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In another of my threads talking about the PlayStation 2 Linux Kit frestkd refered me to BroadQ for another cool piece of PS2 software.
Well I tell you what, QCast is pretty spiffy. QCast is a media player for your PlayStation 2, basically. It reads files from your networked computer and plays them on your television. It plays all the open codec formats and does a pretty good job of it too.
I've used it to play Mp3s, and look at JPegs. I've watched some of my funny movie clips like the guy getting kicked in the chest by a horse. I've even watched a couple DivX movies. One of the first things that came to mind was the Warthog Jumping video (seems funny to watch a movie about an XBox game on my PS2) - unfortunately it was in Quicktime format so I had to find a converter. Well I did, and it works and looks good (:
The way the system works, the PS2 loads a very simple app from the CD which then reads network information from a small save file on a memory card. You have to have a server program running on your computer for the PS2 to connect to, and the PS2 downloads all the codecs and software from your computer that it needs to play media files. The boot process takes a moment, but that doesn't really bother me so much. The server application that runs on the computer also check with BroadQ for any available updates to their system so you're always running the latest software on your PS2.
Right now they only have an NTSC version, but they claim they're working on PAL. Also, the system is still in very early stages so there are quite a few features that they plan to add. Currently you can play, pause, and skip forward or backward in a saveable playlist. They are working on seek functions for audio/video formats and the ability to save preferances for the system. I believe they are going to add the option to play an mp3 while viewing a picture slideshow (cool!).
I don't think this is worth buying if you don't already have all the other required parts, but if you do it's money well spent. You'll need a PS2 with the Sony network adaptor, a computer running any of the popular operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, or Linux), and the two devices able to talk to eachother on the same network.
I ordered mine from http://www.thinkgeek.com/ where they have it listed for $50.
Right now it's still kind of clunky. The next couple of software updates ought to make it something pretty special, though (:
Well I tell you what, QCast is pretty spiffy. QCast is a media player for your PlayStation 2, basically. It reads files from your networked computer and plays them on your television. It plays all the open codec formats and does a pretty good job of it too.
I've used it to play Mp3s, and look at JPegs. I've watched some of my funny movie clips like the guy getting kicked in the chest by a horse. I've even watched a couple DivX movies. One of the first things that came to mind was the Warthog Jumping video (seems funny to watch a movie about an XBox game on my PS2) - unfortunately it was in Quicktime format so I had to find a converter. Well I did, and it works and looks good (:
The way the system works, the PS2 loads a very simple app from the CD which then reads network information from a small save file on a memory card. You have to have a server program running on your computer for the PS2 to connect to, and the PS2 downloads all the codecs and software from your computer that it needs to play media files. The boot process takes a moment, but that doesn't really bother me so much. The server application that runs on the computer also check with BroadQ for any available updates to their system so you're always running the latest software on your PS2.
Right now they only have an NTSC version, but they claim they're working on PAL. Also, the system is still in very early stages so there are quite a few features that they plan to add. Currently you can play, pause, and skip forward or backward in a saveable playlist. They are working on seek functions for audio/video formats and the ability to save preferances for the system. I believe they are going to add the option to play an mp3 while viewing a picture slideshow (cool!).
I don't think this is worth buying if you don't already have all the other required parts, but if you do it's money well spent. You'll need a PS2 with the Sony network adaptor, a computer running any of the popular operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, or Linux), and the two devices able to talk to eachother on the same network.
I ordered mine from http://www.thinkgeek.com/ where they have it listed for $50.
Right now it's still kind of clunky. The next couple of software updates ought to make it something pretty special, though (:
