Gaming systems have come a long way over the years, now resembling more a modern PC than the game systems of past. Great graphics, lots of processing power, why shouldn’t they do more than just play games? Of course, they can and this post is about just that: how much extra can we squeeze out of that box that’s already sitting in your living room?

XBOX 360

The XBOX 360 is one of the most popular and prominent gaming systems on the market, which means that most of you reading this should have one that you actively use or at least one collecting dust, with the former being much more likely. For what you can do with the XBOX 360, it’s also probably the most cost-effective purchases you could make if you don’t have a game system already ($199).

With extra equipment you can make it do much more, but out of the box the only trick it has is Netflix integration. That’s a pretty big trick, though. For the marginal cost of an XBOX Live membership ($60/year or cheaper), you can tie in your existing Netflix subscription ($8.95/mo minimum), to get access to tens of thousands of movies or television shows streamed right to your TV.

The only downside with the Netflix integration is that you aren’t given queue management features. That means you have to add movies to your queue from your computer before you stream them through your XBOX 360. That’s a minor inconvenience, though, that can be largely mitigated by filling your instant queue with everything you’d might like to watch before hand. Then, you can pick and choose what you want to want to watch right now from your XBOX 360. I have ~200 movies and TV shows in my instant queue at any time and tend not to miss queue management directly on the XBOX 360. Hopefully, this will be something that Microsoft will add via an update in the future, though, especially now that Netflix has a true API.

PS3 (PlayStation 3)

The PS3 is a much larger investment. Some might question whether its even a worthwhile purchase, considering it’s hefty $399 minimum price tag and small selection of exclusive games. However, the PS3 is not without it’s perks

First, the PS3 beats the XBOX 360 out in its inclusion of a web browser. Being able to browse the web on your TV from the comfort of your couch has definite and obvious benefits. However, without the additional equipment such as a wireless keyboard (which will be covered in a future post in this series), browsing can become a bit tedious. I think Sony did a great job implementing this functionality so that it’s all doable with a standard PS3 controller, but it’s still a controller, after all.

Even with an integrated web browser, Netflix isn’t available on the PS3 (without additional software). Hulu, however, does work with the PS3’s web browser, including support for full screen viewing. For those that haven’t heard of this wonderful service, Hulu is a joint partnership between NBC, FOX, and others that provides free access to tons of movies and TV shows at the cost of short 30-second spots interspersed throughout your viewing. We all despise commercials, but the commercial breaks in Hulu’s shows are less frequent that commercial breaks on standard TV, and much, much shorter: 30 seconds opposed to 3 minutes on average for standard TV.

Second, the PS3 can dual boot Linux out of the box: no modding required. You’ll have to find a PS3-compatible flavor, but there’s a few to choose from. I successfully booted the PS3 build of Ubuntu on mine, though there were frustratingly impossible problems with both WPA-protected wireless and my bluetooth keyboard. Still, the ability to have a full desktop computer and game system in one shiny box is a definite win.

Original XBOX

With it’s freakishly large wired controllers the orginal XBOX doesn’t exactly provide an ideal gaming experience, especially compared to it’s modern counterpart. If you still have one of these lying around, though, the original XBOX can be repurposed into more, with a little diligence and effort. Enter XBMC, a media center installable on a modded XBOX (or your Mac or PC). The modded part is key there. The actual XBMC installation is pretty straight-forward, but if your XBOX has not been modded previously, you’ll have to take care of that first. Modding the XBOX ranges from extremely easy to insanely difficult depending on which of the requisite tools you have at your disposal. The exact procedures are far beyond the scope of this post, but not hard to find with a quick search on Google.

Once modded, the original XBOX can also run Linux. Like the PS3, you’ll have to use a linux build that supports the XBOX, meaning your favorite flavor may not be available. Still, what better way to repurpose that old XBOX than to turn it into a PC?

Wii

The Wii, lacking support for even DVD playback, makes a pretty weak choice for beefing up your home theatre setup (though, I hear Wii Bowl is highly entertaining). I don’t personally own a Wii, so I’m not sure of it’s full potential. It appears that it is possible to mod the Wii to bring in additional functionality. If anyone who reads this knows of something awesome you can make the Wii do or have modded a Wii yourself, please post more info in the comments.

UPDATE 02/09/09 – @MaleahB posted in the comments that you can download the Wii Internet browser channel that will at least give you the ability to surf the net on your TV through the Wii. However, the privilege will cost you $5.