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Games Entertainment

Will The X-Box Be A TiVO Rival? 117

Posted by timothy from the help-this-vapor-is-choking-me-...- dept.
Utah-Saint writes: "The Xbox is reportedly going to be ramped up to 128 meg unified ram (up from 64) and will incorporate a chip allowing it to be used as a digital vcr (similar to tivo and replay tv) whilst using a 40gig hard-drive supplied by maxtor. http://www.xbox365.com are running the story as an exclusive 'leaked' report ..." "Reportedly" is right -- but trust me, this is either a) happening already, b) not happening at all, or c) going to happen because some bright exec at Microsoft realizes that stumbling in front of the hype machine means being crushed beneath its wheels. Grains of salt are available in the front lobby.

Rumorous or not, this certainly doesn't sound that implausible -- if the X-Box ever arrives, most of the hardware (memory, hard drive, fast processor) would already be in place. And the equally unavailable-but-promised-rsn Indrema machines are alleged to be built with digital VCR capabilities in mind as well, at least in its second generation. (Mind you, with no first compare to just yet.) 12 months from now, digital VCR capabilities could be in every self-respecting video game system.
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Will The X-Box Be A TiVO Rival? More

Will The X-Box Be A TiVO Rival?

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  • Doesn't have to happen like the 3DO (Score:3)

    by Captain Pillbug ( 12523 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:18PM (#809885)
    The 3DO failed [dailyradar.co.uk] as much because of the dearth of games when it launched as because it wasn't marketed correctly. Rather than being a multipurpose machine that can also happen to play some games, the X-Box will probably be marketed as a game machine that can also happen to do some multi-purpose things as well. And there's a world of difference between asking people to sit in front of their tvs in order to look at photo-cds and asking them to sit in front of their tvs and watch television.

    That said, I hope Microsoft gets burned on this one. Call it a vendetta.
  • By "not marketed correctly" do you mean to say that charging $700 for a video game box was pretty foolish? The "multipurpose" stuff was mainly for wall street -- 3DO was sold as a game machine.

    If anyone can ship interactive TV for $200 + $20/month, there might be a market for this sort of thing. You do need the obvious applications (games, internet).
  • With the further proliferation of devices like Tivo, and with this X Box rumor, is it finally time for the long promised "every movie ever made" service to fruition? It would certainly be made easier with DSL, Cable, and other high speed pipes coming in plus a simple NIC on board.
  • A new song? Let's see...

    Penis bird!
    Penis bird!
    Penis penis penis penis
    Penis bird!

    Nope. It'll never be as big a hit as "Feature Creep".

  • TiVo and it's ilk are pretty sexy devices. I want one. Microsoft would have to be simply nuts to pass up the oportunity to add a very desireable feature to the X-box.

    Of course, Sony put Firewire ports onto the PS2... And those HD prices will come down ($799 for 37GB a few months ago). They'd just need a disk with the software on it.

    Naahhhh, Sony'd never go for it, I'm hallucinating again.

  • The French Make out game show.. (Score:3)

    by slashkitty ( 21637 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:38PM (#809890) Homepage
    That reminds me of this great game show I saw while in Paris. I don't quite remeber how they hooked people up, but the winners would go back stage and make out.. soft core make out. I was watching it, and I just couldn't believe it was actually happening. Anyone know the name of this show? Is it coming to X-Box?
  • I tried it. My wife turned out the light. Oh well, it was still worth a laugh.
  • Bascially this thing is a computer. Hack it and run Linux. It'll make one hell of a gaming/Linux machine. Cause you know someone is going to do it.
    The only thing is from the perdictions that they are giving with the Pentium 4, this thing will be really obselete by the time it comes out. Maybe not from a gaming point of view, though I think Nintendo and Sony will most likely come out with a better machine by then aswell, but certainly from a computer hardware stand point.
  • They have the code for PTV in the DishPlayer satalite unit already, so a simple port and it's on the X-Box. Makes sense.

  • This is NOT TRUE. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I work for MS. This is 100% pure mistruth. The motto of the X-Box has always been "games, games, and nothing but games." The team behind the X-Box has ALWAYS maintained this mantra. This story has been discussed internally at MS and they're discussing ways to combat the rumor mill surrounding the device.
    Posted anonymously for obvious reasons.

    -Nobody.
  • The PS2 didn't exist back then when Sony started up it's marketing machine but that didn't stop anyone from spouting off the "facts" about the PS2s numbers and what games it had and such.... why should ppl treat Microsoft any different?

    Ceres

  • Once it can make my morning coffee, I will get it, but I think this is hype and trying to scare other companies of the market.
  • So this is how we get around having to verify things now. End every story with:

    This either is happening, is not happening, or might happen.

