Sure, you can use an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender to stream videos from your PC to your living room. But what if you're a Wii or PS3 enthusiast? While neither game console is officially sanctioned for use as a Microsoft Windows Media Extender, the folks at Red Kawa have developed Media Centers for Wii and PS3.
Wii Media Center X allows you to stream FLV videos from the internet, or you can create your own and stream them from your Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop. You can also stream MP3s and view photos stored on your computer. The current release is an alpha, and known issues include choppy video and problems playing photos as a slideshow.
PS3 Media Center X offers all the same features, and the same current limitations -- but as the name suggests, it works with the PS3 rather than the Wii.
It should be fun to see if and how the developers integrate the Wiimote and SIXAXIS controllers into the user interface for this program. One of the biggest problems with throwing a 10 foot interface on PC programs is that there's only so much you can do with a remote control. Sometimes you need a mouse. The new generation of motion-sensitive game console controllers sort of blur the lines between remote control and mouse, which should give you more ways to control the on-screen action in media center applications.
1. Mp3 playback is not yet active on the Wii. I'm not sure about the PS3 though...
Posted at 3:36PM on Dec 29th 2006 by DiRT