Alexa wants to host your next game night with new Echo Buttons
Amazon wants Alexa to be everything for you: a personal assistant, a maid, a news anchor, and now a game show host.
The next gadget to be added to Alexa's arsenal just in time for the holidays is the Echo Button, which allows you to play games through any Echo device. Just like a game show, the buttons light up with LED color changing lights and play a variety of games that you can add as an Alexa skill. No word yet on what the games entail, but "Sounds Fun with Mike Epps" is intriguing and football trivia is pretty self explanatory.
Echo Buttons are the first exclusively Alexa-compatible smart home accessories that aren't standalone devices. Unlike their Amazon Tap or Cloud Cam, you need an Echo to set up and use the Buttons (you can connect up to four via Bluetooth.)
It's an interesting choice for Amazon to delve into gaming with their first Echo accessory, but with the success of simple digital party games like Jackbox and Sportsfriends, it makes sense. Casual multi-player games that aren't intimidating to non-gamers have been growing in popularity for a few years now, so of course Amazon wants to get in on it.
Echo Buttons will be released on December 19 and are available for pre-order now. Two buttons will be $19.99. If you're giving an Echo as a gift, these would make a great add-on—if you're a prime member you'll get free two-day shipping so they'll arrive in time for Christmas.
Once you get past the creepiness of asking Alexa to play a game, this could be pretty fun.
Topics Amazon Amazon Alexa Amazon Echo Gaming
According to twitter, Emily Heller is a fake geek girl and a SJW. If you ask her friends, she laughs too loud and cries at cute animal videos. Prior to Mashable, Emily wrote for CollegeHumor and Reductress and most recently worked at a very bro-y tech startup. She lives in Brooklyn with three dudes, a cat who acts like a dog and a dog who acts like a houseplant.
