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Paramount deal for Xbox Live

  • By Daniel Terdiman, News.com
  • Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:20 am PT

More handshakes for Microsoft as movie studio signs agreement to distribute film-based content over Xbox Marketplace; more trailers, themes, picture packs on way.

From News.com

Paramount Pictures and Microsoft are entering into a partnership under which the movie studio's content will be integrated into the software giant's Xbox Live service, the companies said on Tuesday.

The program will launch Wednesday with free, high-definition, downloadable content from two summer 2006 Paramount films: Mission: Impossible III and Nacho Libre.

Essentially, the partnership is about bringing a wide variety of content to the online Xbox community service, including movie trailers, graphics that can be used to customize Xbox games, and contests whose winners will get to play games against stars from the studio's films.

To date, more than 2 million Xbox users are members of the Xbox Live community, and its marketplace--where users can buy and sell add-ons for their games--has seen more than 10 million total downloads.

The service's bonus material isn't limited to content from the silver screen. Microsoft recently signed a deal with Epic Records to promote its musical artists over Xbox Live.

49 Comments

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 11:38 am GMT

    check it out REAL news str8ght from the year 3000! Gamespot muss be slackin' on they pimpin' cuz they should know this: For $50 you can pre-order the PS3 which will come with a 60GB hard drive and two games. You can't do it online and so have to pop into one of their shops. as always brought to you first by the INQ. peep it here! http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30944

  • HeyzeusNYC

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 9:20 am GMT

    YA YA SCREW THAT I WANT MY GOD DAMN HALO 2 DOWNLOADS LAST 1 Was back in AUGUST... anyways umm sorry for that lil outbreak of mine.. heheh.. I love downloading movie trailers on my X360 keep it up and get more companies to do it.. just dont charge us customers

  • CleptoPots

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 7:40 am GMT

    Sweet! MORE!!!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 5:36 am GMT

    dumb IMO..... but as long as it hurts sony, fine with me.

  • jonas__5

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 3:52 am GMT

    YEah!!\XBOX RULES!

  • KiLLer_ba

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 1:35 am GMT

    That good news for XLive

  • enemyvillain

    Posted Apr 13, 2006 1:28 am GMT

    Wow cant believe that XLive penetrated to the movie industry...

  • spatulasrule

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 9:26 pm GMT

    free meaning dull and featureless, xbox live being explosive and face rawking

  • UltimatumCHIEF

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 5:20 pm GMT

    I hope XboxLive WIN his war, PS3 is coming with it's FREE online service this November

  • SilV3RSix

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 5:20 pm GMT

    This is good stuff. MSoft always seems to develop strategic partnerships. Sony could learn a thing or two about this method, rather then trying to force everyone to buy Sony formats from Sony labels on Sony machines. They lost the VHS battle because RCA developed better strategic relationships with the right companies.

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 3:46 pm GMT

    wow a load of average content what a winner.

  • TintedChimes

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 3:30 pm GMT

    Well, there goes Sony.

  • Xrules06

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 3:18 pm GMT

    Cool I get to play online with Tom Cruise!!!!!!!!! Yeah

  • skylinedude05

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 3:12 pm GMT

    sweet

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 2:41 pm GMT

    Could be cool.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 2:05 pm GMT

    this doesn't eliminate UMD. you can't even compare them. just another reason to love a 360.

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 2:01 pm GMT

    Give me more! We should be able to share pictures already!

  • xbox_gamer1

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 1:45 pm GMT

    XBOX LIVE just keeps getting better and better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • madgamer2000

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 1:29 pm GMT

    more downloadable content is always good. first they test the water with free stuff, then maby before you know it, you'll be able to direct download full movies or something over xbox live.

  • Metron4

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 1:24 pm GMT

    Themes and pictures from Paramount?...INDIANA JONES ICONS!

  • OPOLO

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 1:03 pm GMT

    I enjoy it all - thank U

  • cesarotromundo

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 12:36 pm GMT

    yea! KEEP THOSE TRAILERS AND MUSIC VIDEOS COMMING... I WANT THEM ALL!

