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New Amazon Fire TV announced (4k): Game Edition w/ controller, Shovel Knight, DT $139

Parfait

Member
I just got this for my parents like a month ago.

Though I guess it doesn't matter since we don't have a 4k tv anyway.
 

Afrikan

Member
So it's powered by MT8173 (a SoC of the class of A8) and comes with a controller and expandable storage?
Hey apple, are you taking notes?

On a sidenote, A72's geekbench (@1.57GHz) score is 1698 single-core and 3050 dual-core (link)

At 2GHz that should translate to 2163 single-core and 3885 dual-core. Not bad, not bad.

so how does it compare to the Nvidia Shield TV?

trying to decide from the two, or some other knock off maybe... Any rumors of a new Shield TV to compete with this Amazon Fire TV?

Processor NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor with 256-core Maxwell GPU with 3GB RAM
Video Features 4K Ultra-HD Ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H265, H264)
Audio Features 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio upsample to 24-bit/192hHz over USB
Storage 16GB
Wireless 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.1/BLE
Interfaces Gigabit Ethernet
HDMI 2.0
Two USB 3.0 (Type A)
Micro-USB 2.0
MicroSD slot (supports 128GB cards)
IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony)
Gaming Features NVIDIA GRID streaming service
NVIDIA GameStream™
 
You're not going to get any film studio content that doesn't require those. It's in the Movielabs requirements.
Actually, I as reading that the first UHD Blu-Ray player doesn't require HDMI 2.0 or the new HDCP format just to watch the movie, unless you want advanced features like 10-bit color.
 
Retroarch runs well on the original FireTV (which I own). I imagine this one will be even better at it. Didn't even need to root the device or anything.

And the device recognizes the 360 controller without any extra work. Just plug in and play. I used a wired USB 360 pad to play Minecraft Pocket Edition a few times.
 

Talamius

Member
so how does it compare to the Nvidia Shield TV?

trying to decide from the two, or some other knock off maybe... Any rumors of a new Shield TV to compete with this Amazon Fire TV?

Shield TV is the only Android box that can run Dolphin playably. Hardware wise it's simply on another level.
 
so how does it compare to the Nvidia Shield TV?

trying to decide from the two, or some other knock off maybe... Any rumors of a new Shield TV to compete with this Amazon Fire TV?

Umm...the Shield that came out months ago is far better than this on a hardware level. Only go with this if you're invested in the Amazon ecosystem.
 

Mindwipe

Member
Actually, I as reading that the first UHD Blu-Ray player doesn't require HDMI 2.0 or the new HDCP format just to watch the movie, unless you want advanced features like 10-bit color.

Nope.

Sorry.

No 4k films without HDCP 2.2. Period.

HDMI 2.0 and above are only needed if the bandwidth though the channel is high enough, and it won't be for 24fps content without the likes of HDR and 10-but colour. But the HDCP 2.2 requirements will still apply.
 
Umm...the Shield that came out months ago is far better than this on a hardware level. Only go with this if you're invested in the Amazon ecosystem.

And even if you're invested into their ecosystem, you can still just install Amazon's appstore and media apps on generally any Android device, including the Shield.

I've gotten so many free games from past Amazon promotions, and all of them run on my Nexus tablet that way.

The Fire TV is really great if you're cheap or broke though. Shield is more expensive (albeit totally worth it IMO if you've got the cash)

edit: probably shouldn't have used the word 'cheap', did not mean it as an insult. :p I meant if you like things that are affordable yet still work just as well as more expensive competitors. I love the FireTV I own, one of the best $99 I've spent.
 
Does anyone know if this will connect to the Amazon Echo in any way? Like can I tell Alexa on Echo to play a movie that the Fire TV then plays?

I have to think that this will come sooner or later. It's too obvious and Amazon has been really active with supporting the Echo and home automation.

Then why are people talking shit like Apple dominates this market?

