Consumers have an expectation that the latest technological gadget they swipe and pin their way into investing hundreds (or thousands) of dollars into will be functional, and sexy. But, just like the new red sports car with the alloy wheels, tinted windows and sun roof is tarnished by the purple ‘I’m a princess and proud of it’ seat covers, so too is the state-of-the-art home media centre that suffers an abundance of visible chords.

Proud owners of a home theatre want to be able to entertain their guests without fear of tripping over components and cables. An unnecessarily large number of gadgets and gizmos and wires will cheapen the image of what is inevitably a very expensive installation.

Now, there’s a cost-effective solution emerging in the marketplace – and we have Ashes Cricket, Halo, and WiiFit to thank.

While the trusted games console has historically been considered a form of escapism to the realms of mythological beings and science fiction heroes, they have recently become a form of entertainment for the more mature audience. As the median age of gamers in Australia passes 28, the next generation games consoles – the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox360 (360) and Sony PlayStation3 (PS3) – are more than proving their capabilities as much more than gaming platforms.

You may need to think again before replacing your old DVD player, as both the 360 and PS3 have the capability to stream media from a PC connected to the same network. Further, both consoles are able to play a variety of media in different formats, including MPEG (both MP3s and MP4 movie format) and AVI, either wirelessly or through the home’s wired network connection.

Both devices can play WMV (Windows Media) files as standard.

The Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, has a nifty add-on which can be purchased to enable video to be converted to AVI format, and subsequently played through the console.

The extent of the capabilities of the consoles needs to be prefaced with some explanation of technical concepts, such as the Media Centre Extender.

Essentially, home entertainment devices such as TVs and DVD players are built with ‘Extender’ technology – allowing for a PC to be used as a ‘hub’ and send your digital entertainment to the displays (TVs or monitors) throughout the house. These devices are referred to as ‘Extenders for Windows Media Centres’, the 360 being one such device. It is simple to set up, and provides you with glossy menus, television capabilities and leverages the hardware stored on your computer. The 360 can also access any media shared via Windows Media Player 11 or 12 (i.e. Vista or Windows 7) without using the Media Centre interface.

With technology comes acronyms, and one worth recognising is DLNA. The Digital Living Network Alliance provides an avenue for moving files, pictures, photos, movies, and music, etc, seamlessly between the DLNA servers and players. Aside from being a simplistic tool to move media from one location to another, DLNA capabilities allow for users to set the PC up as a media sharing box in any location (not necessarily the media room, where its presence and occasional noise may not be welcomed).

But, if you prefer the good old days, both of these consoles can also accept external hard drives via a USB connection to play media, which in reality may be the quickest way to transfer files. As the files being transferred will inevitably be very large, a strong wireless network will be required, with cable networking being optimal in terms of latency.

While these devices are certainly worthy of being considered as the platform for your home theatre, there are some cons to weigh up with the pros.

When all is said and done, these devices are primarily video games consoles, with the additional functionality being simply that: a value-add. But, while games consoles would not meet the typical industry accepted definition of a ‘professional grade’ AV player, the PS3, for example, features a very capable Blu-Ray player, which is exemplified by many consumers who have sought the PS3 as a Blu-ray disc player rather than a gaming console.

If you are looking to purchase a device for a home theatre set up and have no intention of playing games, there may arguably be more conducive products that will meet your requirements (and at less cost). Further, media with an ambiguous or unpopular format of encoding may risk being rejected by the consoles. But, most media today is encoded using popular formats that can be played as standard.

The idea of using a console as a media player is gaining traction, particularly among those who see the advantages of streaming DVDs rather than accumulating disks (particularly for users downloading and burning media).

As these gaming consoles are essentially little computers, they have more than enough horsepower to make streaming a viable option with the right network setup. An increasing interest among consumers for a home theatre setup has resulted in a rising number of media servers and home theatre PCs (which can be housed under the TV) available on the shelves of computer manufacturers. While this concept is somewhat niche, time (and user-friendly additions) will tell whether these PCs will gather consumer momentum in the coming months and years.

It’s no surprise that the technology age is upon us, and an increasingly diverse range of devices from games manufacturers for home theatre, coupled with computers and wireless streaming, will promote the opportunity for even the most modest residences to home a virtual playground and cinema.

All it takes is a bit of thinking outside the (X)box…