  • insane956dv

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 12:24 pm GMT

    no thanks, thats why I own a PC

  • minerl99

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 12:12 pm GMT


    Yuck_Foo,

    YOU SAID,
    Mmmm...forget Blu-Ray ro HD-DVD...

    I SAY,
    Yeah, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD would be good too, although I'm not sure I want to pay extra for it just yet, but it would be nice to have.

    I'm not sure Blu-Ray or HD-DVD would be a much value to me right now. I watch about 2 movies a week and haven't rented or bought a DVD in 2 years. I'm 100% sold on Comcast's Video on Demand or I watch HBO, Starz, Showtime movies etc, in HD typically. Also, my Comcast box is a DVR, so I often will "Tivo/DVR" the HD broadcasts and watch them whenever.

    I know everyone doesn't have HD Cable or Sateliite, but for me DVD's are old technology. It's all about streaming for me at least.

    I know others are moving in that direction too. That's one of the reason's I think disk based delivery is losing market share. iPod videos, PC Streaming, Cable & Satelitte streaming and hopefully soon Xbox Live Streaming are much easier than going to a video store.

    I'm a sit on my couch with a remote guy. I hate late fees. Oh, and I cancelled my Netflix membership, which had replaced my Blockbuster habits 2 years ago, once I got into the On Demand world.

  • Benny_is_here

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 12:11 pm GMT

    New content? Praise the Lordy-Lord of Entertainment!!!

  • minerl99

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:59 am GMT


    PiNoYPrOjEcT,

    YOU SAID,
    Is a 20GB hard drive enough to download all these demos, gamer pics, and game/movie trailers right into our hard drive?? Soon in the future, our hard drives will be filled with all that crap in our hard drive..

    I SAY,
    It's "optional" to download or not, so if you did choose to download content, I'd guess you wouldn't view it as crap.

    I agree, the 20gb drive could get full, but these trailers are usually under 1/2 a GB. Streaming is ultimately what is needed, but a bigger HD would help.

    For those that don't know, here are the examples of the file sizes for typical downloads on Xbox LIve for the 360.

    Game Trailers or Aeon Flux short movie trailers
    480p = 25mb or about 500 trailers for 10GB of drive space
    780p = 100mb or about 100 trailers for 10GB of drive space

    Game Demos
    GRAW = 350mb or about 30 demos for 10GB of drive space
    Amped 3 = 750mb or about 13 demos for 10GB of drive space

    Music Videos
    Natasha Bedingfield 480p = 100mb for 2 videos or 200 per 10GB
    Natasha Bedingfield 780p = 500mb for 2 videos or about 40 per 10GB

    So, as you can see a 20GB drive will store a lot more than you might think. I doubt I really need to keep 100 to 500 trailers on my hard drive. I watch them and delete them as needed.

    Mine drive as quite a bit. of content Most I'll never use again, so I'll delete if I need space. Right now, I haven't needed the space, so I just keep downloading demos, videos, trailers etc.

    I may need to buy a bigger drive some day, but for now 20GB is plenty.

    If Microsoft really wants to knock it out of the park, they'll add video streaming and for most users the problem wouldn't need to store video and trailer type content. Only game demos would truly need to be stored.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:41 am GMT

    Mmmm...forget Blu-Ray ro HD-DVD...

    STREAM ME SOME GOODNESS!

  • minerl99

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:40 am GMT

    I love my 360, but I'd like to see the ability to download demos, trailers, etc. while playing a game. Maybe not an online game, (wouldn't want to lag) but right now I need to download and then go make a sandwich for 10 minutes or so. I download during breaks or at night when I'm quitting anyway, but simitaneous downloading would be nice.

    I'd also like to see streaming as an option instead of just downloading. Currently, that's how Comast On Demand works. You pick a movie and after a 1 minute pause it starts streaming. They support HD and non HD that way. 99% is non HD for the On-Demand service. I use the live broadcasts or use the DVR function for HD movies, ESPN etc.

    I have no doubt Microsoft is working on this for Live, especially with all the content we're starting to see. Once they do, they'll start competing directly with Comcast, Dish Network, Directv and with the standard delivery mechanism's like Blockbuster type video stores and Netflix.

