OUYA $99 Open platform game console

[Rally Pat]

This thing could be very promising if people take to it. Very little dev cost, compared to the bagillions devs have to shell out to the big companies.

 

[Furloaf]

Meh. All the games will be comparable to smartphone games now, just on a bigger screen. The hardware isn't anywhere near powerful enough to compete with the real consoles in terms graphics, sound, and it also won't have multiplayer support systems in place. The next generation consoles will completely blow it out of the water as well. The only dent Xbox, Playstation will feel will be in the stupid little games on the DLC services. (stupid as in simple)

 

The open concept is great however. Hope it leads to a lot of innovation. Just don't expect this to dethrone the big names, or act as a replacement.

[CRed05]

I thought about backing it. Going by how they got over $2mill in a few hours...it's going to be something.

[Rally Pat]

Meh. All the games will be comparable to smartphone games now, just on a bigger screen. The hardware isn't anywhere near powerful enough to compete with the real consoles in terms graphics, sound, and it also won't have multiplayer support systems in place. The next generation consoles will completely blow it out of the water as well. The only dent Xbox, Playstation will feel will be in the stupid little games on the DLC services. (stupid as in simple)

 

The open concept is great however. Hope it leads to a lot of innovation. Just don't expect this to dethrone the big names, or act as a replacement.

 

Not sure if serious. The Tegra3 is very much on par with or exceeds the power of the Xbox 360 or PS3. Also based on what has been leaked of the next gen consoles, all of them are using older technology to keep costs down.

 

[Furloaf]

That video looks, to me, at best on par with a PS3/360. I doubt it could handle larger environments than just tunnels and corridors as well as the real consoles also.

 

The other big reason I think it won't compare is that it is based on open source architecture. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo hardware are all proprietary, but that also makes them well dedicated and integrated for specific computing tasks. A dedicated system is always more powerful than an open, modular system when running the same task. (Consequently that is also what makes the development kit difficult to work with.)

[CRed05]

http://phandroid.com/2012/07/11/ouya-why-the-over-hyped-android-game-console-is-a-bad-investment/

 

It isn’t hard to understand why OUYA has raised an astonishing $2.5 million and growing via Kickstarter in the past 24 hours. What doesn’t sound great about a cheap gaming console with solid hardware and access to Android’s growing library of quality games, all of which sell for a fraction of the cost of traditional console games (if not for free)? The answer, my friends, can be found in that very question. While OUYA sounds like a great concept through the lens of its sleek and glossy pitch video, the over-hyped Android gaming console is a bad investment, and I will tell you why.

http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ouya-xl-635x423.jpeg

For starters, OUYA is still in the developmental stages, and while its list of hardware matches up with the best smartphones and tablets currently available, by the time production units start rolling out the console is sure to feel a bit dated. Yes, quad-core Tegra 3 processing, 1GB RAM, and 8GB of internal storage sound like a steal for $99, but at the rate that Android hardware has been advancing I reckon these specs won’t sound so enticing by the time the OUYA launches. So the company will either push out hardware that can’t keep pace with the next generation of software and games, forcing consumers to buy a new model within a year, or they will scramble to release a product featuring revamped and updated hardware.

We’ve all seen what happens when a company lets advancing technology dictate their release strategy. Remember Notion Ink? When they first unveiled plans for what would become their Adam tablet, the tech world held high hope for the device. It was meant to be the first truly powerful Android tablet, a savior ready to do battle with Apple’s iPad. But Notion Ink fell into a cycle of constantly attempting to update their hardware and software to keep pace with current trends as development pushed forward, resulting in a prolonged wait for the Adam. When the slate finally launched, it was plagued with issues and offered a rather lackluster experience, sealing it’s fate and leaving many to wonder what could have been.

http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ouya-controller-350x196.png

I am here to tell you that the OUYA is the next Notion Ink Adam. Or perhaps it is more like the next Google TV, which brings me to my next point. Android games are designed to be played on tablets and smartphones. Aside from a few high quality titles designed with HD and larger screens in mind, most apps and games just don’t look right when ported directly to a TV. Their control schemes are designed for touch interfaces, and (spoiler alert) your television does not have a touch interface. It’s hard to imagine OUYA’s controller solving this problem efficiently without something akin to the Wii U’s controller setup. I don’t see that coming as part of the $99 price tag.

