A New Way to Play PC Games

[jonssonj]

A company in the USA has invented a new "PC/GAME" machine. You don't have to install the games. You just insert a CD in the machine and the game starts up. It works with all PC games.

Read more here http://www.discoverconsole.com/



"The DISCover® game consoles is the only game console designed to play PC games instead of video games. DISCover game consoles will be manufactured by companies such as Apex Digital, who will incorporate the patented DISCover "Drop and Play" technology into their consoles.

There are thousands of PC games, far more than video games in proprietary formats (i.e. PlayStation2 and Xbox).

Until now, serious gamers were required to install and run computer programs on a PC. With DISCover, PC game can now be played on a TV hassle-free.

To play any one of thousands of PC games on TV, you simply drop the game in the DISCover® and play."

[odin]

Yah right, just like the Phantom eh? ;-).

I'd bet this is gonna turn out to be vapour.

[CD32Freak]

Why do I get the feeling, that some companies are re-inventing the wheel. Mainboards are getting smaller with all kinds of integrated 'custom chips' and expansion capabilities. Hmmm, sounds like a CD32 clone to me :-D

[CannonFodder]

Hmmphhh!...

Dreamcast

Dead duck! :-x  :-?

[odin]

So they've made a sort of Wine(X) and poured it into a flashROM? The website is very vague and gives zero technical details. (Perhaps there's something in the  patent PDF).

[rayt]

WoW!! Finally pc suckers get what amigans had 20 years ago. :lol:

[MarkTime]

it's not vapour, it's also not so great...but its a pc, the first one will be released by apex digital, and the specs on that machine are:

DVD Features
Progressive Scan
Plays DVD-MP3-WMA-CD-CD/R-CD/RW
Kodak Picture CD Compatible
JPEG Compatible
Dolby Prologic/Dolby Digital/DTS/PCM Ready
S-Video Output
Composite Video (RCA) Outputs
5.1Channel Audio Out
Remote Control
Slow Motion Forward
Multiple Angle
Multiple Language Subtitles (Captions)
Parental Lock
Frame by Frame Advance
Zoom (2x, 4x)

Gaming Features
Ethernet Connection
56K v.92 Modem
4 Front / 1 Rear USB
40 GB Hard Drive
AMD Athlon XP 2000 Plus
256MB DDR RAM

later alienware will release one too.


thought I'd save ya'll some surfing time!

[KidIce]

I fail to understand who their target audience is.

Consoles are cheap because of the licensing of games for them, while the actual consoles are sold at a loss. This is not an attribute that the DISCover would likely share. Those that purchase consoles due to price, are unlikely to switch to the DISCover.

Consoles are somewhat upgrade proof (ie 3D cards, RAM, etc) to play the latest games during that generation's life cycle. It is highly unlikely that PC developers will hold back on new tech so they can target the DISCover as a lowest common denominator (bad idea anyway, eg was part of the death of the Amiga as a games machine), the DISCover is going to need to be upgraded or a new model purchased far more frequently than the current ~5 year cycle of each console generation. People who lack the know how or desire to upgrade their PC's to play the latest games aren't going to find much solace in the DISCover.

There is also the exclusive content for the various consoles... GTA 3 sold how many PS2's while it was exclusive to it?

Every reason people choose consoles over PC's, beyond the ease of use, is a feature the DISCover is likely to lack. (Speaking of ease of use, console controllers are far easier to use than many PC game interfaces.) Who do they think they're going to sell this to? Old people who want to play Solitaire/Mineclearer/etc and other $10 drugstore PD collections on their TV's?!?

[Speelgoedmannetje]

Kodak Picture CD Compatible

WOW! That's what I always wanted in a gamecomputer!

[Glaucus]

One question though...  The big advantage of PC games is that you can download patches and correct certain bugs, OR dowload extra levels and maps (many of which are unofficial). If you're a BF1942 fan you'll know that all servers are running the latest patches and maps/expansions, and if you're not running those same patches & upgrades you just can't play multi-player bf1942.

I think this is one of those "it seems too good to be true" things, that really is too good to be true.

  - Mike

[odin]

Apex eh. I just got a cheapass Apex DVD player for my father. It's quite cruddy (but hey, it works :-).

[Glaucus]

Yeah, I stay away from Apex.

I also noticed on the list of features posted above that it seems to lack component video output. That's pretty lame!!!

  - Mike

[weirdami]

@Glaucus

People who would buy this thing probably aren't going to be concerned with component video output. And, probably don't even know what that is.

[aardvark]

It might not say that it has component output, but if it has progressive scan capabilities, it may well have component output as I'm not sure that s-video or composite inputs can process that.
This machine could well appeal to people who don't like the hassles of a windows computer (you know what I'm talking about). :pissed:

[billt]

Wow. A Windows PC, with TV output, and some sort of auto-install-play software. Whee.

I've got a home theater PC coming together, finaly got Linux to work OK on it a couple weeks ago, that I can put some flavor of WINE on, perhaps Transgaming is best for more games, though I'd have to go through the install process, and not all games work. Do I care? No. Getting MythTV to work is more important than that. I got a WinXP PC for games, it's not good for much else at the moment. And until I get an HDTV, my 19" monitor is a much better picture to play PC games on than my old 21" TV.