by:	June 10, 2004

In their battle to make video game consoles into something more, Microsoft’s release of the Xbox Music Mixer attempts to convert the Xbox into a media center. For all intensive purposes though, this is just a karaoke application, and a flawed one at that.

At the base of the construction of this application is the flawed assumption that people actually want their game console to do these things. For example, it offers a music player with animated backgrounds. While some are the simple waves you can find on many other music applications, others are more complex with simulated rave scenes that allow you to move the camera to different spots where the animated dancers tear up the floor. It is well done but really, who cares? I do not know the type of person who at a party will hook their Xbox up to a screen and use it to provide the music and visual effects. Nor do I know the person who will use this when sitting at home. It is one of those programs whose features are neat, but in a way that is not useful.

Another option featured in Music Mixer is Slide Show…simply combining showing off a set of pictures with music playing in the background. Compared to the alternatives on computers, it is overly simple, certainly not what you would use if you are trying to make an impressive slide show for presentation.

One feature that can be useful for other reasons is the ability to transfer files from your PC to Xbox. This way you can get your pictures and songs onto your Xbox hard drive for use. A much faster alternative to ripping off individual CDs…and gets around the lack of CD-R support (you know, it is possible to burn songs to a CD-R legally.) Unfortunately, this option does not work for Mac users because those monopolistic bastards at Microsoft failed to create a Mac application, despite it being a very simple process. This left me unable to make use of that feature.