One of Hollywood's top digital distribution executives thinks so.

In an interview I recently conducted with Curt Marvis, president of digital media for Lionsgate, for Variety's technotainment blog, he specifically mentioned the Wii as a huge opportunity for his studio to distribute movies and TV shows and said he thinks it'll happen this year:

While he certainly didn't say movies on the Wii are a sure thing, an executive in Marvis' position is the most likely to know what's being talked about and what's in the works.

Nintendo is already working on a limited video service for the Wii in Japan, with original content it's producing with ad agency Dentsu. But moving to the U.S. and adding Hollywood movies and TV shows would be a huge step.

If Nintendo does that, it could easily become a major player in the fast growing, albeit still small, online video business. Since they're connected to televisions, studios are counting on video game consoles to be a big part of that growth. Already, the Xbox 360's video marketplace is one of the biggest online movie distributors after iTunes. And Sony is aggressively trying to catch up, this week adding the last major media company that wasn't on board with its service, NBC Universal.

There are 16.2 million Wiis in the U.S. now, compared to 12.8 million Xbox 360s and 6.3 million Playstation 3s. So the Wii could effectively double the market. But it could do even more. Since the Wii is popular with so many non-traditional gamers, it's in more households that aren't as digital savvy as the typical 360 or PS3 household. So they're less likely to be downloading movies or otherwise accessing video from the Web. If the Wii's video service is exceptionally easy, it could bring millions of new customers to digital movie/TV distribution and prove a boon for Hollywood.

Of course, unlike the 360 and PS3, the Wii couldn't handle high definition content. More importantly, downloading a significant number of TV shows and movies would be difficult, given the console's lack of a hard drive (SD cards can only take you so far). A full video service would have to come with enhanced storage or be done via streaming (which would mean lower visual quality). It might not have been meaningless that Marvis said the Wii could soon "stream movies."

When I wrote reported last week that Sony Pictures movies aren't possible to stream from Netflix on the Xbox 360, I said there would be a simple way to see whether the studio was being honest when it stated it was a mere licensing snafu: "I guess we'll find out when we see if other studios' content also disappears from Netflix on Xbox 360, or if Sony content becomes available soon."

Well, the latter has already happened. According to numerous sources (I don't have Netflix set up on my 360 yet, so I can't check myself), like this one, some Sony Pictures films are now available to stream from Netflix on the Xbox 360. To all those who doubted Sony's sincerity, including, to a certain extent, me, we've been proven wrong.

As several gaming blogs have been noticing, Sony Pictures movies aren't available to be streamed via Netflix on the Xbox 360, even though they can be streamed on PCs.

That's very surprising, since no other content is available to stream everywhere except the 360. And of course it's suspicious, since we all know Sony, maker of the Playstation, has an incentive not to make the Xbox 360 experience any better. That's why you can't download SPE movies from the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

But Netflix's pr person told MTV Multiplayer that it was a temporary licensing issue. I spoke to a source at Sony today and that person vehemently denied that it was an attempt by Sony to keep their content off the 360. It's just a licensing issue, I was told; Netflix didn't have the rights.

I'm not sure what to think. I'm not exactly sure why everyone involved would lie, since they've never hidden the reasons why SPE content isn't available on Xbox Live Video Marketplace. On the other hand, what are the odds Sony would be the one studio with this particular licensing issue?

I guess we'll find out when we see if other studios' content also disappears from Netflix on Xbox 360, or if Sony content becomes available soon. The source I spoke to didn't indicate that the latter was going to happen really soon.

Update: Sony just provided me with the following statement:

This issue is not specific to Xbox or any other individual platform.  Sony Pictures is currently in discussions with the relevant parties to resolve certain licensing matters related to the distribution of its motion pictures.  Given the ongoing nature of these discussions, we don't think it is appropriate to comment further at this time.

The  Xbox 360 price cut that I first said was likely way back in July and has recently been predicted by every videogame blog based on leaked retail circulars is finally official. As expected, it's $200 for the hard-drive free arcade version, $300 for the standard version, and $400 for the Elite with a big ass hard drive. (If I were like a certain other blogger, I'd be yelling "toldja!." But suffice it to say that Cut Scene readers should have been expecting this for almost two months.)

While serious gamers will appreciate the price cuts on the standard version and elite, it's very apparent that Microsoft is emphasizing the new price of the arcade version. The press release is pretty dramatically titled "The Moment Is Now: At $199, Xbox 360 Invites Everyone to Play." But it's the first sentence that really intrigues me:

Imagine if friends and families had the ability to instantly watch movies from Netflix, live out their musical fantasies through "Rock Band 2" (Harmonix/MTV Games) and "Lips" (iNiS Corp./Microsoft Game Studios), star in their own Hollywood classics with "You're in the Movies," or have the power to never miss the latest episode of "Heroes" -- all from one device, starting at $199.

