Xboxist

Microsoft to debut pay for video content for Xbox 360

Microsoft said yesterday they were partnering with a number of TV and movie studios to make over 1,000 hours of video programming available for purchase and download to Xbox 360s by the end of the year. Some of the programming, which will be made available from the likes of CBS, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS Inc.), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, will be in high defintion. This content will begin being available Nov. 22, which is the one year anniversary of the Xbox 360. A few notes from the press release indicate:

- For the first time, consumers will get an integrated gaming and entertainment experience on a gaming console that includes downloadable high-definition TV shows and movies. This new full-length content adds to the ever-expanding number of choices gamers have on their Xbox 360, whether they want to play games or play a movie on a disc or as a download in high definition or standard definition.
- For the first time CBS will deliver high-definition download-to-own TV shows including “CSI,” “Jericho,” “Numb3rs” and remastered “Star Trek” episodes; gamers can buy them and watch them repeatedly.
- For the first time on any platform, NASCAR.COM will deliver download-to-own condensed versions of select NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races from “Race Rewind.”
- For the first time, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will make 50 of its most intense fights available for download as well as select episodes from the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.

Specific programming being made available for downlaod to rent or own will include:

- “Robot Chicken” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” from Adult Swim
- “CSI,” “Survivor” and “Star Trek” from CBS
- Emmy and Peabody award-winning “South Park” and “Chappelle’s Show” from COMEDY CENTRAL
- “The Real World” and “Pimp My Ride” from MTV
- “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and ”SpongeBob SquarePants” from Nickelodeon
- “Skyland” and “The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival” from Nicktoons Network
- “M:i:III,” “Nacho Libre” and “Jackass: The Movie” from Paramount Pictures
- “Carpocalypse” and “Raising the Roofs” from Spike TV
- “Race Rewind” provided by NASCAR.COM
- Select episodes of the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and the “UFC: All Access” shows from the UFC
- “Breaking Bonaduce” and “Hogan Knows Best” from VH1
- “The Matrix,” “Superman Returns” and “Batman Forever” from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment