I’ve posted about this before but thought I would just make a new post for those not in the know. Did you know the original XBOX (the black one released in 2003) can, with a simple (and free) modification to allow it to run homebrew (unauthorized software), be used as one of the cheapest and most versatile media center boxes.

Remember the XBOX?

Hit the link below to keep reading.

Being a video game console it just works on a television, with controls to set the screen size/resolution (can push 1080i/720p video through component) and dolby digital 5.1 surround and an onboard network interface, it’s even capable of playing back video content stored on another machine (PC?) and even the internet, as well as music and videos. Just don’t try to run anything in HD as the aging 733MHz Celeron can have a hard time.

Sure there’s devices made specifically for this purpose but I doubt they can be this flexible and open (I’m yet to find something that XBMC - the media center software can run.. it plays eveything!), but can they be had for as cheap as $60AUD (the current going price for a used XBOX console)? Let’s also not forget this thing is a video game console, and other great homebrew exists including (my favorite) emulators, which allows one to play games from different systems like the Nintendo 64, Playstation, Neo Geo and even some great classic arcade games.

My current set up involves two XBOX’s, one for upstairs and one downstairs. The upstairs XBOX sits in our bedroom and is connected to the internet/server computer via a virtual wireless bridge (WRT54GL upstairs connected to WRT310N downstairs wirelessly), and the downstairs is wired into the WRT310N. The benefit of this relatively cheap set up is that both XBOX’s can access what’s on the server, specifically full length movies converted from DVD to XViD, entire TV series captured with the tuner card and a lot of music. It can get as simple though as just popping in a disc and having it automatically playing whatever’s on there without the need to be connected to anything. Probably the most expensive part of my setup is the cost of hard drives.

Previously I had attempted to write up an article on getting the XBOX up and running with homebrew, but now the methods are seriously out dated and mostly redundant, and I’m not going to reinvent the wheel when there’s a lot of really great guides out there. I recommend reading these: productwiki, channelweb and XBMC.

For reference my current method is software exploit through hot-swapping the hard drive (which I do NOT recommend), the “gamesave” is probably a better method since you can just rent the game needed or actually buy it for $10.

And of coarse the best news of all is that the developers of XBMC (formerly XBOX Media Center) have realized the platform is pretty much on it’s last legs and rather than attempt to port it to another console and have it happen again it’s coming to X86 - standard computers! This is of coarse good and bad as computer hardware can vary dramatically.