They're selling a videogame console and the very first feature mentioned is streaming movies. The only games mentioned here are all casual titles based on music or movies. In fact, you have to go all the way down to the second half of the fifth paragraph to find even a mention of a non-music or movies game, where Microsoft finally gives a nod to its biggest first party title, "Gears of War 2," which it says will be "the biggest entertainment event of this holiday season." (I expect a few films like "Quantum of Solace" might disagree, but anyway)

There's not a single mention of major non-exclusive titles like "Fallout 3," "The Force Unleashed," "Call of Duty: World at War," etc. Why? Microsoft is apparently betting that most gamers who buy titles like that already at least know about those games and what the 360 offers or, in a worst case scenario, all already own a 360, which would explain the slow sales this year, even around the launch of "Grand Theft Auto IV."

Which is why this release mentions Netflix streaming three separate times (getting even a fraction of   Netflix's 8.2 million subscribers, many of whom probably don't game, would be a major coup for Microsoft), makes a big deal out of "Rock Band 2," "Lips" and, to a lesser extent, non-360 exclusive "Guitar Hero: World Tour," and devotes extensive space to downloadable movies and TV shows.

As Don Mattrick alludes to in the release, the majority of console sales in the last generation generation occurred below the $200 price point. By beating Nintendo and Sony to that mark, Microsoft, which has been mired in third place for console sales all year, is hoping it can get a big boost this holiday season. And it's heavily emphasizing the content it has for casual buyers who might finally be opening their wallets to a videogame system at $200 for the first time.

The three big questions in my mind:

-Can a $50 price advantage make up for the overwhelming public perception that Nintendo's Wii is the console for casual players, not the 360?

-Will those who buy a 360 Arcade be annoyed when they find out the limitations of not having a hard drive? They can't do any of the video downloading that Microsoft touts in its press release, for instance.

-Does Sony need to respond? Sure, there's a good argument that the Playstation 3 is a better deal at $400 than the 360 Elite (it's a Blu-ray player, has built in wi-fi). But right now it's completely and totally ceding the family/casual market to Microsoft and Nintendo. If it does that for too long, its entire business will be staked on the avid gamers, which is not a good place to be, especially given the very broad penetration last generation of the Playstation 2.

Fuse, the cable network that actually features regular music content (unlike the one with an "M" for "music" in its title), is the lastest programmer to jump on the Xbox 360 video bandwagon.

But it's not selling its shows, like most other networks do. Instead it's using Xbox Live as a marketing vehicle, providing clips, coverage, and artist interviews from big summer festivals like Bonnaroo, Rothbury, Mayhem, Vans Warped Tour, and Bumbershoot. Artists include Metallica, Pearl Jam, and Jack Johnson. That 's a sweaty Eddie Vedder performing at Bonnaroo on the right.

"We are confident that Xbox 360 fans are going to love it and want to tune in to Fuse for more great music programming," executive VP of content distribution Eric Samuels says, making clear what's in the deal for Fuse.

Most networks and studios look at Xbox Live as a way to make a little extra money, selling shows for $1.99 (the vast majority of which goes back to them and isn't kept by Microsoft). But for networks that want to get young male gamers to turn off the console for a little while and just watch TV, I think we can expect it to be used more and more as a marketing vehicle. Free clips are, of course, the easiest way to show gamers what they're missing.

As expected, Sony finally launched its video download store on Tuesday after announcing it at its E3 press conference. But despite the fact that as of just a few weeks ago it didn't have many studios on board, it has wrapped up thsoe deals quickly.

Every major studio is now renting and/or selling movie downloads via Playstation network except for Universal (which, ironically, just signed onto Xbox Live on Monday). Currently Fox is the only TV network on board though, leaving Sony far behind Microsoft in TV content, though pretty even in movies.

As I reported earlier, film downloads to the Playstation 3 will be transferable to the PSP (the transfer can also be done from a PC to PSP). That's a possible competitive advantage over Xbox Live and it's also a new feature for Internet downloads that, studio insiders say, made these deals more complex than they otherwise would have been.

More details are in my story on today's E3 developments.

The list of studios and networks NOT on Xbox Live got even shorter today as NBC Universal has signed up to offers its tv shows. The only major studios not on there now are Twentieth Century Fox (though Fox TV shows are on there) and, for obvious reasons, Sony Pictures. And now every major television network is on Xbox Live.

Microsoft also today finally unveiled the partnership with Netflix that we all knew was coming. As expected, Netflix subscribers will be able to get movies available to "watch instantly" via the Internet on a PC on the Xbox 360. The one unexpected feature is that users can share the movie with friends so they can watch together. The friends do have to be Netflix subscribers, though, which isn't quite as cool as I had initially hoped.