    Thanks for clearing that up.
    -----
  • I didn't think Monster Truck Madness was that bad :) It was pretty cool on the PC (the graphics we awsome for what I was running it on) but a while ago I was at the video store and saw 'Monster Truck Madness II for N64!' on the shelf and rented it... while the tracks we're IMPOSSIBLE to do.. there was a whole bunch of M-Player options (especially the king of the hill!) which was about the most fun I'd had on my Nintendo after I got sick of Mario Kart and before I got Perfect Dark. We stayed up all weekend pushing each other off that stupid platform .. and as sad as it sounds it never got boreing :)
  • Age of Empires (published by MS) not good enough for ya?

    You hit the nail on the head. The key word in that sentence is published. Microsoft didn't develop it -- they bought the rights to it. The same goes for most of their other games. Heck, even Solitaire was "Developed for Microsoft by Wes Cherry [scumby.com]" and FreeCell is "by Jim Horne [jimh.net]". Much nicer versions of FreeCell are out there [jimh.net], BTW. Minesweeper is "by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson", and Pinball was licensed to Microsoft by Maxis.

    The list of these things go on and on. Probably half the software published by Microsoft was actually written by some independent shareware developer or a company of some kind. Microsoft then bought the rights to it (or bought the company) and published it under the Microsoft name, claiming another "innovation". For example, the On-Screen Keyboard in W2K is actually written by Madenta, and Imaging for Windows is written by Eastman Software. Microsoft Windows Backup is written by VERITAS. I could go on and on, but I must sleep now.

    --

  • You suffer from a chronic lack of imagination if you can't imagine the 2001 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas will feature a dozen imitations of TiVo. Simple, inexpensive and a natural for southeast asian factories.

    It is easy enough to clone the hardware and software. The tough part is providing the program guide service. Without the program guide, the box is much less useful.

  • That would be sorta neat, would we be able to buy them at dirt-cheap prices, crack them open and salvage their hardware? Come on, 128Megs, 80 gigs, and a GeForce card for approx. $200?

    I haven't been reading about the XBox, but I'm guessing it's just an everything-soldered-into-one, and it's not going to have an ATX motherboard, AGP slot and IDE interface, so making use of the above hardware isn't going to be that easy, huh?

    I don't get MS, why don't they just make an even-more-dumbed-down version of Windows that is robust, easy (to play game: insert CD, "AutoRun" configures game, start game) and is specialised for games/multimedia/whatever else they think of? They've got the hardware already..

    And considering it's just a PC, won't someone be able to write, say, a word processing program for it? They should, so they can charge people money to print over the net because the box doesn't have a parallel port..
  • Yes, I know it's Microsoft and all, but I do actually think it could work. Of course, it's all speculation, but if it does become reality, it will be VERY useful and influential.

    You're forgetting an important part of "it's Microsoft and all": regardless of how good an idea it may be, Microsoft cannot and will not implement it properly. It will not be a good thing for consumers, no matter how good it may sound, not just because the name Microsoft jinxes it, but because Microsoft has a reputation for screwing this sort of thing up consistently. If they accidentally made something that was good for consumers, they'd "fix" it.

    --

  • Also, expect a coupla more features:

    MP3, WMA, etc playback, probably from CD-R(W)s as well.

    Built-in ethernet and ability to hook up to a Windows PC for multimedia access (see above). Don't forget Win2k (and WinME I think) have Connection Sharing built-in...

    MS buys chunk of broadcast time from 2nd&3rd rate cable channels in the wee hours and starts piping encrypted exclusive programming for the X-Box. Who needs Time Warner when the Golf Channel will do?

    With built-in ethernet, and broadband coming to the home, Video over DSL is around the corner. MS buys Covad/Northpoint and uses them for on-demand video to the XBox.

    MS aint dumb folks. That machine has a lot of horsepower that would be wasted on just games. Plus, it's built on a well-known, widely-supported architecture. Getting multimedia capabilities, networking, etc. on this thing will be trivial compared to what Sega, Nintendo or Sony have to go through.

  • and something goes wrong, you get the blue screen of death instead of your show???

    Imagine the Nielsen ratings on THAT!
    Microsoft's ratigns would compete with "Survivor"s...

  • I looked at this article and I find both propositions highly unlikely. The authors think that there will be 128 MB memory in the xbox because the dev kits shipped with 128 MB. This is does not follow. Dev systems need to have more memory than a target system to allow all of the code with debugging hooks to be tested on the target hardware. In addition, the extra 64 MB of memory would increase component cost approximately $30-40 - not very likely in a $299 retail machine. As for the digital vcr - the $500 price point makes me think not. The xbox will have to be $299 or less to succeed as a game machine. Now MS might also release an xbox+ with the larger HD and digital vcr for 500 but the vanilla xbox will be a $299 game console - not a digital vcr.
  • I don't know. It'd kind of be like Mac suing me for using an old Mac Classic as my door stop. Being used for something else than originally intended.
    Hey MS would still be getting theres.
  • You have to have the service for 2 months, bringing the pre tax total to $119.. a good deal for a digital vcr.
  • You mean if I buy one of these things, Regis will be shut down? And there was much rejoicing. (Yay.)
  • Well the same thing happened with Sega; on both the Saturn and the Dreamcast they added all sorts of peripherals: keyboards, modems, etc. The Dreamcast actually seemed to do well on the market, but I don't know how well the extras sold, and I doubt many people bought it for the add-ons.
    --
  • It would be tempting to combine the two functions into one, but I suspect that MS is smart enough to keep it simple the first time out. Online gaming and good games are hard enough to master on the first go 'round, and with their exceedingly late entry into the console market they can't afford to fsck things up at all.

