Xbox Live Video Marketplace launches in the UK

Xbox Live Video Marketplace has just gone live in the UK, as well as in Ireland, Canada, France and Germany. The service, which had previously been available only in the US, allows gamers to download movies directly to their Xbox 360 through the miracle of Xbox Live.

The selection of movies is limited to start with, but Microsoft has partnered with a number of movie studios and will be expanding the films on offer over the next few months. Video Marketplace also has a large selection of music videos included in the line-up, as well as full length movies.

The only drawback is that the films can only be rented at the moment and that once a film is downloaded users only have a set amount of time to keep the film for. Once the film is started users will only have 24 hours to watch it all before it is deleted.

On the plus side, users can specify whether they want to watch a film in high definition or paltry standard definition, paying different amounts for each. Currently, full-length SD movies cost around 250 Microsoft Points (about £2) per rental while HD movies cost 380 Microsoft Points (about £3.20).

The list of films available ranges quite widely, including titles like 300, Clash of the Titans and The Matrix Trilogy.

Will you be using the Video Marketplace, or do you not like the idea of such short rental periods? Is the cost reasonable, or is Microsoft getting greedy? Let us know what you think in the forums.