Scientific-Atlanta Mulling Video Game Set-Top Box

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Scientific-Atlanta Mulling Video Game Set-Top Box

Posted by simoniker on Thursday March 4, 2004 @05:22AM from the tv-fun-and-games dept.

NickNiel writes "According to Yahoo, Scientific-Atlanta (a digital cable set-top box manufacturer) is 'planning to develop television set-top boxes with high-performance video game capabilities, which could compete with game consoles such as Nintendo's GameCube and Sony's PlayStation 2.' My favorite quote, from CEO James McDonald: 'I can give (game players) the same performance you get out of those game boxes," he added. 'There is no question that games is one... market we will be in.'"

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If it's anything like their DVR... by martone66 · 2004-03-04 05:55 · Score: 3, Informative

...then it will be a major failure. I have the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 DVR ($10/month through Comcast) and the thing is a major POS. The interface is terrible. Occasionally I have to wait 10-20 seconds for the channel to change while the recorder catches up. Sometimes the box dies, and has to reboot itself. Oh, and from time to time it forgets about its recording schedule.

Its only advantages over Tivo are the fact that it can record 2 channels at the same time, and doesn't require a landline connection (don't have one).

It seems like a product that was rushed to market. Given their track record with this, I can't help but think that a game system produced by them would be a major flop.
1. Re:If it's anything like their DVR... by CanSpice · 2004-03-04 08:00 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Jesus yes. I was going to say that if it's anything like their Explorer 8000 then this game console is going to be a pile of shit.
  
  "Features" of the Explorer 8000:
  
  - if you're watching a show that's being recorded at the same time, when the show stops recording you get dumped to live TV rather than continue to watch off the recording.
  - live pausing only appears to hold for an hour and a half.
  - no easy way to find out how much space you've got left without going through an arcane developer's menu.
  - if you have a recording conflict and choose to not record a show that you've set a "season pass" for, it won't record any of that show ever again, even if future episodes don't conflict.
  - no way to remove repeat episodes from "season pass" recordings. Especially annoying for things you know are going to repeat, like Adult Swim that repeats three hours after initial showing.
  
  I've had playback quality issues a couple of times where the playback freezes for a second or so. Fast-forwarding sometimes freezes too, although I'm not completely sure if only the video output freezes, because when it unfroze it looked like it was a few seconds past where it froze.
  
  And there are a bundle of UI problems, like the practically useless favourite channel list (oh boy, you get to scroll up through them, heaven forbid you should want to filter your guide to only show you your favourite channels!).
  
  The only good thing (besides two tuners) about it is that it costs $5 a month over regular digital service. If it cost any more I'd be cancelling my service.