Amazon today unveiled Fire TV, a tiny $99 box that plugs into your HDTV for easy and instant access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, SHOWTIME, low-cost video rentals, and much more. Fire TV also brings photos, music, and games to the living room.
Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible pricepeople are going to love Fire TV, said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Voice search that actually works means no more typing on an alphabet grid. Our exclusive new ASAP feature predicts the shows you’ll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly. And our open approach gives you not just Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, but also Netflix, Hulu Plus, and more. On Fire TV you can watch ‘Alpha House’ and ‘House of Cards.'”
Here are the features that were announced by Amazon:
Amazon worked with game developers like EA, Disney, Gameloft, Ubisoft, Telltale, Mojang, 2K, and SEGA to bring their games to Fire TV. Games available starting today include Minecraft, Monsters University, The Game of Life, The Walking Dead, NBA2K14, Asphalt 8, Riptide GP2, Despicable Me: Minion Rush, and more. Over 100 games are available starting today and optimized for Fire TV, with thousands of additional games coming next month with the Fire TV app, which brings controls for touch-enabled games.
Fire TV also comes with access to Sev Zero, a new game built exclusively for Fire TV by Amazon Game Studios. Sev Zero is $6.99 and is available for free when you purchase the Fire game controller. Sev Zero combines a fast-action third-person shooter experience with the calculated strategy of tower defense gameplay.
Earth is threatened by an alien species, the Ne’ahtu. Early in the 22nd century, the Ne’ahtu infected Earth’s energy grid with a computer virus that disabled the planet’s defenses. Before the Ne’ahtu could strike, computer prodigy Amy Ramanujan neutralized the alien computer virus and saved the planet. Now, the Ne’ahtu are back and Dr. Ramanujan is trying to prevent them from another all-out invasion of Earth. Switching between towers (to launch various missiles and grenades) and face-to-face combat (to attack with machine guns), the player’s mission is to join Dr. Ramanujan and defend Earth from the Ne’ahtu.
In Sev Zero, players can jump between environmentsstart in tower defense mode to build out towers and assess the surroundings, and then beam down to shooter mode for face-to-face combat against the Ne’ahtu. Players can also bring friends and family into the action with the Sev Zero companion tablet app, Sev Zero: Air Support. With this multi-player, multi-screen experience, players help each other thwart the enemiesone player is in Air Support mode initiating air strikes from their tablet while the other player is in face-to-face combat mode.
“We’ve heard from customers that they want more from the games they play on streaming media devicesgames that are rich, unique and immersive. ‘Sev Zero’ is the first step by Amazon Game Studios to address that challenge,” said Mike Frazzini, Vice President, Amazon Games. “We think customers will be surprised by how much fun they can have playing games on such a tiny, yet powerful, device in Fire TV. ‘Sev Zero’ is our first of several games in development and provides a peek into whats to come from Amazon Game Studios.”
You can watch a trailer for the Sev Zero by clicking on the image below.
