The Xbox 360™ and PlayStation® 3 are known for their sharp HD video and enveloping surround sound. They bring gaming to a whole new level by turning video games into an intense, interactive and visually pleasing experience. But did you know that these consoles also boast some cool networking capabilities? They can let you access music, movies, and photos on your PC and "stream" them to your game console.

"Streaming" means continually sending data from one place to another. In this case, the data is being streamed over a wired or wireless Internet connection from your computer to your game console. The streamed data doesn't take up precious hard drive space on your game console, and you won't have to keep updating your console every time you add something to your media library. You can enjoy your music on your home theater system, or view movies and photos that you have stored on your computer on your large high-def TV.

If you have a Windows® PC with Windows Media Player 11, then you're already equipped with the software you need to send compatible music, photo, and video files to your Xbox 360.

But getting your computer to "talk" to your game console and share media can be more involved than simply setting up the console and your computer. In this article, we'll cover the basics of steaming to the 360 and the PS3, and as well as some key features to look for when selecting the necessary software.

Getting started

To begin, you'll need a network connection, your game console (connected to your TV), and some software that will allow your computer to talk to your game console. If you have a wireless router set up, have your network name available as well as your password, if you have one. You should also make sure that your game console and the operating system on your computer are both up to date with any recent firmware downloads. If you're not sure, see the developer's site to find out when the last firmware update was released, or run a quick check for updates on your computer.

Before we get started, keep in mind that you won't be able to stream copy-protected music that you may have purchased from some online music stores, like iTunes®.

Is this a project for you?
You don't have to be completely computer savvy to stream music to your console. As long as you're comfortable with common computer tasks, like setting up a wireless network and managing basic security settings, this should be a project you can handle.

What to expect

Sony's PlayStation 3 isn't just a great Blu-ray player and gaming console — it can also stream movies, music, and photos from your computer.

The basic steps for downloading and detecting software are very similar for both consoles. We've listed a basic run-through below so you know what's involved. See the section on choosing software for tips on finding and selecting software that's compatible with your computer's operating system and your game console. Once you've chosen some specific software, the developer's site should have more detailed, step-by-step instructions to help you.

First, connect your computer and your game console to your wireless network or to your router via Ethernet cable. If it's your first time connecting your console to your wireless network, you'll need to go into your console's settings and select the name of your wireless network. If your network is encrypted, you'll also need to enter your password.

Once you've installed the computer software you chose, you may need to go into the program's settings and select an option that allows the program to share media. If you're asked where you want to share your media to, you should click on the console's name or a symbol that looks like your console. This lets your console access music, movies, and photos stored on your computer through the software you've chosen.

Remember that once you download any piece of software on to your computer, you'll need to scan for media using the program so that it can populate your media library. Depending on how much media you have and what kind of operating system you're running on your computer, this might take a while.

Finally, you'll want to confirm that everything is working. Go to one of the media icons on your console and try to play or view a song, movie, or photo stored on your computer.

On the Xbox 360, you'll need to select "My Xbox," select "Music Library," then "Computer." (For pictures or videos, you would select "Picture Library" or "Video Library," respectively, as the intermediate step.) Follow the prompts, then select your computer and the shared media name. Find the music, movies, or pictures that you want to play or view, and then select "Play."

On the PS3, scroll over to the category that you want to play media from — either movies, music, or photos. Click on the icon that says "Search for media servers." After a few seconds, the name of the software you're using should pop up. Select it, and then scroll through your music, movie, and photo titles, and choose which file you want to play or view.

You'll only have to go through these setup steps once — as long as your computer is on, your media should always appear on your console. Also, it's important to note that game consoles can only stream and play content from a server, like your computer — they can't stream content to other players.