VIA/Apex Game Console Details Leaked

DammiTT writes "It seems that Apex are releasing a new PC-based 'console', using VIA components, later this year. It'll be announced during CES on January 8th." However, HardOCP already has some initial pictures and details up on its site, for this "ApeXtreme Personal Gaming Console and DVD Player", or PGC. According to this early, unconfirmed report, it's running a 1.4Ghz VIA chipset, the CN400, and "will be powered by a near-instant-on version of WinXP (embedded) with Windows Media Player, and... will have removable media in the form of DVD/CD." It comes with "a 40GB IDE hard drive... you can play DVD movies, audio and video CDs... [and] the price points will be at US$299 and US$399."

Comments

Okay! Hate to be a cynic, but...

[wrinkledshirt]

Dumb question. Couldn't you pick up a full PC for that price by the time this thing comes out? Wouldn't that also give you a wider library of games?

X this X that

[munch0wnsy0u]

One has to wonder when the completely overused and tired X will be phased out. I for one would be happier if the marketing people would find something just a tad more innovative. X is so overused - bleh!

Re:Mmm.. Cheap Linux workstation?

[aflat362]

The reason it has an embedded version of Windows XP is so you can play PC games on it. This is a game console. I see no benefit of Linux on this system. If you want a cheap workstation build a cheap workstation. You could probably do it chaper and better than this box anyway.

Say it ten times fast:

[tepples]

Competition for the Xbox with configurable, customizable components?

Configurable, customizable components cause console crashes.

Consoles "just work" because the games know the exact quirks of the fixed hardware they run on. Console games don't have the incompatibilities with video cards, incompatibilities with CPU models, and even incompatibilities with optical drives that PC games tend to have.

You know what this means?

[Lord Kano]

MAME CONSOLE BITCH!

Seriously, I don't think it will take very long at all before some enterprising individual or group of individuals starts homebrewing their own Mame32 CD for this baby. Think about it. It has a special version of WinXP, that means access to the Win32 API. It will also mean standardized hardware.

Something like that will make the system marketable to grandparents and uncles. People who have no interest in Max Payne or GTA VC just might want to play Burger Time or Space Invaders.

Now, we just need for the owners of the copyrights to those old games to come to the table to negotiate licensing. Even if they don't I'm sure that something like this will sping up eventually anyway.

LK

Doomed to failure

[Anonymous Coward]

Full disclosure: I work for one of the Big Three console manufacturers. Still, I think the points I'm about to make stand by themselves just fine.

1. The spec is not that great. Developments in graphics and CPU are mostly driven by the games industry (do you really need a Radeon 9600 to run Word?), and from what I've heard, all future consoles from the Big Three will have specs that make 1.4GHz look a little lame. Hell, 1.4GHz is only twice as fast as the Xbox processor. The minimum spec for next-gen consoles is an order of magnitude higher than their current ones. At 1.4GHz, it wouldn't be able to run many of today's PC games, let alone the ones to come 5 years hence (the length of the usual console lifecycle).
2. "The OS will not be locked down." A critical key to the success of any console is publisher support, and publishers will not support a console that does not have reasonable copy-protection. If the OS is not locked down, then copy-protection goes out the window.

   An open OS also screws up the business model of all console manufacturers, which is to get royalties from licensed publishers. Why would publishers bother to get a license if anyone can write software for it?

3. Who? Via may be famous for their PC hardware, but that is not the same thing as knowing how to run a games console company. They'll have to work very hard to convince publishers that they're a credible competitor for the Big Three. You could argue that Microsoft (and indeed Sony) were in the same position when they started, but I think they had enough money to throw at that problem.

As the HardOCP article suggests, this could be a kick-ass DivX box, for watching all your media on a big TV. Well, I sure hope so, because you won't be playing many games on it.

Rabid Reflex Post Rebuttal

[Chordonblue]

You can disagree and not be disagreeable, but apparently that's not your... Uh. Style.

I'm not going to call your post 'dumb', but we certainly have a difference of perspective and opinion.

We'll have to wait and see about the video quality won't we? Last I checked, Apex has never used Via components before (unless you know otherwise). Via's Epia quality is excellent. I should know - I've installed at least 6 of the Nehemiah-based Epia's here where I work. Simply beautiful design. Perhaps this is the very reason why both companies decided to work together on this project.

As to the physical design, my point was that it is designed as an entertainment component rather than your average beige box. Sure, you can get a small form factor machine but the cases alone are very expensive for what you get IMHO.

I'm *not* assuming about the "wide open" part. If you read the article you would have noticed that this is being marketed as being hackable.

Where Valve is concerned, well EVERY video game manufacturer deals with card/gfx manufacturer issues. When you're as big as Valve you can expect companies to design their chips and drivers around your game - to an extent. But what about the old cards still floating around? Only a small percentage of people out there are going to actually run out and buy a new gfx card just to play a certain game.

Example: Valve spent months trying to get decent framerates on GeForce FX hardware because of their poor pixel shader implemementation. Gee, why'd they do that? Why didn't they just 'let it go' at 20 FPS? Because they knew quite a few customers out there have this series of cards.

And what's with this assertion that DeltaChrome is 'shitty'? For what purpose? I've seen the test results, and it's certainly no Radeon 9800XT, but consider that you'll be dealing with lower resolutions on TV. Even on 480i HDTV. So then, the difference becomes running Quake III at 400+ FPS on some top of the line card or around 80-100 FPS on the S3. Wow. Funny, I didn't notice the difference either.

How about thinking things through before YOU post next time?