Gather round the 21st century hearth

Video game consoles aim for the middle of the family room

Sony Computer Entertainment Introduce PlayStation 3

Junko Kimura / Getty Images file

Sony's PlayStation 3 loses its square-ish bulk for a more rounded, aerodynamic look that connotes speed and futurism.

By Tom Loftus

Columnist

msnbc.com

updated 9:17 a.m. ET Sept. 1, 2005

Tom Loftus
Columnist
• E-mail
In the 1930s family members took seats nearest their Philco 80 radio sets, then the height of consumer technological sophistication.

Over the decades that box of wires in the middle in the family room has progressed from broadcasting scratchy live radio shows to black and white images and now, three-quarters of a century later, hosting interactive digital entertainment.

Once an accessory for the kids, the video game console is set to dominate family entertainment, offering something for everyone.

This November Microsoft launches the Xbox 360, its successor to the Xbox game platform. In 2006 (or even 2007) Sony and Nintendo follow with their console successors, the PlayStation 3 and Revolution, respectively. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)

All three next generation consoles promise the most color-saturated and sophisticated interactive entertainment ever available out-of-the box. The Xbox 360 commands three symmetrical Power PC processors running at 3.2 GHz each. Sony actually co-developed a new processor, the Cell, to power the PlayStation 3.

Technological marvels. But the take away message from console makers is not necessarily "polygon count" or "processor speed," but "hub" -- as in the point through which all 21st Century home entertainment must pass.

Function follows form
How serious are console makers about living room dominance? Their next generation consoles actually look like they belong in one.

Like radios which transformed themselves from a wooden box with wires into tooled, Art Deco-inspired cabinets, the next generation of video game consoles is making a bid for aesthetic respectability.

The original Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox had all the subtlety of a black plastic bricks.

Sony's PlayStation 3 loses its square-ish bulk for a more rounded, aerodynamic look that connotes speed and futurism.

The Microsoft Xbox 360, reportedly co-designed by Japanese and California-based firms, loses the bulkiness of the original for a graceful, hourglass shape. It wouldn't look out of place seated at the airport lounge at the old TWA terminal at John F. Kennedy International.

The hub
Here's how Sony and Microsoft see the next generation game consoles (more on Nintendo's positioning later).

Imagine technology that offers entertainment for every member of the family -- from the dedicated role-playing-gamer to the casual dabbler in Backgammon to someone who the avowed non-player.

The next generation will play games, of course, but also stream television shows and music, play DVD's, support video teleconferences and foster online community from the couch; a community that fosters online play, chat sessions, photo sharing, of course, shopping.

It's a future where the video game console remains permanently "on" and connected to the broadband pipe.

One favorite scenario touted by Microsoft executives is of a family watching a movie or television show and all of a sudden an invite appears on-screen to participate in a Xbox 360 gaming tournament hosted on Xbox Live, the Xbox online subscription service.

CONTINUED : What about the games?

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