It's all part of a huge redesign of Xbox Live that appears to make the service a bit easier and more intuitive to navigage, while also adding more features. Picture on right was borrowd from Kotaku, so thanks to them for managing to grab that.

It also integrates online avatars which can represents users in their profiles, in parties friends can form to play together and chat, and even in some new games (such as the previously mentioned "Scene It: Box Office Smash"). Color me a bit skeptical about these rip-offs of Nintendo's Mii's. Especially for the hard core fan base of the 360, which I'm guessing won't want to have a cartoon replica of themselves online.

But I asked Live head John Schappert about that over lunch with some Microsoft execs and he said there will be options that appeal to more core gamers, like the ability to dress up your avatar in the outfit of a game character like Master Chief, Dom from "Gears of War," etc. (Those are just examples, not promises).

As promised in my earlier post, I spent the day doing some reporting on Sony's PS3 video download service that's launching this summer. You can get the full story right here on Variety.com.

Turns out Sony is thinking about offering more than the same features as Xbox Live. In addition to standard movie rentals, it's talking to potential partners about allowing users to transfer movie downloads to the PSP. It's also thinking about working with the company's own Blu-ray disc format so that users might be able to transfer a copy off the hi-def DVD onto a PS3 or PSP (similar to the "digital copy" for iPods that some studios are starting to offer on DVDs).

But while Sony may feel confident video downloads will be ready to go this summer, it doesn't exactly have a big library lined up. Sources at numerous major studios confirmed to me that while they have all talked to Sony, none have yet made a deal. The only one that's definitely on board so far is, for obvious reasons, Sony Pictures.

Of course, if Sony just offers the same options as Xbox Live, it won't have any trouble getting more content since those deals have become pretty much de rigeur in the industry. But if it is indeed looking to do more, that would be a more complicated deal and could mean the PS3 video download store will launch with a more limited offering.

I should note, of course, that that's not necessarily a bad thing. Xbox Live Video Marketplace debuted in late 2006 with only Warner and Paramount but went on to add most of the Hollywood majors, including Fox, Disney, MGM, New Line, and a ton of TV networks.

Sony's been talking about launching video downloads on Playstation 3 since even before the console launched (I http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117951896.html?categoryid=20&cs=1&query=pandora in the fall of '06). By last year, I reported that it was in the works. In April, the LA Times confirmed that it was still happening and said a summer launch is likely.

Now today, Hirai reportedly said at a press conference in Tokyo that the PS3 video download store is launching in the US this summer and will include rentals of standard def and hi-def movies. So now it's really truly absolutely officially happening.

Of course, Xbox Live has had video downloads for over a year, and everyone I talk to in Hollywood says they're quite successful. At a minimum, Sony has to match the features of that service and it appears from the GameSpot story that they will. The one advantage the PS3 will have, however, is films from Sony Pictures, which for understandable reasons hasn't participated in the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

But will Sony just be playing catch-up while Microsoft takes another step forward by finally unveiling its partnership with Netflix? Or will Sony offer some features that Xbox Live doesn't have? Either way, this may not be an area where being on the cutting edge matters is crucial, since nobody is buying a videogame console for the sake of downloading movies. It's just a nice added feature, and a nice added revenue stream for the console manufacturer.

Update: I'm actually doing some more reporting on this right now and finding out some interesting details about how the PS3 video service could be different than Xbox Live. More to come before the end of of the day.

At this point it's safe to say that pretty much everyone, including me, will be shocked if Microsoft doesn't reveal all the details of its partnership with Netflix at its E3 press conference. Finally, as we all expect, those of us who are Netflix subscribers will be able to use the "watch now" feature on our TV without buying yet another set-top box.

But today, as many of you probably know, a relatively simple hack came out that lets people with a Windows Vista computer access Netflix via the 360's Media Center extender. The beauty part is that, except for the ability to download and save movies, this program doesn't seem to violate any terms of service, so there's no reason it should get shut down (or if it does, nor reason it can't get restored with the TOS-violating feature).

Like many people, especially gamers who've heard all the complaints, I don't have a Vista computer. But the great thing about this program is it sets a bar for Microsoft and Netflix. When they finally do launch their partnership, they had better at least be able to match the features that this vcmNetflix app has: streaming movies immediately, browsing and managing your queue, searching for new films, etc. And they had better not charge extra for the privilege. If they can't at least do that, they now know for a fact that people have a better alternative.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is theorizing, with very good evidence, that Netflix is planning to start offering its Internet streaming service. As Pachter aptly points out, what other device could Netflix execs mean when they say they're moving it to "Internet enabled video game consoles?"

Based on Pachter's evidence and info I've gotten from sources, I'd say such a partnership is likely in the next few months, though nothing is yet confirmed. And it's a brilliant idea. One problem that companies like Vudu and Apple (with its AppleTV) have run into is that a lot of people don't want to spend money on yet another device to hook up to their television in order to get video content from the 'Net. The better solution is to do it with devices they already have that serve multiple purposes, like a videogame console.

