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Amazon's Fire TV: Is It Worth Game Developers' Time?

Posted by timothy on from the how-to-achieve-play-anywhere? dept.

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?"

11 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Depends on your games revenue model... by ducomputergeek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.
  2. Re:Android, No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's all the power of Android with all the UI options of a television!

    ...

    Pass.

  3. Useless outside of the USA by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  4. No controller, Not worth it by bluescrn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If it shipped with their game controller, it might be worth considering. But the controller is an optional extra...

  5. Answer... by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:Answer... by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think it's true that Amazon does have deep pockets for an initial development push, much more so than Ouya. But even Amazon's pockets only go so deep. I wasn't exactly impressed with the launch title they showed. And if the games don't improve significantly and this thing doesn't take off, you can bet Amazon will shift that development money elsewhere eventually. Bezos maybe be a dreamer, but he's not crazy.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    2. Re:Answer... by LoRdTAW · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The majority of consumers don't read Slashdot.

  6. Given it's Android... by squiggleslash · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...I'd assume the only time that needs to be spent on development of an app that already works on Android is "Use this input device instead of a touchscreen." For some games, that'll be a problem, but for the type of FPS type thing you'd expect to play on a TV, I'd have thought it'd be simple.

    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.
  7. Amazon mysteries by colfer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

  8. Re:news.dice.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    Additional related link

  9. History is destined to repeat itself by gladish · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.