Amazon Fire TV: Streaming Device... and Gaming Console?

Smashgoom202

Dry Bowser
Retired Wiki Staff
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/04/02/amazon-firetv-is-a-streaming-set-top-box-and-game-console

Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I heard about it, even moreso when I heard what companies were having games released on it. EA, Ubisoft, Double Fine, Sega, Disney, TellTale, the list goes on! And some of these guys are some pretty big names, too! Part of me has to wonder, with names like these... will there be a true fourth competitor in the console market?

...Kind of doubt it. Despite boasting to have at least 1,000 games by the end of April, we all know that it doesn't matter how many games a console has, but if it has any GOOD games, or games worth playing. Part of me believes, ESPECIALLY on the part of EA and Ubisoft, that most of these games will be either shovelware or crappy ports of preexisting games, and there won't be anything worth someone's gaming time for this supposed new console. Then again, a Walking Dead game is announced for it; not sure what kind of game it is, or if it's going to be available anywhere else, but it's something. Hell, with this kind of support from major companies, I wouldn't be surprised if this actually becomes sustainable. The reason why people think Nintendo is "doomed" (yeah, unlikely, despite rumors to the contrary), and why no one gave a crap about the OUYA when it finally came out, despite having a highly successful Kickstarter, is that neither of them had good third party support. Most third parties pretty much abandoned ship or burned all bridges with Nintendo shortly after the Wii U launched, and... well, who even knows what's going on with the OUYA at this point. With this kind of support backing up Amazon's system, I can't help but wonder if it will actually make an impact...

Then again, it seems to sell itself less as a gaming console and more as an all-purpose media playing, pretty much what the Xbox One and PS4 have been trying to sell themselves as. It's something I'm a little disappointed to see, though I can understand the practicality of having everything you want out of your TV in one device... though part of me feels that the Xbone (and maybe the PS4) kind of missed some points in that it tried to do what TVs could already do, but that's another topic.

Anyway, you can buy yourself one of these things here (on Amazon, of course):

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX5P8FC/ref=amb_link_1/189-0257372-2139116?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1R5QFA5TNZ0D65R4RBQC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1770051702&pf_rd_i=507846
 
Looks more like a "smart tv" than a straight-up console...
 
Unfortunately, this is the closest to console ports that the 2013 Sonic 1 and 2 remakes will be getting. Quite a shame, really.
 
$99 is killer price, and it will get great arcade-style games. Definitely getting it as soon as my new TV arrives.
 
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