    That said, I do happen to know an MS "exec" who works on Xbox and also owns (and raves about) a TiVO. No joke.
  • The last mile....look at peer to peer sharing now the copyright holders are pitching a fit. want video on demand wait until the last mile is breached.."Hey boby want to watch the matrix icq fred and mary and less watch it i will set up the server"...the WAR is comming...the xbox who cares.
  • surprise.

    Not.

    Just think how happy millions will be to have that asinine paper-clip tell them "just leave your x-box turned off overnight to reset the clock".

    Sorry. My vcr works fine. No reason to BSOD the thing.

    (Yes, as a matter of fact, I AM reinstalling Win 98 this weekend. Why? Because Loki isn't making Roller Coaster Tycoon.)

  • To perhaps save some people the trip to the Circuit City web site to dig up some details, it looks like it's actually $299 with $100 back from CC and $100 back from TiVo if you activate their programming. I, for one, primarily find the TiVo interesting because of its digital VCR features, not because it can record every damn episode of ST:TNG that airs this week. Still might be worth it at $199, and maybe you can just sign up for a month . . .
  • As long as MS put money in gamemakers mouth to develop for X-box they will success. Latest example is here [nyheter.idg.se] (In Swedish)
  • This is getting out of control. Check the link to Indrema machines: http://www.indrema

    Now even Indrema has its own TLD?

    Psst.. its a joke

  • From the post:

    >trust me, this is either a) happening already,
    >b) not happening at all, or c) going to happen

    Well, thanks a lot for pinning that down for us. Either happening, going to happen, or not happening, eh?

    --Sam L-L
  • Maybe there's a copyright on this process! (It'd serve M$ right! ;-)

    You suffer from a chronic lack of imagination if you can't imagine the 2001 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas will feature a dozen imitations of TiVo. Simple, inexpensive and a natural for southeast asian factories. XBox smells like it's trying to be too much, a terrible habit a certain Redmond firm saddles itself with. By the time it comes out it'll probably be outclassed by seperate units which perform each task better. Way to go, guys.

    Vote [dragonswest.com] Naked 2000
  • For a box like this, you don't bother trying to repair it. Just toss it in the dumpster and give the customer a new box.

    The trick with hard drives is balancing the cost of quality control and testing against the cost of failed drives. If every drive lasts for five years, you are doing something wrong :-).

  • Yeah, I've got to agree, Age of Empires was one of the greatest games ever. And my first computer game ever was an MS one; Microsoft Flight Simulator version 1. The WW1 part was kind of fun...
    --
  • Okay, so shitty was too strong a word, but mostly shitty, and a couple decent games, even a good one like Ages of Empires (sorry, haven't played it) isn't going to make up for what they are going to eat selling the player. Then again I guess M$ has money to burn... :-)

    Spyky
  • Does that mean that you *can* use TIVO without the service? I'd get one in a heartbeat if so. But there is no way I want to go through the trouble of dragging a phone line into my living room so that I can pay $10 a month. I'm quite capable of entering times and channels.
  • it's built with an MS OS, so it's bound to crash. i can just imagine coming home, and deciding if i want to watch half of Gilligans Island, or 10 seconds of MST3K.
  • The box in the picture looks like a regular PC. My brother owns a playstation and he takes to over to his freinds house, I can't see my brother walking around with a mid size tower down the street.
  • They key here is installed base !

    Why build it when they've already come?

    ms already has a huge installed base in the home built on open hardware and closed software. It's taken them decades to achieve this lock-in and they know this kind of installed base doesn't come easy.

    Maintaining mindshare in the developer comunity, holding share in the home peecee market, useing the hardware OEMs as distrobution channels (thus hiding the true cost of the OS to the end user) all costs money and they've already spent it.

    MS missed the boat in the www and it cost them big money to catchup. MS missed the boat on handhelds, and they're still spending big to wrestle some share from the king, Palm inc. They're spreading fear uncertinty and doubt about the near future of gaming consoles by talking about a 'miricle box' that, by the time it is released will be a typical peecee.

    All the developers that take this bait and start developing now will find themselves at the end of next year without an xbox from microsoft and they'll say to themselves "hell, I might as well just write it for the peecee" . .and that's where micros~1 is going with this.

  • Personally, I think Microsoft is barking up the wrong tree... If they really wanted to innovate, then they should just BUILD their own computer, and not use off the shelf tech to build the XBox... Just look at the specs, short of a floppy drive, it's a high end PC...

    Hell, if Microsoft built a unique computer, that could also spare them from having to build flakey OS's for even flakier hardware supported systems, like Apple currently does... It isn't like they're at a loss for resources, I bet that if they were really serious, they could commission someone to build an alternative platform for them that could give Macintosh a run for it's money...

