Amongst the various E3 gaming convention announcements is news that Sony intends to bring PlayStation TV to US shores this fall. Introduced in 2013 as PlayStation Vita TV (review), Sony appropriately drops “Vita” branding given its generally poor mobile market reception and the PSTV’s broader capabilities. Part TV streamer, that will surely replace Sony’s unsuccessful line of Roku competitors, and gaming system, PSTV will be priced at Fire TV equivalency: $100 for the base system, add $40 if you’d prefer the gaming controller upsell.
But is there room in the market for yet another television box? According to BBYInsider, Best Buy doesn’t think so and has no plans to carry PlayStation TV alongside the Rokus, Fire TVs, Apple TVs, and more lucrative “real” gaming consoles. Of course, we’re still several months from launch and Sony has yet to announce likely app partners like Netflix and Pandora. Further, PSTV’s native and PS3/PS4 streaming game capabilities may ultimately win over both Best Buy and consumers. Will you be picking one up this holiday season?
“PSTV’s native and PS3/PS4 streaming game capabilities”
Well that needs extremem clarification. Can stream Playstation Now which is a service to launch in the future that will support only PS3 games initially, with possible future plans for PS1/PS2 games. No plan for any PS4 games to be streamed.
It CAN stream your PS4 console over the Internet/LAN(Router)/wifi(direct)/ethernet(direct) to the PS TV much like the VITA. So, they are separate things. Makes it sound like this will either be able to stream the PS3 to the PS TV or PS4 Games through the direct PS Now service. As of now, both are incorrect.
Put it in a ‘stick’ format that plugs directly into a HDMI port (powered by a USB cable) like the Chromecast and we’ll talk.
Seems like they are late to the party, and I don’t think bundling video games will be enough in the end to push them over the top in America. Time will tell though…
drd7of14, was aiming for brevity in order to focus on the broader question posed in the headline. Gameplay and other technical details are available to those who want to dig deeper via the “Playstation TV” link I’d provided.
“was aiming for brevity in order to focus on the broader question posed in the headline.”
But wasn’t the headline sheer parody?
Positing Best Buy still exists is like positing Radio Shack still exists.
In support of that premise, I saw a Best Buy ad saying something like ‘the greatest tech showroom’ … which is exactly how many Amazon customers view them. Although, I’ve been a more frequent customer since BBY implemented Amazon price match. Instant gratification!
Seems like a fine play for PS4 owners. Without announced streaming TV partners though, I have no idea how it will play to the broader market.
I would say it may not matter what streaming partners Sony gets. I think we sometimes forget that Roku is so sucessful and purchased even when one already has connected devices such as Smart TV’s and other streaming boxes like Blu-ray players because of the superior DESIGN and robustness of the Roku device. Let’s not forget the legions of TiVo owners who still use or will go and buy a Roku in spite of TiVo’s ability to stream the same (most popular) services. The Roku also has the greatest likelihood of being the most popular in the non-techie homes because it is so elegantly simple in its design and interface.
I would say that I would love a box like this for the XBox one. Half the time I don’t play my games because I am too tired to go downstairs to the basement to play. Couple that with digital purchases, being able to play your games in different rooms in the house would be great. That being said, the TV stuff on all this is meh. You can get all this content a million ways, though I think the hdmi pass through is the way to go. Having all your content on one input is lot easier to explain to mom or the baby sitter….
What level of gaming/graphics performance can we expect from this thing? Would you put it somewhere between the PS2 and PS3? I’d gladly pick one up if there are lots of inexpensive, older games available on it.
It’s pretty safe to say that since the Playstation TV is running the actual Vita OS and runs the actual Vita apps. Any service that is on the Vita is pretty much confirmed for the Playstation TV. Which means Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Crackle, Redbox Instant, TuneIn Radio, NBA Gametime, NHL Gamecenter, Qello, CrunchyRoll, and Nico Nico. (I’m probably missing a few.) The apps just need to be whitelisted. Is that enough for ya?
Sharon, that’s a fair assessment. As DustoMan points out, this is essentially a TV version of the handheld PS Vita. Regarding apps, what he says may be technically true, there’s also the matter of partner approval and licensing which Sony is presumably working thru now. Well, other than Crackle, which is a Sony property and surely will be present.