Are you one of those gamers where all you have is the internet, but sometimes wish you had cable TV? Well just stick with your internet, because Sony has announced Vue, which is their version of cable television. They are starting off small with their offerings, so the service can be found now in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. If you are curious about the rest of the States, well don’t worry, as Sony Network Entertainment vice president Eric Lempel has stated that he would like it running in the rest of the US soon.
One can safely assume that this has a lot to do with the FCC approved net neutrality rules to protect the open internet; a close call if I’ve ever seen one. Well I bet your next question is “how much will this cost me?” Well fine gamer, I can tell you it can cost as little as $50 a month or a maximum of $70. This is a pretty good deal compared to what other companies offer, especially if you only need the basic channels. Here is a listing of the packages they offer:
$50 Option — Access
- 50 channels total
- Broadcast: CBS, CBS Plus, Cozi TV, Exitos, FOX, MyNetwork, NBC, Telemundo
- Network: Animal Planet, BET, Bravo, Cartoon/Adult Swim, CBS, CMT, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Destination America, Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, DIY, E!, Esquire, Food Network, Fox Business, Fox News Networks, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, FX, FXX, HGTV, HLN, Investigation Discovery, MSNBC, MTV, MTV2, Nat Geo, NBC Sports Network, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, OWN, Oxygen, Science, Spike, Syfy, TBS, TLC, TNT, TruTV, Travel Channel, TV Land, USA Network, VH1.
- AMC networks will be available in April (including AMC, IFC, Sundance, and WE tv)
$60 Option — Core
- All of the $50 channels plus:
- Network: BTN, Golf Channel, TCM
- New York Only: YES Network
- Philadelphia Only: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
- Chicago Only: Comcast SportsNet Chicago
$70 Option — Elite
- All of the above channels plus:
- Network: American Heroes, BET Gospel, Boomerang, Centric, Chiller, Cloo, CMT Pure Country, CNBC World, Cooking Channel, Discovery Fit & Health, FOX College Sports Atlantic, FOX College Sports Central, FOX College Sports Pacific, FXM, LOGO, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, mtvU, Nat Geo Wild, PALLADIA, Sprout, TeenNick, Universal, Velocity, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul.
In a interview with GameSpot Lempel had this to say about Vue “a complete TV offering. It’s live TV; it’s catch-up TV; it’s a DVR in the cloud. So it gives our users everything that we think they want.” It will be interesting to see what companies like Verizon and Comcast will do to try and compete with Sony’s Vue. To stay up to date with Vue and all things gaming check back with mxdwn games.