Ouya: The $99 Android-based open-source console on Kickstarter

[Tupin]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...o-game-console

I think it will reach its goal by the end of the day, at least it has a wide variety of publishers signed on for it. It's running a Tegra 3 with 1 GB of RAM. What do you think? Think it will be able to find a niche in the marketplace?

[substantial_snake]

Its certainty an interesting idea, basically a (relatively) unified Indy platform with dedicated controller support. I'm assuming that it will have its own dedicated game store similar to googleplay but I wonder how the vetting process will work with "openness" of both the hardware and software being such an emphasized feature.

At best it could seriously take off and make the major publishers and console makers reexamine how the current industry model can be improved.

At worst it will be a neat little oddity in gaming I can hook up to any TV as a Neflix machine. (or not release at all I suppose lol)

I've thrown down a hundred bucks on much more frivolous things, pledged my support and am interested to see where it will go.

Still the fact that its nearly reached its 950k goal within hours of its kickstarter page opening and expect to start releasing the product by March of next year is very encouraging.

[kupomogli]

It's over a million so it's already hit its mark. While this does interest me, I'll wait until it gets released and see where things go from there. Anyone think it'll be more than $99 or it'll stay that price after it's official release date?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

While there's clearly MUCH more to do on Android, the OS has a lot of great classic game system emulators developed in its already unrestricted operating environment. If nothing else this could be a great set-top emulation box that requires little to no effort to get going properly, and unlike the Android boxes and "game players" from Hong Kong, it'll probably have better OS updates/customer service/support if needed.

I'll totally pick one up pending decent reviews.

[substantial_snake]

So yeah they are about to hit the 3 million dollar mark.

It seems as if they are using the Kickstarter campaign as a gauge for how many units they might actually sell. The 99 dollar Console+controller tier is definitely the one driving sales and they are continually bumping up the number of "copies" of that particular pricing tier..and it seems to be working so far. My only concern with this and other Kickstarter projects is potentially burning through most of your market with what is effectively a pre-sale of the project your supposed to be funding. Still I suppose that cash can latter be used to reach out to others who may of not been aware of it initially or maybe this is completely intentional on their part.

[Griking]

So yeah they are about to hit the 3 million dollar mark.

It seems as if they are using the Kickstarter campaign as a gauge for how many units they might actually sell. The 99 dollar Console+controller tier is definitely the one driving sales and they are continually bumping up the number of "copies" of that particular pricing tier..and it seems to be working so far. My only concern with this and other Kickstarter projects is potentially burning through most of your market with what is effectively a pre-sale of the project your supposed to be funding. Still I suppose that cash can latter be used to reach out to others who may of not been aware of it initially or maybe this is completely intentional on their part.

I'm curious who will make games for it? Hobbyists who aren't looking to make any money? I certainly don't see any real developers releasing games that will be copied within minutes of them being released.

[kupomogli]

I'm curious who will make games for it? Hobbyists who aren't looking to make any money? I certainly don't see any real developers releasing games that will be copied within minutes of them being released.

This is what I was thinking. They might get Netflix and such on there, but more than likely it's going to be nothing more than a console for homebrew and emulators. Even though homebrew and emulators can be played on PC, they're really going for your average console gamer who doesn't want to have anything to do with a PC OS when playing their games. I'll admit I'm in that group. While my PC has HDMI out(and HDMI in,) I don't have it hooked up to anything but my monitor and it's rarely used for anything other than browsing the internet.

They might try to set up an app store or something for people to sell their items on there so some people might make some money off it, but most everything is probably going to be pirated.

[eggwolio]

I'm curious who will make games for it? Hobbyists who aren't looking to make any money? I certainly don't see any real developers releasing games that will be copied within minutes of them being released.

Developers already do that. PC gaming still exists. And lots of PC games can be purchased without copy protection. Also, new DS games come out all the time, despite the millions of flashcards which are probably out there, and people still buy them.

[Tupin]

I don't think they were clear about whether all games were free to play or not, but I know for sure that they require demos of every single game. The big companies that jump in probably won't release their big titles, they'll release their titles that will have minimal impact if they're pirated. Similar to GOG, I suppose.

