How much money do they make off the consoles? Not much. Hell, for a long while there (and probably still) Sony was LOSING money on every console sold.
They make money off the games and the periphials.
Main income for console producers was always moeny from games , not from console sale.
Each game on console you buy (PS3, Xbox 360 , Wii , whatever else) ,a certain % of what you paid goes to console producer.
That is why even if company LOSE money on sale of console , in the end it end up earning alot of money.
That's why for a long time PC games were cheaper than console games. Well still many PC games are , at least in my country they are usually cheaper sometimes much cheaper becasue you don't have to pay "tribute" to console producer. But worryingly in some markets that changes and game producers / publishers try to leech more of PC gamers and put those games at same price level thus earning more $ per copy from PC copy than console copy.
Though still PC games get discounted faster and discount are bigger...
Well anyway , until we see some valid info as how next gen consoles will look like they hmm.
I don't see Windows 8 running Xbox games , well unless Microsoft want to start taking % of each game that can be run on Windows which first of all would be very bad for consumers and second I don't know if it would be legally possbile.
So I don't really see full compatibility between Xbox 360 and Windows 8 , well at least until next gen of consoles are on market or soon-to-be-on-market. not to mention problems with diffrent architecture of XboX and PC ,etc
I could also offer than many business PCs are easily capable of running most current MMORPG games, albeit many might have to run at lower settings. I suspect most business PCs currently sitting on desks are far more capable that this pathetic PC I run games on. (Asus S7v333 motherboard, 1.6ghz Athalon processor 1.5 Mb memory and Geforce 4 Ti 4200 (AGP) graphics card). I build it when EQ wouldn't run on my previous machine. Now, I couldn't update any component without replacing everything. If you want terrible gaming hardware, look no further.
That thing belongs in a museum, my company gave me a better laptop than that
I might be wrong but I think this is a very intelligent play by microsoft.
As much as many might deslike it, the future goes thro smartphones, tablets etc. This kind of devices is not very popular for the casual user(like your parents etc) because they bring Android, and iOS systems. Which is diferent that what they are used to, has some compatibility issues etc.
Windows 8 will be an universal OS: Works in tablets, pcs, x86 and ARM. They are basically using their share of the market(which IS still huge btw) to convince the casual user to buy a tablets with windows, because it will be just much more convinient.
If you were a casual user and had Windows 8 at home, and decided to get a tablet would you get iOS, Android or Windows? Windows would be the obvious choice because its exactly like the PC you have at home.
Alas, I am still waiting for the rise of Linux systems
Nohing. It's a tablet enhanced version of windows 7 and not much more.
Sorry but you're wrong. The performance increase across all types of applications in Windows 8 is quite amazing. I've been checking it out for about 2 days now running it through it's paces and I've yet to find anything that Windows 8 doesn't run better than under Windows 7. Everyone seems so blinded by the new Metro interface that they are completely ignoring the amazing job Microsoft has done optimizing the performance side of things. It uses a lot less system resources than Windows 7 and processor use is lower by as much as 10%-15% for almost every app. Maybe you should actually check it out before you make assumptions.
Um... if Microsoft makes their console games work on a pc, what's the point of their console... wouldn't that mean they are retracting from the console market? I doubt they would be putting money into an new xbox console if they do this. The newer xbox games would just play really really poorly on the current xbox console and all the people who refuse to play on a pc would switch to playstation.
Don't think pc gaming will ever overtake console gaming. There's way more people out there who only play console games.
"I don't have anything funny to say, now. I'm Tsukasa. I'm Tsukasa." ~Tsukasa
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine. The money to be made is in the licensing and the sale of games.
I used to own a game store back in the 90s in perth western australia so I do have some idea on how the industry works and I think microsoft would be shooting themselves if they did this.
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine.
The Wii did sell at a profit per unit from start to finish.
Regardless of anyones opinion about the product, it was obviously a marketing goldmine.
There would be nothing stopping them allowing it to run Xbox and 360 games but not those for the next console. It would open up a new market for all the older games but not hindering that for the new console. Not really much different than consoles being backwards compatible with the old versions.
I am not sure this is going to be so successful on desktop machines. Mobile devices would benefit more from it just based what I have watched from the developer keynotes. http://channel9.msdn.com/events/BUILD/BUILD2011/KEY-0001
Originally posted by sancher36 I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine. The money to be made is in the licensing and the sale of games. I used to own a game store back in the 90s in perth western australia so I do have some idea on how the industry works and I think microsoft would be shooting themselves if they did this.