Because let's be realistic, Apple has a lot of clout and they're going to have developer support. They can jump right in and pick up steam quick. The Apple TV has sold during it's lifetime more units than the Fire TV, but in the last couple of years Apple TV sales have slowed. The Fire TV within the last year has done better than the Apple TV by all indicators and is a popular streaming device.

And even if you're invested into their ecosystem, you can still just install Amazon's appstore and media apps on generally any Android device, including the Shield.

I've gotten so many free games from past Amazon promotions, and all of them run on my Nexus tablet that way.

The Fire TV is really great if you're cheap or broke though. Shield is more expensive (albeit totally worth it IMO if you've got the cash)

Nope, I greatly prefer a Fire TV over a Shield TV because I prefer Fire OS over Android TV OS. Fire TV is better for Kodi and integrating streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney, etc since you can link to them inside Kodi. Android TV has restrictions on that. It has nothing to do with being cheap or broke. It's a better solution in that case.
 

Mindwipe

Member
And even if you're invested into their ecosystem, you can still just install Amazon's appstore and media apps on generally any Android device, including the Shield.

There's no way to transfer an Amazon app that plays 4k video to the Shield, and there probably won't be unless Amazon port it.
 

MisterHero

Super Member
This is where the console makers should've been headed. Good luck to Amazon I suppose

Media streaming I could do without, but platforms like these could still feature premium experiences with less of the upfront cost
 
Damn Apple come take this L. The controller, two games and expandable memory for 139 you can't beat that.

Apple is most likely using much faster storage within the ATV4 than a MicroSD card could provide.

4K I'm not interested in until it's actually UHD, though it would be nice for House of Cards. Until then, I would much rather prefer higher bitrate h.265 1080p.

Controller looks great. Like the standard Xbox/Wii U Pro design we've settled upon.
 

VariantX

Member
I'd probably end up getting one of these since I've already amassed a bunch of gaming apps on Amazon from Amazon coin giveaways.
 

Tealmann

Member
This would be tempting if I didn't already have all of my android games in the Play Store (Including Duck Tales, which doesn't work on my Nexus Player but does work on the Fire TV?)
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
This could be pretty cool. I know Amazon is staffing up in a huge way right now for their games department, so they're definitely taking it seriously at least for now.
 

ILoveBish

Member
This could be pretty cool. I know Amazon is staffing up in a huge way right now for their games department, so they're definitely taking it seriously at least for now.

They need better hardware, shield+, to get stuff like Lego games and a older cod ported. That's when comparable experiences will start making a dent. Then comes the sports stuff.
 

Somnid

Member
So a particular notable change in the fine print is that this model no longer accepts external hard drives. Note that even the previous version could not accept more than 128GB (I'm guessing some sort of software limitation) so it's not a regression but if you were expecting to just hook up a drive you already have it doesn't sound like it'll work, you'll need to buy an SD card.
 

Bizzquik

Member
Wait, KotOR with a controller?

I want Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic to work with a controller on Steam...

I thought it was recently updated? Or was that 2?

Or am I losing it?

Maybe it was Mass Effect....?

I need a nap.

The OG Xbox version obviously also worked with a controller

KotOR2 got the huge update.
Presently KotOR1 has not seen anywhere near that love.

What I want to know is if this version being sold on the Amazon system is just an uprezzed 4x3 Xbox Original incarnation....or if effort was made to clean it up, natively support widescreen, and add controller support.

i.e. .... I want to know if LucasArts/Disney has listened to fans and given KotOR1 the same amazing treatment as KotOR2. If so, hopefully a KotOR1 update to Steam is on the way.
 
This looks awesome. Shovel Knight? And the Amazon Game Studio games are not bad - interesting and fun side scrollers / adventure games, been checking them out on iPhone, since Fire Phone flopped they repurposed them for iOS I guess.

Very cool. I want this to take off. There should be a cheaper way to play easy fun accessible games on TV. $400 for games is a lot.
 
I hope the next Nintendo console looks like this. And taps into their virtual console library way more than now. Bump the price to $199, add Wiimote support, bigger memory and lots of sub-$30 quality games.
 

