Next-Gen Gaming Consoles The Home Entertainment Gateway

People interested in technology and home entertainment like to get their hands on the latest, greatest products. Before, it was all about having the top of the line DVD player, receiver and speaker system. And though those things still hold serious importance, there's one product type that seems destined to swoop in on the home entertainment market. I'm talking about next-gen gaming consoles, the XBox 360 and PS3, in particular.

As you know, both of these gaming consoles feature a hard drive, the ability to stream content from your computer, built-in web browsers, interactive stores, DVD players (though PS3 has Blu-ray) and both either currently or will soon offer the ability to download or rent movies. Microsoft has even teamed up with Netflix. This sounds an awful lot like a home entertainment system to me.

Okay, so you don't get speakers or anything with this set up, but your media center is nearly complete with just a gaming console. This begs the question of whether or not gamers are on the cusp of a change in media and how we get entertainment. There are already several media centers out there with just this sort of goal in mind. But a gaming device that expands its focus beyond hardcore gamers must be noticed as a potential media center, as well.

But of course, there's the non-gamers to consider. If you're not into gaming, one of these devices obviously wouldn't be your media center of choice. And this generation of consoles aren't quite "there" yet to replace your standard receiver and DVD player set up. But the potential is there. When the current "next-gen" of gaming consoles is topped, I think we'll be looking at a more realized vision of a multimedia center. One that, perhaps, is all encompassing for gamers and non-gamers alike.