    Why didn't they buy Amiga? Or at least try making a computer that's truly unique? There's gotta be something more that could be done on the consumer market, than the PowerPC*/*86 variety, it's to the point now where nobody is really innovating anything, or creating new concepts for computing, it's just the SAME system time and time again, nominally faster, with perty graphics and cases...

  • A digital VCR chip costs what? $20 maybe? Whereas they can demand a monthly subscription of $10-20 for using their digital listings etc.

    Makes sense to me...
  • It's definately _not_ going to be 128mb :-(
  • That reminds me of this great game show I saw while in Paris. I don't quite remeber how they hooked people up, but the winners would go back stage and make out

    Snort! You don't speak French or you would have understood that those were actors. Soft porn is a staple of late-nite TV on some channels here. Nothing shocking when you consider that full fronal nudity on prime-time is common. The major problem the producers have isn't finding actors who are willing, but finding a scenario. Watching people make out bores people unless there's a story behind it, so they came up with versions of "The Dating Game" & "This Is Your Life", etc.

  • Excuse me, but since when has Microsoft been known for cranking out world class HARDWARE? The only M$ hardware devices I've ever bought was an overpriced mouse and my sidewinder game pad thing (though I guess the mouse did work okay). Now everyone assumes they can design and build a world class minicomputer that'll blow away these game companies who are on their 2nd-4th generation machines?

    Aren't game machines all about making an outstanding piece of hardware that the developers can work with? What does MicroSoft know about doing that? Sony had been in the electronics market for decades, and still partnered with Nintendo to come up with the PSX design. Sega and Nintendo both had experience from their upright game machine days when they got into the home market. What has microsoft done?

    It is hard as hell to jump into this market cold (especially where brand loyalty plays such a big part). Just ask NEC (Turbografx 16) and Phillips (CD-i) and EA/Panasonic (3DO) and so on. How much will Mr. Gates lose on this before he just decides to dump it?

    David Wong
  • 600-700mhz PIII
    128mb ram
    40G HD
    nvdia 3d
    built in ethernet

    all it needs is a voice activated mic and you've got a mini-holodeck.

    jim

  • It is only a matter of time before advertisers take notice of devices like TiVo. They are like the borg... they walk on past TiVo and not even acknowledge it because it does not pose a threat yet (not a sizeable enough userbase to make a real dent into advertising revenue). Here comes Microsoft... and they tout similar features (with the exception of not only removing commercials, but replacing them with MSN commercials!). I am sure that may ignite advertisers. It's like that little-known shortcut you use to get home a little faster (going around the heavy-traffic area). Once people catch on... then it is no longer a shortcut, because it's just as deadlocked. Devices like this are better off aiming at a niche market... because that way it can be left unmolested. If it becomes the de-facto device, then expect advertisers to strike some deals with the manufacturers of these devices to somehow get their advertisements to you.
  • If anyone can ship interactive TV for $200 + $20/month, there might be a market for this sort of thing.

    Uhhh... WebTV?
    --
    You think being a MIB is all voodoo mind control? You should see the paperwork!
  • You really gotta wonder what's going to happen if this thing fails. They're sinking $500,000 million into marketing... Um, is that in the US alone? What about other countries, like Japan? If the thing comes loaded up, it's going to cost a fortune for MS to sell them at $300 each. If it's any more than $300, it's dead on arrival. The PS2 will be $250-$200 by that time, or even less if Sony wants to get vicious. Nintendo's GameCube will also be out, which will attract the kids. Dreamcast will be incredibly cheap by then. They can pump as much money into marketing as they like, but no amount of marketing is going to make an interested customer doubtful when they see the much larger library of Playstation 2 games at the store when they go to check it out.
    - Amon CMB
  • Ok help me clarify this, Is this a Game console or a PC that hooks up to a tv? The X-box not the Tivo. The specs on this thing are very similar to my own computer setup. VERY similar for that matter. Nvidia Graphic's card, 128 ram 40 gigs of storage) Hmm wonder if I hook my computer up to a TV can I call it an X box? Course I would then be sued by Microsoft for Copyright Infrigment and thrown in jail for all time. :)
  • That is something I will like to do, watch TV from other countries, in its original version..... no I am not gonna buy a dish, I mean through the net. It could be like visiting a different country every nite... anybody for Fiji tonite, or maybe Tasmania? Hmm how about local TV from Tierra del Fuego

  • Sony had been in the electronics market for decades, and still partnered with Nintendo to come up with the PSX design

    Nintendo initially asked Sony to develop an add-on for the SNES so that it play CD-based games. At the last minute, Nintendo decided no thanks and Sony decided to further develop and market the box themselves, calling it the PlayStation (PSX).

    Did Sony have any game-box experience before this?