I hear your rebuttal already. “But just wait until developers start creating games exclusively for OUYA!” Sorry, folks, but they won’t. They have little incentive to devote time, money, and energy to developing for such a fringe platform. Remember the days when no developer wanted to touch Android with a 10-foot stick? I’m not talking back in the days of the G1, either. Android had a major smartphone, the Motorola Droid, on a major network and still developers were wary of porting their top iOS games. New, original games were even harder to come by. In fact, many developers still carry some hesitation about creating content for the Android platform. So why would any of these developers, indie or otherwise, want to modify existing games, let alone create exclusive titles, for OUYA?

If you count yourself among the 20,000 plus that have already donated to OUYA, I feel sorry for you. If you haven’t, don’t waste your money. This startup is hoping to ride on the trendy coattails of Android, but they are going about it in entirely the wrong way. OUYA, at best, will live a Dreamcast-esque existence, vanishing from the gaming world almost as quickly as it appeared. But that is even being generous. OUYA is no Sega. OUYA is a wad of cash swirling around a toilet bowl waiting to be washed down the drain.

 

The comments say otherwise...

 

Then there's Engadget:

 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/11/editorial-ouyas-success/

 

While today's videogames are bigger, flashier and more impressive than ever, it's hard not to think that the golden era of console gaming is behind us. Back in the late '80s and early-to-mid '90s, when a new console came out every couple of years to cut its predecessors off at the knees and brutally savage the bank accounts of the hardcore gamer who had to have them all, there was genuine excitement. Now, with modern consoles showing their age and throwing on more and more gimmicks like so much makeup to compensate, it's hard to really get properly enthused about any of them.

Out of nowhere came Ouya and, based on the $2.6 million it raised in 24 hours alone, it's safe to say it has succeeded in renewing that excitement. That's a stark contrast to the general feeling of malaise at this year's E3. I'm excited too -- but cautiously so.

I don't have all the old consoles, but I'm happy to say I have most -- there's a Genesis with the 32X and Sega CD add-ons, an Atari Jaguar, a trio of beige and brown Atari consoles and, of course, the obligatory NES and SNES, plus a lot more. I still remember the overwhelming excitement leading up to a console release, the early pictures in Nintendo Power or EGM, the speculation, the rumors and the anticipation of great games with great graphics to come. Best of all, the allure of the next generation was never more than a couple years away.

Today's primary consoles, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3, have stopped being exciting toys and started being household appliances.

 

That's 180 degrees away from today's state of console gaming. Our primary consoles, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3, have stopped being toys and started being household appliances. Last year, Nielsen found that people spend more time watching Netflix and the like on their consoles than actually playing videogames on the things, and that's something of a sorry state of affairs.

I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to the domestication of my prized gaming machines. I, too, am more often whittling away at my Netflix queue or streaming something over DLNA on my Xbox than saving political prisoners in Gotham City or collecting loot in Borderlands. Before launching the original big, green Xbox, Microsoft wanted for decades to find a way to dominate the living room. With the Xbox 360, it has succeeded with flying colors but, in dragging this console generation out for nearly seven years, both MS and Sony have sucked the excitement out of console ownership.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/08/ps-move-art-shot-rm-eng.jpg

Both Microsoft and Sony have sucked the excitement out of console ownership.

 

Traditionally, videogame consoles were put to pasture just as they hit their stride. Like an NFL quarterback who slips on a Super Bowl ring before promptly walking off the field for good, or a Formula One driver who hoists the championship trophy and then announces his retirement, these consoles went out on a high. Because of this, we have fond, untarnished memories of those great systems of the past. Now, I can't escape the feeling that modern consoles are just hanging around, collecting a paycheck for as long as their achy knees and frazzled nerves will allow.

Sure, they have some new tricks to keep things exciting, but those tricks are almost universal failures. Neither Microsoft's Kinect nor Sony's PlayStation Move have succeeded in delivering anything close to a next-gen gameplay experience, serving only as pricey accessories to keep the golden eggs flowing out of a pair of tired, old geese.

