A key consideration for game consoles is that of support. Game Console player development is provided by the manufacturers working at their own speed and based on their own priorities. This might result in varying degrees of player evolution with respect to supporting some stream configurations, sets of features and fixes that may or may not be integrated. On the flip side, certain features can be dropped as well with little warning thus impacting overall playback experience. In addition, the focus of game consoles is not on streaming video quality but on gaming video.

Game Console Project Management is controlled by the manufacturer who controls the integration process. Therefore, support for adding new code may not be forthcoming. The status of functionality, that is, what is kept or removed in the native game console video player is controlled by the manufacturer and there is no guarantee that a feature that is present today, might not be removed tomorrow.

One factor that might affect the ubiquitous deployment of streaming video services on these platforms could be that Sony’s and Microsoft’s developer support is focused on gaming and not streaming video services. Vendors for Application Development, DRM and Video Players may find it somewhat difficult to establish partnerships with both of those manufacturers which inhibits their ability to get the necessary SDKs and documentation that allows porting of streaming services to the devices.

Game console manufacturers do not provide roadmaps and a version of a game console player today does not provide assurances that in the future it has the features and compatibility with new OS versions. Sony and Microsoft might also deploy new OS versions that can have a negative impact on existing versions of media players.
So the next time you are considering which player partner to use, choose Nexplayer and then you can also say: Game On!