HD Movies and TV Shows on Your Xbox 360

Sorry about all the gaming-console posts, but the news just keeps coming. This is a big one, at least for TV- and movie-addicts such as myself: Microsoft has announced it will make standard and HD shows available for download over Xbox Live.

This means that starting on November 22, I can use my Xbox 360 to download and watch standard- or high-definition episodes of such shows as CSI, Jericho, and Numbers, as well as NASCAR races and UFC tournaments. Since Microsoft has also signed content deals with MTV, Comedy Central, and Adult Swim, this also means I'll be able to get The Real World, Chappelle's Show, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

In addition, Microsoft made some deals with movie studios, such as Paramount and Warner Bros., so by year's end I can download and watch The Matrix, Nacho Libre, M:i:III, Superman Returns, Batman Forever, and others in HD. From what I can gather, these video downloads will only be in 720p (at least using a component video connection) but this is the same resolution that some cable companies are offering on-demand or pay-per-view with their HD boxes. Unfortunately, I am among the people whose cable service does not yet provide on-demand or pay-per-view HD, so this Xbox announcement is huge for someone like me—a TV addict who also likes to play games. Not to mention anyone else in my household who just likes to watch TV. No pricing has been announced for either shows or movies, but presumably these will be competitive with iTunes and its ilk. For a complete list of shows and networks, check out Microsoft's Xbox page detailing the announcement. 

As far as I'm concerned, this news is as exciting as the iTunes/iPod video announcement earlier this year—in other words, a cool gadget suddenly gets a whole new function and purpose in my life (mainly as a TV-watching device). Sure, Xbox 360 is also doing HD-DVD, but given the format wars with competing Blu-ray, this latest announcement is extra ammo to cement Microsoft's claim that the Xbox 360 has the potential to be the center of your home entertainment setup. And it just makes the Playstation 3's Blu-ray capability seem like a pricey, iffy add-on. (For more info on the next-gen disc capability of both players, check out my earlier post on the subject.)

Sorry, but I'm just blow away by this—in a good way.

And while I'm at it, go CBS! ABC might have been forward-thinking by being the first prime-time network to offer downloads on iTunes, but CBS is king in the HD department. It's the only network offering on-demand HD shows on the cable boxes I've had a chance to check out (which is mainly Comcast at my parents' house). And now it'll offer these shows on the Xbox 360. If anyone has seen any other on-demand network shows in HD, let me know.

What do you think? Do TV downloads over Xbox Live make you want to buy an Xbox 360? Does the Xbox 360 have the potential to be the center of your home entertainment?

Related links:

Hands-on With the New Xbox Video Marketplace