I Want More Than A Game Machine

By George Walker | June 28, 2006

It’s true. I may be a minority, and I may be the only person on the planet, but I don’t care.

I want my game console to do more than just play games.

There. I said it. Someone had to. With all the hate and acid thrown Sony’s way, I just want to be the one to come out and say that I do in fact expect my game console to do more than just play games.

Before you all stamp “PS3 fanboy” on my forehead, though, allow me to explain that this does NOT mean that I want a PS3. I fully expect the PS3 to fall well short of any expectations that I may have in this regard.

What I’d like to do is run down some of the console choices out there and discuss how well they meet my expectations.

I’ll start with the PS3 because I hate them slightly more than other media conglomerates, right now. Kutaragi and friends have been going on and on about how the PS3 is more than a game machine. Fine. But as the saying goes, the proof is in the frickin’ pudding, Sony. First of all, I don’t give an Xbox 360 power brick about whether or not your console has Blu-ray or HD DVD or Super Turbo Happy Power Disc (ST-HPD) format. I don’t actually own any of those formats.

What I really want is something that will play the formats I already have.

For me, that means the ability to play back DivX/Xvid/Mpeg4. I have piles of DivX videos that I would like to view through my game console. And until programs like Max Headroom are released on DVD, I expect this to continue for some time. (BTW, I also use my PC as a cheap Tivo so that I can watch the latest episodes of Stargate whenever I want, etc. etc.) As far as the PS3 is concerned, if Sony releases the PS3 pre-installed with Linux (”if” being the operative word here) then there is a VERY good chance that it will play whatever the heck I want it to play.

Another key expectation I have is that I be able to view my videos without having to crack/circumvent/ignore oppressive DRM. Blu-ray and HD DVD are right out, then. As well as ANYTHING done by Sony. Rootkit, anyone? There is nothing about Blu-ray DRM (or HD DVD for that matter) that engenders any confidence, whatsoever.

So, my verdict on the PS3? DRM sucks. Blu-ray sucks. Linux could redeem… we’ll see.

What about the Xbox 360? It will let you stream video straight to the 360 from any PC! Well… as long as that PC has Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 installed. Oh, and as long as that video is Mpeg, Mpeg2, or WMV.

Wait, what!?!?

Yeah… Microsoft took a potentially awesome feature and double handicapped it by requiring Windows Media Center and only allowing completely retarded video formats. The online community again comes to the rescue with handy-dandy Transcode360 which will translate any video file playable on your computer to Mpeg2, and then stream the Mpeg2 to your 360. You will still be surgically attached to using Windows Media Center. And the quality of the transcoded video can sometimes leave something to be desired. But it’s my DivX file. Playing back on my Xbox 360. Score!

Xbox 360 verdict: Windows Media Center sucks. DRM and format restrictions suck. Leave it to the Internet people to come through AGAIN (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, I’m looking at YOU!) and make a product into what it really should’ve been in the first place.

Then there’s Nintendo’s Wii. Tee hee. *snicker* Sorry. I can be really immature sometimes. Honestly, the Wii is going to be nothing but a game machine. There’s nothing wrong with that AT ALL. It will be the ever-faithful sidekick to my chosen game/media console.

So what does that leave me with? What will save me from this dearth of good game consoles that also have quality media streaming capabilities?

Well, we have to travel back in time. The year was 2001. Unfortunately, there was no space odyssey, but there was another significant event. The release of Microsoft’s Xbox. The power of this event would not be felt until much later, though. When the machine was first given new life by a little quasi-legal program called “Xbox Media Center.” (Which incidentally will only run on a modded Xbox.) Yes, the developer that would later grace us with Transcode 360 has done more for increasing the value of the Xbox than any other game or application could even hope to. Well, except for maybe Halo 2.

I don’t want to get into a discussion of the legality of modding your own box, and then running software that can not EVER be legally distributed. But, in this case, it feels so GOOD to be bad!

Xbox Media Center will play whatever you want. From just about anywhere you want. Network shares, CD-RW, DVD-R, iTunes shares, Shoutcast feeds, and so on and so on and… The quality of the playback is also excellent. Much better than watching the same video feed through Transcode360 on the next-gen MS console.

Modded Xbox with XBMC verdict: Awesomeness objectified!