    Al

  • I have been following Nintendo since the NES. But, looking at the Game Cube, I seriously think that the XBox will beat out all competition in this "console race." With the nVIDIA graphics card, Maxtor hard drive, there isn't much of a chance, in my eyes, for anything else. I think that Sega had the right idea. They knew that better was coming out soon, so they quickly finished up the Dreamcast and released it to the public to bleed it while they still could. The only thing that could help out the Game Cube is Nintendo's old games like Kirby, Mario, et al.

    Mark my words, NCube will crash and burn.

    www.Soundex.org [soundex.org]

    Have a nice day,
  • I can't wait to start recording all the times I try to beat on . Maybe I'll abuse my ISP's bandwidth wall by emailing all my friends copies of my gameplay.
  • "Trust me it is either"
    a) happening already,
    b) not happening at all, or
    c) not going to happen.

    What is there to trust here? You're listing all possibilities...
  • One big problem with having a game machine + VCR. It won't do both at the same time, and the parents will get really pissed when the kids unset the VCR in order to play games while they're away. Duh!

  • Tivo's down to $99 this weekend (Score:3)

    by slashkitty ( 21637 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:28PM (#809942) Homepage
    I don't know if they can compete on the price and reliablity of the Tivo... And with the price of a Tivo going down to $99 this weekend (Circuit City) I think I am going to be picking one up. Now.. where was that hack tivo page.. Did they get it to play games yet?
  • Can the kids play their games while I am recording my favorite TV shows?

    -D-

  • Microsoft hardware is an oxymoron. Sorry, that should read, reliable microsoft hardware is an oxymoron (okay, that applies to microsoft software too.) Their mice were overpriced and broke down just as much as the 10$ competitors. Their keyboards were similarly priced and ridiculous anyway. The Microsoft Phone, while an interesting idea, was useless in that it was only supported under Win9x (what use is an answering system running on a computer that crashes everytime a message arrives?), not only that but they stopped supporting it without so much as a word of explanation and refused to support the damn thing under NT or w2k where it might have actually worked (and would they even consider releasing spec so that it could be ported to a system that actually works like Linux or BSD? Of course not.)

    Ok, I admit it, I bought one in a very weird moment of online impulse buying (so shoot me) and now I have a box full of plastic shards, which is what happens to a Microsoft phone after you smash the piece of shit to smithereens with a 5 lb sledgehammer -- that much was expected.) BTW, this was an exceptionally cathartic experience, in case you have similar needs.

    I tried the same with a Win98se "upgrade" CD but it just wasn't the same.

  • Feature Creep (Score:5)

    by rechsmjr ( 56506 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:30PM (#809945)
    This reminds me of a song a very wise boss taught me years ago.

    It goes like this:

    Feature Creep!
    Feature Creep!
    Feature feature feature feature
    Feature Creep!

    Best sung standing on your desk with your arms in front of you, palms forward, waving in a circular motion.

  • X-box: the truth is out there (Score:3)

    by Spyky ( 58290 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:52PM (#809946)
    I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about gaming consoles over coffee drinks in one of those goofy coffee bars with internet access. The dude next to us joined in our conversation, as we argued whether the X-box was going to kick the PS-2s ass or the other way around.

    Basically the consensus of the conversation was that Microsoft lacks a certain ability A) deliver products on time B) deliver products that live up to their hype. We all agreed that the X-Box has some pretty lofty expectations, with that nVidia dream video card, PIII processor, DVD drive and run MS windows something or other. Now they tell us its also going to have a 40GB hard drive, twice as much memory as before! *and* act like a digital video recorder.

    Come on. I'm all for progress, but this is going to be one damn expensive console. Just the memory, hard drive and processor alone, not to mention the video card are going to push the price above $300.

    I know console makers often sell their boxes at a loss and make it up on the games. But lets face it. MS has a track record of generally shitty games, they really expect to make up for developing the console on games like that?

    I'll believe the hype when I see it.

    Spyky
  • since those are all the possibilities, short of an intervening apocalypse. Esp. considering that I've been rolled by rumor sites before, I wanted to get in a "trust me." ;)

    timothy
  • Microsoft already has plans to release a box (Ultimate TV?) containing a directTV receiver, a digital video recorder (i.e. Tivo clone), and WebTV functionality. Supposedly it will be released this fall.

    It makes logical sense that they would offer similar set of three options on the X-box.

  • So let me get this straight. This has either already happened, is going to happen later, or will never happen?

    Nice to see you covered all the bases. If I were a betting man, I'd like those odds.
    signature smigmature

  • One thing to note... (Score:3)

    by mfterman ( 2719 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @07:23PM (#809950)
    Consoles and these DVCRs both have the same economic model. The boxes themselves are dirt cheap and the profits are made on the stuff around the boxes. Games in the case of consoles and the subscription service in the case of DVCRs. In theory there's a lot of overlap between the two pieces of hardware as well. Consoles would probably be overkill in hardware for the sort of rendering needed for these devices. In theory a company manufacturing a dual purpose machine might be willing to risk shaving more overhead from the machine because they'll have a dual source of income.

