Amazon has outlined its strategy for its all-new gaming and media hybrid, the Fire TV. Speaking with Time, the company’s vice president of gaming Mike Frazzini touched upon the hardware’s target demographic along with acknowledging the niche market.
“It’s less about firing shots and more about Fire TV being a great experience for customers. When we look at what Fire TV offers, the expansiveness and just the totality of entertainment that you get for $99.”
In terms of the Fire TV’s competition, though, Frazzini reaffirmed that the set-top box isn’t designed to go pound for pixelated pound with the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One:
“That’s not what Fire TV’s about. We want the graphics to be fluid and good, and we want customers to be able to have a great gaming experience. But it’s not a $500 console, and it wasn’t meant to be.”
The media and streaming device, which was recently unveiled at an event in New York, boasts a quad-core processor alongside 2GB of RAM. Moreover, the Fire TV can also stream from your typical catalogue of digital video channels, including YouTube, Netflix and of course, Amazon Video. Essentially, the set-top box has forged out a middle ground between the media-centric Roku and gaming-focused Ouya.
In fact, Amazon’s peculiar, albeit not too surprising venture into the gaming space is by no means a half measure. For one, the retail giant has recruited Double Helix Games — fresh off revitalising Killer Instinct in time for the Xbox One launch — all the while bolstering its developing roster with Kim Swift and Clint Hocking, respectively.
Without doubt, one the console’s biggest third-party titles at the moment is Minecraft — itself a sales juggernaut across, well, every other platform under the sun. However, it’s understood the company want the average game price to be locked at $1.85, which effectively highlights the kind of software we can expect in the weeks to come.
At $99, the Amazon Fire TV is entering an increasingly saturated market, what with the aforementioned Roku device and, not to mention, Apple TV. But, given the company’s recent acquisitions, it’s clear that the retail giant want to establish a presence in the gaming space in a way the Ouya couldn’t.
