Amazon Fire TV: What You Need to Know, Is It Worth Buying & Gary Busey [Video]

Amazon recently announced a new video hardware system called Amazon Fire TV.

The small rectangular box costs $99 and is being set up as a competitor of Apple TV, Roku and gaming consoles, according to Mashable.

Fire TV, which connects to the Internet, allows users to speak into the remote for voice command and also plays video games. A gaming remote comes at an extra cost. The product started shipping on Wednesday, and Amazon said its new product is more powerful than Apple TV.

Hulu Plus, Netflix, Pandora, Vevo, iHeartRadio, Youtube and Crackle are available through the platform.

It also distinguishes itself by coming with pre-loaded content, meaning it picks what it thinks you want to watch and loads it beforehand. That means when you choose something to watch, Amazon Fire can start the content without needing to buffer with a feature called ASAP.

Reviews of the new platform have started to appear.

The Next Web said the voice search worked as it should. "The voice search worked smoothly, and felt pretty natural if you're used to Siri or Google Now," wrote Natt Garun. "Just ensure you speak after the beep, or it won't register the first portion of your search."

The writer added that for those who already have a streaming device, Fire TV may not be offering enough, as it is still waiting to get HBO Go, SHO Anytime and Plex.

PC Mag said Fire TV is responsive and elegant and that it has a lot of content available, but that it's not great as a gaming console.

The Associated Press said that the device is great but that it's not "fully ready."

"And that goes back to the idea of Fire TV being largely about promise. Many features aren't ready yet, and the ones that are don't work yet with every service," reported the AP. "Fire TV is a good investment if you use a lot of Amazon content, but you'll need patience for features to arrive or get better."

The first ad for the console features Gary Busey, and it's exactly what you'd expect from him.

"If you're like me, you like talking to things," the commercial starts off.

Busey then goes on to talk to his lamp, his pants and fish. He then notes that it's frustrating when things don't listen, which given the reviews, doesn't seem to be a problem with Fire TV.