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Amazon's Fire TV: Is It Worth Game Developers' Time?
Nerval's Lobster (2598977) writes "Amazon is serious about conquering the living room: the online retailer has launched Fire TV, a set-top box that not only allows viewers to stream content, but also play games. That streaming-and-gaming capability makes Amazon a threat to Apple, which rumors suggest is hard at work on an Apple TV capable of doing the same things. In addition, Fire TV puts the screws to other streaming hardware, including Roku and Google's Chromecast, as well as smaller game consoles such as Ouya (a $99, Android-based device). Much of Amazon's competitive muscle comes from its willingness to sell hardware for cheap (the Fire TV retails for $99) on the expectation that owners will use it to stream and download digital content from Amazon, including television shows and apps. Those developers who've developed Android games have an advantage when it comes to migrating software to Amazon's new platform. "Porting You Don't Know Jack was really like developing for Android, with the exception of the store and the new controller library," Jackbox Games Designer/Director Steve Heinrich told Gamasutra after the Fire TV announcement. "The store itself is the same as the Kindle version, which we've used many times now, and the way the controller works is very close to what we did for Ouya." While Fire TV could represent yet another opportunity for game developers looking to make a buck, it also raises a pressing question: with so many platforms out there (iOS, PC, etc.), how's an indie developer or smaller firm supposed to allocate time and resources to best advantage?"
If it's ad based, then getting in front of more eyeballs via Android and derivatives is the way to go.
If it's depending upon purchases or in-app purchases then iOS is the platform to concentrate on first.
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
It's all the power of Android with all the UI options of a television!
Pass.
Why would someone buy a FireTV in other countries? Even in Canada, we don't get things like Hulu, Amazon Streaming, etc. All we have is the Canadian version of Netflix which has, at best, 20% of the library available to the USA.
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If it shipped with their game controller, it might be worth considering. But the controller is an optional extra...
Short answer: no.
Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooo.
Honestly, if they are not writing for Ouya, they will not write for this.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
So I guess the question is why are you even bothering to ask us? You'd going to have to spend a whole extra day programming. Big whoop. Just do it.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Amazon's primary interest in this device *seems* to be to drive sales on Amazon Instant, not to serve as a general purpose streamer like Roku (though it does that too). There's some confusion in the business press about what Amazon is up to, but this is a likely guess. It doesn't want to be reliant on Roku, ChromeCast, Sony, etc., and would like to have a sticky ecosystem like Apple.
The other theory is that Amazon believes users will prefer it as a premium branded product, again like Apple. The product does not need to compete with Roku on price, in that case, but does need to compete on features.
Not a threat to Apple(tm). Apple fans are the least likely to leave their chosen brand. We android users are a fickle lot though, and I'll jump ship in a millisecond to Ubuntu if Shuttleworth can get his shit together on the mobile platform. Until the next thing comes along that tweaks my interest.
Salut,
Jacques
No, it's not an easy answer, you target the platform that will have the best sales when the product is released (say, 12 months in the future). Further complicated by the fragmentation of the Android platform. So now you've got the Play store, Ouya, Fire TV, and a dozen other Android platforms that you may need to customize for, each with varying hardware specs, so it's hard to predict if your game will perform as expected. Then you compare that to the Steam ecosystem, Windows, Apple, Wii U, XBone, and Play Station.
So, smartass, what's the gameplan that's going to target the greatest number of the right kind of users while minimizing development and administrative overhead? How successful will these various platforms be a year from now, and how crowded will their various marketplaces be? How many other games on that platform will you be competing against? It's a very complicated puzzle to try and figure out.
That last link points to news.dice.com. Am I the only one who dislikes such a link (without a disclaimer)?
Nope. Nerval's Lobster is the pen name of they guy who wrote a ton of articles on (the now apparently defunct) SlashBI. He gets a ton of stories posted (several of which link back to news.dice.com) but doesn't actually participate in the community.
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I have a Prime membership and even I'm not interested. I can already stream my Prime videos just fine on my Roku3, so why would I need this thing?
Because you don't already have one like the other 90+% of Americans?
I finally updated my sig, but now it's lame.
I just bought a FireTV box even though I have a Roku. If it works out, then I won't replace the Roku when it dies. I had a Chromecast but it didn't get used and took up a connection on the tv, so I gave it away.
I don't like buying apps on Amazon for my Android phone and tablet but I plan on buying some solitaire, poker and puzzle type games for a disabled family member, things that can be played with the remote. It will be convenient to check the weather or headlines or YouTube (which is pretty limited on the Roku 2). I suppose if developers don't want to enable their casual games for the remote, it won't matter too much as long as the Internet apps and media streaming work as advertised. I do have Prime and lots of Kindle books - I suppose some of the enhanced ebooks might be kind of a novelty on the television if you have younger kids.
Is it or me does it seem more and more like SunOS, IRIX, HP-UX, VMS, Digital UNIX, and so on all over again? I sometimes wonder if this is the precursor to the second coming of windows. Microsoft is the only company that seems to be trying to unify all their "stuff" across various devices/platforms.
I knew the Fire TV name sounded familiar, and now I remember why. FyreTV is a set-top box for streaming pr0n delivery that advertised years ago in the back of Maxim magazine. I'd forgotten about them until Amazon reminded me, and am actually surprised to see they are still around. I wonder if Amazon will be forced to change the name of their box due to trademark concerns?
Steam, the distribution platform, is a closed garden. SteamOS, and the Steam Machines, are not. See http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/.
Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot?
Sure.
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