Microsoft To Put Canal Plus VOD Service In Xbox 360 Console & More

Microsoft is gradually pitching its Xbox 360 gaming console as the ideal media platform for the lounge as it announced yet another content deal, this time with Pay TV-by-satellite service Canal +, the equivalent in France of Sky.

The Redmond-base software giant signed the agreement after forging similar agreements with Netflix in the US and Sky in the UK and could potentially cross-pollinate the three territories and is set to sign similar deals in other territories.

Up to 3000 films on demand as well as popular TV shows such as les Guignols and French League One football games will be made available to the one million or so Xbox 360 users via Microsoft's Xbox Live online content service.

Most of those services will require a fast broadband access as they will be streamed live. The price as well as the exact release dates have yet to be disclosed. Users will also be able to interact in real time with other Xbox users over Xbox Live using avatars. The Microsoft service has more than 20 million members worldwide.

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Interestingly, Activision Blizzard, which is also majority owned by Vivendi SA, the parent company of Canal +, produces a number of very popular games like Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft to name a few.

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