Sony's $99 PlayStation TV set to battle Apple TV in U.S. and Canada this fall

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited June 2014
At a press event during the E3 gaming conference on Monday, Sony revealed plans to release the $99 PlayStation TV in the U.S. and Canada this fall, taking aim at set-top streaming devices like the Apple TV.


PlayStation TV announcement at E3 2014. | Source: PlayStation via YouTube


Sony already launched its PS4 go-along in Japan as the "Vita TV" last November, bringing mobile game titles and a limited assortment of streaming movies and music to the big screen. Rebadging the device as PlayStation TV, the company is relying on its gaming chops to expand its footprint in consumers' living rooms.

Unlike the Apple TV, PlayStation TV is heavily focused on gaming and will reportedly support 1,000 titles at launch. The device can handle select PS Vita, PSP and PlayStation One classics, while the upcoming PlayStation Now streaming service-- slated to enter open beta on July 31 -- is expected to grant access to PlayStation 3 games.

Finally, Sony's box is able to connect to PlayStation 4 consoles via Remote Play to extend the gaming experience onto other televisions in a household.

The PlayStation TV will have stiff competition in the stalwart Apple TV and newcomers like Amazon's Fire TV, the latter of which also sports built-in gaming support. Apple is rumored to be baking iOS game compatibility, as well as motion controls, into a future version of its device that could see release by the end of 2014.

Sony's PlayStation TV is expected to hit store shelves at $99 for a standalone unit or $139 for a bundle including a DualShock 3 controller, 8GB memory card, HDMI cable and voucher for a copy of "The Lego Movie" video game.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 72
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Sony is the Samsung of gaming
  • Reply 2 of 72
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    And then Apple releases the 4th gen Apple TV and makes this look like the garbage it is.

  • Reply 3 of 72
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Def. More impressive than amazons offering. "But specs!" You'll yell. Content is king, and amazon < sony.

    That said- who gives an F? Give me the new Apple TV already!!!
  • Reply 4 of 72
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member

    I don't get the negativity with the Playstation TV. I'm excited this will finally be released here in North America. I checked these out when I was in Japan and they are really cool. This is also great news for us PS Vita owners. I can't wait to check out Uncharted Golden Abyss on the big screen. The PS TV is a really good companion to the Playstation 4 as well. 

     

    I'm excited to see what the next Apple TV brings, but being a big gamer, mobile gaming doesn't do much for me. You can't compare mobile gaming to consoles. Console games blow mobile gaming away. I think it's hard to compare this to an Apple TV. Playstation TV is for gaming. Apple TV is a great all in one device. Even if Apple adds support for gaming, the quality of console games is so much better then iOS games. 

  • Reply 5 of 72
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    I'm really interested in this, and think an AppleTV is going to struggle to match it for gaming. Good work Sony.
  • Reply 6 of 72
    imatimat Posts: 208member

    "the graphic quality of console games is so much better than iOS games"....

     

    As for the quality of games themselves well... It depends. All I seem to see on the console front is FPS and AC installments, as well as some sports for good measure.



    Me, I own a PS3. And like it a lot. I am by no means an "extreme" gamer. But I like gaming. I own all AC series games.

    But I also use Rocksmith a lot. A "game" that I like very much.

     

    All in all I think most of the games would play really well on an ATV with a newer processor (provided it doesn't heat like a pan).

  • Reply 7 of 72
    Seems more like it's going after the Amazon set-top game box. I assume people buy Apple TVs because they are into the Apple ecosystem. This has no answer to that.
  • Reply 8 of 72
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Breaking: Samsung announces the [B]TV StationPlay[/B] to compete against Sony.
  • Reply 9 of 72
    constable odoconstable odo Posts: 1,041member

    If it were Apple doing something like this, the talking heads would be claiming how they're cannibalizing their higher-priced product line.  Of course, I don't know if that would be true or not.  I'm sure the Playstation TV won't be running Gran Turismo or any of their other high-end games.