    Personally I think you're risking 3DO syndrome in this case. The PSX2 is edging there but sticking a DVD player into a console with a DVD-ROM is so trivial whether or not to do it is a political decision instead of a technical or economic one. Until consoles hit the same point I don't think this will happen.
  • i was waiting for the, lets put linux on it bit :)

    but, wouldn't M$ sue then... for uh, somthing....

    -------

  • Huh? Age of Empires (published by MS) not good enough for ya?

    Also, the Microsoft sports games, while not the best in their categories, were respectable and were at an attractive price point. Now that they own Access, they own the PC golf genre as well. Asheron's Call has done respectably, and with Mechwarrior 4, Mechcommander 2, Crimson Skies, and some of the Digital Anvil titles coming out in the future, Microsoft's gaming future looks pretty bright indeed.

  • A: Sony already licenses TiVo, and has a unit on the shelves, the SVR-2000.

    B: PS2 has enough punt to do the encoding & playback.

    C: The final specs of the hard-drive / broadband adapter haven't been announced... yet.

    It's not hard to do the math.

    They tell me nothing, I guess the rest.
  • Like the Sony Playstation 2, it's an "entertainment center". It's built like a console, but with features like a hard-drive and this new Tivo-like possible technology, it's more of a family entertainment system than a game machine.

    PS2 has DVD-playing software built right in (with the drivers on the memory card and updatable). People were asking Sony at first whether it was for playing games or watching movies. Their answer: both.

  • ... I thought Minesweeper was pretty good!

    [/sarcasm]
    To be serious,I'm not sure which "shitty games" you're referring to. Certainly, they've made a couple Masterpieces of Badness (like that mosnter truck game... *shudder*), but on the other hand, Age of Empires is pretty good. So here's my question (I am not a hardcore gamer): What other really bad games have they made? Do these outweigh the occasional gems?
    -J
  • The X box does not yet exist.
  • An exclusive leaked report says that after increasing the X-Box memory from 64 to 128 meg, Micro$oft decided to further increase the features and also include the kitchen sink.

  • Re:Tivo's down to $99 this weekend (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Why cant tivo do PAL and be supported at least in a hacked way outside USA.

    God damn usa companies sometimes are so anal about exporting, dumb assses
  • This was discussed on ukgamer:

    From: Kevin Bachus [mailto:kbachus@xbox.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 17:25
    To: 'removed'
    Subject: RE: [ukgamer] FW: Die sony DIE!!!!

    Not true.

    The spec has been baked since before GDC and will not change.

    These rumors make me insane.

  • Watch Out for Copy Protection! (Score:4)

    by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @08:13PM (#809960) Homepage Journal

    I shouldn't have to spend a lot of time explaining this one. Who here honestly believes that Micros~1 would put out a digital VCR that would allow you to share recorded shows with your friends?

    A digital VCR -- or, more generally, a digital media center -- is a wonderful idea. It would allow you to record, mix, match, edit, transform, and otherwise manipulate the half-dozen or so media sources already streaming into your home (broadcast TV, cable TV, AM/FM radio, Internet). Using a single well-designed system, you could, for example:

    • Record that evening's Star Trek broadcast,
    • Go to TrekFanSite.org (not a real site) and download the fan-authored cutlist to automatically chop out the commercials,
    • Hop over to the Simul-Trek [earthlink.net] site, download and lay in a replacement soundtrack; or
    • Visit MST3Kinfo.com [mst3kinfo.com] and download an MPEG overlay of Joel/Mike and the bots offering commentary,
    • Assemble snippets from various episodes to create some wacky dialog,
    • Post the result to your Web site and share it with the world.

    Now, which is the more probable: That Micros~1 will create the afore-described flexible, open system that gives ordinary people the power to use media in new ways; or will they create a box that will copy-protect the fsck out of everything -- all the worst features of Macrovision and CSS -- preventing you from even copying the recordings to your own PC, and will fink on you if you try?

    Pay very close attention to this one, people...

    Schwab

  • and something goes wrong, you get the blue screen of death instead of your show???

    Imagine the Nielsen ratings on THAT!
    Microsoft's ratigns would compete with "Survivor"s...


    Well, just check the cable channel Odyssey on sunday nights and see. The last 3 sundays I've turned it over there and it has been music and the BSOD (set to not reboot even). I'm beginning to think it's a regularly scheduled program on sundays.

  • (from the 3D Action Planet story [3dactionplanet.com] about half-way down)

    • Concerning consoles, Carmack said that an Xbox version of the Doom game will be a "no brainer", since it will be so easy to port the code to the PC-like console.
    • However, on the topic of the Playstation 2 and the Dreamcast Carmack was much less optimistic, since the technologies those consoles use don't support many of the "cool things" he wants to do with the new game. The consoles also lack the 128 MB or RAM [emphasis mine] that Carmack anticipate will be required to run the game. Porting the game would require a major rewriting and reworking of many of its parts, and if such ports happen at all they will happen several months after the PC/Linux/Mac/Xbox release.

    So on the one hand we have the great Carmack, seemingly confirming the 128MB rumours (by implying that the X-Box is somehow immune from the 128MB problem - either by actually having 128MB, or some other method), and on the other hand we have Mike Abrash's DDJ article [ddj.com], seemingly confirming the 64MB configuration.

