PlayStation’s new TV service doesn’t work on PlayStation TV

Sony’s odd-duck PlayStation TV hardware seemed like a good idea at the time — an inexpensive box that lets you play many of the excellent and inexpensive PS Vita games out there as well as a way to stream shows and movies. Unfortunately, the execution left something to be desired on a number of fronts. Plenty of the Vita’s best games don’t work with the hardware, and there’s no great reason to use it as a set-top media box when compared with options from Amazon, Apple, Roku, and many others.

The just-launched PlayStation Vue streaming TV service could have been the most compelling reason yet to buy a PlayStation TV — but Sony decided it didn’t want potential customers to have a cheap box for potential new customers to use. Instead, PlayStation Vue is only available on the PS3 and PS4, which means the up-front hardware cost a good bit over $100.

It’s not a huge surprise to me — the PlayStation TV seems destined to be a Weird Sony product that dies on the vine. But I couldn’t help but laugh out loud and shake my head when I realized a device called the PlayStation TV doesn’t work with Sony’s new PlayStation TV service.