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E3 09: Microsoft announces partnership with Last.fm and more photo

Want more music options for your Xbox Live experience? Want no more. Today's Microsoft press conference revealed that a partnership has been formed with Last.fm, a website that allows you to listen to music for free. Available to Xbox Live Gold members at no extra charge, the service will make it easier to select and listen to your favorite artists while you game. Personally I don't like to be distracted from a game's music, but some people will surely appreciate this!

Some new improvements were also announced for Netflix usability, including the ability to add movies to your queue directly from Xbox Live. Yay! Categories will be added as well, so you can browse more easily. I'm looking forward to this, as my only complaint about the Netflix functionality was that I couldn't add movies to my queue through my 360 (but it looks like that's solved now!).

Europe will also benefit from a partnership with SkyTV, which will allow the UK and Ireland to enjoy streaming TV. In addition, full 1080p video is being launched through Live and a new function called LiveParty will allow you and your friends to watch movies together. You may even be able to see your avatar together watching the movie. Aww.

Well, this doesn't quite compare to the excitement of the Metal Gear Solid: Rising, but it certainly willmake the Xbox Live experience a little more interesting. Also, I'm pretty sure Microsoft never wants me to turn off my 360, which would be great if it wasn't for all that red ring business.








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Colette Bennett is a Destructoid features editor from New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also a founding member of Destructoid's sister sites Tomopop, a toy lover's blog and Japanator, our anime site. Likes Nintendo DS, NES, Silent Hill series, Rhythm games, RPGs Meet the rest of the team



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14 comments | showing # 1 to 14
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Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 14:27
Darren Nakamura
This is actually probably the most underrated new thing Microsoft announced. I will totally be into Last.fm on XBL.
Zarathustra's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 14:31
Zarathustra
Yeah, this sounds very good to me, especially since it's free.
andycadaver's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 14:33
andycadaver
This is so badass! Seriously, it's my favorite reveal of the day so far, other than the new motion controls.
Teen Idol's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 14:38
Teen Idol
This would be very awesome for games like Tony Hawk where the soundtracks blow ass.
Dan CiTi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 14:39
Dan CiTi
I knew last.fm had to happen eventually.
falinter's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 14:45
falinter
This would be awesome if Last.FM had more japanese music.
mr spooky's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 15:05
mr spooky
I have last.fm since a year or 2 ago.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 15:12
Chronic Logic
Last.fm needs more video game music.
IBakedUaCookie's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 16:06
IBakedUaCookie
It would be nice to see some zune/last.fm integration as well....
theredpepperofdoom's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 19:17
theredpepperofdoom
Microsoft is doing what Nintendo should be doing.
DaedHead8's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 19:36
DaedHead8
I'd prefer pandora.org integration but last.fm is good too. I'm happy for anything since for some reason my 360 stopped wanting to stream music from my laptop a long time ago and I never figured out why.
Daniel Carneiro's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/01/2009 20:21
Daniel Carneiro
hurray for last.fm!
bastardmaster's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/02/2009 02:39
bastardmaster
now my microsoft game machine is compatible with last.fm but not my microsoft mp3 player. not even one quick dirty scrobble.
TheToiletDuck's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/02/2009 08:53
TheToiletDuck
So the SkyTv thing, will i need a skytv membership to watch it or is it included in my gold subscription. I hope it's the latter, making my live membership worth more than just playing games online and being harassed by 12year olds.
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