Xbox 360 to Deliver Digital TV & Movies to Gamers

[Damion Chaplin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/11/06/538732.aspx' target='_blank'>http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/11/06/538732.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Microsoft Corp. today announced agreements with CBS, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS Inc.), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to bring an initial lineup of over 1,000 hours of hit TV shows and movies to Xbox 360™ gamers in the U.S. by the end of the year. Furthermore, Xbox 360 will be the first gaming console to bring standard and high-definition TV shows and movies via digital distribution over the Internet directly to the consumer. Beginning Nov. 22, on its first anniversary, Xbox 360 will be the first gaming console in history to provide high-definition TV shows and movies directly to gamers in their living rooms. Xbox 360 gamers will have access to the full-length TV shows as downloads to own and movies to rent via download from the Xbox Live® network, the worldwide leader in online distribution of high-definition gaming and entertainment content."</i><br /><br />Hmm... I have the sudden urge to laugh maniacally. :P This is exactly where I wanted the 360 to go, and that's where they went. While we won't see this fully swinging until the end of the year, check out what we can expect: The Ultimate Fighter, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Matrix and Superman Returns, remastered Star Trek (!!!), and South Park to name a few. And there will be more. This is a fantastic move on Microsoft's part, and I can only wonder if Sony will respond in kind and what their offering might be like. If it's anything like their Blu-ray strategy, I will undoubtedly be underwhelmed.

[Felix Torres]

There likely will be others by launch day; according to the MS exec, if they had waited a few more days to announce he "would have had 15 logos" on display. Considering their past relationships, I would expect NBC/Universal to be playing here, possibly Fox. Will be shocked if Disney's crew shows up early considering they're in Job's pocket these days.

The significance of this play seems to me tri-fold:

1- First, and foremost; MS is done holding the XBOX line back to protect MCE. Except for HD video, most of the media capabilities MS is launching for 360 were doable with the original XBOX. Certainly the music and photo streaming were, but by tying those features to the MCE extender, they in effect created a vacuum that was filled in by the mod'ers. One way to defang the hackers this time around is to remove the market for the mods among non-pirates.

2- Second, this ratchets up the online ante on Sony who, in addition to having to put an online gaming network in place, now have to worry about dealing with their media opponents to secure deals for comparable services. The more Sony has to split their resources, the harder it will be to do a good job on all of them. They may still pull it off but their track record with Connect is simply attrocious.

3- Third, and of lesser consequence, is preempting Apple. When Apple launches their iTV streamer box it will be definition be the absolute coolest, most perfectly perfect device ever created and, of course, Apple will be hailed as a pioneer in this previously non-existent business. So the fact that media receivers have been doing this for the past three-four years will conveniently swept under the rug. But MS is not Rio and they are not going to bow under the pressure of the reality distortion zone. And since a portion of iPod users are XBOXers, these moves will blunt iTV's penetration a bit. It also raises the ante for Apple as they now have to ensure they have an HD video aspect to their box and that is is not priced too much higher than the more capable 360. They may have to fit in an optical drive into the final product and they'll have to consider making it a standalone box, like 360 and PS3, instead of a PC/Mac terminal/accessory like the pod. None of this will stop Apple, but stepping into the middle of the coming dogfight between Sony and MS will not be fun. Once again, a Sony/Apple merger looks pretty darn reasonable.

Will be interesting to see which of the other trick cards MS has loaded up their sleeve they play next; the rumored DirecTV blade could manifest itself in several ways, ranging from a co-branded combo box with full 360 capabilities and satellite receiver/PVR functions ala Ultimate TV, or "just" a USB or Ethernet-based connection between DTV receivers and 360s. Other possibilities include DTV-style deals with some of the cablecos or telcos doing IPTV, a standalone Homestation product, a core 360 with a few GB of built-in flash (8-10G) is positively cheap these days, a digital 360 with HDMI and, of course, the nightmare scenario for Sony; major price cuts next spring, say dropping the premium 360 to $299 and the core to $229. Or maybe a Core with onboard flash for $250.

Add all this on *top* of 160 games and a 9 million installed base headstart and things look quite good for the 360, don't they?

[Felix Torres]

Not that there was any doubt, but MS intends to make video marketplace global:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20944

They are already negotiating local content for non-US markets.
At this point it would be nice if one could buy non-local content, too.
Might be a good way for foreign films to penetrate the US market. As an immigrant society, there is lots of room for world content in the US.