And we can't forget the third major player. It is of course Nintendo's Wii that was the driving force behind both of those accessories, and Nintendo is the first among the big three to stride bravely into the next generation with the Wii U, slated to launch sometime before the end of this year. Kudos to Nintendo for being the first to move on, but even that console's upcoming launch feels less like an exciting march to a blockbuster release and more of a grueling hike toward a too-familiar destination.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/06/wiiuhandson.jpg

The Wii U, when it's released, will have graphics little (if at all) better than the Xbox 360 or PS3. Because of that, it depends on a fancy new controller with a (resistive) touchscreen. It's through this that we're again promised a next-generation gameplay experience. I'll buy one when it comes out and give it a fair shake, but at this point, after sampling the thing at two successive E3s, I'm not optimistic that the Wii U will deliver any more excitement to my living room than its predecessor did.

Android offers an amazing selection of mediocre games that almost universally look bad on a 4-inch display. How are they going to look on a 60-inch HDTV?

 

So, then, why care about a $99 videogame console from a no-name company with no established first-party games lined up? There are plenty of reasons to expect the worst, not the least being a set of hardware specs no more impressive than a modern smartphone. Even worse, it runs an operating system that has thus far shown to be ill-suited for serious gaming. Android has done less to wow serious gamers than the PlayStation Move, offering an amazing selection of mediocre games that almost universally look bad on a 4-inch display. How are they going to look on a 60-inch HDTV?

Despite that, I'm excited for a few reasons, first because this is a very developer-focused box. Sony shot itself in the foot with the PS3 when it created a notoriously tricky system. Quality titles were slow to come and few truly managed to best the supposedly under-powered competition on the graphical front. The Ouya is positioned from the beginning to be a box for developers -- in fact there's no expensive dev kit to buy. Each Ouya console is a dev kit, and digital distribution means there's no need for publisher or retail agreements. This can and will mean an overwhelming flood of crapware, but it also opens the door to more and better indie developers. The next Braid or Super Meat Boy could happen here.

I'm also excited because this is a box focused on gaming. Yes, on playing games on your television! Look at the Ouya Kickstarter page and you'll find nary a mention of Netflix or Hulu, the closest being a note that you can watch professional gamers on Twitch.TV. Sure, it's Android, and all those zillions of media apps for that OS will presumably come along for the ride, but the focus is gaming. I like that.

The next

Braid

or

Super Meat Boy

could happen here.

 

More importantly, the focus is on traditional console gaming -- that is, games not where I am the controller, but games where the controller is the controller.

Finally, I'll be honest that I'm excited because this is something new, and I would have to assume that the 24,000 (as I write this) backers are also excited. It seems apparent to me that the current console cycle has dragged on for too long. Gamers are craving something different, and if the Ouya is a success, it could usher us into a new golden age of gaming, a time when there was room for crazy systems like the vector-driven Vectrex and three-sided Coleco Telstar Arcade.

But will the Ouya be a success? It's too early to say. Sure, it's raised over $2.5 million in a day, and that's impressive for a nobody, but let's put that in context. When Nintendo launched the Wii in Japan it moved 370,000 consoles in two days for approximately $80 million in sales. It would go on to rake in $190 million in the first week of availability in the Americas. This is the power of mainstream success.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/07/ouya-controller-2012-07-11-600.jpg

The most damning concern on my mind regarding Ouya is that it follows in the footsteps of other tepidly received independent and open gaming systems like the EVO 2, GP2X and the Pandora handheld. All have had similar mission statements and none have taken the world by storm. The Ouya has at least succeeded in piquing the interest of both gamers and developers, but whether that will translate to long-term success remains to be seen.

I hope it does. I was among the first couple hundred people to pitch in $95 primarily because I'm ready for something new, something different, and something that is totally gimmick-free.

[Rally Pat]

http://phandroid.com/2012/07/11/ouya-why-the-over-hyped-android-game-console-is-a-bad-investment/

 

I was going to comment on what an idiot that author is, but everyone in the comments over there did it for me.

[SinisterSS]

everyone is entitled to their own opinion, look at it this way guys, how often do you go out and just blow $100 on nothing? if your thinking about getting one of these I say go for it. it's $99 not $299 or when the next gen consoles come out at $499+