Microsoft has picked up yet another entertainment partner for Xbox 360 owners. A new collaboration with Movietickets.com has several interactive features in-store for Xbox Live subscribers.
Xbox Live customers in the United States will soon be able to buy tickets to movies currently playing in local theaters. Additionally, interactive film content will be available for users to download.
"Working with Microsoft and the Xbox brand exposes MovieTickets.com to an entertainment-driven audience, providing the perfect opportunity to engage like-minded users with our online movie ticketing solutions," said MovieTickets.com CEO Joel Cohen. "We're excited to be the first company allowing users the opportunity to interact with a movie advertising experience on Xbox Live and easily convert it into an online ticket purchase via their mobile device."
The Movietickets.com service will also have a mobile service component which will allow Xbox Live subscribers to activate a Microsoft Tag using their smartphones. That tag can then be used at co-branded websites to purchase movie tickets from participating theaters.
Payment and billing details have not yet been released for the new service. Payment for services purchased through Xbox Live typically requires the user to buy and spend Microsoft Points as currency. Recently, however, Microsoft has begun to allow customers to bypass the points to directly purchase their Games on Demand.
It’s moves like this, and the recent Hulu partnership, that are making the Xbox 360 more than just a gaming console. But will users be willing to pay extra fees to use such services, when there are ways to get the same end result without spending extra money? It might be appealing if they offer special perks for using the service or seating reservation systems for busy film openings. The potential is definitely there, but we’ll have to wait and see the details before making further judgments.
