Formally unveiled at CES in January, at which it won TechTV’s Best of CES award for the Home Audio/Video Category, the ApeXtreme DISCover Game Console will come equipped with the Athlon XP 2000+ from Advanced Micro Devices and the NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset to support the most popular PC games. Additionally, Apex has added Personal Video Recording (PVR) functionality to the device since it was originally unveiled at CES.
"After exhaustive research into how best to optimize the gaming experience for their customers, our partner Apex Digital selected the best price/performance components available for the ApeXtreme,” said Avraham DorEl, President of DISCover. “We know gamers want a console that can support the most popular contemporary games as well as future games, so we are proud to be able to join with Apex Digital to offer gamers a high-end gaming experience at a reasonable price.”
DISCover technology allows Apex to offer a true console that plays games from the vast library of PC titles. DISCover’s Drop & Play™ technology works transparently on the Windows XP Embedded operating system to automatically transforms unmodified PC games into “no-hassle” DISCover console games. This enables Apex to give gamers a console to enjoy DISCover/PC games on their living room home entertainment systems (including HDTVs.)
"DISCover, a Microsoft Windows Embedded Partner, is utilizing Windows XP Embedded operating system to deliver unmodified PC games to its next-generation gaming console," said Jane Gilson, group product manager in the Embedded Device Group at Microsoft Corp. “The ApeXtreme is an excellent example of how Windows XP Embedded enables manufacturers to quickly and efficiently create home entertainment appliances that can access digital entertainment.”
The ApeXtreme will be the first DISCover Game Console to hit the market. The device combines all the most popular features of Apex Digital's successful line of DVD players such as Component, Composite, S-Video and DVI output with everything a gamer could want in a game console including a 40GB hard drive and networking capabilities. Additionally, the ApeXtreme boasts 6.1 channel digital audio output, as well as the ability to playback a variety of CD and DVD formats. With the newly announced PVR capabilities, users will easily be able to record television programs to the internal hard disk for later playback, or to record, pause and/or rewind “live” television programs as they watch them. The ApeXtreme will be available to consumers in select markets this spring and nationwide in the third quarter of 2004. Suggested retail price is $499.
“Apex has always delivered home entertainment to the mass consumer,” said Steve Brothers, President of Apex Digital, Inc. “With the inclusion of DISCover technology as well as an AMD processor and NVIDIA graphics in the ApeXtreme, we’re bringing the most advanced gaming entertainment to the widest possible audience.”