Nullsoft's WinAmp media player has long been a staple audio playback application for PC platforms, and soon it will officially support major game consoles. Local access to media files stored on a host PC has always been possible on the PS3 and Xbox 360, but the upcoming WinAmp Remote (currently in beta) will enable remote access from a PS3 or Wii, or mobile phone.  Obviously the PS3 and Wii will need access to the Internet, and Winamp Remote will allow users of both platforms to use the proprietary console web browsers and controllers to stream video and audio from their own WinAmp collection or a friend's.

According to WinAmp product director Matthew Callaway, "host" PCs will optimize these streams based on the console accessing them, and over what connection speeds. It should be noted that Xbox 360 users can't quite make use of WinAmp Remote yet, as its remote access features require an internet browser (which the Xbox 360 lacks compared to the PS3 and Wii) to access a host PC running WinAmp.

The product is relatively simple; users store their music files on a PC with Winamp running. Then they enable the application for remote access. After setting that up, users fire up the Wii or PlayStation 3 web browser and head to http://winamp.com/remote to sign in. As long as the host PC is on, has Winamp running and connected to the Internet, the user can allow a friend to stream music and video from that machine too. If the user was on the road, at a party, over a friend's or trapped in a coffee house with bad music, they can access their tunes remotely from anywhere with an Internet connection.

"Anecdotally, we know many PC gamers use Winamp," Callaway says as he clasps his hands together to show the connection. "So naturally, the place to start building new Winamp functionality was by heading to the consoles."