actually you don't, using a simple app as dvdx can play a dvd using your controller. even sweeter, using xbmc (xbox media center) you can watch dvd or svcd images from your pc and now for dvd images or vobs it uses menus and such thos its still not 100% working like when using dvdx or the remote kit (best example is like watching a kung fu flick which isn't english and even if you selected the english subtitle from the dvd menu, it won't work unless you do it from xbmc's menu). oh and svcd/vcds do work using xbmc with nothing done to them tho i will say that some dvd-roms do not see certain cdr's as svcd/vcds so you may wanna try a few different types of media if your dvd-rom can read cdrs. for those that have dvd-rom that can't read cdrs, best to use smb share from your pc to stream the bin/mpg file on xbmc. and on a last note, using dvdrws or cdrws really depends more on your dvd-rom excepting them as mines works fine with tdk dvd-rws and most xbox dvd-roms can read cdrws but some depend on the type of media, worth trying a few good quality media and highly advise avoiding cheap media like princo which doesn't last long for the life of it.