Lara Croft means business

For the first time in console gaming history, Microsoft is taking a conventional video game and turning it into a series of downloadable "gamisodes," reports London's The Times.

Titled Tomb Raider Anniversary, the game will be available in episodes via Microsoft's six million-strong Xbox Live Marketplace, where four $30 episodes will launch two at a time.

The Tomb Raider series is one of the best-selling gaming franchises, with over 32 million copies sold and two blockbuster films under its belt.

It is hoped that the all-digital distribution method will boost margins by dropping packaging and shipping costs. Tomb Raider developer SCi thinks it can increase returns by a full 20 percent this way.

The market for digital downloads of video games is miniscule in the overall gaming market, which pulls in $30 billion a year. However, Xbox's Marketplace is a good place to try changing that figure: Xbox Live has accrued 2.3 billion hours - equal to more than 260,000 years - of online gaming.