You can probably tell from the title that I’m not very thrilled with the experience I had with the PlayStation TV. Something that I feel has a lot of potential just ended up being a mediocre experience.
The PlayStation TV for the most part is the PS Vita in a different package. The hardware is solid and compact and small enough to throw in a bag and bring with you on the go. If you opt for the $149 package you’ll get a PS3 controller which just makes no sense with PS4 out and a 8 GB PS Vita memory card. Even with this card included you will still need to buy a bigger card if you plan to download content as 8 GB will get used up very quickly. Also there is only the option of Vita cards. No Micro SD card support which is foolish and makes the device even more expensive in the long run.
The software is basically the Vita’s user interface. It’s not even fully optimize for large displays and while they have added UI tweaks for it to work with a controller the UI is still very touch screen focused and you’ll see the areas that Sony left those holes open. It’s a clunky experience that Sony should have revamped and made a proper UI that would work on big screen televisions.
Now let’s talk about the games. While PS Vita games look ok on a larger display the real purpose of buying a PlayStation TV is to use Sony’s PlayStation Now service and if you have a PS4 to stream your games to another TV. In my review I took the perspective of a person buying this to use with PlayStation Now and the games look great. I played God Of War and there was zero slow down or lag and the graphics looked like I had a full console right in front of me. Gaming was a great experience through PlayStation Now using PS TV. Pricing on the games is another debate but if you are just focused on playing PlayStation Now the PlayStation TV will be great for you.
Now for everyone else who is probably picking this up thinking they will have a set-top box experience like an Amazon Fire TV (Review), Roku or Apple TV but have superior gaming to go along with it, you will be very disappointing as the entertainment element of the PlayStation TV is underwhelming. Most of the TV and Movie streaming apps will only work on Vita hardware and Sony’s entertainment hubs don’t offer as much as yo would expect. It’s like they forgot the “TV” part in the name PlayStation TV.
In it current form it would be hard for me to recommend buying a PlayStation TV unless you want to stream your PlayStation 4 games to another TV or you really want to use PlayStation now. All other aspects of the device are half-baked at its best. I would expect better from Sony then this. For more about the PlayStation TV be sure to watch our full video review below. It will give you a better idea of what I’m talking about.
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