    Hmmm, that's actually quite amusing: Carmack & Abrash together again (albeit pointing in opposite directions).

    Of course, the DDJ article could be MS misdirection. Of course, the rumours could be MS misdirection. :)

    Al

  • Why is it that every time any news story matching /(Microsoft|The rumor mill) (announces|leaks).*about X-Box/ then it gets posted to Slashdot? First of all, the X-Box is pure vapor. It doesn't exist. And we all know Microsoft's knack for releasing vaporware products to help destroy competition. So I don't see how these stories can be considered "news."

    Second, Microsoft stands in the way of everything geeks believe in: open technology, open standards. So I personally don't see how these stories can be considered "news for nerds." I would be more likely to classify it as "news for people who don't like that big, complecated, and unfriendly technology thing and need Microsoft to make it easy-to-use" (see also: the Ease-of-Use Lie).

    I'm also sure we've all noticed the recent rash of Microsoft whiners who keep wailing, "Every time a Linux story is posted it's modded up, and every time a Microsoft story is posted it's modded down! Slashdot is not objective! They're all a bunch of Linux Zealots!"

    Maybe there is some truth to that, but certainly not in the case of Slashdot's recent and repetitive fawning over the X-Box.

    Am I alone in this sentiment?
  • I've noticed that a lot of /.ers don't think very much of "convergence". I disagree with them.

    A device that "only" plays games will be at a real disadvantage with a device that does so much more. I am buying a PS2 mostly because it has a built in DVD player. I want to play games but I've never bought a game console before. The DVD player puts me over the edge.

    If the X-Box has a Tivo like device built into it I might just replace the PS2 I'm buying when it comes out.

    Vanguard

    PS Nah, probably won't replace it because I tend to boycott MS stuff. However, I will give it a long look.

  • not a good idea (Score:3)

    by nomadic ( 141991 ) <nomadicworldNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:04PM (#809965) Homepage
    The Xbox team had it right the first time; just do games. People will not buy a unified entertainment unit. Look what happened to all the interactive TV plans a few years back. Or the 3D0 even further back. Of course, eventually there will be a breakthrough product that will actually succeed (like the Palm Pilot succeeded in the decades-old electronic address book market), but since they're already taking a big chance with introducing a new console system, I'd stick with that.
    --
  • You seem to be correct about the WebTV with Tivo functionality.
    Yahoo! has a news story [yahoo.com] about the new WebTV chip which "ability to handle several streams of digital video at once, allowing users to watch or recordseveral programmes at the same time".

    Too bad it will probably run Windows CE and not Linux...

  • True... I seem to recall having an inordinate amount of fun moving trucks and trash cans all over the place. ;)
    -J
  • Some one explain the origins of the penis bird. - ( \ X 8===D I think this one is from Japan...
  • It looks like there's now a very good reason for buying an X-Box, aside from playing games (we must wait and see what the quality and performance are like, sometime next year). If this thing can record standard TV shows, it will actually be a benefit to the public.

    Sooner or later, the VCR will have to disappear, and if we can get a cheap digital replacement, that's great. Add a DVD burner (they should be within the "affordable" range within the next couple of years) and you're set for permanent and high-quality recordings.

    Yes, I know it's Microsoft and all, but I do actually think it could work. Of course, it's all speculation, but if it does become reality, it will be VERY useful and influential.
  • Last I understood (until this news) it's a game console, but M$ has choosen to build it so that developers can write for both the PC and x-box all at once with no porting.

    IMHO, looks like it'll be an e-machine with a controller hooked up to it.

  • I don't have a Tivo, I have a ReplayTV. And one of the features that Tivo has that Replay doesn't is the time and date recording feature. So yes you can use it just like a vcr.

    But I've found that service to be quite useful. And I use my electrical wiring to make the phone connection using plug in phone jacks.

    Steve M

  • That's right it's both FUD and Hype! MS knows damn well they'll be spanked in any one area and is doing this to slow down the WHOLE tv addon area until they can release their own thing. Or they could just want to slow it down so they spite Irendema or Tivo or whoever. If they slow the whole market they can release their product and capture more users. Afterall it's easy to capture users who haven't committed to anything. Typical MS, gotta hand it to them, when they want something it's theirs or nobodies'.
  • hey why did my bird get squished?

  • Yeah, everything from MS sounds fantastic about a year or two before release. If every rumored solution from Redmond materialized, governments could be disbanded because all the world's problems would be solved (and wouldn't they like that). The problem is, you get it and it works like shit. "Regis has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down...". I can't hardly wait.

  • So does that mean when you record your TV show (Score:3)

    by eclectro ( 227083 ) on Friday September 01, 2000 @05:08PM (#809975)
    and something goes wrong, you get the blue screen of death instead of your show???

    just wondering.
  • They had better ramp up! The specs sound like less than a $400 pc now.
  • check it out! Great new system for watching TV:

    http://www.onion.com/onion3308/realtimetv.html

    God, this is hot! I wish I had submittied it as news instead of this post!

