[title]ApeXtreme PC Console On Hold[/title]
Hard times ahead for Apex DigitalWaaay back in the first quarter of this year, DVD player and TV distributor Apex Digital revealed their intentions to release a plug-and-play "PC console" called the "ApeXtreme" sometime during the past third quarter at around $499 US.?At this point it's clear the release never happened and while Apex itself has not flat-out said they have cancelled the console, they admit that the project has been put on hold.?Unfortunately for Apex however, there's no further information available that could possibly brighten the forecast for the ApeXtreme at the moment.
No reasons for the decisions have been given, though Kotaku suggests that the money troubles (i.e. financial fraud) plaguing Apex could be a strong reason.?Incidentally these same issues have lead to the arrest of Apex Digital's co-founder, David Ji, in China earlier this week.
To be honest, I don't believe too many console gamers were keen on the concept of playing PC games on a separate console on their TVs (away from their actual PCs) in the first place, though the ApeXtreme did have an interesting history at the very least.?It was originally to be a springboard for VIA Technologies' x86-based "Glory Personal Gaming Console Platform", which utilized a VIA C3 CPU and chipset as well S3 DeltaChrome graphics.?This fell through however, when later ApeXtreme specs spelled out the drop of VIA support altogether.
Another key point was the console's use of Digital Interactive Systems Corporation's DISCover technology to download and deliver the actual gaming content to the user itself.?Naturally this too will not work out in the end, as DISCover confirms that the release status of the console is now in perpetual limbo.
