Mad Catz branches out beyond controllers
New software turns PS2 into home networking center.
By David S. Cohen -- Video Business, 8/21/2003
AUG. 21 | Mad Catz Interactive is broadening its product line, bringing out home networking software and a portable LCD screen to go with its leading third-party lineup of videogame peripherals.
In its first foray into home entertainment, Mad Catz is introducing the GameShark Media Player, which allows PlayStation 2 consoles on a home network to play content including music, photos and movies stored on the hard drive of a computer in another room.
The GameShark Media Player, using technology licensed from independent software company BroadQ, turns a PS2 console into a controller and viewer for a remote home PC. One disc in the two-CD package turns the home PC into a file-server, which can send compressed entertainment content through a home network. The other disc enables the PS2 console to decode the compressed files and play them on a TV, so consumers can watch PC-based movies, listen to MP3s or view digital photos on a living room TV.
The software, priced at about $50, can power multiple PCs and multiple PS2s on the same network, but each PS2 requires its own software disc. Mad Catz representatives said the software will work only via a local-area network, so user cannot view content on a computer via the Internet.
The software will be sold in videogame stores and consumer electronics outlets, executives said.
The 7-inch Universal LCD Travel Display--a portable TFT LCD screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio, priced at $200--turns a game console into a game station. The screen comes with a clamp for mounting on a table, desk or inside a car.
MadCatz's fall offerings also include several new videogame controllers: the LumiCon is a full-featured controller with vibration motors that feature internal LED illumination for gamers who like to play in the dark. The MiniCon is a smaller controller, keeping the full features of larger controllers. The RetroCon is a compact controller in the style of early game machines, incorporating contemporary features.
In software, GameShark SP for Game Boy Advance SP comes with more than 4,000 codes for more than 185 games, with 10,000 codes downloadable from GameShark.com. With USB links to a PC, GameShark SP permits gamers to store thousands of codes and game saves on their PC drive. GameShark GameSaves software for PS2, Xbox and GameCube comes preloaded with thousands of game saves, permitting gamers to store their own saves or download saves from the Internet.
Early this year, Mad Catz acquired the GameShark brand, GameShark.com and related intellectual property for $5.1 million.
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