You mean that it wouldn't be smart for microsoft to also license games for release on Windows 8 and Xbox 360. Being able to play on both platforms would actually be a huge benefit to both the 360 and the PC. Being able to develop a game for one platform and then allowing it to be playable on both would get even more developers behind the platform that allows it while at the same time basicly doubling / tripling the player base for that platform.
As you said Microsoft makes no money off of a Xbox 360 and that they actually lose money in its sale. So why make that sale a requirement to gain access to the games on the platform?
To me it looks like nothing more then a huge goldmine for Microsoft if they made that move. Where is the negative? For developers it would basicly mean no more having to develop to seperate ports for there game. They could make the game once and hit a combined Windows 8 / Xbox 360 platform and have a potential playbase that is double / triple the size it currently is. Microsoft would be soaking up the licenses fees from developers and in the end it would be a win / win for everyone involved. Theres many Xbox 360 only games I would love to be able to play on my PC.
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine.
The Wii did sell at a profit per unit from start to finish.
Regardless of anyones opinion about the product, it was obviously a marketing goldmine.
Yes maybe with the wii but with the xbox and playstation consoles it was a different matter. Only over the past 3 years has sony started to make any profit on their p3 slim console due to cheaper hardware costs but back in 2006 they were losing upto $300 on every console sold. On microsoft I'm not too sure on their exact losses but they were going the same as sony at first also.
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine. The money to be made is in the licensing and the sale of games.
I used to own a game store back in the 90s in perth western australia so I do have some idea on how the industry works and I think microsoft would be shooting themselves if they did this.
Why wouldn't they? They make money off every game sold. If I can sell you the game without having to take a loss on the console sale. That is pure profit. They would increase the sales of the more popular games easily.
In War - Victory. In Peace - Vigilance. In Death - Sacrifice.
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine. The money to be made is in the licensing and the sale of games.
I used to own a game store back in the 90s in perth western australia so I do have some idea on how the industry works and I think microsoft would be shooting themselves if they did this.
Why wouldn't they? They make money off every game sold. If I can sell you the game without having to take a loss on the console sale. That is pure profit. They would increase the sales of the more popular games easily.
To make a game on one dvd that could run on both a pc and a console at the same time will create a huge headache considering pc configerations are so different from one to the next. At least with console they have one configuration to work with.
There would be nothing stopping them allowing it to run Xbox and 360 games but not those for the next console. It would open up a new market for all the older games but not hindering that for the new console. Not really much different than consoles being backwards compatible with the old versions.
The hardware conflicts wiould be of epic proportions. Have you ever wondered why console emulators only run with certain games and hardware?
The nothing stopping them comment was poorly worded, it was aimed at the ongoing conversation about the financial issues. I've never tried to emulate console games nor have a console or a clue about the workings, so any technical problems don't really bother me as its just a rumour that its happening, but if they can then i dont see why not.
Windows 8 is basically Windows 7 Service Pack 2, with a new UI skin. It offers nothing revolutionary, however it does have quite a few improvements that will make it a worthwhile upgrade. Better memory management and mutli-core support alone will make it worth using.
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine. The money to be made is in the licensing and the sale of games.
I used to own a game store back in the 90s in perth western australia so I do have some idea on how the industry works and I think microsoft would be shooting themselves if they did this.
You mean that it wouldn't be smart for microsoft to also license games for release on Windows 8 and Xbox 360. Being able to play on both platforms would actually be a huge benefit to both the 360 and the PC. Being able to develop a game for one platform and then allowing it to be playable on both would get even more developers behind the platform that allows it while at the same time basicly doubling / tripling the player base for that platform.
As you said Microsoft makes no money off of a Xbox 360 and that they actually lose money in its sale. So why make that sale a requirement to gain access to the games on the platform?
To me it looks like nothing more then a huge goldmine for Microsoft if they made that move. Where is the negative? For developers it would basicly mean no more having to develop to seperate ports for there game. They could make the game once and hit a combined Windows 8 / Xbox 360 platform and have a potential playbase that is double / triple the size it currently is. Microsoft would be soaking up the licenses fees from developers and in the end it would be a win / win for everyone involved. Theres many Xbox 360 only games I would love to be able to play on my PC.
Other than the fact the pc users would just pirate the x360 games insted of buy them, therefore just causing ms to lose money, PC is the easiest thing to pirate software on, I don't think the x360 games that can be played on win8 will be pirate proof at all.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
PCIe ver 3 is the next big step, win7 is fine as it is.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Latest rumor I heard was that Windows 8 PC games and Xbox 360 games (as well as successor) will be interchangable.
