Amazon's Echo has long let you play little voice-driven games. And at an event today, the company just released an oddball new accessory to go along with the just-announced new Echo speaker. It's called the Echo Button, and it's a tiny Bluetooth remote of sorts that lets you "buzz in" and add a deeper experience to these games. Amazon is positioning this as a simple little gadget intended as more of a "stocking stuffer" than anything else (it comes out this holiday season).
If you've ever watched Jeopardy!, you know what we're talking about here -- the Echo can ask a question and you can then "buzz in" and answer before your teammates. While on stage, Amazon demoed a trivia-style game, and Hasbro confirmed that it is working on a version of Trivial Pursuit you can play with the Echo Button. Hasbro's using a new Echo API to build its game, so presumably other game-makers will follow suit before long.
The Echo Button will be available later this year and cost $20 for a pack of two. If you're the type of person who enjoys using the Echo for entertainment, this might be a worthwhile investment, but only if other games support it.