35 Disney flicks for Xbox Live

Microsoft has struck a deal to make 35 Disney movies available for download on its video game service XBox Live. The 35 movies include the animated hit Aladdin and the action flick Armageddon. The high-definition movies will be available to US subscribers of Microsoft's Xbox Live.

It said the Microsoft deal between Disney-ABC Domestic Television will also allow Xbox 360 owners to rent films on demand as they become available from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films, and Hollywood Pictures. Xbox Live, which has more than 7 million members, already offers movies and television shows from more than two dozen other content providers. Consumers will have access to a growing catalog of current and classic movies in both standard and high definition from Walt Disney Studios on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Besides, another title called Scene it? is being lined up as a movie-trivia board game that Microsoft will sell with four simplified, large-buttoned wireless controllers.

It had been reported earlier that Microsoft had extended the warranty for Xbox 360 consoles that stop working because of a vague condition it calls general hardware failure. Microsoft has announced that it would spend more than $1 billion to repair broken machines. Microsoft had released its Xbox 360 back in 2005 and leads the current generation of console wars in the United States with 5.6 million units sold.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Co's Wii, which debuted in November 2006, has sold 2.8 million units domestically, and the PlayStation 3 console from Sony Corp. was ranked third with 1.4 million consoles sold in the United States since its release late last year. Xbox 360 has sold 11.6 million worldwide. This is short of the company's target of 12 million units.