We’ve previously reported that Amazon has some form of gaming device in the works. But until now, the rumor was that it was yet another Android-based console. Apparently, however, the rumor was wrong; Amazon’s upcoming device is something a lot more interesting.
Essentially, the rumor now, according to CVG, is that it’s a dongle, not a console, and you’ll be streaming games to your TV through it:
Carrying the Fire branding also attached to Amazon tablets, the device has reportedly been in development since April 2013. Amazon is said to have distributed a pre-production version to select app developers.
While pricing remains unclear, the reports also indicate that the device may come with incentives available to Amazon Prime members, such as Amazon Instant Video.
The idea is attention-getting for a few reasons. One, if anybody has the infrastructure to make streaming games off web servers a reality, it’s Amazon; remember, they own Amazon Web Services, whose entire job it is to take large amounts of data traffic and stream it efficiently. Two, either Amazon is planning on going toe-to-toe with Valve over PC gaming… or it’s about to cut a pretty big deal that will make their dongle all Steamy.
No, I will never get tired of making bad jokes. Heh, “dongle.”
Anyway, supposedly we’ll know precisely what this is and what it can do quite quickly; it’s supposed to start shipping at the end of April. We’ll keep you posted, and if the rumors hold to be true, you can rely on us to lovingly slot that dongle and test it out.
Via CVG