My entertainment center is a slippery slope

Ok, so my entertainment center is a slippery slope.

I want an Xbox 360.

I have a CRT, an old Sony 945 receiver, and a large armoire to hide it all away in.

What stands between me and HD goodness is about...hmm...$4000. Ugh. And yet there are plenty of bigger issues to be paying for in a home.

So I figure I'll start with a HDMI 1.3-compatible receiver (buy ahead in tech) since a new TV does no good with nothing to plug into, and then save save save for a HDTV by end of year when the Wal-Mart HDTV fiasco will hopefully start again.

Is it just me, or is Live *on a PC* meh-able

Microsoft Xbox Live to come to Windows with Halo 2
March 14 2007
http://www.dvhardware.net/article17646.html

This is the part where I sounds like a grumpy old man.

Why is Live that exciting for Windows and the regular computer user? Evidence keeps building of growing support for casual games, something Live certainly excels at delivering, but how many casual users are going to pay $50 year (admittedly cheap to those of us doling $15/mo for crack) to play casual games?

That leaves the obvious group: the gamers wanting to load up Halo 2 on their PC and play their counterparts on consoles. (Better get a xbox controller to tackle that...) But with games like Halo 2 requiring outrageous computers, why wouldn't the hard core gamer nab a console that handles the shooter a little more natively?

That brings us back to the beginning, that Live is another step forward in the digital melting pot --- providing another community building tool, another way for groups to access one another and pwn yer face. That makes me wonder by what measure Live will be viewed as successful. Microsoft tends to enter a field with shaky legs, learn quickly, and start competing hard, so perhaps this is another venture. Without seeing the plans in front of me, and without claiming "[blank] confirms that Live will have [insert]?"

And while I'm on this topic: STOP TITLING ARTICLES as with the word "confirm" and a question mark! How can a source confirm something if it is still in question? (I'm looking at you Engadget, and rumor posters worldwide!)

Digital convergence....meet me at the ent center

Another good piece about Battleground: EntCent

Interactive connection finally coming together

January 18, 2007
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/12/MNGDLNHJVF1.DTL

• key point
  "The technology and consumer electronics industries have long teased consumers with the notion that their computers would serve up all the media content they want and their televisions would offer the interaction and choices of the online world. But it all felt like so much vaporware -- prosperity that remained tantalizingly around the corner."

There is gathering momentum toward a real all-in-one product to serve up all our media needs, but thus far we've not seen anything beyond the same problems of "does everything, but nothing well" or "does a few things but needs another box for the rest" in an easy to use package. Something that plugs in, finds your wireless network (or sets itself up on your wired one) and starts getting to know you by asking questions about what shows you like to watch, music you like, and so on - WITHOUT sending this info to marketers (I'm looking at you Tivo).

No Gnews like old gnus

Or so to mis-phrase Gary Gnus of the Great Space Coaster, I would like to look back before moving forward with blog. This way I can set the stage for the focus and interest of the blog going forward...

Xbox Woos New Fans
January 12, 2007

Microsoft said half of 360 owners are new to the company, but they could just be Sony defectors.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=20816&hed=Xbox+Woos+New+Fans§or=Industries&subsector=EntertainmentAndMedia

• key point:
  "While it may be seeing success wooing experienced gamers, Microsoft’s push to market the 360 as a multimedia machine with a wider appeal are clear. The Xbox's pending IPTV service could even put it in competition with archrival Apple again, albeit in a decidedly different arena."

Coming soon to an entertainment center near us is a machine of undecided "progressive" colors and design (white and smooth, or black and sharp?) It will handle the mp3s, high-def video, and online access that most don't know they yet need, but will definitely USE once it lands in their hands via a well-designed remote ala Tivo's.