At its E3 press conference, Microsoft was proud to say that its Xbox Live subscribership is nearing the seven million mark. What it wasn’t able to boast yet was that all of its members had full access to one of Xbox Live’s most compelling features – the Video Marketplace.

On the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, users have access to purchase or rent standard definition and high definition TV shows and movies onto their hard disk drives. So far, the service is only available to subscribers in the U.S., though Microsoft said at its conference that it plans to introduce the service in Europe and Canada “by the end of this year.”

With access to movie and TV show downloads, the 20GB hard disk drive that is a part of many Xbox 360 consoles suddenly seem to be grossly inadequate. Part of Microsoft’s answer to this is the 120GB hard drive, which is also standard on the Xbox 360 Elite.

Although Canadian gamers already have access to Elite consoles, the Europeans are still awaiting the black Xbox 360’s arrival. Microsoft also announced at its gathering on Tuesday night that the Xbox 360 Elite will be launching on August 24. Pricing was not detailed.

Japan will be the last major gaming territory to receive the Xbox 360 Elite, though it may end up paying the least for it. The black console will be launching on October 11 for 47,800 yen, or about $389. In the U.S., the Xbox 360 Elite retails for $479.