The online service is apparently now the world's largest platform for high-definition on-demand content.

Xbox Live Marketplace launched alongside the Xbox 360 in North America on November 22, 2005. Microsoft has today announced that over 24 million downloads have been made since that day, and that over 5 million pieces of content were downloaded during the free week of Xbox Live that coincided with E3 last week.

"Only Xbox Live could bring E3 home in high definition for consumers around the world," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "The sheer volume of downloads during E3 week was simply staggering. To put it in perspective, all the printed material in the U.S. Library of Congress is estimated to be about 20 terabytes, and Xbox Live delivered 30 times that amount in just 7 days. While others talk about online entertainment in the console space, we are delivering it in glorious high-definition to the millions of members we have across 24 countries."

Showing that Master Chief isn't likely to lose popularity any time soon, the trailer for Halo 3 was the most downloaded item from Marketplace last week, but demos for Lost Planet, Test Drive Unlimited and MotoGP '06 also did well.

Top 10 downloads during E3 week:

1) Halo 3 Game Trailer (Microsoft Game Studios)
2) Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Free Playable Demo (Capcom)
3) Test Drive Unlimited Free Playable Demo (Atari)
4) MotoGP '06 Free Playable Demo (THQ)
5) X-Men: The Last Stand Pack (20th Century Fox)
6) Gears of War GameTrailer (Microsoft Game Studios)
7) Call of Duty 2: Skirmish Map Pack (Activision)
8) Spiderman 3 Game Trailer (Activision)
9) Fable 2 Trailer (Microsoft Game Studios)
10) Uno Xbox Live Arcade Game (Microsoft Game Studios)

With the Xbox Live Marketplace being such a success, hopefully the service will continue to improve. A demo of Gears of War wouldn't hurt either.