CDX

Member
I just finished playing some Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows. Went on Amazon and was looking at this FireTV, and just noticed it has Shovel Knight as a pack-in.


lol Shovel Knight is everywhere today.


Anyways, congrats Yacht Club!
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
so how does it compare to the Nvidia Shield TV?

trying to decide from the two, or some other knock off maybe... Any rumors of a new Shield TV to compete with this Amazon Fire TV?
The X1 (a >10W chip at full power) beats it in both multi-core CPU and GPU performance (the latter in particularly), but in terms of sustained single-threaded and even dual-threaded performance, the TV should be better. The A72 is the clearly better design in terms of both IPC and power draw compared to the A57 in the X1, so even if the X1 can pull off good results in relatively-short single-core benchmarks, there's a good chance the A57 in the X1 might throttle under conditions where the A72 would happily chug along. Actually, I'd go out on a limb and suggest that the FireTV might be an equal to the X1 for Dolphin, as long as you don't go overboard with video resolution.

You can check this, while keeping in mind the MT8173 is above A8 CPU power levels.
 
On the Subject of Nvidia Shield TV I'm returning mine for a full refund due to the hard drive fiasco. Then Nvidia support telling me its normal even though a forum post on their boards say it should be replaced.

Thankfully amazon is letting me return it for a full refund, ill be picking the new Fire TV for an Emulator and Streaming Netflix/Prime box.
 

tensuke

Member
I'm glad they didn't change the remote any! I just bought one of those sideclicks on KS and I'd have been pissed if it didn't work with the new remote. I AM glad that they updated the controller a bit, adding a headset jack was genius, I love that on the PS4. Hopefully they've improved controls a bit but, somehow I doubt it. Glad they added removable storage (non usb) to the fire tv, though sad they come with 8GB still. The storage problem was my biggest issue, so this should alleviate it (assuming apps can be installed to micro sd, if not, it's still nice for emulators, but it's a pain when it's billed as a gaming device but only has like 5.5GB of free space). Same amount of RAM is also too bad, but it does seem like a decent upgrade overall. I'd definitely like to check this out and see how it compares to the original! Hopefully it can be rooted eventually, but my biggest uses for root were external storage which won't be needed here.

Personally I was originally interested in the Fire TV as a GAMING device considering they were comparing it to the 360, started AGS and hired a bunch of talent, and made the controller. But they didn't really do much on the gaming side besides support existing Android games. They got a few exclusive ports but not many. So maybe with round 2 they'll do more? Fingers crossed.

Hey, that's my guide! :D It's pretty outdated though, it's a lot easier to sideload stuff now and emulator/controller support is a lot better.

That's great, looks like a fair bit of work though.

Not sure I'd trust myself to do it right.
Currently you can actually send installed apps from your phone to the Fire TV using a third party app, over wifi, making the sideload process ridiculously simple. There are programs for PC to automatically send files to it over the network as well, so you don't need to muck around with command line stuff (although that's really not that difficult, either). They also support USB storage out of the box, or with root on an older firmware, tho I haven't used the later firmwares that do so I don't know how much control you get over the files (you can always install a file manager regardless of root).
 
On the Subject of Nvidia Shield TV I'm returning mine for a full refund due to the hard drive fiasco. Then Nvidia support telling me its normal even though a forum post on their boards say it should be replaced.

Thankfully amazon is letting me return it for a full refund, ill be picking the new Fire TV for an Emulator and Streaming Netflix/Prime box.

How can you use it as an emulator box?
 
Really?
Virtually every TV sold in the past year or two has the media playing functionality people need built in.

Yeah but all the ones I've tried have slow, horrible menu systems that nobody would ever want to use. Maybe that's gotten better in the last year, but I kinda doubt it.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
I didn't even notice Duck Tales: Remastered on there. That game was so fun to work on.
If it was fun to work on, you should convince Capcom to do a DuckTales 2 Remastered! DuckTales 2 [GB] was my first game ever, I'd certainly appreciate a remake from you guys :D.
 
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