Sony takes on Apple TV with game-playing PS Vita TV
Sony on Monday announced a new addition to its PlayStation Vita ecosystem in a surprising new form factor: a game-playing set-top box for televisions that will take on Apple's own Apple TV device.
The new PS Vita TV is a diminutive device ? measuring just 6-by-10 cm ? that packs in the hardware from Sony's PS Vita portable console. That hardware will allow the console to play video game selections from the both the original PlayStation and the PlayStation Portable, as well as select titles from the PlayStation Vita.
In all, more than 100 PS Vita games, over 600 PSP games, and more than 600 PlayStation games can be played on Sony's new device. It will also be able to stream content from the forthcoming PlayStation 4 console if the television the console is regularly attached to is in use.
In a move that will bring Sony into competition with Apple in the set-top segment, the PS Vita TV will also have access to a range of video services. Many of those will be Japan-specific, including DMM.com, Tsutaya TV, and NicoNico Douga, but it will also connect to Hulu and Sony's PlayStation Store, which itself has a wide range of video offerings available.
Sony will also compete with the Apple TV on price. The PS Vita TV will retail for roughly $95 for a base version, with another bundle retailing for about $143 with a DualShock 3 controller and 8GB memory card included.
The new device could mark the first significant competition Apple has faced in the media streaming devices market. Apple TV grabbed 56 percent of that market in 2012, and other devices from Samsung and assorted competitors have failed to gain traction the way Apple's set-top box has.
Now, though, an established tech giant is stepping into the segment with a product with wide name recognition and a deep library of game and media titles to distribute. Sony's set-top offering will launch on November 14 in Japan, but the company has not yet revealed any plans for wider release.
The new PS Vita TV is a diminutive device ? measuring just 6-by-10 cm ? that packs in the hardware from Sony's PS Vita portable console. That hardware will allow the console to play video game selections from the both the original PlayStation and the PlayStation Portable, as well as select titles from the PlayStation Vita.
In all, more than 100 PS Vita games, over 600 PSP games, and more than 600 PlayStation games can be played on Sony's new device. It will also be able to stream content from the forthcoming PlayStation 4 console if the television the console is regularly attached to is in use.
In a move that will bring Sony into competition with Apple in the set-top segment, the PS Vita TV will also have access to a range of video services. Many of those will be Japan-specific, including DMM.com, Tsutaya TV, and NicoNico Douga, but it will also connect to Hulu and Sony's PlayStation Store, which itself has a wide range of video offerings available.
Sony will also compete with the Apple TV on price. The PS Vita TV will retail for roughly $95 for a base version, with another bundle retailing for about $143 with a DualShock 3 controller and 8GB memory card included.
The new device could mark the first significant competition Apple has faced in the media streaming devices market. Apple TV grabbed 56 percent of that market in 2012, and other devices from Samsung and assorted competitors have failed to gain traction the way Apple's set-top box has.
Now, though, an established tech giant is stepping into the segment with a product with wide name recognition and a deep library of game and media titles to distribute. Sony's set-top offering will launch on November 14 in Japan, but the company has not yet revealed any plans for wider release.
Comments
I don't even consider Sony products anymore...
Like I keep telling the android fanbois - *YOU* are not the target market.
It will all depend on how much the content is. The problem with Sony's PS Vita, Nintendo's DS, etc. is that the titles are so much more expensive than iOS titles, and really aren't much better if at all.
Sony has some great content and previous games. If they release some of their old titles and newer PS Vita titles for between $0.99 - $4.99, then I can see this working, but if they continue to try and milk their titles for $9.99 to $29.99 for a game, then good luck, as soon as Apple TV is open to apps, then why would I bother (as long as Apple TV apps stay in the same price range as their other iOS device counterparts).
Nice try, Sony. I don't recall my last purchase of Sony devices in my house. It's probably 15 years ago.
Apple has not done much to their Apple TV, but if they refresh it this time to have full iOS installed and more storage space like 16GB or 32GB, the competition is really much over. I absolutely love to play iOS games on TV instead of airplay it. I bet many do too. Apple can do a lot with Apple TV since it's no longer a "hobby" product, but a true "should have" one in iOS ecosystem. I don't know why they just ignore it. Get full iOS 7 in Apple TV and let consumers go wild with it, Apple.
The $. 99 price point is just a facade. Most games don't allow one to do much without one spending more money on in app purchases.
The $. 99 price point is just a facade. Most games don't allow one to do much without one spending more money on in app purchases.
Nor should they (if they have value.)
In their fall to the ground after having been stabbed, Sony has decided to shoot themselves in the arm.
This cannot play the entire Vita library, whereas the 2DS can play all 3DS games. Good luck selling it.
I'll wait to see what Apple does with Apple TV, seriously where the hell is the App Store for it?
