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[Maximo]

You could certainly do that on the predecessor (without root).

I expect this box to be a LOT harder to root than the old one.

I would have thought Retroarch would be on the Amazon store and it's not. Weird.

Ahh thats a shame =/ thing would be perfect for it.

 

[Trogdor1123]

its not terribly hard. Once you get sideloading going its fairly easy. I use a PS4 controller plugged into the back of my FireTV..its how I keep my SNES stored away. Almost done with OG breath of fire. They really need to allow an easier way though than the sideloading

Sounds awesome, did you do any Psx games? I'd be interested in how those run. The rpgs were fun then.

 

[LewieP]

In this thread: people being amazed about android games being available on an android device.

 

[Nirolak]

I hope that this works out well for Yacht Club Games.

They assuredly got the vast majority of their payment up front.

 

[LordOcidax]

Apple will move units for the fruit logo alone, no need to worry about them on that front

Totally agree... Actually i can see Apple moving a lot more units.. Because is Apple.

 

[zackmorris]

Hmm Shovel Knight ported to Android so we can expect an iOS/Android phone/tablet release soon?

I'm not so sure. I don't think that game would be playable on a touch screen device, unless you mean to use with an IOS device and a controller

 

[muteki]

Much more compelling attempt at this than Apple.

 

[ViciousDS]

Sounds awesome, did you do any Psx games? I'd be interested in how those run. The rpgs were fun then.

I never attempted anything beyond the 16bit era. I'll probably just grab this to be honest. But the power in the FireTV wasn't terrible. I'm pretty sure you could google some users who used it for DC and PS1.

Also if the OG controller works with the new one that will be awesome!

 

[Teletraan1]

I played around with some of the knock off boxes that run android with similar specs. I had a PS1 emulator running FFT at full speed with no issues and all my android games worked well on the box. Even got a Bluetooth gamepad working well.

I am usually hesitant about these more "closed" boxes. The knock off I ordered came rooted. Since my initial testing phase for gaming I am just using it as a media device on the network. Installed openELEC on it and it runs a pretty flawless version of Kodi that is linux based and much better than the android versions of Kodi at the time.

 

[CloudyTuba]

Was hoping for a new TV Stick. Looks like the only news there is that they added a voice remote for it. Dont know if I'm on board for the full model.

Here's their spec page:
https://developer.amazon.com/public...re-tv/docs/device-and-platform-specifications

 

[TouchMyBox]

They care about games for sure, they are the number one source of income app wise I think.

They care about the money they make by allowing games to exist, they don't care about games at all though.

I guess you could suggest that their efforts to pack decent GPUs into their SoCs is proof that they care, but I kinda feel like that's more specswarz than anything else.

We know for sure though that Apple doesn't think of games as an art form or anything like that though.

 

[Blablurn]

so thats what garnet lee has been up to all the time

 

[family_guy]

Plus enjoy private listening using the headphone jack with Dolby Audio support.

This is something that should have been on the Steam controller.

 

[woodypop]

Is the Twitch app going to be better on this? Such a big disappointment on my current Fire TV.

 

[Morts]

There's literally no reason this should be tempting for me but it is.

 

[IcyStorm]

My family was gifted a Fire TV Stick and its own redeeming factor is that it can run Kodi (XBMC). Other than that, without Amazon Prime, it's so bad.

Maybe this will be better. It surely benefits from the spec boost. But I don't really trust Amazon's modified version of Android after having used the Kindle Fire and the Fire TV Stick extensively. And it can't run the Play Store, with a lot of apps on the Amazon Appstore being outdated in my experience.

 

[lukeskymac]

Totally agree... Actually i can see Apple moving a lot more units.. Because is Apple.

Because it's better at what it actually tries to do.

 

[Mindwipe]

Ahh thats a shame =/ thing would be perfect for it.

No no, I mean, you can do it. You don't need root for Kodi. I have an unrooted old box with Kodi on it.

I expect this box will be nigh impossible to root, but I expect you will still be able to sideload Kodi. All that will be affected is that it'll boot into FireOS and then you'll click the Kodi app, rather than booting into Kodi.

 

[ekim]

Just a PowerVR Rogue GX6250 GPU. The A8 has a GX6450. The GX6250 with the Mediatek SoC should be on the level of the A7 chip.

 

[Tempy]

Hmm, amazon.co.uk and amazon.de not shipping this to .nl :/

 

[MikeE21286]

I'd probably purchase this before an apple tv

 

[Trogdor1123]

Just a PowerVR Rogue GX6250 GPU. The A8 has a GX6450. The GX6250 with the Mediatek SoC should be on the level of the A7 chip.

Is that bad?

 

[diehard]

that GX6250 is kinda weak though, should be half as fast as the new Apple TV's GPU if they are running at the same clockspeed.

 

[TouchMyBox]

Is that bad?

It's alright. It should handle 2D games very well, you're not gonna run Borderlands or something on it like the Shield TV though.

 

[IzzyF3]

so thats what garnet lee has been up to all the time

Yeah, was thinking the same thing. I'm compelled just by how Amazon's been developing such a strong gaming branch. I'm in both Apple's and Amazon's walled gardens, but it looks like I'm going for Amazon's set top box over Apple's.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I'd probably purchase this before an apple tv

The controller is the real key imo. It's a game changer for me. Does secret of management support the controller I wonder

 

[ekim]

Is that bad?

nah. not for that price. Still outdated to some extend.

 

[Regiruler]

They assuredly got the vast majority of their payment up front.

They might actually be able to buy that yacht

 

[Somnid]

Just a PowerVR Rogue GX6250 GPU. The A8 has a GX6450. The GX6250 with the Mediatek SoC should be on the level of the A7 chip.

