hey guys this is Austin can you get a
decent game console for $100 as a little
brother to the ps4 the playstation TV is
definitely the most gaming focused of
this group inside this is basically a PS
Vita that connects to your TV which
gives you access to a full library of
games
it works with ps3 and ps4 controllers
you can get the console by itself or the
bundle which comes with the ps3
controller and a few extras next up
we've got the Amazon fire TV this might
seem like a weird choice but the fire TV
is outfitted with some pretty decent
specs including a quad-core processor
this is a more well-rounded set-top box
with plenty of video and music apps on
top of the games it only comes with a
remote out of the box however there's
also a fire TV controller available last
but definitely not least there's the
Nexus player this is the first device
running Android TV which is based on
lollipop the player is packing some
serious firepower as well with a
quad-core Intel Atom processor and like
the fire TV you can play some games with
the included remote or you can pick up
the Nexus player gamepad now let's crack
these open inside the PlayStation TV
bundle you've got a ps3 controller mini
USB cable to charge it a gigabyte Vita
memory card which is basically a
necessity and a code to download the
lego movie game dig a little deeper and
you'll find the PlayStation TV itself an
HDMI cable which is a nice addition and
the slightly bulky 2 piece power adapter
the hardware is absolutely tiny and it's
rocking a decent selection of ports
including Ethernet and a slot for Vita
memory cards and game cards now let's
jump over to the fire TV inside you'll
find a small power adapter the fire TV
itself which is pretty decent looking a
person and finally the fire TV remote
around back you're looking at HDMI
optical audio ethernet and a USB port
slide open the Nexus player and right up
top you'll find the player itself the
hardware fits right between the others
in terms of size however it's fairly
light on ports you've got powered in a
micro USB port and HDMI out all tucked
away on bottom it's nice to keep cables
claimed but that means the player is
Wi-Fi only albeit with rock-solid
802 11 AC Wireless you've also got a
remote which is pretty basic it sports a
microphone for voice search and a couple
buttons the fire TV remote looks almost
identical but has a few extra buttons
and a nicer feel in the hand turn on the
PlayStation TV and you'll see
this is a game console first and
foremost titles like Need for Speed Most
Wanted show that games that look decent
on a 5 inch handheld don't quite make
the transition to the big screen very
well games like nidhogg look basically
identical to on the ps4 though nicely
running at 60 frames per second and
being awesome fun at the same time
minecraft isn't quite as robust as on
the bigger consoles though it's
basically the full game but the frame
rate is more than a little choppy at
times Arkham origins Blackgate does a
good job of bringing a lot of what's
great about the full console game into a
lighter version however here I ran into
one of my first big problems the lack of
a touchscreen most Vita games work just
fine on the ps3 controller but if they
use the front or back touch pads you'll
have to dive into the menu and enable
the touch pointer by pressing down the
left or right thumbstick this is a
decent workaround but you're still going
to run into some games where this won't
be very practical Vita games are great
but one of the best parts of the
PlayStation TV is that they can play a
huge variety of games you've got a good
selection of PSone classics and PSP
games you can download from the store as
well as ps3 games using PlayStation now
this is streaming based so you'll need a
decent internet connection but once
you're up and running it can be a cool
way of playing some of the best ps3
games out there like The Last of Us
there is some latency which can be
minimized if you're connected via
ethernet but for $20 a month it's a cool
way of adding some top-notch games to
the PlayStation TV you've also got ps4
link to connect to your ps4 as long as
it's on the same network as the
PlayStation TV there's a fair bit of
latency with this right now so it's not
a perfect solution but it can be handy
if you want to play ps4 games on
multiple TVs in your house controller
wise you can use either the bundled kiss
3 gamepad or the much better ps4
controller this combined with the
ability to play physical Vita games on
top of all the digital titles makes the
PlayStation TV hard to beat for $100 but
it's not quite that simple the Amazon
fire TV has some gaming shops as well
games like asphalt 8 don't quite measure
up to console quality but it's not too
far off since the fire TV is Android
based you will find some actual console
ports like GTA san andreas onboard which
you can run an HD with hi to detail than
the original if you don't mind ps2 like