As in, you can put your Xbox games into DVD drive of your Windows 8 PC and just play... assuming your PC has the hardware specs etc. which these days is quite easy and cheapish.
And then on new Xbox console system you'll be able to put in your windows 8 PC games and just play visa versa.
So pretty much, you only need one or the other and then it's just a matter of control system (controller or keyboard/mouse) and screen (monitor or TV)
Which, if true, will be completely f'ing HUGE
No more PC or Xbox games but simply.. Microsoft and you choose your hardware. Either an uncustomizable "in a box" solution with the new console or an upgradable and customizable solution via PC.
Which means you'll see full controller support via USB/Bluetooth for controllers on PC and full keyboard/mouse support via USB/bluetooth for consoles.
Considering where desktop computing is going, where the world "thinks" desktop computing is going, it makes sense to abandon the idea of "desktop" and "console" and just simply have "multimedia device."
And then they wont allow cross platform multiplayer because PC players will RAPE control pad players. MS's own in house testing proved that mouse & keyboard Vs control pad is no countest and that it should be avoided.
For my money Win 8 looks nothing more than a glorified touchpad OS, MS has done great work alienating most developers by making moves they said they never would and ditching dot net. So a lot of developers have a lot of time & money invested in the old systems that MS has just propsed to throw out the window. Its a risky move & I think it might backfire on them. As a result Win7 migration to Win8 could very well be WinXP migration to WinVista played out again.
Windows 8 is the fact that the operating system will support full hardware acceleration of the interface. This means that, on devices with the proper hardware, developers will have more flexibility in how they present applications.Microsoft demonstrated this several times with video. The video was split on-the-fly, and interface elements were introduced in to the video - resizing it instantly to make room. These are impressive features that create for a much more immersive blend between interface and video. So far, Microsoft hasn't shown games taking similar advantage of the new interface, but I don't see why they couldn't. This is particularly true of apps that are designed to be used in the new Metro-style interface, rather than in the old desktop. I can see how this would be excellent on a tablet. You could pause a game if you received an email notification, swipe it away or resize it to make room for your email, read and reply, then resume. All as smooth as butter. Again, there's speculation a-plenty here. What is intended and what happens can be two different things. If Microsoft doesn't botch it, Windows 8 might vanquish a lot of the clunkiness - games that won't minimize or resize, slowdowns when other apps are running, etc - that has always plagued PC gaming.
Latest rumor I heard was that Windows 8 PC games and Xbox 360 games (as well as successor) will be interchangable.
As in, you can put your Xbox games i
.......... space snip ............
th for controllers on PC and full keyboard/mouse support via USB/bluetooth for consoles.
Considering where desktop computing is going, where the world "thinks" desktop computing is going, it makes sense to abandon the idea of "desktop" and "console" and just simply have "multimedia device."
And then they wont allow cross platform multiplayer because PC players will RAPE control pad players. MS's own in house testing proved that mouse & keyboard Vs control pad is no countest and that it should be avoided.
For my money Win 8 looks nothing more than a glorified touchpad OS, MS has done great work alienating most developers by making moves they said they never would and ditching dot net. So a lot of developers have a lot of time & money invested in the old systems that MS has just propsed to throw out the window. Its a risky move & I think it might backfire on them. As a result Win7 migration to Win8 could very well be WinXP migration to WinVista played out again.
The mouse-n-keyboard issue can easily be overcome when XBox developers add support for the, already released, mouse and keyboard for the XBox.
Windows 8 is just another step to finally getting rid of consoles in favor of a computer. Much in the same way that they are also bridging the gap between television and computer.
I already have plans to toss my Comcast-shit-pile of a service provider out for a lightweight and quiet computer to run Media Center. Been testing it out for the last 6 months. Hooking up Netflix and your own "private movie collection" through MC is awesome, just got an RF remote for $30 last month and works damn good. I BET you could pick up a cheap Shuttle PC and use it as a movie player with a few minor adjustments.
Windows 8 was designed especially for touch screen interfaces however,
Microsoft introduced a new Windows Runtime (WinRT) for Metro-style touch-screen apps, while keeping a classic desktop mode for x86/x64 apps,
oh and,
The Windows 8 desktop (for classic apps) will be "100 percent compatible" with Windows 7 apps,
so lets just ease back on the speculation and missinformation on something that is still what, 12+ months away from a possible beta? It JUST got released to developers for a preview man, relax.
Comments
Main income for console producers was always moeny from games , not from console sale.
Each game on console you buy (PS3, Xbox 360 , Wii , whatever else) ,a certain % of what you paid goes to console producer.
That is why even if company LOSE money on sale of console , in the end it end up earning alot of money.
