During its E3 media briefing Monday, Microsoft announced that it had partnered with Netflix to bring movies right to gamers' TVs via the Xbox 360. Netflix, which already streams certain titles to its customers' computers, has now taken that one step further. The service, which launches with the rest of Xbox Live's fall updates, will be available to Xbox Live Gold customers who have a Netflix subscription. Once you add one of the 10,000 movies or TV shows available to your Netflix queue, the selections will automatically be available through the 360 as well.

While streaming Netflix movies to your Xbox 360 isn't exactly a new phenomenon, this new service completely streamlines the process and costs nothing extra for those with Live and Netflix subscriptions. While those who want to use this service need an Xbox as well as the two subscription services, the partnership is exclusive to the 360 and may sway those deciding between an Xbox and a Wii or PlayStation 3. The new service might even be an alternative to Microsoft adding a Blu-Ray drive to the 360, instead offering web-based HD content.

Users of the new service will also be able to break out the virtual popcorn and share the movies with their Xbox Live friends through Live Party. This along with Microsoft's announcement to start offering content from NBC-Universal through its Live Marketplace instantly bolsters the 360s ability to act as a media center, and looks to improve its stance over the PlayStation as a one-stop multimedia solution.

Follow our ongoing coverage of E3 2008.