Media Center Competing on Xbox 360 with Xbox Itself
Chris Lanier has a thought-provoking post about how the Xbox 360’s Dashboard update means that the 360 can now play more file formats than the 360’s own Media Center Extender, because Microsoft hasn’t updated the Extender software to work with them. Version 2 Extenders support DivX, the Dashboard supports DivX, but the Dashboard’s Extender doesn’t, and we’ve been pretty much told it never will.
As big as the Xbox 360 is, Microsoft overall plan to take over the living room is so much more important. In fact, when it launched the 360 was looked at almost as a trojan horse to get Media Center into wider usage. Microsoft has this weird thing where it allows media to come into the 360 through multiple protocols with different codec support and different capabilities, making things more confusing and limiting the company’s ability to leverage the Xbox into selling other Microsoft products.
Frankly, the Xbox 360 should be more locked down. The console shouldn’t support streaming from anything except Windows Media Center, and should add new features, like new codecs, through Media Center. This is one area where Microsoft could easily have been a lot more evil and created a single pathway that goes only through its own product, just like Apple does with the Apple TV and iTunes.
At the very least, by forcing users to utilize Media Center, Microsoft would simplify things. Last night, I tried to play an episode of Dexter in the Media Center Extender, and was told the codec wasn’t supported. I had to exit the Extender, go back to the Dashboard, locate the same file for the second time, and play it again.
By having more than one way of doing things, efforts are being spread thin. Microsoft has developers working both on playback for the Extender and the Dashboard. Independent developers are building third-party streaming services (like TVersity) when they could be focusing on Media Center plugins. Media Center needs more attention, but as a tacked-on bastard sister of the Xbox 360 it is getting ignored.
I’m all for wide-open choice, which is why I choose Microsoft over Apple, but Microsoft is selling itself short by doing the same things twice. When you’ve already got a first-rate streaming protocol on the Extender, don’t build new stuff into the Dashboard. Make the Extender better, make everyone happy.
My experience is that the XBox 360 Dashboard loads up faster and connects more easily than the Extender. The extender is prettier, but it seems to hang up on my wireless network adapter more than the Xbox adapter.
Comment by Ken Carson | December 5, 2007
I agree with Ken. Media Centre is prone to crash way too often to be reliable. Being able to play divx, mp4 directly from the dashboard is easy and works well. At last a fantastic update to the 360.
Comment by Daniel Webster | December 6, 2007
I complete disagree. Here are a few problems with requiring Media Center for media streaming: 1) Not everyone uses Media Center, or wants it, or needs it. 2) No streaming from Window Home Server. 3) Zune’s experience wouldn’t be as well connected.
Windows Media Center is only really only worth it to watch recorded TV from a media center pc, and the internet TV beta. Otherwise Media Connect/Dashboard is the way to go, it’s open for anyone that has windows or mac os. A lot of people were hacking the xbox1 to be able to stream media from their computers, this is a legitimate way to do it without voiding the waranty. This makes the xbox360 the most flexible console and that’s a real huge selling point.
Comment by Mike | December 6, 2007