Well, Roku just refreshed its entire line of TV set-top boxes, with the new devices getting sleeker shells, more robust Netflix features (including support for English subtitles), and—best of all—casual video games, starting with the ridiculously popular Angry Birds.

On sale starting today, the low-end Roku 2 HD still sells for just $59, and it’s still capable of displaying 720p HD video (a slight step down from the full-on 1080p video quality you’ll find in most big-screen HDTV sets) from Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

You’ll also be able to watch live Major League Baseball, NBA, and NHL action, as well as stream music from Pandora and display slideshows from Flickr. In all, about 300 media “channels” are available.

Up next is the Roku 2 XD ($79), which adds 1080p video support, while the $99 Roku 2 XS boasts a port for plugging in a USB memory stick loaded with videos, music, and photos, plus a couple of bonuses sure to quicken the pulse of Angry Birds fans: a free copy of the ubiquitous, bird-slingshotting smartphone game (now tailored for TVs), as well as a gaming remote that you can wave in the air, à la the Nintendo Wii. (The remote even comes with a wrist strap to keep you from accidentally flinging the thing across the room.)

The Roku gaming remote will also be available separately in the “coming weeks” for $30, meaning you can pick up the $59 Roku 2 and snag the new remote for a grand total of $89.

Pretty nifty, but I have to say: even forgetting the Angry Birds business, the Roku still makes for a tempting buy, especially for anyone who wants to start streaming Netflix or Hulu on their TVs without breaking the bank.

You can check out the new Roku 2 boxes for yourself right here.

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Among the other findings from the Entertainment Software Association’s survey: the average gamer is 37 years old, about 42 percent of gamers are women, 55 percent of gamers are playing games on their phones (“Angry Birds,” anyone?), and 45 percent of parents say they play games with their children (hopefully kid-friendly games like “LittleBigPlanet” rather than “Call of Duty”).

So, fellow grown-ups: Do you consider yourself a gamer? Do you play games mostly on your cell phone, or do you prefer a game console like the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360, or the PlayStation 3? Last but not least, do you worry about the video games your kids are playing, or do you trust them to avoid “Grand Theft Auto” and the like?

Leave a comment below, or send me an email right here.

Source: Entertainment Software Association (via CNET)

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Angry Birds developer Rovio and Roku, makers of the bargain-priced Roku TV set-top box, say they’re teaming up (warning: PDF link) to bring a version of the wildly popular video game to your Roku-connected television set.

Owners of the Roku—a lightweight, compact set-top box that already streams videos from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, MLB.tv, and more—will be getting Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio on their boxes this summer, along with an Angry Birds video channel with animated shorts of our furious feathered friends doing…whatever it is they do.

Cool, but exactly does one play Angry Birds on a TV remote? Good question, with VentureBeat noting that Roku is “being cagey” about how the gaming controls will work. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

The folks at Roku also say that Angry Birds won’t be the last video game to appear on the Roku box, with the company promising that it’ll have news about additional “casual” games “within the next few weeks.”

here’s the thing: I’ve long been a fan of Roku and its compact, affordable set-top box (the cheapest version, which works with HDMI-equipped TVs and delivers HD-quality video, starts at just $59.99), and the Roku’s about to become an even better buy now that it’s turning into a casual gaming console. If you’re in the market for a TV set-top device that handles Netflix, Amazon, and other popular streaming-video services, I recommend giving the Roku a serious look.

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