That's why for a long time PC games were cheaper than console games. Well still many PC games are , at least in my country they are usually cheaper sometimes much cheaper becasue you don't have to pay "tribute" to console producer. But worryingly in some markets that changes and game producers / publishers try to leech more of PC gamers and put those games at same price level thus earning more $ per copy from PC copy than console copy.
Though still PC games get discounted faster and discount are bigger...
Well anyway , until we see some valid info as how next gen consoles will look like they hmm.
I don't see Windows 8 running Xbox games , well unless Microsoft want to start taking % of each game that can be run on Windows which first of all would be very bad for consumers and second I don't know if it would be legally possbile.
So I don't really see full compatibility between Xbox 360 and Windows 8 , well at least until next gen of consoles are on market or soon-to-be-on-market. not to mention problems with diffrent architecture of XboX and PC ,etc
LMAO i think i still have(unused) copy of ME.
The following statement is false
The previous statement is true
That thing belongs in a museum, my company gave me a better laptop than that
"I am not a robot. I am a unicorn."
I might be wrong but I think this is a very intelligent play by microsoft.
As much as many might deslike it, the future goes thro smartphones, tablets etc. This kind of devices is not very popular for the casual user(like your parents etc) because they bring Android, and iOS systems. Which is diferent that what they are used to, has some compatibility issues etc.
Windows 8 will be an universal OS: Works in tablets, pcs, x86 and ARM. They are basically using their share of the market(which IS still huge btw) to convince the casual user to buy a tablets with windows, because it will be just much more convinient.
If you were a casual user and had Windows 8 at home, and decided to get a tablet would you get iOS, Android or Windows? Windows would be the obvious choice because its exactly like the PC you have at home.
Alas, I am still waiting for the rise of Linux systems
"I am not a robot. I am a unicorn."
Sorry but you're wrong. The performance increase across all types of applications in Windows 8 is quite amazing. I've been checking it out for about 2 days now running it through it's paces and I've yet to find anything that Windows 8 doesn't run better than under Windows 7. Everyone seems so blinded by the new Metro interface that they are completely ignoring the amazing job Microsoft has done optimizing the performance side of things. It uses a lot less system resources than Windows 7 and processor use is lower by as much as 10%-15% for almost every app. Maybe you should actually check it out before you make assumptions.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
w8 is meant to bridge the mobility gap so if you arent mobile stick to w7
Um... if Microsoft makes their console games work on a pc, what's the point of their console... wouldn't that mean they are retracting from the console market? I doubt they would be putting money into an new xbox console if they do this. The newer xbox games would just play really really poorly on the current xbox console and all the people who refuse to play on a pc would switch to playstation.
Don't think pc gaming will ever overtake console gaming. There's way more people out there who only play console games.
"I don't have anything funny to say, now. I'm Tsukasa. I'm Tsukasa." ~Tsukasa
UDK 3rd person action game camera tutorial
I heard someone say it will kill the android marketplace! lol.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I highly doubt that microsoft would make their games run on a pc considering they are designing a new or updated console as we speak. Also someone mentioned in this post earlier that microsoft does not make money from the console hardware and that is absolutely correct with any console machine. The money to be made is in the licensing and the sale of games.
I used to own a game store back in the 90s in perth western australia so I do have some idea on how the industry works and I think microsoft would be shooting themselves if they did this.
The Wii did sell at a profit per unit from start to finish.
Regardless of anyones opinion about the product, it was obviously a marketing goldmine.
There would be nothing stopping them allowing it to run Xbox and 360 games but not those for the next console. It would open up a new market for all the older games but not hindering that for the new console. Not really much different than consoles being backwards compatible with the old versions.
I am not sure this is going to be so successful on desktop machines. Mobile devices would benefit more from it just based what I have watched from the developer keynotes. http://channel9.msdn.com/events/BUILD/BUILD2011/KEY-0001
You mean that it wouldn't be smart for microsoft to also license games for release on Windows 8 and Xbox 360. Being able to play on both platforms would actually be a huge benefit to both the 360 and the PC. Being able to develop a game for one platform and then allowing it to be playable on both would get even more developers behind the platform that allows it while at the same time basicly doubling / tripling the player base for that platform.
As you said Microsoft makes no money off of a Xbox 360 and that they actually lose money in its sale. So why make that sale a requirement to gain access to the games on the platform?
To me it looks like nothing more then a huge goldmine for Microsoft if they made that move. Where is the negative? For developers it would basicly mean no more having to develop to seperate ports for there game. They could make the game once and hit a combined Windows 8 / Xbox 360 platform and have a potential playbase that is double / triple the size it currently is. Microsoft would be soaking up the licenses fees from developers and in the end it would be a win / win for everyone involved. Theres many Xbox 360 only games I would love to be able to play on my PC.
