The Franchise

I saw this story on yahoo today. Sounds like they are gonna release something big in the coming months. Sounds like they're going to start adding the "Media Center" aspects into the console. Wonder if this will be free or if you'll pay to download the added features. I assume the latter.

Pretty gutsy move, but a smart one I must admit. XBOX should support skins too for the front-end. Would be cool if they could start a following like win-amps skin community.

RoQuEr

that would indicate that there is a software way to alter the Xbox OS. Once released, I imagine modchips will be a thing of the past.

al_bundy

Then all they have to do is put out an online checker sort of like Blizzard or other people. They can always put out a weekly update that simple breaks any hack or mod.

MasterofDVD

I was reading about this in the Official XBOX Mag today. Seems like they have some great plans. The dashboard was cool but it certainly could use a few more extras.

I hope it's all free and I can't see them charging their LIVE community. That would be a very bad move when their online plan is going along so well.

The Franchise

Speaking of which, have they announced how much Live is going to cost after the one-year deal is up? I suspect some people are getting pretty close to the end of their first year on live.....

menaz

I imagine there fee will be at least $10, I cant picture it being any lower. Whenever they do start charging, if they keep doing the one year free with the LIVE package deal, I would much rather keep buying that everytime my subscription expires.

dvd-fanman

I wouldn't mind having the upgrades that enable live talking in virtual worlds, but I don't want to see the XBOX start playing digital videos and music. I didn't buy a gaming machine to do that, I bought it to play games. If I want to see videos and listen to music I'll do it on my computer - thank you very much.

Just my $0.02....

RoQuEr

I don't whine about the existance of XBox steering wheel attachments just because I don't use them personally. If you want to play games, fine. How does extra stuff detract from the games?

I think the possibilites for this are limitless. You have a mass made, relatively cheap device that is connected to the web, and in most instances, a LAN. This device is perfect to gap the divide between Home theatre setups and the various streaming and saved forms of computer media. I would love it if from the TV I could wirelessly browse my homemade 240 Gig TIVO which sits in another room, and then stream the program to my big screen TV. Currently, I have to watch it on a 17 inch monitor.

Kumar J

If the X-box can do more ,then count me in.I can save a lot of space if the X-box can do a lot of stuff.

Trigger

I was thinkin about that - can we do that?

edstein

I'm thinking that the $50 price point for the Live package will go away. The new price point will be $10 with an additional $10 per month to follow.

Or, the price will remain the same and the upgrade will include pop-up ads in between games.

Tuan Jim

I guess if you consider Nov. 15 to be close to May 6

The Franchise

You have a point, but at some point they have to entice their existing customers to sign up again without just buying new Live kits right?

The only problem I have with this whole "Multimedia Center" approach is that it takes away time from playing games on tha darn thing. Suppose you are recording the Sopranos and feel like playing vice city at the same time? I have Tivo-like functions on my PC and know that you can't really do anything too processor intensive while it's recording TV. Also VG controllers are really clunky interface devices for large amounts of media. Someone needs to make a contoller with a built in track ball or touch-pad so you can move around the screen easier.

mwestep

The only reason why I even thought about getting a modchip is to connect to my computer and play some of my mp3's and videos. I converted my whole collection of cd's (about 100...) onto mp3 for my computer, and it would be so awesome to have that connect up to my xbox and listen to them on my home theater rather than using my 5 cd changer.

Shay

You might want to look at using a mp3 receiver like the slimp3 or the audiotron. That way you do not have to go down the mod chip route.

mwestep

shay, well if this xbox live 2.0 thing will do that, i am all for that. i might also look into that ps2 network software that will enable you to play mp3s and divx movies over the network.

al_bundy

I've tried to play MP3's through my home stereo before, but it doesn't sound any good. Even with 128K and above files. The compression algorithm is only good enough to be used on computer speakers and head phones.

Cardiff Giant11

Al_Bundy
that's not really true. If you have a decent soundcard then the results are pretty good. If you have a crap one then it's not gonna sound well. My G4 Macintosh has a very good audio output to my Onkyo DD/DTS reciever to my Polk speakers. Granted, most of the mp3s I have are ones I ripped myself at 192kps, but even some of the 128kps ones sound decent.