Microsoft releases Pulp as an Xbox movie exclusive

GAMES CONSOLE MAKER Microsoft is getting in on the film exclusive racket and is showing an award nominated British comedy movie exclusively on the Xbox and Windows.

Pulp, the "multi-award nominated comedy feature film" is sitting on your Xbox 360 now, 4 March 2013, waiting for you to watch it.

We've not seen it yet, but it has an interesting plot: a gaggle of comic book publishers are recruited by the police to take down a crime boss.

We are not in the world of gritty realism here, but it does sound like Microsoft is swinging a fairly smart shoe into the doorway that Netflix opened with its homegrown House of Cards show.

The Netflix show is a sprawling series that sees more twists and turns than a snake chiropracter. Pulp, according to it's Facebook page is something else.

"Tony Leary, the nice-guy owner of Junk Comics, is gearing up for one last roll of the dice. His new superhero title, The Sodomizer, launches at the British International Comic Show, and nothing will stop Tony from making it a success. Nothing except a gang of Geordie criminals who are using another comic company to launder their dirty money," reads its About blurb.

"Tony is drafted by the police to identify the culprits and bring them to justice. Aided by his trusty geek sidekicks, Rick and Keith, Tony must defy the odds if he is to become a real life hero. You've seen superhero movies. You've never seen a movie like this. Enter the world of Pulp."

We have to admit, we have never seen a film with a plot described quite like that, therefore we have 100 percent confidence in the claims made. Pulp was in contention at a number of film award ceremonies.

It is directed by Adam Hamdy and Shaun Magher. Watching the film in the HD version costs 1420 Microsoft points. In the real world that's around £12.

Hamdy told The INQUIRER in an interview that it felt great to be at the thrusting end of digital media, and that he was glad to work associated with Microsoft.

"It feels great. The film industry has been struggling with the advent of digital media and it's very satisfying to be at the forefront of innovation," he said.

"We've been pleasantly surprised at the amount of global interest there's been in the deal, and I think the level of interest is representative of the film industry's desire to open new avenues of distribution to replace declining DVD sales. As an independent British comedy, anything that raises our profile is great, and the Xbox release certainly seems to have done that."

Hamdy said that it was the film makers that approached Microsoft about the release, because he suspected that it would be ‘perfect' for the audience.

"We approached Microsoft because we saw the interesting things they're doing with film distribution and suspected the film would be a perfect fit for their audience. Luckily, they agreed," he said.

"We didn't like the economics of a theatrical release, and felt the film was worth more than a quiet, direct to DVD release. We wanted to do something innovative, and approached Microsoft with the film. Thankfully, we connected at the right time, and they saw the opportunity for them and their audience." µ