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VIA/Apex Game Console Details Leaked

Posted by simoniker on from the not-so-much-of-a-phantom? dept.

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."

4 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Okay! Hate to be a cynic, but... by wrinkledshirt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?

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    Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...

  2. Re:Mmm.. Cheap Linux workstation? by aflat362 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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    Conserve Oil, Recycle, Boycott Walmart

  3. Say it ten times fast: by tepples · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  4. Doomed to failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    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.