Paramount movies on Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store

Microsoft announced a partnership with Paramount Pictures today that will bring the production company's films to the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store in North America and Europe. As of tomorrow, all Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox Live in not only the U.S., but also in Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the U.K. will be able to download-to-rent standard and high definition Paramount Pictures' movies directly to their consoles.

The deal gives Xbox 360 owners in Canada and Europe more content selection, compared to what was available when the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store initially launched for those regions back in December. The choice of download-to-rent movies initially available, in those regions, through the service was limited to films supplied by Warner Bros. With tomorrow's addition of Paramount Pictures' movies to the list of available content, Canadian and European Xbox 360 owners will be able to choose from movies like Transformers, Hot Rod, The Italian Job and more.

Paramount Pictures' movies coming to the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store this month include:

•Transformers (Available in SD and HD as of February 19 ^th )
• Hot Rod (Available in SD and HD as of February 19 ^th )
• Heartbreak Kid (Available in SD and HD as of February 19 ^th )
• Stardust (Available in SD and HD as of February 19 ^th )
• A Mighty Heart (Available in SD and HD as of February 19 ^th )
• Braveheart (Available in SD, week of February 26 ^th )
• Next (Available in SD and HD, week of February 26 ^th )
• The Italian Job (Available in SD, week of February 26 ^th )
• Mean Girls (Available in SD, week of February 26 ^th )
• An Arctic Tale (Available in SD and HD, week of February 26 ^th )

Warner Bros. will also be adding new movies to the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store tomorrow, including In the Valley of Ellah and Michael Clayton – both available in standard and high definition – and will be adding Justice League: A New Frontier on February 25 ^th . The average cost to rent a movie via the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store is 300 Microsoft Points for standard definition movies and 440 Microsoft Points for high definition movies.

NFS ProStreet comes to PSP

Electronic Arts announced that the PSP version of Need for Speed ProStreet began shipping to retailers in North America today, and will begin shipping to retailers in Europe beginning February 22 ^nd . Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to play the game while on the move, the PSP version also comes with two brand new in-game features – Driver Persona and Driver Intuition. Both are tools that allow the player to tailor their driving experience to their abilities and skill level. Driver Persona allows players to customize the races' difficulty level to their skill level, while Driver Intuition guides and assists racers on the best line around each course. Need for Speed ProStreet is now available for PSP for $39.99 USD and CAD.

Journey back to Narnia

Today, Disney Interactive Studios announced that it will be releasing the official The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian video game, the sequel to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe , throughout North America in time for the movie's May 16 ^th opening. Developed by Traveller’s Tales, the console and PC versions of this action/adventure game offer drop-in/drop-out co-operative mutliplayer gameplay, allowing either player to enter or leave a gameplay session at any time, over 20 playable characters, including Prince Caspian, and story elements which do not appear in either of the two movies.

The video game contains a level, unique from both the novel and the movie, which is set between the events of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian . The level takes players to the castle of Cair Paravel and tells the story of Narnia's fall to the Telmarine hordes. In the movie however, Cair Paravel is only seens as abandoned ruins, discovered hundreds of years later.

The Nintendo DS version of the game, developed by Fall Line Studio, is an action/role playing game that will, much like the console and PC versions, contain a storyline similar to that of the movie. This version will debut Disney Interactive Studios' new technology, DGamer, which lets players connect to an entire community of Disney video game enthusiasts, earn content, and interact and chat with others on the Nintendo DS through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or on a computer through the Disney.com website. DGamer will be offered in North America in future Nintendo DS games from Disney Interactive Studios with a future launch scheduled in other global regions. Disney has not yet said much else about this version of the game. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will be releasing around the same time as the movie and will be available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC and Nintendo DS.