Aging Consoles Finding New Life as Video Streaming Devices

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://hothardware.com/News/Aging-Consoles-Find-New-Life-as-Video-Streaming-Devices/' target='_blank'>http://hothardware.com/News/Aging-C...eaming-Devices/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Microsoft's Xbox 360 console is six years old. The Nintendo Wii is five years old, and so is the Sony PlayStation 3. All three are due for an overhaul (can you imagine gaming on a PC that's half a decade old, or more?), and while they're still popular gaming platforms, consoles are really starting to shine as streaming media centers."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1326435500.usr1.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Makes sense to me - I have an Xbox 360 and I'm using it for more video streaming that I ever could have guessed a few years ago. Of course, part of that is me living in the USA now, but if I were back in Canada I'd be streaming Netflix off it for sure. Now I also have the option to stream Hulu Plus, among others. If there were only a way to get my Xbox 360 to play ISO or MKV files...then I'd really be a happy guy! Until then, my Boxee Box performs those tasks quite well.</p><p>Do you game on your console more than use it for other reasons? Or vice-versa?</p>

[Ron Hostetter]

Same here. A few years ago, I started ripping all of my DVD's to ISO files so I could easily access and play them. Back then I was using a Seagate Theater+ device for streaming, but the interface on that thing was atrocious.

I also used the X-Box for streaming Netflix.

These days, I'm using the Apple TV for my streaming. I canceled my Netflix account, and am just renting from iTunes. It still can't play ISO's like the Seagate could, so I'm currently in the process of creating video files from my ISO's. The nice thing is that I can play these videos on my TV, or on any iPad or iPhone, giving the whole family easy access to all of our content.

I never used to be an Apple fan, but more and more I'm finding that their eco-system fits my needs.

[Jason Dunn]

These days, I'm using the Apple TV for my streaming. I canceled my Netflix account, and am just renting from iTunes. It still can't play ISO's like the Seagate could, so I'm currently in the process of creating video files from my ISO's. The nice thing is that I can play these videos on my TV, or on any iPad or iPhone, giving the whole family easy access to all of our.

What format are you ripping to? I ripped a handful of my DVDs to ISO but the Boxee Box, including Blu-rays, but because the Boxee Box lacks Java it can't play the menus. This results in the wrong version playing sometimes. I'm toying with ripping to MKV now, but it's not a "mainstream" format in terms of support.

[Joel Crane]

You guys are funny. I have two consoles in my livingroom, an Xbox 360, and an Original Xbox. I still game on the 360, but it's common knowledge that it's starting to age. Skyrim chugs a little bit on it, but I'm still satisfied with it's performance. Of course, it works great for Netflix. My wife uses it all of the time.

Equally useful is the Original Xbox. I have XBMC4XBOX on it, which is still being slowly developed. It works flawlessly for streaming music off my server, and it's user-friendly enough that my wife uses it all the time. It makes a much better mp3 jukebox than the 360.

Video playback on it leaves something to be desired. Of course, there's no Netflix or Hulu. I'm still experimenting with ripping DVDs, and I've found that while 480p H.264 videos play, there are some hiccups. I'm going to try to rip them with FFMPEG. I might even try ripping strait ISOs. When I'm all done experimenting, I plan on doing a complete XBMC4XBOX writeup, because Original Xbox stuff vanished a few months ago. Of course, we still use it to play Halo 2 at LAN parties, which is every bit as fun as Halo Reach.