If apple doesn't make a serious effort soon I could see myself getting one of these.
Why not? Angry Birds lets one play the entire game without needing to buy anything additional. It's quite annoying having to start a game like Temple Run from the beginning every single time.
If you think gaming will sync using iCloud think about who uses the TV in your house. In my house it's more than 1 person. Does this mean the ATV needs user accounts?
Another thoguht - I have an Apple TV on every TV in my house. I can walk into any room and steam music, videos, movies, listen to Apple radio, or mirror an iOS game (or Mac). If ATV had an AppStore I would only be able to play on that 1 TV.
I'm sure there are great reasons for ATV apps but gaming is not one of them.
Sony and MS are both desperately trying to expand their game consoles into full blown media ecosystems to rival Apple's. but except for their die-hard fans who wants to live inside their small and expensive "walled gardens"? Apple's is bigger, better, and - as a matter of fact - less expensive.
while on the other hand, with iOS 7 Apple is expanding its ecosystem to include game controllers for Apple TV via AirPlay (at least). who do you think is going to come out ahead?
What cracks me up and makes me buy even more Apple stock is all these "process" companies who invariably sell theirr latest gizmo and tick off various features it has thinking that is all they have to do to make it a best seller. They just don't get it , they simply do not understanmd that content/ quality is the name of the game now. Content is not in their DNA
Let me explain: I lie propped up in bed at home, watching an interview given to Steve Jobs, a lost recording from 1995. It “flickered” on my iPad, showing a younger Jobs just before he was to go back to Apple and start on a 15 year restoration and blossoming of Apple into the corporation it is today. I listening and watched his face and especially his eyes explains the whole ethos of Apple, You probably understand to some extent what he is talking about , But the next morning I woke up in a strange yet tranquil mood. As I sit here at my office desk, looking at the series of tasks and goals I have on my plate, I still can't get him out of my head. There is one point where in one of his answers about people , he explains there are several kinds of people in this world,There are those who “get it” , who know how to design, implement and program. he specifically used the idea that in life the difference between something in a product that does it ‘Okay” and another similar product that does it “great” is at most maybe at most in the order of 2:1, and usually something like 1.2 to 1 or 1.1 to 1. He used examples like a car, or a radio where the basic model will provide what we need and the great model will only really be 10-15 percent better and 'all we can achieve. And that our whole culture works operated off this fact. He then went on to say that with computers its different and that the ratio is something like 50:1, I realized right there he had something. I knew he was right I don't know why. I just know. After that illumination dropped Steve went on to say that when hiring people to work at Apple he wanted mainly people who were the same way. Explaining he said There are people who simply don’t know what they are doing.
DON'T know WHAT they ARE DOING
PEOPLE WHO DO, ARE LIKE THIS AND THAT
PEOPLE WHO DO, ARE HARD TO MANAGE
PEOPLE WHO DO, ARE THE ONES NEEDED TO CREATE GREAT COMPUTERS
HE ALSO SAID, THE B’s AND Unders follow process not the content!
What I think he means by that is , Content is the quality so to speak of the widget, does it look great, is it cool, does it inspire. Essentially: Does it do the thing it was designed to do really really well? I think he means the “A” types look at the content first and decide if it worth doing (Content). Then they look at the process and replicate it (process), Companies like Sony do process first and fail
In their fall to the ground after having been stabbed, Sony has decided to shoot themselves in the arm.
This cannot play the entire Vita library, whereas the 2DS can play all 3DS games. Good luck selling it.
Nintendo is going down before Sony.
http://www.asymco.com/2013/09/09/game-over/
I am bearish on this too.
The problem with Vita TV is that it can't survive competing along side the PS3/PS4. Xbox One is Microsoft's sole living TV solution. AppleTV is Apple's sole set top box. Vita TV is not. If Sony starts confusing consumers with PS4 + PS Vita TV as solutions for video content delivery, they'll weaken both platforms. This will not solve the Vita's problems. Sony needs to decide what market it will own and build the best solution for it: if Vita is meant for "hardcore gamers who want to play Splinter Cell on a portable console," then they have that market all to themselves, unless Microsoft decides to create a portable Xbox. That market isn't anywhere bear the size of the market for smartphones, so Sony will have to accept smaller sales.
If I wanted a console connected to my TV, I'd rather get a PS4 or connect and play PS Vita to my TV; I don't want a Vita console.
It's a nice looking little box that does quite a lot of cool things, as both a companion device and a standalone. Interesting move. And they've got the controller sorted for gaming, which is where the question mark hangs over Apple.
Sony seem like the player to bet on in the next console wars, and this strengthens their offering, if they market it right. Good to see, I like Sony.
Not sure why this expectation exists. Apple never promised that. Oddly, nobody expects Chromecast to have an App Store.