Tech Shout!

Paramount Pictures has confirmed its partnership with Microsoft to offer its catalogue of films to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace video store in the UK.

This will enable Xbox 360 users to access download-to-rent movies from Paramount Pictures in both high-definition and standard definition directly on their consoles.

According to Robin Burrowes, Xbox LIVE Marketing Manager, UK, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division, “We are really happy to be able to welcome Paramount to Xbox LIVE Marketplace in UK. This announcement gives our Video Store customers in the UK an even greater choice of entertainment with a great level of HD movie quality.”

The first of Paramount’s movies to arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace is the hit flick ‘Transformers’, which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow on February 19, 2008.

“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. To deliver Paramount’s top films to people in their living room via a games console fits perfectly with our global digital distribution strategy,”said Alex Carloss, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Worldwide Digital Distribution, Paramount Digital Entertainment - one of the key studio partners when Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store launched in the US.

Here’s a list of the Paramount Pictures/ Dreamworks movies that are expected to hit the Xbox Live Marketplace this Spring:

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)

Disturbia (available in SD and HD)

1408 (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)

Additional movies from Warner Bros will also be added to the service this Spring. Many films will be available in high definition. They include:

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)

The newly announced download-to-rent films will carry a price tag from as low as 250 Microsoft Points (£2) for standard definition movies to 380 Microsoft Points (£3.20) for high-definition movies.