  • Microsoft has built huge businesses out of controlling the Windows desktop. If this X-Box DVR story is true, I'll bet it's because they smell an even meatier "desktop": the on-screen input menus for DVR channel listings. If the X-Box does become a popular game machine/DVR, it would put Microsoft in a position to control the pipe leading into the television and get their way on interactive TV and even cable modem service, assuming they add those to the X-Box's innards as well: it's simple enough to handle all the digital TV extras as a virtual software machine on a souped-up nVidia chip that isn't handling a game at that precise moment, since it doesn't involve decoding the live video stream, only the attendant datacasting. If everything else is plugged into the damn thing, why not your coaxial cable, especially if the box looks coooooool. The cable industry bent over backwards to ensure that Microsoft wouldn't control the specs for the next generation of digital set-top boxes that they sell, but X-Box could be an end-run around that.

    I wonder how much the ratings for MSNBC will suddenly spike when all those X-Boxes start recording "Time and Again" by default because users can't get past the talking paper clip (or will it be a talking "couch" potato?) that's "helping" them choose shows. "Hey, where's my 'Dukes of Hazzard' wizard?!"

  • Re:X-box: the truth is out there (Score:4)

    by ddstreet ( 49825 ) <ddstreet.ieee@org> on Friday September 01, 2000 @08:25PM (#809986) Homepage
    I know console makers often sell their boxes at a loss and make it up on the games. But lets face it. MS has a track record of generally shitty games, they really expect to make up for developing the console on games like that?

    They key here is installed base !

    BillG will eat the cost (somewhat) in order to get one of these in evey home in the world. "It's got games for the kids, and can record hours of TV for the parents!" Then you have an installed base. Do not forget that is how M$ has made their money - their installed base. This is their plan. I guarantee. Once you have an installed base you can (almost) do anything. You rule the customer AND the companies providing games/services/etc for the installed product.

    Don't underestimate M$, they know how to make money. Not much else, but making money - they got that down...
  • If you want to do that, then trust me, go out and get a conventional VCR.

    I've got a TiVo and the features are amazing. When TV was invented, they used to say that it would be used to bring culture and science into everyone's living room, and our society would be improved because of it.

    Well, with the TiVo, that idealistic dream has come true. Any time I want, I have a slew of good movies and documentaries at my disposal. I never have to see another inane episode of "Will and Grace" again. I don't have to break for commercials either.

    If you get a TiVo, don't get the $10 a month service. Pay for the lifetime service for $200. You will save money if you use the unit for a year and 8 months.

  • ... subscription service in the case of DVCRs.

    While Tivo does have a subscription option you can get a lifetime (of the box) subscription for $199. ReplayTV does not have asubscription fee, but in general costs ~$200 more than Tivo for equivalent recording time.

    So for a smart consumer, you've got a maximum life time profit of $200 - [(cost of box) - (price of box)].

    Doesn't look like much of a profit opportunety here.

    I expect we'll be seeing ads on PVRs in the not too distant future.

    Steve M

  • Not Just MS (Score:3)

    by SteveM ( 11242 ) on Saturday September 02, 2000 @08:31AM (#809994)

    Check out HRRC [hrrc.org], the Home Recording Rights Coalition.

    It seems the entertainment industry is trying to get home recording of DTV and HDTV classified as "Theft of Service". Time shifting would thus be illegal.

    Also, although I forget where I saw this bit, Rupert Murdoch is behind an initiative to develop satellite TV receiver/PVR combo the software for which will allow codes in the transmission that prevent fastforward. No more commercial skip.

    It disgusts me the way companies focus on greed at the expense of the customer.

    Pay very close attention to this one, people...

    Do more than that. Write you elected officials and let them know you oppose these efforts. Write to the manufacturers and tell them you won't buy their products (it is not enough simply to not buy, let them know why you didn't.) Similarly, tell those companies that are doing a good job that they are and why. Finally, write the advertisers that use any of this technology and tell them that you won't purchase their products.

    It is a scary world that the MPAA, RIAA, et al envision. Do your part to prevent it from happening.

    Steve M

  • I spent some time in Paris and saw a show like this as well. It was kind of like the show Blind Date in the states but in the French version anything goes. And usually did.

    Even more suprising was that the premium movie channel (kinda like HBO) ran uncut porno flicks.

    I doubt these are coming to the x-box.

    But this does raise an interesting question. Why can't we recieve TV networks from other countries via cable or satellite? Instead of the BBC in America why can't we just get the BBC?

    In Europe the hotels offered a choice of networks from many countries. And come to think of it, you can get CNN just about anywhere. So why the complete absense of of foreign networks in the US?

    Steve M

  • God damn usa companies sometimes are so anal about exporting, dumb assses

    Let's see, your gripe is that the U.S. won't sell you any Sony (Japan) or Phillips (Netherlands) Tivo units for PAL? May I respectfully suggest that your complaint ain't with us ...

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