In a flurry of Android Nexus news (including the announcement of a brand new Nexus phone and tablet) Google has announced Nexus TV. It’s a device that allows you to play movies and video content much like Apple TV, but it also allows you to play Android games on your TV. In order to do that, it has a pretty sexy new controller.
You can find out more detailed info on how the device works here, but I’m interested in the gaming side. The Ouya, I think we can all agree, hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, but maybe this will work as a cheaper way for folks to play games through their TV. Maybe.
I’m thinking about buying one. It’s essentially a catch-all device that allows me to stream content to my TV ala Chromecast, and that’s super appealing to me. It’s powered by a quad-core 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor with PowerVR Series 6 graphics, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. It’s going to cost $99 in the US but we currently don’t have any details on an Australian price or release date for that matter. Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube and Vevo are all confirmed for the device.
That sexy controller we were talking about? That’s going to set you back $40 in the US. Again, no word on how much it will cost in Australia when it gets released.
It seems like an ideal catch-all device for media consumption and it’s so cheap. It’s got me seriously questioning the wisdom of marketing the Xbox One as the ONE device you need to watch TV and play games because, seriously, how can it compete with a cheap, flexible device that already does what the Xbox One can do (in terms of video content) and more. Focusing on the games — as they’ve done over the last year or so — is probably a wise move.
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8 responses to “The First Official Android TV Device Has A Pretty Sweet Video Game Controller”
Kind of like Playstation TV, which doesn’t really turn me on either. I’ve got me a PS4, PS3 and some Vitas, a Sony Tablet S, an iphone 4 and a Galaxy S3. Bases all covered for mobile and TV-based content. Show me a little gizmo that can do something new and fantastic, or do something significantly better than currently available tech, and then I’ll be interested.
EDIT: Don’t really want to stream stuff to TV in case my wife gets ideas about streaming her Chinese soaps when the TV is meant to be used for gaming 🙂
What’s the bet none of that stuff with the exception of Youtube is actually available in Australia?
Just gotta switch up your DNS settings with getflix or something similar. Will work a treat with the NBN when it finally gets built.
It’s like a mashup of a Wii-U pro controller and an xbox one controller, looks good !
I’ll probably get one as soon as its out. Doubtful that I will use this thing for gaming though.
Combined with Limelight (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.limelight&hl=en) this is potentially really awesome.
The Apple tv has been able to do this for ages but no one built a decent controller. It is something so easy yet so critical, and Apple completely got it wrong. Should have had an Apple made standardised controller.
“It’s going to cost $99 in the US but we currently don’t have any details on an Australian price or release date for that matter. Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube and Vevo are all confirmed for the device. That sexy controller we were talking about? That’s going to set you back $40 in the US. Again, no word on how much it will cost in Australia when it gets released.”
Translated to Australia – it’s going to cost $180-200 easily, with the controller going for another $80 at least. It will also come without Netflix or Hulu Plus. Yet our local retailers wonder why consumers accuse them of price-gouging …