One of the best applications on Xbox Live is the ability to watch and download movies. The console can do more than just play games, like all the other next-generation consoles do. There are several ways to play movies and download them through Xbox Live. All you need, firstly, is an active Xbox Live account. The service has affiliated itself with several websites and partners to ensure that you’re able to stream the latest movies and even some classics to your console. The main venues through which you can download Xbox Live movies are through the Live Marketplace and through Netflix.

The Xbox Live Marketplace works by customers buying movies and the like with points. Marketplace points can be purchased with a credit card at most retail stores or other outlets, and these are used in the Marketplace to buy movies and new games on Live Arcade. To buy movies, simply log in to the marketplace website from your Xbox 360 and go to the movies section. From here you can download movies for approximately 300-400 Xbox Live points, depending on the movie. There are many different genres available. Mainly, what seems to be top on the list are independently made films.

Netflix has also collaborated with Microsoft so customers of both companies can stream Netflix movies directly over their Xbox Live account. The process works by connecting the console to the Internet, accessing the Netflix website and then you can play Xbox movies directly from Netflix. The process takes as little as 30 seconds for the video to start streaming. To do it, all you need is an active Netflix account as well as an Xbox Live account that’s been upgraded to gold status. Also, you can watch TV shows this way as well. These are the two most prominent methods of getting movies to play on your Xbox 360, but more are sure to come in the future.

For fans of the major leagues, the winter can be a drag. With the season over and months to go before the next one begins, baseball fans often find themselves longing for the warmer days at the ballparks. Thankfully, there are a number of Xbox 360 baseball games available to help make the cold weeks go by a little faster. Here is a list of the top three annual offerings:

Major League Baseball 2K9 – The standard in simulation baseball games, the 2K series has long been the best at providing a realistic feeling game to its customers. By focusing on making batting, pitching, fielding, and stealing bases as genuine as possible, the series caters well to hardcore fans of the sport looking to recreate the magic of the season.

Furthermore, modes such as season and franchise allow the player to take control of a single team, from concession stands to trades, to simulate running a team firsthand. Clearly, Major League Baseball 2K9 offers many hours of entertainment to the avid baseball fan.

MLB Front Office Manager - Sick of playing repetitive games on the field and want larger control of the management end of baseball? MLB Front Office Manager may just be the game for you. By allowing gamers to step into the shows of a front-office head honcho, the game allows for a peek into the real-life ins and outs of creating a baseball team.

From drafting and raising prospects to hiring coaches, this game has it all. And although there is no direct baseball play, MLB Front Office Manager does manage to offer a new take on the sports genre that many will find interesting.

MLB Stickball – Unlike other Xbox 360 baseball games, MLB Stickball is not recommended for fanatics for the game. With overly simplified controls and cartoony graphics, this game panders to a younger generation. If you want to play a game that both you and your kids can enjoy, this is definitely the right choice. Otherwise, stick to the games mentioned above.

So there you have it, three Xbox 360 baseball games that offer very different experiences. Choose which one appeals the most to your own situation and try to get through December. And remember, spring is always just right around the corner.

Below you will find a list of the top 5 Xbox 360 games that can be picked up easily for less than $15.

Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s creed is an amazing bargain for under $15! Set in 2012 Desmond miles, a simple bartender, is kidnapped by a company to be used as a test subject. Desmond then becomes dedicated to death and has to assassinate various targets that he is given, in order to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood. Aside from the main plot, the player is given the opportunity to embark on ’side’ adventures to save people and look at the current city from great heights, adding an extra bit of flexibility to the game.

Medal of Honor: Airborne

Medal of Honor Airborne is a FPS set in WWII where the player takes the role of Private First Class and later being promoted to Corporal. As you play, you get dropped into various operations worldwide including Italy, France, Germany and The Netherlands. Multiplayer mode is varied, and allows you play locally or online, individually or as a team, on many maps set all over the world, which are adaptations of maps from single player mode.

Project Gotham Racing 4

The 4^th release in the Project Gotham Racing series, Project Gotham Racing 4 takes you all over the world in various track courses New York to Shanghai, in all different weathers! The main emphasis on this particular version of the game has been realism, so expect to see lots of varying weather conditions!

Need for Speed: ProStreet

Need for Speed is, quite unbelievably, the 11^th instalment of Need for Speed, and things just keep getting better! The player takes the place of Ryan Cooper who is a street racer who enters a challenge day to win a Nissan 240SX, which becomes the start of his massive adventure. The difference between ProStreet and the previous versions of the games, is that its set in closed circuits, rather than on the street, perhaps so it doesn’t promote the illegal activity, but it’s still just as fun to play!

Saints Row

Saints Row is perhaps a popular take on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and trying to cut into their market share, is a good game, and for a bargain price. Being almost identical to GTA, players can walk around in an open world playing in third-person shooter style and hijack, and blow up, anything they feel necessary to do. The main difference to GTA, and this may make people feel like its better, is that if you ever fail a mission you can just retry without having to drive around and find it again, and you won’t lose all your weapons. The game also features a very nice online multiplayer mode across Xbox Live.

Whether you are a hardcore gamer or a casual player, you have probably heard of achievements and gamerscore. Most Xbox players strive to get as many achievements as they can. Why? Bragging rights – plain and simple. Achievements don’t do anything but give you the ability to trash talk your friends. Great, right? Well, it would be, if it were easy to get achievements! Unfortunately, most achievements are very hard to get, and most are time consuming. If you are looking to boost gamerscore or get some easy xbox achievements, look no further than the games listed below.

NFS: Most Wanted: Quite a good way to get 1000 achievements points. A fun game to play as well. It will take a bit of time, and do not expect to beat it within a day and get all the points. It is a longer game, but still some easy points.

King Kong: You can get all the 1000 points just by beating the game in story mode. All the achievements are tasks you need to complete to proceed, so if you beat the game, you’ve gotten the points. You can even use some of the cheats and still get the achievements. Don’t use Godmode, but you are fine with weapon and ammo cheats.

Fight Night – Round 3: Game is quite easy, and most people can beat in a day. You simply make your owner boxer, complete all the fights. Easy 1000 points.

NBA 2K6: The game only consists of 5 achievements, and all are quite easy to get. The best way is to play one game with 12 minute quarters, thus you can get all the achievements in one shot. Another easy 1000 achievement points.

Madden 06: Almost all of the achievements can be completed in a single game, especially if you play with a partner. Some other achievements will clearly take longer (for example, finish 30 years of dynasty). This will probably take a long time, so you might be better off simulating game after game with a really good team.

NBA Live 2006: Very similar to Madden, and many of the achievements are quite similar. Just like Madden, some of the achievements will take longer to get, unless you simulate games. A good amount of points, but will take a bit longer to get all of them, just like Madden.

Tomb Raider – Legend: Points are acquired by completing levels/missions, but you can also get points for finding hidden statues. There are three types of statues, including gold, silver, and bronze. Evidently, gold statues will be harder to find than silver or bronze statues.