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Microsoft has announced a number of films and TV series that will be available for download through the Xbox 360 Marketplace.
At launch, the service has forty-eight movies for rent in a mixture of high-def and standard-def. The movies include Rebel Without a Cause, Chinatown, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, Ballistic, Ecks vs. Sever, Pootie Tang, and Congo. ATL, Clash of the Titans, V for Vendetta, Unforgiven, Poseidon, The Perfect Storm and others will be available in HD.
New movie rentals will cost 320 Microsoft points ($4) in standard-definition or 480 Microsoft points ($6) in high-definition. Older movies will be slightly cheaper with a 480p download will cost 240 points ($3) and a 720p download will be available for 360 points ($4.50).
Once you have purchased a movie, it will remain on your hard drive for up to two weeks. Yet, the movie will be deleted within twenty-four hours if you begin to watch it. During the time the movie is on your console, you can watch it as many times as you want.
TV shows are also available for download. Gamers will be able to view free clips or download full episodes. Aqua Teen Hunger Force, South Park, Beavis and Butthead, CSI, Star Trek, and selected Ultimate Fighting Championship matches are all available for download. Standard-def shows will be available for 160 points ($2). High-definition shows like CSI, NCIS, and Jericho will cost 240 points ($3). Microsoft expects that TV shows will be made available on Xbox Live the day after they air on television.
Forty-four minute TV shows will use around 2GB on the Xbox 360 hard drive. If the film is 130 minutes, it will use 1.7GB in standard-def or 5.7GB in HD. This could be a problem for those of you who use your console for gaming since the only hard drive currently available for the Xbox 360 is only 20GB.