Microsoft has announced that the long awaited European launch of Video Marketplace on Xbox Live will take place on 11th December.

Called " Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store" in line with Microsoft' s new naming convention, the service will allow you to rent films in standard- and high-definition, although there' s no mention of TV shows.

Films will cost 250 Microsoft Points (GBP 2.13 / EUR 2.91) in standard definition and 380 MS Points (GBP 3.23 / EUR 4.42) for high definition, and early examples include 300, The Matrix trilogy, the first two Harry Potter films and Clash of the Titans.

As of 11th December, the service will have been launched in six countries - the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France and Germany - to varying degrees. It is likely that the same US usage restrictions govern control of content downloaded here - i.e. that films are only usable until 24 hours after viewing or within 14 days of download.

In the UK, Xbox Live' s Video Store currently features music videos from the likes of Ministry of Sound and Sony BMG.

The full list of launch films (albeit subject to change) is as follows:

300
Analyse This
Clash of the Titans
Dead Calm
Demolition Man
Eraser
Executive Decision
Eyes Wide Shut
Harry Potter and the Philosopher' s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Lethal Weapon 3
Lethal Weapon 4
Looney Tunes: Back In Action
Mars Attacks!
Ocean' s Eleven
Risky Business
Space Cowboys
Superman III
Swordfish
The Fugitive
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Perfect Storm
Three Kings
Training Day
Zodiac

LINK

You can only rent them?

Could be good. Apart from Harry Potter of course, I' ve seen most of that list. The old ones better be cheaper to rent. Superman III?? Out of all the films in history... Did have Richard Pryer in I guess.

ORIGINAL: Nitro


You can only rent them?

Duh?

Yeah, they are only rentals. I mean hell, it' s only like 3 bucks for them. You' re not going to get a full movie for that. That' s how the video market place has always worked here in the states.

I thought you could buy them!?

Buying would prolly be better, but I wouldn' t mind renting some of these(its the same price as on demand on my cable).

If you can' t buy them then i won' t touch it. I' ll just download the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD rips.

In the UK, Xbox Live' s Video Store currently features music videos from the likes of Ministry of Sound and Sony BMG.

Sony BMG? On Xbox Live?

France and Germany+UK = eu?

Wtf happend to all other countries.

Yeah no other countries count anymore.

Demolition Man!

I love that movie. The whole movie is a brilliant critic on these spinless politically correct yuppies. These fucks are always willing to steel the personal freedom of others to sell a little safety.

Yeah we definitely need to be able to buy the films instead of just rent. I' d buy Superman III for maybe... a quid?

I think DVDs work better for digital distribution than games, since the box is useless and theres no manual etc. Music and games are there already, so why not movies?

Yay! Us Irish get it too even though I will probably never use it.

Wtf happend to all other countries.

Sweden should get it at some stage.

It' s freakin useless. What are you gonna do, fill up your little HDD with movies? If you really want to own the movies for cheap, rent an actual disc from an actual movie rental service and do what you need to do to make sure you retain a copy!

Yeah I dont get why you cant buy them. Amazon.com has unbox movies for download. A whooooole lot of movies. TVs shows are for purchase tho.

Why would you want to buy a movie that is locked to your console? I think having it as a rental feature makes a hell of a lot more sense. If you did buy the movie it would be locked to your 360 and I don' t know about you but I often bring my movies to friends' houses and on road trips. I' d rather not hulk my 360 around for that. Also as Zoy mentioned it takes up a hell of a lot of HDD space (aren' t the HD version in like the 4 gig range?). Unless you have an Elite (which I do but still don' t want to take up that kind of space) or purchased a 120 Gig HDD it' s pointless to begin with unless you plan to redownload the entire movie every time you want to watch it.

I think having the movie rental feature is great. If I want to check out a movie I can just rent it on the spot without having to go to a Blockbuster. If the movie is good enough to own I have no problem going to the store and actually purchasing the movie.

Although the ' Option' is nice. Download a big Movie File to watch on a Locked, noisy 360. No thank you.

ORIGINAL: Virtua fighter 5

Although the ' Option' is nice. Download a big Movie File to watch on a Locked, noisy 360. No thank you.

My current 360 (the 5th one I' ve owned) is the first one that is noisy. By noisy I mean loud as hell. I need to trade the thing in cause I just can' t handle it sounding like a jet a jet with afterburners all the time. My last console was dead silent... but I wanted those two free games that came with the holiday bundle.

If MS wants the 360 to be your main entertainment hub then wouldnt make since to allow the option for purchasing movies? Why be allowed to purchase shows but not movies? Some of those shows are nearly 2 hours so its like a movie anyways.

MS can use the Zune marketplace (which allows you to use your MS points anyways) as the main distribution tool. Allowing you to purchase a movie either on your pc or 360 and use a limited licence system like Amazon which allows you 4 or however many d/ls.

I thought you could buy them!?

You can only buy shows. The movies you can have for up to a week, but once you start watching it you only have 2 days. Its pretty much a waste.