Xbox Media Player Contest

mliu writes "Xbox Media Player, the GPL application that turns everyone's favorite hackable console (the Xbox) into a set-top-Divx/Xvid-playing- Shoutcast-radio-streaming- lean-mean-Mp3/Ogg-music-playing-all-while- sporting-a-pretty-user-interface-machine is holding a contest. They're in desperate need of help in terms of more developers and are holding a giveaway of 25 top of the line X2 Pro modchips for the 25 best patch submissions between now and March 31. If you don't know what Xbox Media Player is and/or feel the need to ask why bother hacking the Xbox, you have definitely gotta check it out. It turns the Xbox from Bill Gates' insidious plot to get into the living room into a set top box that can play practically everything even while sporting a sleek black look that won't stick out in your home theater system, and a user interface that your grandmother could use. And you can even run Linux on it in your spare time. It's no $100,000 but it's for a cause that is both more practical and useful if you ask me." The X-Box has proven itself an entertaining platform for hackers, and the XBMP is really excellent. When it has visualization plug-ins, I think it'll be a great way to put MP3s in your stereo.

Comments

XBox and media...

[KefkaFloyd]

The XBox would be a nice media player, yes, but wouldn't this sort of take sales away from MS Media Center machines?

PS2

[sakaruk]

Its a real shame that there isn't a team developing cool stuff like this for the Playstation 2 Linux.

don't give Microsoft the numbers

[g4dget]

What Microsoft needs most is sales numbers for XBox: that's what they need to attract developers. If you give them that, they will take over this part of the computer market as well, and you can bet that they sooner or later figure out how to make their consoles secure. Then you can kiss GPL or open source projects on that platform goodbye. Or do you think Microsoft is just kidding with Palladium?

If you want a low-cost system for playing music and videos, get yourself a Mini-ITX system; they start at around $200. For gaming, pay a little bit more and get yourself a real PC with a high-end graphics card.

Re:don't give Microsoft the numbers

[blitzrage]

But THIS console, which does all I want it to do, ISN'T controlled by Microsoft. In the future, if I can't hack it, I won't buy it. Then the bottom end drops out and they are stuck. I think the hacking is what is putting the xbox in the living room. I like the look of the xbox way better in my living room, and it's basically a cheap computer I just bought, with the advantage of having games specifically made for it, and it's online. What more can I ask for, not much other than more network capable games that rock.

If you are TALKING about THIS xbox, then MS has no control, and I don't feel bad about using it. I am an avid linux fan, but damn this thing is slick.