Multimedia on the Xbox 360: Minor Stumbles and Next Steps

Continued from 'Microsoft's Xbox 360: A Maturing Multimedia Marvel'….

What about video formats that the Xbox doesn't (at least yet) natively support, such as DivX? The developer of Transcode 360 is understandably distracted by his pending 'daddy' status and has no plans to broaden his transcoding application's support beyond XP Media Center Edition to comprehend Media Connect compatibility, but I'm confident someone else will pick up that particular UPnP torch. And Nullriver Software's Connect360 Mac OS X UPnP application just added WMV streaming support; the program currently on-the-fly translates many still image and (non-DRM'd) audio formats into Xbox 360-friendly variants, and I hope the company will add video transcoding support for sufficiently performance-robust systems (such as the recorded Quicktime files on my dual G5 Power Mac, over-the-air television-fed by an Elgato EyeTV 500 HDTV receiver).

I'm also able to play back all of the non-DRM'd high-definition WMV content contained on red laser DVDs from HDNet (which I'd obtained with I-O DATA's assistance). And I can play back the non-DRM'd clips on Step Into Liquid and the other WMV HD DVD-ROMs in my possession (which isn't saying much, frankly; all of the good stuff on the discs is DRM'd). Speaking of DRM, what I'm not able to do, which leaves me both baffled and bummed, is play back CinemaNow and Movielink material I've purchased and downloaded to a PC. This should be possible, with the Xbox 360 acting as a Windows Media Extender (even though it's not being fed by a MCE-powered PC) or Digital Media Receiver, but I keep getting 'unable to obtain license' errors. Microsoft's PR team promised several days ago to get back to me on this, but I haven't heard anything yet. Media Center Edition PC owners, are you able to stream DRM'd material to your Xbox 360s?

Or maybe it's just another example of an intentional limitation designed to encourage a more direct and substantial revenue stream for Microsoft. The company announced three days ago something that I've been expecting ever since the console's launch a year ago: that next week it'll be rolling out a download service for renting and purchasing movies and television shows. Lil hasn't yet seen V for Vandetta, neither of us has seen Nacho Libre, and we're both huge fans of South Park and the classic Star Trek series (Trouble with Tribbles, anyone?), so there'll be plenty of test-drive opportunities for us. I'm curious to see the final pricing, along with how long it'll take to download each show (given my recent subpar CinemaNow experience) and how much disc space they'll gobble up. On that note, if Microsoft doesn't have larger hard drive peripherals on the near-term roadmap, I'd suggest they get busy; swapping out HDDs ain't gonna fly with most folks.

And for us old-timers who prefer a shiny piece of round plastic in our hands after we hand over our credit cards, there's always the HD DVD peripheral, whose software-centric decoding scheme gobbles up a prodigious percentage of the console's processing muscle. After three days spent canvassing local Circuit City stores (along with recruiting my mom in N. Indiana and co-workers in the Boston, MA area to assist me), I just returned from the Elk Grove, CA store with a rare HD DVD drive in my happy hands (apparently blue laser shortages aren't restricted to Sony and other Blu-ray advocates). Why Circuit City? Well, the $40-off-$199 coupon certainly made the purchase more spouse-palatable.

The drive came bundled with the HD DVD of King Kong; on the way home I swung by Blockbuster to rent the conventional DVD of the same title for comparison's sake. I also have the HD DVDs of The Chronicles of Riddick (yay) and The Phantom of the Opera (yawn). I'll report back Monday what Lil and I think; until then, you can content yourself with Maury's eyes-on impressions.

Followup: Wow. I'd forgotten just how immersive and exhilarating (and exhausting!) King Kong is. And yes, I got teary-eyed at the end. Again.