It's basically the dual core version of the A8 GPU.

 

[ced]

Still no IR receiver or I might get this over new Apple TV.

 

[oti]

I have yet to see something worth replacing my Chromecast with. It's not perfect but it does what I need and it was really cheap.

 

[Jobbs]

It's definitely more appealing to Apple TV. The non-expandable memory on that I find disturbing. It's 2015.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Is the controller updated? I can't tell since the original one is the worst thing ever and been relegated to a drawer from where it will never return.

This must be one of the first consumer devices in years to ship with a 10/100 NIC. I'm surprised they still manufacture those.

 

[LewieP]

Including a controller means you'll probably see ports of a bunch of console/PC games, as long as the hardware is powerful enough to run them, and the devs tech setup makes an android port relatively easy.

Apple TV not including a controller, and forbidding devs from putting out games that require a controller, means that it won't get as many of these kind of easy ports. It also means it will be an attractive device for general consumers who don't have a particular interest in games, and will likely get lots of games that work fine with the included remote.

 

[ekim]

It's basically the dual core version of the A8 GPU.

Nah. It's half the clusters than the A8 GPU.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Imagination-PowerVR-GX6250.146744.0.html

The PowerVR GX6250 from Imagination Technologies is a mobile graphics card for ARM based SoCs. It is usually used in Android based laptops and smartphones. It was first announced in the MediaTek MT8173 in mid 2014. The performance should be in the higher middle class of mobile GPUs.

The graphics card is part of the series 6XT (Rogue) of GPUs and offers a unified shader architecture with two clusters, two TMUs and 32 FP32-ALUs. The GPU supports OpenGL 3.x/4.x, OpenGL ES 3.x and DirectX 10.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Imagination-PowerVR-GX6450.128938.0.html

The Imagination Technologies PowerVR GX6450 is a fast mobile graphics solution for smartphones and tablets, which can be found in ARM SoCs such as the Apple A8 (iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus). The chip is available since Q3/2014 and of one of the fastest solutions in its class at the time of introduction.

The GPU is based on the PowerVR Series 6XT (Rogue) Unified Shader architecture and integrates four clusters with two TMUs and 32 FP32-ALUs each.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Is the controller updated? I can't tell since the original one is the worst thing ever and been relegated to a drawer from where it will never return.

This must be one of the first consumer devices in years to ship with a 10/100 NIC. I'm surprised they still manufacture those.

What was so bad about it?

 

[cw_sasuke]

Can you put emulators on the fire TV's?

Yeah.. You can pretty much install every apk on a Fire device.

 

[Somnid]

Nah. It's half the clusters than the A8 GPU.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Imagination-PowerVR-GX6250.146744.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Imagination-PowerVR-GX6450.128938.0.html

Right, same architecture, 2 cores instead of 4, unless you're pointing out something else.

 

[ekim]

Right, same architecture, 2 cores instead of 4, unless you're pointing out something else.

Oh now I got you. Duh. Sorry

 

[Dreamwriter]

Shots fired directly at Apple - $10 cheaper, includes controller and two games, 4k streaming support, expandable storage, already lots of apps/games, many designed to require the controller.

Darn, though, another 4k streaming device that requires HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, which my 4kTV doesn't have

 

[SuperDowns]

Wayforward makin' moves

More like Yacht Club Games... Seriously they are in bed with everyone. Good business for them getting a pack-in with Amazon, an amiibo with Nintendo and custom levels for Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft.

Keep it going!

 

[Vital Tundra]

That would be a nice emulation machine for me.

 

[GG-Duo]

As a Canadian, I want to say screw this and screw Amazon. Their Fire TV strategy largely involves Prime and Prime Videos, neither of which are available in Canada and many other countries, which means these devices aren't either.

It's been years, and there are no signs this will change.

At least with Apple there is the iTunes Store and I can buy the device.

 

[OldRoutes]

As a Canadian, I want to say screw this and screw Amazon. Their Fire TV strategy largely involves Prime and Prime Videos, neither of which are available in Canada and many other countries, which means these devices aren't either.

It's been years, and there are no signs this will change.

At least with Apple there is the iTunes Store and I can buy the device.

Well you know Amazon has nothing to do with dumb CRTC decisions, right?

 

[Trogdor1123]

As a Canadian, I want to say screw this and screw Amazon. Their Fire TV strategy largely involves Prime and Prime Videos, neither of which are available in Canada and many other countries, which means these devices aren't either.

It's been years, and there are no signs this will change.

At least with Apple there is the iTunes Store and I can buy the device.

I hate that it's not here too. It should be too, there's no excuse

 

[nullref]

This must be one of the first consumer devices in years to ship with a 10/100 NIC. I'm surprised they still manufacture those.

Rokus and the new Apple TV are 10/100 also, so it's actually kind of par for the course with these little TV boxes. It's weird. I know people aren't going to be playing video that approaches 100 megabit, but these boxes have other functions that could potentially use more bandwidth.

 

[Bowler]

This plus uhd bluray in December... I'm future proof for 4 years.

 

[lukeskymac]

In fairness surprisingly few games work with a controller instead of a touchscreen, it takes a huge push from the platform holder to get moving.

And Apple TV's little glass touchpad on its remote is not the same.

Apple TV supports the same controllers their iOS devices do - it's just that none is included with the Apple TV itself (big mistake, IMO)

 

[machemachete]

It is Android right?

With 2GB of video memory it could run the Gamecube emulator pretty good.

 

[Mindwipe]

Apple TV supports the same controllers their iOS devices do - it's just that none is included with the Apple TV itself (big mistake, IMO)

Also that there's never been a good one for iOS. They were all either drastically overpriced (partially due to MFI requirements) or shit.