BBC Worldwide content coming to U.S. Xbox Live, Zune Marketplace
Update: It looks like the videos are already up with the BBC America branding, with Torchwood and Robin Hood both 720p HDTV ready.
xblm posts
Update: It looks like the videos are already up with the BBC America branding, with Torchwood and Robin Hood both 720p HDTV ready.
Poll: Do you actually want to watch TV via your game console?
Xbox Live Video Marketplace welcomes The Weinstein Company and TNA
Microsoft Xbox video marketplace ad banned for being misleading
[Via Joystiq Xbox & CVG]
Xbox Live tallies 1 million Netflix Watch Instantly activations, 1.5 billion minutes served
The Guild available for free in HD on Xbox Live's Independent Video channel
The second season of Internet MMO comedy short The Guild is ready to debut in high definition tomorrow (according to Major Nelson Seasons 0 & 1 are available right now) on Xbox 360, MSN and Zune. Sponsored by Sprint, Reuters reports this is due to appear on the Independent Video channel, with 12 4-7 minute episodes plus a holiday special appearing first on Microsoft platforms, and later on the series website. Also appearing tomorrow is Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog starring the legen -- wait for it -- dary Neil Patrick Harris. Best of all? They're free, however with friends needing one more for that next Left 4 Dead run through and The Thing queued up on Netflix, our time might not be.[Via Evil Avatar]
Microsoft adds Universal, NBC to Xbox Live Marketplace, calls #1 in HD
Microsoft hoses down latest Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumor
If you're suddenly overcome with a feeling akin to déjà vu, go ahead and kill that speed dial to your physician. For the second time in a month, Microsoft has actually come forward to squash a Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumor. This go 'round, an alleged statement from Redmond states quite outrightly that "Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360," and it continues on by noting that "customers who want a premium movie experience [can check out the] library of on-demand HD content" available to console owners. Still, we've grown accustomed to these denials by now, and while you'd think that having a pair of rumors on the matter smashed would put the issue to rest, we've all ideas this one isn't quite dead and buried just yet.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Warner pops extras into digital edition of Nancy Drew: Drew's Clues
One of the criticisms leveled at digital distribution over old fashioned discs is a lack of extras, but Warner Bros. has something for that with its latest release, Nancy Drew: Drew's Clues. Available digitally (VOD, Amazon Unbox, iTunes, Xbox Marketplace) from the same day as the DVD release, viewers can either get the regular movie, or the Drew's Clues edition with "Movies that Pop" pop ups for trivia facts, quizzes and behind the scenes info. This is aimed primarily at the teen-girl sleepover crowd, and while the regular flick is out in HD on all services, Drew's Clues is SD only, plus, to watch it both ways, you would have to rent (and pay for) both versions separately. Key advance that increases the appeal of downloads, or one more reason to take the remote when you leave your tween home alone, we can't decide. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Via Variety]
Blu-ray on Xbox 360? Microsoft hasn't heard about it
Those hot/cold "Blu-ray coming to Xbox 360" rumors just cooled off a bit again, with product manager Aaron Greenberg telling Reuters "Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience". Clear enough? He also dropped the nugget that Microsoft expects to trail the PS3 in sales again in February, but should have things turned around by April, just in time for the GTA IV launch, which should also be right around the time this rumor rears its head again. In the meantime, digital distribution anyone?Xbox Live queues up more HD movies & TV for March
Xbox Live Marketplace has been busy adding videos all year and it looks like March will be the same way, with Afro Samurai hitting the service in HD only next month. More South Park is coming too, starting March 10, along with a free episode of Lewis Black's new show and Robot: Chicken: Star Wars. No word on if the latter two are available in HD, but check after the break for some of the movies showing up for rent next month.MGM movies, Disney TV shows now available on Xbox Live Marketplace
As promised, those MGM flicks have hit Xbox Live Marketplace, satisfying our deep seated need for downloadable HD Rocky and James Bond flicks. Disney's releases popped up on the service last week, however since High School Musical 2 was a TV movie, its available only for purchase, at a cost of 1920 MS points ($23.99), the same as the Blu-ray version on Amazon. Its hard to make the argument the Xbox 360 doesn't need a Blu-ray add-on if HD movies cost the same amount for a lower quality (and more restrictively DRM'd) edition, not that we were really looking forward to downloading all 720p's of Zac Efron or n e thing.[Via Gamerscore Blog]
Paramount movies coming to UK Xbox Live Video Marketplace
While Australian rumors of integrated HD DVD drives and Blu-ray add-ons continue to swirl, Microsoft continues to expand the other way to get HD movies on its console, adding Paramount movies to Xbox Live Video Marketplace in the UK. Coming nearly a year after Paramount jumped onboard the U.S. version, licensing complications continue to delay service rollout in other countries. No word about Canada or other European Xbox 360 owners left with their faces pressed against the glass, waiting for Transformers downloads to their HDTV, but UK gamers can rejoice in 380 Microsoft Point (3.23 GBP) rentals hitting February 19.Miss Lost? Catch all four seasons on Xbox Live Marketplace in a few hours
by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 31st 2008 at 11:23PM 
Looking for all that ABC and MGM HD content on Xbox Live? You won't have to wait long, with the first three seasons of Lost up now plus the just-aired season 4 premiere (Hurley was all ZOMG!, and Benry was like Bu-bu-but...) available for purchase at 12:01 a.m. PST for 240 MS points ($3 U.S.) per episode -- just barely missing the original "later this month" promise. Due later on in February are hits like the High School Musical series and other content from the Disney Channel, and MGM's releases hit on the 18th. Mr. Brooks, the Rocky series, The Usual Suspects, Saw IV, and Michael Clayton are all coming soon in HD (if you want to call it that). Looks like someone's gearing up to take on the Apple TV, how about a price cut, or loosening up on the DRM?Is Apple TV's (and Xbox Live and VOD's) HD truly high definition?
HD is coming in a lot of forms these days, but ZDNet's George Ou thinks some of them -- like Apple TV, Xbox Live Marketplace, ABC.com streaming and cable VOD -- don't count. Sure all of these sources are HD resolution, but George's argument is that due to overcompression and low bitrates, they don't compare with 1080p upconverted SD DVDs, much less Blu-ray or HD DVD. Low bitrates might mean less detail than we're used to and some issues with fast moving action, but we've checked out all of the above, and if you've got the pixels, then you're HD. Whether or not thats enough to satisfy is up to the viewer, but we're sure there's a faction out there arguing if you have to get off your couch to buy it, it's not really a high def experience either.
