Integrates
Sega Games Platform Into Digital Home Gateways;
Games Integration Pushes Forward Home Gateway
Technology - Another Industry First for Pace
Pace Micro
Technology - the Americas, today revealed its
latest development in digital home gateway
technology. An industry first, Pace has
integrated the Sega games platform into its
digital personal video recorder (PVR) home
gateway (set-top boxes), providing consumers
on-demand access to hundreds of console-quality
games with 3D graphics, digital-quality sound and
full-motion video. Consumers will now be able to
play games online with anyone in the USA, while
at the same time using the latest PVR technology
to `timeshift' TV.
Pace
is delivering next generation services for
network operators (cable, satellite, xDSL, etc.),
once again expanding their marketing and revenue
potential. Pace has integrated the digital home
gateway with a hard disk drive (HDD) - currently
40GB - for storing games, with downloadable
delivery, and pay-per-play or pay-for-time
revenue generation opportunities. The HDD, with
storage capacity that will grow rapidly, acts as
a games jukebox, and games could be wirelessly
downloaded to a portable, hand-held device for
game playing.
Pace
introduced set-top boxes with integrated HDD last
year, building on the Personal Video Recorder
(PVR) concept to provide network operators
radical new services and new ways of generating
revenue, and to change the way consumers use
television. PVRs enable consumers to pause, fast
forward, rewind and record live TV programs. Hard
disk drives integrated into the set-top box take
the PVR concept even further by providing this
functionality without the need for a video
recorder. The HDD also enables instant replays,
slow motion replays, targeting advertising, and
peak-time programming download.
"The
benefits of integrating gaming technology into
the set-top box go beyond just games," said
Neil Gaydon, president of Pace-Americas.
"For instance, the powerful 3D graphics
capability can be used to spice up other
applications, like the electronic program guide
(EPG). Games content is also considered to be
`sticky', meaning people usually play for a long
period of time, which bodes well for the network
operator," he added.
"More
importantly, through Pace's vision for wireless
home networking, it will soon be possible to
wirelessly distribute games to other devices in
the home, once they have been delivered through
the home gateway. Games can be ported from the
set-top box to numerous devices in and outside of
the home, including PCs, PDAs, cellular phones,
and more," he said.
Pace
is moving the industry toward using the set-top
box as a gateway for interactive communication,
enabling consumer devices and services to
interact with each other and the outside world.
Pace is forging relationships with digital
content providers, such as Sega, to exploit the
potential of the home gateway technology.
"Data
suggests that the installed base of set-top boxes
and games consoles in the U.S. will reach more
than 160 million by 2003, and that PVR-enabled
digital set-top boxes will dwarf stand-alone PVR
boxes by 2003. With rapidly growing,
complementary technology, and a shared vision for
home networking, it makes perfect sense for Pace
to work with industry-leading companies like
Sega," Gaydon added.
For
Sega, integrating games into set-top boxes
expands its market potential beyond the
conventional games console. Existing users now
have a new way to access games, and new users
will likely be attracted, since anyone with the
hard disk drive-enable home gateway box will have
access to the an extensive games portfolio.
"With
the advancement of semiconductor and network
technologies, set-top boxes and digital home
appliances, the new concept of accessing
information and services from a single device in
the living room will become increasingly popular.
Entertainment content, most of all games, are
becoming the most attractive and sought-after
element in the expansion of the home
network," said Hideki Sato, representative
director and vice president of Sega Corporation.
http://www.pacemicro.com
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