Sony's competitor to Amazon's Kindle Fire and the Apple TV used to pose little threat when it was safely positioned in its home country in Japan. Not anymore.
Sony hopes to make huge waves by bringing PlayStation TV to the U.S., Canada and Europe. PlayStation TV, which was launched last year in Japan as PlayStation Vita, is a set-top box that, in addition to streaming video from services such as Hulu, also lets users play PlayStation games on their large-screen televisions.
"This little gem will be able to pair with your PlayStation 4, allowing you to play your PS4 game via remote play on a second television in your home," Sony announced [video] at the E3 gaming conference Monday. "It will give you access to video and music streaming services, will give you the ability to play hundreds of PS3 titles made available to PlayStation Now. And, of course, PlayStation TV will also play most Vita titles as well as PS1 and PSP classics."
Sony also said that its Gaikai-based video game streaming service PlayStation Now is currently available in beta for PlayStation 4. Once PS Now becomes available for PlayStation 3, gamers will then be able to access over a hundred PS3 games on PlayStation TV by beaming games such as "God of War," "Ascension" and "Ultra Street Fighter" via PS Now.
In essence, PlayStation TV allows gamers to play their favorite games anywhere they are even if their console is connected to another television. For example, a user can use his PlayStation TV's wireless DualShock controller to continue playing on the TV inside his bedroom if his sister comes home and wants to watch TV in the living room.
PlayStation TV will cost $99 in the U.S. and £60 in European markets. The DualShock controller will not come with the standalone PlayStation TV, although Sony will also sell a PlayStation TV bundle for $139, which includes PlayStation TV, a DualShock 3 controller, an 8GB memory card, an HDMI cable and a coupon for "The LEGO Movie."
Aside from the PlayStation TV, Sony also announced a new PlayStation 4 variant in white, which will be bundled with a copy of "Destiny," a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game from Activision, which will be available in alpha version for PS4 this Thursday.
Sony also announced a host of new titles for PS4, including the next installments of its popular "Uncharted" and "LittleBigPlanet" franchises, undersea adventure game "Abzu" from the creators of "Journey," psychedelic 3D flying game "Entwined" and the latest from "The Order: 1886."