Hopefully the free-to-play is more like TF2 or League of Legends and less like Angry Birds.

[substantial_snake]

I don't think they were clear about whether all games were free to play or not, but I know for sure that they require demos of every single game. The big companies that jump in probably won't release their big titles, they'll release their titles that will have minimal impact if they're pirated. Similar to GOG, I suppose.

Hopefully the free-to-play is more like TF2 or League of Legends and less like Angry Birds.

When you say "free games," what does that mean exactly?
We want you to pay only for the games you love. A “free to play” model works when everyone (gamers and game makers) benefits from directly rewarding amazing games.

For gamers, every game will be free to play: what this means is that there will at least be a free demo, or you’ll be able to play the entirety of the game for free but may have access to additional items, upgrades, or other features that come at a cost.

For developers, free to play means that they can set their own prices. Developers know best: There is no better way to sell a game than to have folks that have actually touched the game share glowing reviews with their friends. By allowing some form of free play, we’ll help them do just that. The only reason you used to pay for games before playing them is that you couldn’t try them at the store before you brought them home – it’s a relic of an old way of doing business, and one of the many things about the games business we plan to change.

Last updated: Tuesday Jul 10, 8:59am EDT

This is a question I see pop up frequently about what they mean by F2P, and this was taken directly from their Kickstarter page.

It seems reasonable enough to me and from what I understand its the same way that Xbox Live Arcade's timed demo system works.

[YoshiM]

I want this. Not just to play but to *exist*. Personally I find my modern game purchases fluttering away from the major titles to picking up Indie titles that have been way more fulfilling. Titles like Limbo, Flower and Journey *moved* me in ways games like Mass Effect 3, Uncharted and the like don't. Thanks to the recent boom of Indie gaming on XBLA, the "Indie bundles" on PC and the explosion of mobile gaming, it's looking like a new age of garage developer is coming (or is here depending on how you see it).

With the number of companies already showing interest/backing it, this doesn't look like the "Phantom" machine that was promised years back.

[eggwolio]

I agree with wanting it to exist. I'm excited by the idea of it in general. As an emulation box and a new tier home console, for lack of a better term. I'm excited to see them bridge the gap between the gaming experiences I enjoy on my phone. It's full of potential and at a price which makes it almost an impulse by for a lot of people.

[swlovinist]

I love the idea, and plan to support the system. I hope it succeeds. This is something the industry needs, if anything a wakeup call.

[Bojay1997]

I love the idea, and plan to support the system. I hope it succeeds. This is something the industry needs, if anything a wakeup call.

Although I will admit I supported the project, I'm curious as to why you think it's something the industry needs. Despite their claims to the contrary, it's just another Android based piece of hardware and a not very powerful one at that which will require developers to use their proprietary store system instead of Google Play. Basically, other than the possibility that it can be rooted and some indie developers could release their stuff for free outside of the store (which can already happen on any rooted device today and frankly isn't that common simply because people like to be paid for their work), I'm not seeing how this is different than every other download only piece of hardware out there or why it's better than a PC which really is open to developers and is far more flexible and powerful.

[swlovinist]

The industry in general is not an even playing field. You have the big three(Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) still doing the standard traditional models of offering often overpriced software after selling overpriced hardware. Indie programmers can release a game, but often it is overlooked and buried. The huge budgets to make many large games has not all been great. Dont get me wrong, I buy and play some great titles, but the distribution system for these games is archaic and outdated. Many great game companies have focused on over bloated game ideas and concepts multiple years only to be released to pay back the millions it cost to make them. I am not expressing that this is the and all be all gaming system, I just think that this could have a bigger impact than "just another android system. You have the gaming industry being controlled by a small number of companies that are controlling how games are distributed, and controlling about every aspect of the game. I just think that it is cool that there will possibly be a system out there that could potentially offer something a little different.
It costs too much these days to experience gaming. This is a model that could seriously open up video games to a different audience that would not pay 200-500 for a computer, console, tablet or something else. Only time will tell what this will be, but for a supporter of all things independent...sign me up.

