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It looks like Sony’s Google TV-equipped Blu-ray player will be getting some serious gaming skills. VentureBeat has spotted a reference to OnLive within the player’s specs.
LG has already announced its Google TV sets will come running OnLive, but Sony has made no announcement concerning its set-top boxes or Blu-ray players as yet. We might well have just pipped them to the post on that one.
The device in question is the 3D Blu-ray player version of the Sony NSZ-GS7 set-top box we reviewed recently. It’s not due until October sometime, costing £300, though it’ll ship next month in the US. According to the specs, the OnLive gaming controller and universal series bus dongle will come as optional accessories.
This means the box will turn your TV into a games portal, streaming titles without you having to shell out on the consoles themselves (and cluttering your lounge while you’re at it). Of course it’ll enable you to surf online from the big screen, and run Blu-rays too, making it a very competent box of tricks.
It is a bit of an odd move though. You’d think Sony would want you to play PlayStation games and nothing else through a Sony box, but then if it wants to stay competitive it needs to set its pride aside. Either that or it should pull its finger out and come up with a better online games offering.
OnLive’s rival Gakai, meanwhile, has announced a similar deal with Samsung, to provide cloud-based gaming on the Korean company’s TVs. Sony could well have seen that and panicked that it had no equivalent offering.
Are you excited about Google TV? Or do you think the Nexus Q renders the whole idea pointless? Would you choose a Sony box or an LG TV if you were going to get involved with Google TV? Let me know your comments below, or on our Facebook page.