Yes maybe with the wii but with the xbox and playstation consoles it was a different matter. Only over the past 3 years has sony started to make any profit on their p3 slim console due to cheaper hardware costs but back in 2006 they were losing upto $300 on every console sold. On microsoft I'm not too sure on their exact losses but they were going the same as sony at first also.
Why wouldn't they? They make money off every game sold. If I can sell you the game without having to take a loss on the console sale. That is pure profit. They would increase the sales of the more popular games easily.
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
To make a game on one dvd that could run on both a pc and a console at the same time will create a huge headache considering pc configerations are so different from one to the next. At least with console they have one configuration to work with.
Its going to suck, and be quite horrible. Please remember your history.
Windows 3.1 - Woot!
Windows 95 - Meh...
Windows 98- Oh cool!!
Windows 2000/ME - oh god...
Windows XP - yeaahh!
Windows Vista - what is this I don't even...
Windows 7 - nice!!
Windows 8 - (..see a pattern?)
Skip 8 when it comes out. I gurantee whatever comes after it will be better.
The nothing stopping them comment was poorly worded, it was aimed at the ongoing conversation about the financial issues. I've never tried to emulate console games nor have a console or a clue about the workings, so any technical problems don't really bother me as its just a rumour that its happening, but if they can then i dont see why not.
Windows 8 is basically Windows 7 Service Pack 2, with a new UI skin. It offers nothing revolutionary, however it does have quite a few improvements that will make it a worthwhile upgrade. Better memory management and mutli-core support alone will make it worth using.
Other than the fact the pc users would just pirate the x360 games insted of buy them, therefore just causing ms to lose money, PC is the easiest thing to pirate software on, I don't think the x360 games that can be played on win8 will be pirate proof at all.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
PCIe ver 3 is the next big step, win7 is fine as it is.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
And then they wont allow cross platform multiplayer because PC players will RAPE control pad players. MS's own in house testing proved that mouse & keyboard Vs control pad is no countest and that it should be avoided.
For my money Win 8 looks nothing more than a glorified touchpad OS, MS has done great work alienating most developers by making moves they said they never would and ditching dot net. So a lot of developers have a lot of time & money invested in the old systems that MS has just propsed to throw out the window. Its a risky move & I think it might backfire on them. As a result Win7 migration to Win8 could very well be WinXP migration to WinVista played out again.
Windows 8 is the fact that the operating system will support full hardware acceleration of the interface. This means that, on devices with the proper hardware, developers will have more flexibility in how they present applications.Microsoft demonstrated this several times with video. The video was split on-the-fly, and interface elements were introduced in to the video - resizing it instantly to make room. These are impressive features that create for a much more immersive blend between interface and video. So far, Microsoft hasn't shown games taking similar advantage of the new interface, but I don't see why they couldn't. This is particularly true of apps that are designed to be used in the new Metro-style interface, rather than in the old desktop. I can see how this would be excellent on a tablet. You could pause a game if you received an email notification, swipe it away or resize it to make room for your email, read and reply, then resume. All as smooth as butter. Again, there's speculation a-plenty here. What is intended and what happens can be two different things. If Microsoft doesn't botch it, Windows 8 might vanquish a lot of the clunkiness - games that won't minimize or resize, slowdowns when other apps are running, etc - that has always plagued PC gaming.
The mouse-n-keyboard issue can easily be overcome when XBox developers add support for the, already released, mouse and keyboard for the XBox.
Windows 8 is just another step to finally getting rid of consoles in favor of a computer. Much in the same way that they are also bridging the gap between television and computer.
I already have plans to toss my Comcast-shit-pile of a service provider out for a lightweight and quiet computer to run Media Center. Been testing it out for the last 6 months. Hooking up Netflix and your own "private movie collection" through MC is awesome, just got an RF remote for $30 last month and works damn good. I BET you could pick up a cheap Shuttle PC and use it as a movie player with a few minor adjustments.
Windows 8 was designed especially for touch screen interfaces however,
Microsoft introduced a new Windows Runtime (WinRT) for Metro-style touch-screen apps, while keeping a classic desktop mode for x86/x64 apps,
oh and,
The Windows 8 desktop (for classic apps) will be "100 percent compatible" with Windows 7 apps,
so lets just ease back on the speculation and missinformation on something that is still what, 12+ months away from a possible beta? It JUST got released to developers for a preview man, relax.