frame rates interestingly minecraft runs
better here than on the Vita likely
because it's the Pocket Edition instead
of a port of the console version there
are also a few exclusives like sub-zero
which is a hybrid tower defense game in
first-person shooter which is
surprisingly fund the controller is
pretty decent it mimics the layout of an
Xbox gamepad and cloves a few media
controls if it's not your thing though
the fire TV works with other Bluetooth
controllers including the ones in the
Nexus player since it's running Android
TV which is fairly new the game library
on the Nexus is a bit sparse right now
it comes with badland pre-installed
which is a really fun side scroller that
not only looks awesome but could easily
pass for a top-notch console title Leo's
fortune is another mobile game that
scales nicely to the TB it runs smoothly
and brings a solid platformer to the
Nexus player Ryo boxing is a very arcade
style boxing game but it's one of the
better looking games on any of these
consoles Riptide gp2 has been around for
a while but it's still one of my
favorite racing games for mobile and
amazingly enough it works well on the
Nexus player unfortunately only a tiny
fraction of Android games have made the
jump to Android TV and minecraft is one
of the big holdouts at the moment I'm
also not a huge fan of the controller
not only is it a fairly hefty $40 but
the layout feels a little cramped to me
luckily just like the fire TV though it
is compatible with other Bluetooth
controllers while all three have plenty
of gaming cred it's not enough to just
play games in this group spend a few
minutes with the PlayStation TV and
you'll find one of the big drawbacks is
limited to 720p compared to 1080 on the
others this will be a major problem for
watching video that was much of an
option in the first place download the
YouTube app and it'll let you get as far
as opening it before reminding you that
it's only for the Vita
trying to download Netflix or Hulu Plus
and you won't even get the option of
downloading you can watch TV shows and
movies from the PlayStation Store but if
media is a big deal for you the
PlayStation TV just doesn't cut it the
fire TV is much more well rounded not
only does it have the basics like
Netflix and Hulu but you'll also find
apps like HBO Go twitch Amazon video
even saw music apps like my personal
favorite Spotify the OS is nice and
responsive and allows you to listen to
music and other apps although there is a
slight drawback and that is YouTube
since Google doesn't officially support
Amazon's version of Android you'll have
to settle for the web version of YouTube
which works easily but tended not to
play videos in 1080p for me you do have
a handy voice search option using the
remote which is faster than manually
typing but it's pretty limited in what
it looks for android TV on the Nexus
player has hands down my favorite UI of
the bunch
just like lollipop everything stays
smooth at 60
FPS it's just quite to do basically
everything up top you have your
recommendation from YouTube in the Play
Store with a slightly more useful voice
search that pulls from lots of sources
and ok ok come on the YouTube app is the
best I've seen on the big screen and it
also works like a chromecast if you want
to stream media from a phone or tablet
that's important because like with games
Android TV is still missing a few key
apps like HBO GO which can be casted and
Spotify which can be leaving Google Play
as your best option for music alright so
that was a lot of information the
question is are any of these actually
worth it if gaming is your number one
priority
the playstation TV is hard to beat for
$100 you're getting a huge library of
places and games going all the way back
to the ps1 through the ps4 and Vita
Android TV on the Nexus player is right
up there with the Xbox one in terms of
looks and speed of the UI which I really
appreciate but the app and game support
is just a bit too limited at the moment
I doubt this will be a problem for very
long but as of today the Nexus player is
more about promise than anything else
that leaves us with the Amazon fire TV
which really surprised me
it's hands-down the best media box here
with ethernet optical audio and
basically every streaming service out
there and the game library really isn't
half bad it might not be quite as slick
as the Nexus player and have the huge
titles of the PlayStation TV but for
your $100 the fire TV might just be the
best of both worlds so which would you
go with that one be sure to let me know
in the comments below also I got the
chance to do something really cool
recently while I was at CES ATT asked me
to check out their developer conference
in hackathon and make a video for their
official channel that's live right now
so if you guys want to go check it out
and let them know what you think the
link will be in the description anyway
guys thank you so much for watching and
I will catch you in the next one