Paramount Integrates Movie Content within Game Environment

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/0411-paramount.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/0411-paramount.htm</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Paramount Pictures and Xbox® have pioneered the first-ever Xbox Movie Showcase cross-platform marketing program between a movie studio and Microsoft®'s Xbox Live®. Launching April 12, 2006, the Xbox Movie Showcase features free, high-definition (HD), downloadable content from two of the most highly anticipated films of the summer: the action-thriller Mission: Impossible III, starring Tom Cruise and directed by J.J. Abrams (the creator of Lost and Alias), hitting theaters May 5, and Nacho Libre, a comedy starring Jack Black and directed by Jared Hess, the director of Napoleon Dynamite, in theaters June 16. The Xbox Movie Showcase content includes HD movie trailers, exclusive theme packs, and graphics letting Xbox gamers customize their gaming experiences, theming their Xbox Live experience to Mission: Impossible III and Nacho Libre. In addition, as part of this first-of-its kind agreement, stars of Paramount films, including Jack Black, will participate in Xbox Live's Game with Fame, where gamers can enter for a chance to play a game online against their favorite celebrities. Taking the program offline, Paramount's DVDs will be featured in a Digital Entertainment Lifestyle video promoted across Xbox kiosks in 30,000 retail stores worldwide."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/mi3_bigteaserposter.jpg" /> <br /><br />Just last night I downloaded all of the content for MI:III from the Xbox Live Marketplace. (For free, I might add.) The HD trailer looks stunning (better than it does in the theaters), and the dashboard theme looks outstanding. I'm really glad to see Microsoft reaching out and forming content partnerships like this, because it gives me more to do with the Xbox 360 than just play games. It also means that MS is monetizing the Xbox Live service, and that can only mean deeper content and lower costs to the consumer. I wonder how long it will be before we can download high-definition movies to the Xbox 360's hard drive?

[Darius Wey]

Unfortunately, you can't access this latest movie content outside of the US, which is a real shame, because I can imagine a lot of users wanting to check it out. Now, I've read about many who have already taken the legally-challenging bypass route by creating a US Xbox Live Silver account solely for the purpose of Marketplace downloads, to go alongside their real Xbox Live account for gaming, but should it really have to come down to such desperate measures?

I don't think it's Microsoft being restrictive here, but rather, the movie companies themselves. I wish they would be a little more open-minded and consider the millions of other users worldwide. But alas, with all these licensing issues, it's not that easy.