Consumer Electronics Show 2004 Day 2 - VIA's new Gaming Console

How Xtreme are we talking?

As we mentioned before, the ApeXtreme will play any off-the-shelf PC game, but given that the OS is not exposed to the end user how do you install/play the games? The claim of support for any PC game does have one caveat – the game must be supported by a special script that will install/run the game when the disc is inserted. Apex is working on developing scripts for as many games as possible, with around 600 ready right now. The script basically detects the game and handles all of the installation of the game onto the hard drive; the installation process obviously takes a while but once it is complete you can just insert the game disc and you will be able to play the game.

This is the screen that you are greeted with when you power the system on

The unit we were playing with already had Star Wars Rogue Squadron installed, so putting the Rogue Squadron disc in the DVD drive resulted in a launcher screen popping up after several seconds.

From the launcher screen you can elect to play the game, which will start the game just like double clicking an executable would on a PC. All of the features of the game are available to you by default, meaning you could turn up the resolution, turn off features, reconfigure your controls, etc… Since we're talking about unmodified PC games, a keyboard is pretty much necessary to get the best gaming experience possible, which is why Apex was demonstrating the unit with a wireless keyboard.

The default resolution the system will run at is 1024x768, while all games will run at their default installed resolution. Remember that since all games have to be installed onto the hard drive just like you would on a PC, the drive can eventually fill up. In the event that there isn't enough room to install a game, the least used game will be deleted in order to make room for the new game. If you decide to go back and play that older game you'll have to go through the same installation process when you insert the older game disc.

Since we are talking about a PC the ApeXtreme could potentially run much more than games, although Apex and VIA are just focusing on games at this point.