Xbox video store gears up for launch
04-12-2007
by Ciara O'Brien

 

The Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store, which will be available from 11 December, will offer full-length films to rent in both high definition and standard definition formats. Titles will include 300, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Like other items in the Xbox Live Marketplace, the films will be paid for through Microsoft's "points", which can be bought in bundles. The films will cost from EUR3 for the standard definition titles, while high definition video will start at a price tag of EUR4.50.

The service will be available in Ireland, the UK, France and Germany, as well as in the US and Canada. Irish users might find it a refreshing change to be included in the initial European launch of such new services -- other products and services, most notably iTunes, launched in the UK before finally being rolled out to Ireland some months later.

"When a company launches a service like this, there's a huge amount of back-end work contractually with our partners," said Orla Sheridan, country manager in the Entertainment and Devices Division with Microsoft Ireland, speaking with ENN. "In terms of gaming, Ireland is a very progressive market. We are trying to lead the way in terms of high definition digital content, whether it is gaming, movies or TV."

The new service will only offer movies at first, but in the US, it also provides TV shows for download. Like the European launch, the US service started out with about 50 movies, and now has over 2,200 hours of film and TV available to download.

"You have to start somewhere -- this is our start," said Sheridan.

Launch titles for the UK and Ireland include The Matrix films, Ocean's Eleven and Training Day. The "day one" releases, as the latest titles are known, will be priced slightly higher than the older titles, costing from EUR4.30 for standard releases.

To avail of this new Xbox service, consumers will need an Xbox console, an Xbox Live silver or gold subscription, and a suitable broadband connection.

Although Microsoft does not give out specific figures, Sheridan said that more than 55 percent of Xbox owners in Ireland were signed up to the Xbox Live service. When it launched on these shores a few years ago, there were only about 9,000 subscribers to Xbox Live, a figure that Microsoft claims has improved significantly since to the point where the firm is happy with the service's popularity.

However, Ireland's broadband speeds may be put under the spotlight again as a result. The films take about 30 minutes for a standard 120 minute title to download, on a 2MB line. However, the higher definition films will take over four hours for a 60 minute title to download, although they can be viewed from just over three hours into the download. The quicker the line, the faster the films will download.

"We have to lead the way in bringing new services people want to put pressure on the companies, and utilise the services there," said Sheridan. "It is up to us to keep pressurising for better speeds and better demand."