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Get Ready For Divx On Xbox

Posted by timothy on from the 200-dollars dept.

donnacha points to this ZDNet story which says that hackers have built a Divx player for Xbox. "As previously discussed ( Divx - The Real Xbox Killer App), the ability to play reasonably high-quality films, speedily burned onto inexpensive CDR media, is going to make (modded) Xbox ownership a far more attractive proposition. This will take Divx beyond the desktops of those with broadband connections and into the living rooms of those who don't own computers. Expect to see a resurgence of Xbox sales and much confusion in MS as to whether or not this is a good thing."

4 of 361 comments (clear)

  1. Over hyped by PyroMosh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The person who submited the article is seriously overestimating the importance of this. People without computers don't hack their x-boxen. Trust me on this one. I doubt anyone is going to go out and buy an x-box just because of this. But I do wonder weather MS will think this a Good Thing(TM) or not.

    --
    Touch everywhere, even when inappropriate.
    1. Re:Over hyped by Nindalf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The ease of the mod is only one half of its potential appeal. The other half is value.

      The ability to play Divx on CD-R is just not a big deal. Sure, you'll probably see a few hundred or thousand video-trading geeks setting this up, so they can watch their stuff on the TV. There might even be a few who would buy an Xbox specifically to watch movies on CD. But you're just not going to see this make the difference to hundreds or millions of people.

      My reaction on hearing about this was, "So what?" And I even know what Divx is, which is more than you can say for the general population.

      Ordinary people don't think, "Hey, I'll go out and spend $300 so I can watch piles of the second-rate bootleg videos you can buy from that creepy kid who never goes outside!"

      You should learn the difference between, "Hey, this is exactly what I was looking for!" and "Wow! Everyone is going to want one of these!"

  2. or you could... by numatrix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So let's see, I can spend $200 on a machine that I probably wouldn't otherwise buy to watch divx movies, or I can buy a $50 dreamcast and use the divx player that's been around for a while on that. Hmm... difficult decision. Not to mention there are already emulators for ALL of your favorite old-school platforms for the dreamcast. -jordan

  3. Analogous to Playstation Mods by Oishii · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In Australia, the modding of playstation (one)s was a HUGE thing about a year ago. Why? Because then you could play copied games. And yes, neighbourhood kids with a little savvy made quite a decent income out of being an "all stop shop". Mod-chipping was usually a $25AUD fee. ($US15)

    Come in, get your PS modded, buy a pirated game or three from my extensive copy library. Build your own collection, yes siree, at just $7 (AU) per disc, you too can have a game collection the envy of your friends.

    So, these same gameplaying Xbox owners, what do you think they'll say when the neighbourhood kid starts offering (1) a mod, (2) pirated Xbox games and (3) the latest release movies - especially in countries where hollywood delays the release date FAR behind the US one.

    I think there's a large market, provided the cost is right.