Now another competition for PS2/GC/XB :)

[Deepak]

Link

Scientific-Atlanta Mulling Video Game Set-Top Box
Wed Mar 3, 6:10 PM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Scientific-Atlanta (NYSE:SFA - news) on Wednesday said it is planning to develop television set-top boxes with high-performance video games capabilities, which could compete with game consoles such as Nintendo (news - web sites)'s GameCube and Sony's PlayStation 2 (news - web sites).

Scientific-Atlanta chief executive James McDonald, speaking at an investor conference in Dana Point, California, said developers are already building games for its Explorer series of set-top boxes. But he gave no timetable for when such a device might be available.

"We have a partner we are working with who has 250 engineers in Europe writing software for the Explorer platform for games," McDonald said at the Morgan Stanley Semiconductor & Systems conference, which was broadcast over the Internet.

Sony Corp (news - web sites). (6758.T), Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS) are the primary hardware players in the $10 billion U.S. video game market. Sony and Microsoft, maker of the Xbox (news - web sites), in particular have focused on making their boxes more consumer-friendly, adding features like DVD and music playback, to expand their appeal beyond core video gamers.

"I can give (game players) the same performance you get out of those game boxes," he added. "There is no question that games is one ... market we will be in."

A representative for the Atlanta was not immediately available to comment further on the company's plans.

Scientific-Atlanta's game box would not likely compete directly at retail with those companies, but instead could be an alternative supplied by cable television providers, who buy the boxes and then place them in consumers' homes.

Cable providers are using beefed-up set-top boxes and services like video-on-demand in their battle for customers against satellite TV providers EchoStar Communications Corp. (NasdaqNMISH - news) and DirecTV, which is a controlled by News Corp. Ltd. (NCP.AX).

American Technology Research analyst Rob Sanderson said Scientific-Atlanta's strategy could allow it to sell set-top boxes that would let cable operators, in turn, offer game- related subscription services to consumers. But the games would have to pass muster in an already crowded market.

"Conceptually it's appealing, but can they provide something that is compelling? I don't know," he said.

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Good luck to them!

 

[Paul]

Scientific-Atlanta's game box would not likely compete directly at retail with those companies, but instead could be an alternative supplied by cable television providers, who buy the boxes and then place them in consumers' homes.

More than likely it's a competitor to the Phantom.

Expect to see alot of consoles crop up by companies in the near future, none will even be a threat to Sony, N and MS though as they don't have the cash.

 

[randycat99]

My DirecTV receiver box has 4 games on it, too! Lemme tell ya, these aren't AAA 2003/4 videogames here. We're talkin' bout Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo sort of games here- not even 3D0 quality. So if I were to be pessimistic, maybe these cable boxes will be sporting PSX/N64/Saturn kind of game graphics?

 

[Sonic]

This one will be a flop. The guy brings a lot of talk to the table but doesn't really seem like he cares much for gaming. Time has proven set top boxes aren't the thing for games. Either their time hasn't come yet or it already has and the CDi was the biggest success there will be.

 

[Tagrineth]

My DirecTV receiver box has 4 games on it, too! Lemme tell ya, these aren't AAA 2003/4 videogames here. We're talkin' bout Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo sort of games here- not even 3D0 quality. So if I were to be pessimistic, maybe these cable boxes will be sporting PSX/N64/Saturn kind of game graphics?

It's an O, not a 0!

 

[Fox5]

I'm still waiting for the Nuon...