Well this has been long overdue, a new game gadgets is finally here, well sort of… I’m going to be stretching the rules of Game Gadgets and tell you about some software. While not technically a Gadget, a good media server can make the consoles (which are gadgets) you have already much more useful.

Both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 have the capability to connect to a media server on your home network. This lets you stream movies, TV shows (or any sort of videos) and music that you have sitting on your computer without having to transfer it onto your console and taking up precious hard drive space.

So how do you do it? Well it is relatively easy! No you don’t need a dedicated server sitting somewhere for all this, you can use your normal computer with a program such as Tversity or PS3 Media Server (also works on the 360) running in the background set up ready for when you want to use it. Sure, Windows 7 has one built in, but these programs make it much easier to set up for media.

Tversity is the better looking program of the two; it looks like care has been taken in the layout. There is a premium product but there is no point getting that for just a media server purpose. It is easy to set up, just add your folders and you should be ready to go. You can also organise things if that is your thing.

There are a few flaws in the program that I have found, mainly due to Vista’s firewall. It can block the program very easily, so if you are having trouble turn the firewall off temporarily and start the sharing again. If your PS3/360 then picks the server up you need to make a firewall exception for Tversity AND Mediaserver.exe. This is what I have done to fix the temperament of the sever showing up. The other thing is a worry for low bandwidth users, is that Tversity seems to download things in the background to get people to try the features available in the paid version.

PS3 Media Server is a community built program, buy people much smarter than me. Therefore the user interface isn’t as pretty, but the program functions perfectly well. Being a community built program has its positives; it seems to connect much easier and consistently than Tversity straight from install. It also is a lot more customizable if you want to get down into the nitty gritty of things.

The one thing that makes me recommend PS3 Media Server more is the transcoding function. It needs to be activated, but if you have file types that your console doesn’t natively support, it will convert the file on the fly and enables your console to play it. No more stuffing around with video converters anymore!

The downsides to these programs is that your computer needs to be on the whole time you want to use it, but compared to the upsides it is a small price to pay. Imagine playing Mass Effect 2, going around scanning planets. That is really boring, but it needs to be done, so what to do? Go into your music, find your media server of choice and play some music from your PC that now comes out of your Home Theatre Speakers. Getting sick of playing games? Switch it off and zone out to some TV show that you like to watch. It’s brilliant and everyone should at least give it a go.