The real question now is how it would would technologically and business-wise.

Would it be fully integrated into the Xbox Live service? Can the Xbox Live software, not to mention the 360 hardware, comfortably handle streaming? How high quality would it be? And will Microsoft get any cut of Netflix's subscriber revenue, or just be content to have a powerful marketing hook to reach the service's 8 million subscribers? Also, would the deal be exclusive, or could Sony get in on it soon as well?

GameDaily (on BusinessWeek) theorizes that this could hurt Xbox Live Video Marketplace, but I doubt that. The only potential downside is people who are already Netflix subscribers and Xbox Live Video Marketplace users who would be less likely to rent movies from XBL if they could easily stream via their Netflix account (that's a category to which I actually may belong; but I don't think there are a lot of us). However I'm sure that tiny amount of lost revenue could be more than made up for by getting a portion of the Netflix subscriber base to buy Xbox 360s.

Some of them might even use XBL to rent some videos anyway, since Microsoft has the advantage of offering video downloads in high definition, which you can't achieve via streaming.

The Playstation 3 will eventually have a video download service, similiar to the one that Xbox 360 has had for over a year. We've all known it for a long time. Here's a story I wrote last summer that Sony was working on the service. Here's a story from the Wall Street Journal last September saying the same thing. Marketing senior VP Peter Dille said on the Playstation blog a few days ago that the video store is coming, but he didn't provide any details, and in fact Sony execs were willing to confirm that fact at any point last year. I know. I asked them. And thought it was so non-newsworthy that I didn't report it.

All of which makes it quite odd that the L.A. Times has a story on the front page of its business section today with the lede "[Sony] is preparing to to launch an online video service through its game console Playstation 3 as early as this summer, studio executives familiar with the play say."

"As early as this summer" is arguably newsworthy, since we haven't known when it was going to launch. But that's still a vague date and it could very easily be pushed back. Studio executives I talk to say that Sony has been talking to them about the service since last year. And a senior Sony insider I was talking to a few months ago said that the video download store is a low priority this year compared to establishing PS3 as the best videogame console on the market.

The Times does put it in interesting context, since the multi-studio Internet download service Movielinkn, which was first developed by Sony, flopped and was sold to Blockbuster at a launch and Sony's online musicstore Connect was also a famous disaster.

But in terms of news... we always knew that Sony would launch a video download service. And now we know it might launch as early as this summer.

(Also worth noting: the first analyst quoted in both last year's WSJ story and today's in the LAT is the game guy, Kurt Scherf of Parks Associates. I guess these repeating stories on the same topic are good for his publicity needs.)

Xbox Live Video Marketplace already has feature films, TV shows, and Internet shorts, but everything there has always aired somewhere else first.

But later this year it’ll be getting its first premiere. Safran Digital, the division of producer Peter Safran’s company that does… guess what?... has struck a deal with Microsoft to premiere some short form programming on Xbox Live later this year.

They’re not yet ready to talk about what the content will be or who’s making it, though I would expect some of Safran’s clients like Nia Vardolos, “Epic/Date Movie” guys Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, or P. Diddy might be involved.

Jake Zim, the former Fox Atomic exec who is now COO of Safran Digital (and, I should admit, someone I know outside of journalistic reporting) would only say that the content will be under 10 minutes and in the kind of genres we can expect the young men who primarily populate Xbox Live to most consume, like comedy and horror. And no, none of it will be stuff that’s actually about video games. Perhaps that’s a little too on the nose.

There are lots of places to premiere content online, of course, and Zim said Safran Digital will be making deals with several of them. But he likes premiering some content on Xbox Live because it’s an easy way to get onto the TV and it’s much easier to get your content featured and found.

“Xbox Live is actually programmed carefully,” he noted. “You’re not going to get lost in a deep sea like on the Internet.”

Up to now, all of the content on Xbox Live has been pay-per-download, with the exception of some sponsored promotions. But the Safran Digital stuff may be advertiser-supported, though it’s not yet clear exactly how that will work. Microsoft execs have previously told me they’re looking at more options to allow free video downloads via advertising, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of that even before Safran Digital’s stuff debuts.

Scott Nocas, Xbox Live’s programming marketing manager (fun title) says this is just the first programming deal he expects the company to make. And why not? You’ve got a captive audience of young men – just the types who are spending less time consuming movies and TV – so why not program to them?

In fact, way back when the Xbox 360 was launching in late 2005, I wrote about how the console’s Internet connection would let it become, essentially, a cable box for gamers. It’s coming true. Which means Microsoft – and, maybe one day soon, Sony -- is becoming a more and more powerful arbiter of what content gets put in front of a very sought-after demo.