     

    Not that I think it's critical or anything but Apple really didn't do much over the last three years with AppleTV considering they could have had the device running iOS and at least some simple games that didn't involve a more powerful processor.  I don't know what $99 can buy in the way of A-series processors but it could be much.  Apple likely had too many other projects going and just keeping AppleTV updated was all they could do.  It seems as though Sony might have an edge in gaming but it all depends on what developers can do with the next iteration of AppleTV. Is it possible that the next version might be running iOS 8?  That would be huge if they could at least put an A7 processor in the next AppleTV.  Maybe Apple would only have to boost the price a bit to keep profit margins if they use an older processor.

  • Reply 10 of 72
    filburtfilburt Posts: 398member
    As an owner of PS3, it better have significantly improved UI to make it worthwhile. PS3 UI is an absolute nightmare to use.

    If it hasn't changed much from the Japanese version, it would be a throughly disgusting UI.
  • Reply 11 of 72
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by filburt View Post



    As an owner of PS3, it better have significantly improved UI to make it worthwhile. PS3 UI is an absolute nightmare to use.



    If it hasn't changed much from the Japanese version, it would be a throughly disgusting UI.

    Which part, the XMB?  I think that's pretty good actually.

     

    Some of the store UI could be a lot better though, if that's what you mean.

  • Reply 12 of 72
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member
    Apple should release a 4th generation Apple TV prior to Sony's release.
  • Reply 13 of 72
    dacloodacloo Posts: 890member
    You need two components in order to make a comparison.
    And then Apple releases the 4th gen Apple TV and makes this look like the garbage it is.
  • Reply 14 of 72
    dacloodacloo Posts: 890member
    Apple won't because they don't work that way. The new Apple TV is so much more than the device that serves the content. It is all about ecosystem and content, not CPU and features. Apple will have to step up and provide a new way of serving content or they'll miss the boat just like iTunes/Spotify.
    mcarling wrote: »
    Apple should release a 4th generation Apple TV prior to Sony's release.
  • Reply 15 of 72
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member
    I'm not a fan of fragmentation, but aside from that, if Sony have PS3 compatibility and great movie content, this could be a great offering. The drawback with Apple TV is the sparse content. It's like it's truly a hobby. I mean, come on, get on with it already! The Apple TV should be open for anyone to create streaming, free, paid channels on the AppleTV interactive titles with Apple standard bluetooth game controllers. All managed through an Apple TV channel- and app store.
  • Reply 16 of 72
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member

    Well, I think Sony is playing defense against a nonexistent Apple Gaming device.  

    I can't blame them when Apple is announcing enhancements like Metal for 3D Graphics acceleration.

  • Reply 17 of 72
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post

     

    Which part, the XMB?  I think that's pretty good actually.

     

     


     

    I agree. It is really simple. Left and Right for main options, Up and Down for sub-options, PS keys for actions. It can't get simpler than that.

    And the PS3 home screen looks very nice at 1080p!

  • Reply 18 of 72
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dacloo View Post



    Apple won't because they don't work that way. The new Apple TV is so much more than the device that serves the content. It is all about ecosystem and content, not CPU and features. Apple will have to step up and provide a new way of serving content or they'll miss the boat just like iTunes/Spotify.

     

    No doubt that Apple's business model is based on the ecosystem.  Apple may or may not adjust the Apple TV business model following the Beats acquisition.  None of that suggests that Apple will not update the Apple TV hardware this summer, to improve performance and perhaps add support for 4K content and apps, including games.

  • Reply 19 of 72
    ytseman3ytseman3 Posts: 33member
    everyone cries specs, I say give me great games not specs. I'm an old school gamer (Atari 2600), and those old blocky games had better and more satisfying play than alot of the current games with movie like graphics. Ok, let the flames begin. :)
  • Reply 20 of 72
    iaeeniaeen Posts: 588member
    andysol wrote: »
    Def. More impressive than amazons offering. "But specs!" You'll yell. Content is king, and amazon < sony.

    That said- who gives an F? Give me the new Apple TV already!!!

    Agree. If I were still into gaming, I would be really excited about RemotePlay.

    I do think this is going to wipe out Amazon's gaming push as well as make any future push by Apple to start gaming on the AppleTV more difficult.
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