Microsoft, MGM And Disney Join For World Domination

There’s not a whole lot that the 360 can’t do for us at this point. I did ask it to make me a ham sandwich the other day so I didn’t have to get up from talking to a friend halfway across the world, playing Kengo and downloading Biodome with Pauley Shore. It just looked at me and said “What do I look like, your mom?” That’s a lie, I would never download Biodome. Partnerships and additions are looking to strengthen Microsoft’s hold on not only the gaming world, but also the nearly inseparable interactive entertainment market.

With a huge collection of films and TV shows on Xbox LIVE, there’s not a whole lot of reason to go to Blockbuster anymore. Now there’s even less reason. A deal signed with Disney and MGM for LIVE content will bring 360 owners hours and hours of film and television this year.

Disney is promising to offer movies like High School Musical and TV shows like Hannah Montana. With the Disney programming will of course come ABC entertainment with shows like Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy and the crown jewel of Lost. All of these will become available to XBL users as early as this month. It also makes sense that since they’re releasing Disney programming, they’d also start releasing Disney retro games over XBLA. Sure enough, this Wednesday, January 9, will see the release of their classic Tron from Backbone Charlottetown.

MGM’s deal is just as strong offering films ranging from iconic films like Rain Man, The Usual Suspects and Platoon to bubblegum hits like Legally Blonde and Agent Cody Banks. In the agreement comes not only MGM films but their sister company, United Artists. No word on what is coming from UA but the quality of films they’ve made promises we won’t be disappointed. I’m still waiting on Microsoft to announce that they’ve formed a deal with Playboy and I’ll be able to get my classy smut via XBLA.

British gamers can rejoice too. British Telecom has announced their partnership with Microsoft to bring the Mediaroom internet protocol TV. BT broadband users will be able to access their IPTV through either a set-top-box or directly from their 360. It will bring hours and hours of entertainment from movies, sports and music videos to further expanding the communications capabilities with text and voice messaging as well as chat. XBL and BT IPTV will not conflict, according to the announcement, as users will be able surf the Xbox Live Marketplace without interrupting their television feed. It’s thought that shortly after Disney and MGM publish their five hundred plus hours of entertainment, American users won’t be far behind on an IPTV deal.

All of this is already getting people talking about the console war’s conclusion; Microsoft is not excluded from such talk.

Dean Takahashi became privy to a letter sent to Microsoft employees from Don Mattrick in regards to the announcements that would be made at CES and the future of the Xbox. He was kind enough to post it in its entirety on his Tech Talk Blog last night. The letter outlines Microsoft’s convincing domination of the market in 2007 even before the December numbers came out. It also gives a rundown of what CES would reveal in regards to the future of the Xbox and Microsoft on the whole, that future being world domination. The Brain would be quite proud of the company. I’m actually surprised there wasn’t the exclamation of “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” from Mattrick somewhere in the letter. Having outsold everyone including the PS2 in its heyday he declares Microsoft the winner of this year’s leg of the console war and projects that the next leg will only put them further ahead of the PS3 and Wii.

Of course winning the console war doesn’t mean the utter annihilation of the competitors, but it does dictate dominance and longevity. The 360 has a lot of steam built and a lot of reasons for people to bank with them as the winner this time around. First of all, the huge head start is a major component of their success. When Nintendo and Sony came forward with their miniscule amount of launch titles for the Wii and PS3 respectively, Microsoft already had an enormous library. Now with the addition of these entertainment companies, it’s only a matter of time before Bill Gates lands a TKO on his opponents.