[darkslime]

YEAH! Now I can play Angry Birds on a TV. The hardware will be outdated by the time its released and it will probably get a bunch of shitty phone game ports.

[Tupin]

YEAH! Now I can play Angry Birds on a TV. The hardware will be outdated by the time its released and it will probably get a bunch of shitty phone game ports.

Tegra 3 is way above what any other non-Tegra device could do, and its successor won't come out until at least 2014.

Developers are still designing games for hardware designed in 2004/2005. Consoles always become obsolete quickly, especially compared to PCs.

[Jorpho]

I thought this Penny Arcade article articulated my misgivings pretty well.
http://penny-arcade.com/report/edito...-should-be-ske

[Rev. Link]

This thing looks cool. But, as a collector, I have a hard time getting excited about playing games that I can't line up on a shelf.

[Ryudo]

So it's just a 100$ cellphone in a box to play cheap phone games. Whoop de doo. I doubt this will far.

Consoles are here to stay and this isn't even going to make a nick on the major console market.

[kai123]

Sorry I can already do everything this offers with my Transformer Prime. It has HDMI I can use a PS3 controller and can unplug it and take it with me. True it is more expensive but with the Nexus 7 coming out at it's price point it is very hard to get excited for this thing. This will be nothing but a emulator box. If they would have advertised it as that then it would be cool with me. I just don't see anything "revolutionary" about it. The price is right though.

[Tupin]

So it's just a 100$ cellphone in a box to play cheap phone games. Whoop de doo. I doubt this will far.

Consoles are here to stay and this isn't even going to make a nick on the major console market.

Of course it's not going to make a major nick on the console market. If anything, it will only cause big companies to do what Ouya does (or not do, depending on its success.)

It's probably not going to have a lot of ports of regular phone games, just Tegra 3 games that use joysticks. Some of the games that run on tablets look pretty good graphically, even if many are shallow clones of console games. Maybe the ease of getting your game out there combined with a real controller will help it.

This thing is already set to be the most hacked system in history, there will be an emulator for everything.

[kai123]

Of course it's not going to make a major nick on the console market. If anything, it will only cause big companies to do what Ouya does (or not do, depending on its success.)

It's probably not going to have a lot of ports of regular phone games, just Tegra 3 games that use joysticks. Some of the games that run on tablets look pretty good graphically, even if many are shallow clones of console games. Maybe the ease of getting your game out there combined with a real controller will help it.

This thing is already set to be the most hacked system in history, there will be an emulator for everything.

They are ready. It is based on Android so it has tons of emulators just waiting for a side load solution or on their market.

[substantial_snake]

I thought this Penny Arcade article articulated my misgivings pretty well.
http://penny-arcade.com/report/edito...-should-be-ske

I agreed with a lot in this article as well and I think the biggest hurdle to their idea will be convincing well knows devs to either make or port software to the onya. Its going to run into the chicken and egg problem of trying to attract devs to a small platform to grow the platform to attract more devs. Its a very hard obstacle to get over without a sizeable base to start with and its what they should really do with all of this extra cash thats been "kicked" to them. Attracting developer support should be on the forefront above any other issues

But quite frankly as a consumer I don't really care weather or not their indy-focused business plan succeeds. I would like to see it do well and somehow craft a indy-friendly business model in the console industry but they have already promised enough to justify the initial investment. With my donation of $99 bucks I'm either going to get a cheap set-top android box and controller or ultimately nothing.

Putting down the equivalent of a new game and a half on that proposition isn't difficult at all.

[NayusDante]

As a hobbyist programmer, I think it looks fun. I can see it being an improvement over XBLIG and PSMobile. I'm thinking of a developer community more like OHRRPGCE than Unity, where people make games because they enjoy making games and helping others do the same.

As a consumer, I have no idea what I'd do with it. I have consoles and a decent computer, why do I need another device that plays the same games? They would be better off building an Android software platform with a good API for wireless controllers and HDMI output.

At worst, this adds even more fragmentation to the Android ecosystem. It means that developers have to write their games for touch devices as well as a pseudo-touch 10-foot UI. It's a great hacker project, but a terrible consumer product.