've been kinda hesitant to put tech stuff on here, i don't know why, cus i'm a huge technophile, i have way too many AC adaptors and plugs stringed around my room, it looks like a television studio in here. Anywho, Microsoft in a rather surprising move, teamed up with such powerhouse networks such as CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, and several movie studios, including Warner Bros. and Paramount to deliver high quality HD content over Xbox Live Marketplace. The service, "creatively" called Xbox Live Video was embedded in the Fall Dashboard update released to the masses on Halloween.

Xbox Live Video will allow users to download their favorite TV shows and Movies, for an as yet unannounced price, movies will be downloaded on a rental basis to be watched in a 24 hour period, while videos may remain on the hard drive for as long as the user wishes. A typical full length movie will be about 4-5GB in size and television shows will clock in at about 2 gigs. I dunno how they plan to make this thing work properly without releasing a bigger hard drive, cus i currently have 5 gigs left on my 20 gig hard drive.

I think this is a step in the right direction for Microsoft, if they want their system to be successful especially with the impending launches of the PLAYSTATION 3 and Nintendo Wii. If they manage to reduce download times, keep prices reasonable, and get some more major studios and networks on board this may be the killer app Xbox 360 needs to win the next-gen console wars. I personally could see myself downloading movies on my hard drive instead of driving to the video store, the only draw back, is that they use the convoluted Microsoft Points systems which can be really confusing. I'm really excited about this and will share my thoughts on how well this service performs when it drops on November 22 just in time for Thanksgiving.

Source: Engadget

More Here, including videos of the system in motion