Skip to main content

Razer Forge TV streams any PC game to your living room, no strings attached

You’ve seen the rest of the Android micro-consoles, now see the best. That’s Razer’s message, at any rate. Co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan knows very well that there’s a crowded market for tiny boxes that stream Internet content straight to your TV, but the company’s Forge TV aims for the same audience that Razer products have always aimed for: serious gamers.

That’s why it’s a games-first device. The diminutive Android micro-console box supports the expected big-screen mobile gaming, but that’s hardly the marquee feature. Razer’s big hook with Forge TV is the ability to stream gameplay from a networked PC at home directly into your living room.

It’s not anything new at first glance. Nvidia’s Shield offers much the same thing, provided you’re using a specific segment of the company’s newer graphics cards. Forge TV differentiates by anchoring PC streaming to software rather than hardware.

Razer-Forge-TV-2

In other words, it doesn’t matter what kind of  GPU you’re rocking. You can stream from basically any machine configuration that is using Razer’s Cortex software, which has a streaming feature that’s set for a beta launch in spring 2015. It works with both Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections, and it supports streaming for DirectX 9 games and higher.

That’s in addition to the onboard support for Android gaming, enabled by 16GB of internal storage, a quad-core processor, and — naturally — support for Google Play apps, for up to four players. Forge TV also supports a number of multimedia apps, including YouTube, Hulu, Crackle, Red Bull TV, and iHeartRadio, as well as Google Cast.

In addition to the micro-console, Razer also has a pair of peripherals that help to complete the package. The Razer Serval is a Bluetooth gaming controller that bears no small resemblance to the now-standard Xbox gamepad form factor. It sports all of the buttons that you’d expect to find on a modern console controller, and was in fact built by the team behind Razer’s Sabretooth controller. It’s also got a mounting clip for phones, allowing Android users to continue their Forge gaming on a small screen.

Razer realizes that not every game offers gamepad support, and that’s where the Turret comes in. It’s an ultra-thin lapboard-style keyboard with an included 3,500 DPI mouse that pairs with your device of choice using either Bluetooth 4.0 LE or Wireless 2.4 GHz signals. The Turret is meant to sit on your lap while you game from the couch, with an attached mousepad that uses magnets to keep the mouse from sliding free.

Razer-Forge-TV-12

Neither a Serval nor a Turret is required to use Forge TV, and both peripherals can be used independently with other devices that support wireless pairing as well. It’s possible to control Forge TV using an an assortment of devices: Android, iOS, ChromeBook, Windows, “and more.”

Forge TV is set to ship in the first quarter of 2015, with a $100 price tag. Razer also has a bundle that includes both the micro-console and a Serval controller, for $150. Serval will be available on its own as well, for $80, and it launches alongside Forge TV. The Razer Turret’s release is further out, launching sometime in the second quarter of 2015 with a $130 price.

We’ll be checking all of this new Razer kit out at the show, so stay tuned for more details when we have them.

Editors' Recommendations

Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Razer brings back Ouya games with the Cortex store for its Forge TV box
razer forge tv cortex store pc controller keyboard 7

Razer may be a major player when it comes to PC gaming peripherals, but that hasn't helped it break into the micro-console market. The company's Forge TV may have been the best Android-based console released so far, but it seems people just aren't that interested in playing Android games on their TVs.

That isn't stopping the maker of Forge TV from forging ahead (get it?) with the rollout of the Cortex game store, which is available now. If Cortex looks familiar, it's because the store is essentially an overhauled version of the Ouya store, complete with a lineup of games that owners of the ill-fated console might remember.

Read more
Nvidia’s Shield, an Android TV microconsole, is available now
Nvidia Shield Console

Nvidia's living room iteration of the Shield gaming and streaming device has launched, aiming to bring Android TV to thousands of homes and provide one more option to the increasingly-crowded field of cable alternatives for cord-cutters.

Introduced at GDC this past March, the new Shield is an Android-powered micro-console, not unlike the Ouya. Unlike the somewhat underwhelming Ouya, however, the Shield is powered by Nvidia's cutting-edge Tegra X1 processor, with a 256-core GPU and 64-bit CPU that has the muscle to stream 4K video and games with Nvidia's Grid cloud-based gaming service. At launch there are over 200 games available to play via Android TV, 20 of which are coming exclusively to Shield. This includes recent hits like Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel or indie puzzler The Talos Principle, and also remastered classics like Half-Life 2.

Read more
Asus sets its sights on the living room with new gaming PC
asus sets sights living room new gaming pc rog gr6

Any PC gaming devotee can tell you why a decent computer will outshine a dedicated device like an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, but console gamers have always been able to boast about the comforts of a machine built for the living room. Now, however, custom-built PCs are making threatening inroads into console territory.

Asus has announced a new device in its line of living room gaming PCs, the ROG GR6. With an Intel Core i5 'Broadwell' processor, eight gigs of memory and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M graphics card, it should have enough power to match the graphics of a home console, with all the flexibility of a PC.

Read more