Digital Home Thoughts: Paramount Integrates Movie Content within Game Environment

"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."



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?