A dedicated apparatus for playing unmodified software, housed in a home
entertainment system chassis, for playing in a home entertainment
environment the existing body of interactive multimedia software that has
been formatted and published for compatibility with standard personal
computer platforms. Video and audio output signals are generated in
response to the processing of the multimedia software program, which are
fed to the home entertainment system for presentation to an audience. A
further aspect is the provision of a drop & play feature which
automatically initiates playing of multimedia software in a sequence that
appears to be similar to playing on a videogame console, i.e., without
requiring any further action from a user after inserting the media or
selecting play. This feature is in part provided by a table containing
installation information for each of numerous multimedia software titles;
entries in this table are preferably indexed by an identifier that can be
uniquely derived from a given CD-ROM/DVD or other portable media. The
multimedia software may alternatively be provided via a network, such as
the Internet.
