Slashdot Mirror
Get Ready For Divx On Xbox
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."
Maybe if DIVX is all that the mod will give the non-techie types, then it will fail.
Yep same reason why I got an XBox. Sure I have a PC. I have in fact several PCs. Too many PCs. But I don't want to move all that stuff into the living room and hook it up to the TV (not to mention buying tv-out cards).
With the XBox hacked to play alternative media formats, such as DivX, VCD, DVD, mp3, WMA, it makes it more useful, and all nicely integrated in the same box.
If MS was smart, instead of letting possible revenue slip away from them, they should just release some form of XBox Media Player that will allow more for more functionality on the XBox. If I could pay $30 bucks to get my XBox to play DivX 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, standard mpeg, standard mpeg2, mp3s, wma, without opening up my XBox, I would pay for it. And since I bought an XBox, and if there are some decent games out there, I just might consider buying a game. (Of course, going back to the issue of quality games because honestly, there just hasn't been that many great ones, except for DOA3 or Halo).
Unless MS want to see potential $$$ slip away, they would jump on the bandwagon. Hey, if you can't release decent games, at least make the box better and get people to buy the console. Heck, it's the same price as the PS2, and I don't see anyone trying to hack that. Though, it is conceivable to get DivX to run on PS2 if you had the Linux Dev kit and compile the code yourself on there... but that's 150 bucks you gota shell out. Do the math.
I don't think MS will like this. Remember they lose money on every box sold, so if you're not buying games, you're an evil pirate.
I followed the link to the story, then to an xbox hack site, XBOXHACKER, and upon entering that sites FAQ, it said that DivX play wasn't possible, at least not yet. Who's right? the faq's here
We now have confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is still an active communist.
The person who submited the article is seriously overestimating the importance of this.
Um... that would be me. I don't generally have a tendency for hype but, in this case, all the pieces that are needed to make Xbox a powerful proposition are falling into place. It's important to stress that I'm not pro or anti MS, I'm just trying to predict how things will be in about a year or so.
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.
That's not how it will work. There's already a burgeoning community of people willing to either mod people's existing Xboxes or sell pre-modded machines. The wholesale prices of these chips appear to go as low as $30 and they are becoming increasing easy to fit, with 12 wires options now replacing the original 29 wire options.
I would suggest that it will become quite common for people to offer modding for about $90 dollars or pre-modded machines for about $270. In somes cases the prices will be even lower than this as budding entrepaneurs, just like MS themselves, will subsidize the initial costs in the interests of developing a substantial customer-base in their own community to whom they can sell films and games on an ongoing basis.
In terms of both skill and capital, the bars to entry are extremely low and I expect that everyone will soon have a "friend-of-a-friend" who will offer these services.
I don't see how this is ever going to be a killer app for the X-Box. Unless Electronics Boutique and Toys R Us start selling pre-modded X-Boxes, far less than one percent of X-Box customers will have DivX functionality. The same really applies to all modded systems. With a modded PS2, I can download hundreds of free games. However, PS2s with mod chips are so rare that the international community of people online that are trading PS/PS2 games is, at most, ten thousand people out of the twenty-six million plus PS2 owners in the world.
Sure, this is a killer app for a couple of geeks, but it isn't going to change the X-Box's sales or revolutionize the movie industry.
ok micrsoft are not complete fools
first of all the bios will be updated and so I am guessing will be the OS to support Windows Media
MS has signed a bunch of DVD people to the wmp format and will at some point start to release films now for a studio whats better
DVD
o expensive media due to the newness
o lots of region independant players (so they cant really relase when they want)
o cracked so that people can copy them
WM format
o can use a CDROM and boy are those cheap
o Control over regions
o Control over Copying
o Control
o Total Control
yes if it starts up then soon their will be a crack for wmp formats (search theregister.co.uk for version7)
now the mods will have to be invented for the Xbox as sson as then change the bios
thank god MS didnt use a decent arch and put the whole thing on a chip so we can Bus snoop (-;
regards
john jones
Shouldn't the linux kit for ps2 allow the possibility of DivX playback?
come on ps2 hackers!
I don't want to buy an Xbox.. but DivX on it sounds mighty tempting..
While that is definitely some fun information (re- dreamcast), it's not for everyone.
Per the divx page on dcemulation.com,:
"Status: - Videos can be up to 496x496 but 320x240 or lower recommended."
So, no real full-screen 720x480 video for me.....
Karnal
> This will take Divx beyond the desktops of those with broadband connections and into the living rooms of those who don't own computers.
Give me a break. For the most part, anyone savvy enough to be able to install a mod chip into an X-Box probably already has a PC. Do you think the average Best Buy shopper is going to install one of these? Most people I know with X-Boxes don't even know how to solder, and even if they did, they would be too afraid to do it on their new $200 console. Only those who are savvy, already have a spare computer and just want a cheap DivX player, and those with the intestinal fortitude will do the Mod chip (which is still a lot of people, of course, but not my parents).
In itself, this is not going to send MS sales through the roof. It's not going to create a massive hype that gamers will flock to the stores in droves. DivX simply won't do that. It's mainly an internet traded format, and people who have internet have computers and monitors. Sure, it'd be nice to watch a DivX in your living room, but most people are going to say big deal before going through the hassle of modding their Xbox for that capability. Targeting VCD playback capability would have done more for sales, especially in Asia. It is has a huge market in both legal and pirate sales. It's a widly accepted format and it's a physical medium anyone can obtain without having to burn it themselves (ie; that person without a PC and/or burner)
Be that as it may, here's The Big Deal(TM): This and other exploits prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the Xbox can and will be cracked. I don't care what you think about MS, you're looking at a small, $300 PC that you'll eventially be able to do anything with. Scream and hollar all you want, but that's a good deal.
Stay with me now, because you might find this a tad intersting. Eventially word will get out that this machine can be cracked at will. HD mods? Linux? MP3 (or WMA in this case) jukeboxes? Pirated movies? No probs. No matter how much MS says they don't like this, it's a totally win/win situation for them and their Ultimate Xbox Goal; Control of the livingroom. Question: Would you be more willing to buy the new (more powerful) Xbox 2, knowing that it can probably be eventially easily hacked like the original? Just maybe. Oh, did we mention that MS has learned a few lessons by incorporating some of the hacks as native support, making it more useful to you? "Hey, now I don't have to go through any trouble to get ______ capabilities." Would you be more willing to buy it? They do it all the time in their other products. Whether by accident or design, MS really has the capability to subvert alot of unwitting consumers with the Box.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Wrong! Some movies can be waay better than VHS. The Matrix is one of them - it can be compressed to only 600MB and still look better than VHS. Now Saving private Ryan is another story, you have to use 2 CDs to get decent quality.
I'm talking about DVD rips of course. No selfrespecting citizen downloads those cinema crap.