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[Xbox-Scene]

Microsoft Announces Major Expansion of its Entertainment Portfolio Posted by XanTium | February 26 11:59 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From the press release: Xbox today unveiled major plans to extend its offering even further by giving entertainment fans even more to enjoy whether they're into movies, music or games. Speaking at the official launch event in central London today, UK Head of Xbox Neil Thompson announced a vision for the console giant that will give customers a 360 degree entertainment experience that never ends, thanks to an ongoing commitment to providing cutting edge new downloadable content to Xbox LIVE. It will give entertainment fans an even broader choice of fun - enabling them to play extra elements of their favourite games, watch major Hollywood blockbuster films[1] or chat and connect with friends anywhere in the world all from the comfort of their living room. Film fans will be the first to benefit as it is today announced an agreement with NBC Universal International Television Distribution, making films from Universal Pictures the latest content from a major Hollywood studio to join the Xbox LIVE roster. NBC Universal will offer some of its biggest and best movie titles in high definition to Xbox LIVE, giving customers the chance to rent the latest movies of their choice at the touch of a button. The Universal Pictures content, which joins that of Warner Bros and Paramount Pictures amongst others, is available now with over 30 titles already on the service. The range of titles available immediately from will span a range of genres catering for all tastes and offer everything from Hollywood action blockbusters including The Fast and The Furious, Wanted and Incredible Hulk (2008) through to cinema classics such as Child's Play 3 and Scarface. Comedy fans are well catered for with laugh-out-loud hits including National Lampoon's Animal House, Cheech And Chong's Next Movie and Simon Pegg's cult Brit hit, Shaun Of The Dead. Further titles will be added to the service on a rolling basis. Gamers are also set to benefit thanks to a new wave of extra content being made available for all their favourite titles. As if the games themselves weren't enough, fans will be treated to hundreds of hours of extra gameplay to extend their experience even further. Extra content on offer covers all the major blockbuster titles including Gears of War 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3, Tomb Raider and Fable 2 right through to new tracks for fun social games like Lips (including three new tracks from Coldplay) Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour and Scene It. And despite some of these titles also being available on other platforms - the extra content is completely exclusive to Xbox LIVE and is available to download now. In addition to offering great new gaming content, Xbox also today revealed a look at the eagerly-awaited '1 vs. 100' - a completely exclusive, completely interactive television quiz show game giving gamers the chance to compete against each other and win real prizes. Commenting on the news, UK & Ireland Head of Xbox, Neil Thompson said: "We are delighted to announce what are perhaps our most exciting content developments to date. Having an agreement with NBC Universal not only gives our customers even more choice when they use Xbox LIVE but really seals our position as a major player in the mainstream home entertainment space. Of course, we always want to ensure our core audience have the best possible gaming experiences too, and with the range of new extra content now available they can enjoy some of the biggest blockbuster and social games for longer than ever before. This also applies to '1 vs. 100', which, whilst still in its infancy, signals the next chapter in the Xbox story which is set to take home entertainment to a whole new level by putting the consumer in the driving seat of their own TV show. Watch this space."

[Zod5000]

If only Microsoft felt like negotiating licensing contracts with these firms in other countries.  It sucks that only xbox live USA gets most of the stuff on live.  They say its difficult to negotiate contracts outside the US, but they'res alot of international xbox live members, surely they can do something.

[sirsmacketh]

QUOTE(Zod5000 @ Feb 26 2009, 03:05 PM)

If only Microsoft felt like negotiating licensing contracts with these firms in other countries.  It sucks that only xbox live USA gets most of the stuff on live.  They say its difficult to negotiate contracts outside the US, but they'res alot of international xbox live members, surely they can do something.

I agree.... however they made the announcement in the UK... perhaps it's a sign of things to come? I'd love to see more content come to Canada - we're on the same continent dammit!

[badboy_12345]

should read "Microsoft Announces Major Expansion of its Entertainment Portfolio in USA. Still gives a finger to all other countries"

In USA x360 is a media machine, in all other countries its a game console

[Meethatguy]

You guy smust not understand how greedy the USA entertaiment business is.
It would cost Millions and millions apon millions of doallrs to get the licenses for some of these movies.  Hell, alot of movies havent even been released in some countries with live.

It takes a lot more then MS just asking movie studios to borrow licenses for some of their major block busters. Also, taking away revenue from them on DVD sales.

It is alot more involved then you would think. It also takes a lot of research to see what the company would make more money off and where it would make the most.
It would also take paying those actsrss and actresses that get royalties from the movies EXTRA money for those sales.

Its not MS fault that movies companies and actors are greedy as hell

[Deihmos]

With all these premium content why can't they drop the fee or eliminate the Gold membership. I know $50.00 is not a lot but they charge you for basically everything. Even music videos. Such a greedy company.

[chronno]

QUOTE(Meethatguy @ Feb 26 2009, 09:00 PM)

You guy smust not understand how greedy the USA entertaiment business is.
It would cost Millions and millions apon millions of doallrs to get the licenses for some of these movies.  Hell, alot of movies havent even been released in some countries with live.

It takes a lot more then MS just asking movie studios to borrow licenses for some of their major block busters. Also, taking away revenue from them on DVD sales.

It is alot more involved then you would think. It also takes a lot of research to see what the company would make more money off and where it would make the most.
It would also take paying those actsrss and actresses that get royalties from the movies EXTRA money for those sales.

Its not MS fault that movies companies and actors are greedy as hell

It's the same exact reason why Netflix can't do other countries, Pandora had to block it's international users, and some TV shows and movies come out weeks or even months latter, if at all.

Then entertainment industry douse not yet see that it's killing itself by not realizing that this is a global market and demanding that another license get payed for every single country.  I also believe that it's one of the reasons for this global recession.  All they care about is getting your money out of your pocket and they don't care how they do it, be it licensing, lawsuit or even the extortion they call a cease and desist.