Sony already has a foothold in the living room, while the PS4 is bigger than the average media service, it is around the same size as a cable box and has a sleek black design that works well underneath the TV stand. This is not enough for Sony and at E3 2014 they announced the PlayStation TV, a $100 streaming service for media and old games.
The PlayStation TV will work similar to the Apple or Roku TV, the user will boot it up and it will offer different sorts of applications to watch content. Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Now TV, Hulu Plus and other streaming services will be on board, alongside around 1,000 PS1, PS Vita and PSP games available to stream.
This will all come from PlayStation Now, Sony’s answer to backwards compatibility in the next-gen. Users are capable of finding all the games from the PS1, PS2 and PS3 on the PS4 running PlayStation Now, but for PlayStation TV users it might take a bit of time before they can start streaming PS2 and PS3 games.
For $100 it comes at the same price as the Apple TV, but it offers a bit more for gamers. A bundled version of the PlayStation TV includes a DualShock 3 controller, 8GB memory card, HDMI cable and LEGO Movie: The Video Game all for $140, a bit of a weird bundle, but worth it for the extra $40.
PlayStation TV will come to Japan first and then spread into Europe and the United States. Right now, Sony has not actually announced an official release date for Europe or United States, saying it will be coming soon. PlayStation Now will begin its public beta on July 31 for PS4 gamers and PlayStation TV users.
In the battle for the living room, the PlayStation TV might be a nice touch for people who don’t want a full console but want to play some games when they are bored, but this feels all too much like the Ouya or GameStick, offering a wish-wash of everything but with bad quality.
