Paramount Bolsters Xbox Live Movie Content

Forget arguments about Hi-Def DVD disc formats - the future, as we in the gaming community all know, is all about digital downloading of media. So, while Sony and Toshiba battle it out over old-fashioned slices of actual physical objects, Microsoft is going for the real deal.

It has convinced Paramount (still in the HD-DVD camp, by the way) to offer more movie content through the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store in the UK. Additionally, Microsoft has also confirmed new Warner Brothers (now Blu-ray) content coming to the service.

The first UK Paramount content (it already provides content to to Xbox Live over in North America) will be available for Xbox owners to rent from tomorrow in the form of Transformers. You'll be able to watch robots getting disguised as other stuff in both standard definition (250 Microsoft Points) and high definition (380 Microsoft Points).

"We’re excited to be involved in the acceleration phase of the European launch of Xbox LIVE’s Video Store and look forward to watching this service grow", said Alex Carloss, executive VP and general manager of Worldwide Digital Distribution for Paramount. “To deliver Paramount’s top films to people in their living room via a games console fits perfectly with our global digital distribution strategy.”

But, despite our future watching, let's not forget that the vast majority of consumers still love their 'stuff', and the biggest 'stuff war' right now obviously is 'Blu-ray vs HD-DVD'. And... one of the few remaining studios in the HD-DVD camp is... Paramount.

It's rumoured that Paramount has a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp that allows it to switch over in the event of Warner Bros making the jump – an event that occurred earlier this year.

Given the retail defections of Wal-Mart and Best Buy and rumours that Toshiba will ditch HD DVD, it's looking like a good time for Paramount to exercise that ability.

Anyway, you can catch the list of Paramount movies announced for Xbox Live for this spring below.

· Transformers (available in SD and HD)
· Goodbye Bafana (available in SD and HD)
· Intersection (available in SD)
· Primal Fear (available in SD)
· Clear and Present Danger (available in SD)
· Naked Gun 2 & 1/2: The Smell of Fear (available in SD)
· Naked Gun 33 & 1/3 (available in SD)
· Top Secret! (available in SD)
· Bug (available in SD)
· Hardball (available in SD)
· The Phantom (available in SD)
· Orange County (available in SD)
· 1408 (available in SD and HD)
· Disturbia (available in SD and HD)
· Hot Rod (available in SD and HD)
· A Mighty Heart (available in SD and HD)
· Heartbreak Kid (available in SD and HD)
· Stardust (available in SD and HD)
· In to the Wild (available in SD and HD)

From Warner Bros over the next few months, we'll have:

· The Assassination of Jesse James (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· Beowulf (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· License to Wed (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· No Reservations (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· The December Boys (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· Nancy Drew (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)