Gaming Crosses Over

Ever since word of game consoles breaking into the Web world got out to IGN, GameSpot, Joystiq, and others, I’ve had an inkling that a move so embracing of the new generation of internet technology would be a big one, and it finally appears to be panning out in a real and meaningful way.

Just look at the recent Asian and US releases of the Playstation 3. Enclosed within its sleek case is a graphical powerhouse, but more so, it is a computer. Even its hard drive bay was designed in a fashion such that a swap with a much larger disk would be possible with little work on the customer’s part. USB ports are present as well – four at the front – to which one can connect keyboard and mouse to the Playstation, add a monitor and effectively play and utilize the system’s features from the sofa or the desk chair.

A number of curious gamers have already placed Linux installations on the Playstation 3. It won’t be long before the resolution issues will have fixes, networking enabled, and people begin to adopt the Xbox 360 and/or the Playstation 3 to use in replacement of their Media Center (or OS equivalent) computers.

Of course, unless broadband providers uncork the true potential of their pipes to withstand real-time high-def media streams, current storage solutions will have to be expanded exponentially to endure the content coming in. Fortunately, we are at a point where incremental upgrades to the available product lineups will be preferred to new console releases every year new technologies in core processing components are introduced.

First things first:

We currently have two semi-legitimate console-based browsers available today, and they’re going to need some work and some codec support before people start spending their time with the Wii ogling YouTube. 2007 will see these items kick into place beside their standalone PC counterparts. It would be a horrendous misstep for Mozilla, Microsoft, and Opera to avoid this market. Xbox, Playstation, and Wii SDKs should be made available to out-of-game software developers and the consoles’ proprietary lug nuts loosened a bit to allow for experimentation. Taking the viral effect from the world’s Dells to the world’s game consoles only makes sense.

Whether these things will pan out is for the makers to decide, but it would only be beneficial – probably immensely so – to tap the gaming world’s nervous system to expand the “new Web”, break down barriers, and… you know, sell more consoles.