    This should get interesting...

  • murderusone

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:37 am GMT

    Another brilliant move by Microsoft. Always one step ahead of the competitor and also forming alliances with the world's top entertainment industries will be the way that Microsoft wins this system war. Exclusivity rights is the way that Sony stayed ahead. Now maybe it's time to step down and let an American company finally have it's day in the sun.

  • PiNoYPrOjEcT

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:32 am GMT

    Is a 20GB hard drive enough to download all these demos, gamer pics, and game/movie trailers right into our hard drive?? Soon in the future, our hard drives will be filled with all that crap in our hard drive..

  • decebal

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:32 am GMT

    Ok... but as a gamer, I'm not interested at all. I love games, not this "entertainment" carp that huge corporations try to shove down my throat.

    The more popular a console becomes the suckier it gets. The more mainstream the industry is, the more average games we get.

  • Buck_Hotep

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:27 am GMT

    I think it should be a no-brainer to be able to download film desktop themes and gamer pictures. Now, if Vivid, Red Light District, Elegant Angel and Mayhem can just figure out to get themselves on Live then all will be perfect with the world.

  • ImaginaryFriend

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:26 am GMT

    spydrman5472 that was incredibly well thought out and articulated. The last time in system battles one company seriously forced anothers hands before there time they took a slight lead (when Sega released the Genisis, forcing Nintendo to release the SNES well before they wanted to as the NES still had life to it.) It will be intersting to see how it does play out.

  • Raymin4

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:19 am GMT

    Well as long as they don't make us watch the trailers and stuff before we can enter a game.....should be a good addition!

  • paradyme777

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:12 am GMT

    That's cool, I downloaded the X-3 trailer when it was first on there. I like trailers though. When they say gamer pics do they mean gamer pics of the movies?? That would be funny, especially Nacho Libre

  • spydrman5472

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:10 am GMT

    As much as I support both Sony and Microsoft (I own both their console's and plan on owning both their next-gen ones as well) I think Microsoft is making a lot of intelligent moves in the next-gen "war." By continually making strides like this one toward online dominance in the game market they are in effect forcing Sony's hand into territory it may never have had plans for. By offering additional content such as this for free download now Sony will have to do the same with its own movie library which it may never have intended to do. It's also going to have to truly deliver a very impressive online functionality which it has yet to really reveal. With online capability and functions becoming ever more commonplace in the games we play and Sony not really having a pension for great online service (the add-on network adapter and lack of support for the PS2 was just a horrible idea) the ball is officially in their court and it doesn't look to me like they even know how to dribble the ball yet, let alone slam dunk from the free throw line like Microsoft keeps doing.

  • jcloverboy

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 11:06 am GMT

    I wonder if we'll be getting desktop themes and gamerpics - that would be cool.

  • Buck_Hotep

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:58 am GMT

    Paramount doesn't need much from Microsoft for whatever they paid them. As long as traffic on Live continues to remain consistent and also continue to grow then people will still see whatever films and shows they put up there.

  • Khimarhi

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:52 am GMT

    interesting. let's see how it goes

  • GOLIATHtheGREAT

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:51 am GMT

    UMD is now dead. BAWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:47 am GMT

    This could be another contributor to the demise of UMD.

  • Esperados

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:40 am GMT

    this is a good thing

  • yboucher

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:39 am GMT

    Great, more promotional Hollywood crap...

  • LimpStallion

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:38 am GMT

    Since when can users sell add-ons for games?

  • islandkiwi

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:37 am GMT

    Free for us to download, but I wonder what Paramount is paying to MS for the access to Live members?

  • StealthyBurrito

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:36 am GMT

    I guess Xbox Live will become a powerhouse if major companies keep signing on to put their stuff up for download

  • balindos

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:36 am GMT

    All we need is a faster internet line and we are all set.

  • Ghost_Face

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:32 am GMT

    Trailers are already cool to check out over Live. If this additional content turns out great, I'm all for it.

  • Buck_Hotep

    Posted Apr 12, 2006 10:31 am GMT

    Well, it looks like the rest of the entertainment industry has caught up to how useful Live could be to their own business.

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