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Android Open Source Games

OUYA Android Game Console Available In June 196

Posted by Soulskill from the just-in-time-for-national-adopt-a-cat-month dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The WSJ reports that OUYA, the $100 Android-based gaming console, will reach retail availability in June. The makers have partnered with Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Target for distributing the devices. The console will come with a controller (which has the traditional thumbsticks, D-pad, buttons, and triggers as well as a built-in touchpad), and additional controllers will be sold for $50. OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman said, 'For the last year or two years all we've been hearing is that the consoles are dead. The reason is there isn't new, innovative intellectual property. It's expensive to develop on it. You're seeing a major shift of games being developed on the television. Our viewpoint has always been that console gaming isn't dead, the way we think about it hasn't changed. We're bringing the best screen and the best device to interact with that by creating a platform that is open.' There was a recent 'Game Jam' to create game prototypes for the console; you can browse the 166 entries."
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OUYA Android Game Console Available In June More

OUYA Android Game Console Available In June

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  • Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Seumas ( 6865 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:16PM (#42801727)

    I withdrew my backing after the first day of hype -- and I'm pretty easy to lure into your Kickstarter (I've backed about 450 of them, so far). I think the only value in this product will, ultimately, be in its conversation value as something sitting on your shelf in fifteen years. With the PS4 and the next Xbox coming out this year as well as the various Steam Boxes and the next round of high end GPUs for PC about to drop, the Ouya's brief appeal seems even less relevant. Most of the excitement at the time had been that it was touching on this mass appeal for *some* sort of new hardware in a world of aging seven-going-on-eight year old consoles this cycle.

    Worse, the whole "we will support Ouya" thing became a plague on every single game related kickstarter afterward. And if you didn't say you were going to port your game to Ouya, people would spam your comments non-stop about "hey, you should contact Ouya and consider porting your game to it". Because when you're trying to produce a game on the cheap that is iffy to begin with, the best thing to do is hitch that wagon to an unreleased piece of hardware that will probably have little success and certainly not offer you anything remotely near the existing platforms that you're already developing the application for, like the PC. Blech.

    • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by exomondo ( 1725132 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:22PM (#42801809)
      I reckon a good amount of them will be bought just to be used as a cheap XBMC box.

      • If I don't have something better by the time they ship, I certainly will. It's exactly what I've been looking for, assuming it runs Netflix.

      • I was just looking for hardware to replace my original xbox and run xbmc on it. OUYA seems better than anything that's available on Amazon or Newegg. The best thing that I found was the "official" hardware for xbmc (XIOS DS), but at $120 it more expensive and doesn't have a game controller.

        For me the primary use will be xbmc, everything else is just a bonus....

        If they come through and make this thing open to 3rd party development, this thing is going to be a big hit and will be around for quite a while....l

      • since it has ethernet. I've never heard anyone say what I should use for a file server that's a)under $200 bucks, b) works and c) it's an old PC drawing 45 watts non stop.
        • maybe, but in most cases you're better off with a NAS, especially since this thing would need external storage plugged in anyway.

    • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ZiakII ( 829432 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:22PM (#42801811)
      Eh, I backed. I think it will be fun to fool around and program on due to the following: Android SDK, Connectable to my TV, Interface that does not require touch.

      • Given a controller and the x86 version of Android couldn't you just play all its games on a PC - or even a phone or tablet which i suppose you could connect to your TV? Is there any proprietary software you know of on it that ties you to an ouya console and controller?

        The biggest problem i see with it is that it won't get exclusivity, if you're developing for ouya you might as well develop for Android in general - even if you do need a controller - as your market is then WAY bigger.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by h4rr4r ( 612664 )

          Why would you want to do x86?

          Anything that uses the NDK is going to be painfully slow when you have to emulate ARM. Most games will use the NDK.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by vlm ( 69642 )

            Because you can go to androidx86 and flash an old netbook for basically free. My old eee has a VGA output, my tv has a VGA input, etc.
            Or any more modern desktop-ish machine with a HDMI output video card, like the one in my mythtv frontend.
            I've never connected my androidx86 EEE 1000 netbook to my TV but I could...

            • Because you can go to androidx86 and flash an old netbook for basically free.

              Provided two things happen. First, you have to get an old netbook; they're discontinued now, and supply will dwindle as diehard netbook fans such as myself buy used netbooks to replace netbooks that eventualy bite the dust. Second, the game developer has to recompile the NDK parts of the game for x86, upload it to Google Play Store, and charge a fee competitive with other games on the same store, as opposed to selling a Windows or GNU/Linux version on Steam for what would probably be a higher price. The pro

          • Why would you want to do x86?

            Anything that uses the NDK is going to be painfully slow when you have to emulate ARM. Most games will use the NDK.

            Because if you have the x86 version of Android you wouldn't be emulating ARM - which is why i suggested that rather than the emulator.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AuMatar ( 183847 )

        Just get a Google TV. Its already an Android device.

    • I'm far from certain that they'll succeed as some sort of bold new flavor of console(as you say, the console incumbents are gearing up for a fresh spin, and PC gaming is pretty cheap, at least for undemanding titles, when you consider that you probably own a PC already); but I'm in for one on the hope that they'll be a version of those little Android 'stick PCs' or "mini PCs' that might actually remain stable long enough to get some firmware that isn't total shit.

      I've played around with a few of the ebay sp

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by tepples ( 727027 )

        PC gaming is pretty cheap, at least for undemanding titles, when you consider that you probably own a PC already

        Consoles have two noticeable advantages over PC gaming. First, using one doesn't interfere with another household member's use of the family PC. Second, console games are more likely to support two to four gamepads because consoles are far more likely to be connected to screens big enough for two to four people to fit around. I don't imagine that many people, other than the comparatively small population of Slashdot, AVS Forum, and other geek hangouts, already own a second PC just for the living room TV.

    • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jdastrup ( 1075795 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:33PM (#42801967)
      I think the idea of "cheap console games", if it exists, will happen with this console. We can get $0-$10 games on our smartphones and tablets, but those are almost always 1-player games on a tiny screen. If this offers a cheap marketplace for console-style games, I think it's great.

      • But you can already get cheap games on Xbox Live!. Cheap games are a reality NOW. At least, for games that aren't "AAA"-level games. Which are the kind of games the Ouya is going to get.

        I think the Ouya is a neat idea, but at $100, it's too expensive for what it is. If they could get it down to $50, that would be something. That's cheap enough that it's an impulse buy. Still, I think it has a good chance of doing pretty well.

        • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:4, Interesting)

          by jdastrup ( 1075795 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:53PM (#42802147)
          sure, XboxLive, with a $50/year fee.... You can't even watch Netflix on the Xbox with a paid Netflix subscription without XBox Live. As for the cheap/free game selection, I haven't looked in a while, but wasn't very good. I was under the impression that the dev fees for XBox were to high for most of the small game devs.

          • sure, XboxLive, with a $50/year fee

            As I understand it, buying cheap single-player or local-multiplayer games from Arcade or Indie Games requires only Xbox Live Silver, which is available without charge to anybody who hasn't modded his console or cheated in an online game, not Xbox Live Gold, which carries a fee.

            I was under the impression that the dev fees for XBox were to high for most of the small game devs.

            In the ten countries with Xbox Live Indie Games, the expenses to develop an XNA game are a PC running the console maker's OS, a console, $99 per year, and a 30% cut of revenue. Apple copied that arrangement exactly for the iOS and Mac

        • Geez, I was thinking of buying one just to get and keep laying around for when someone comes up with a neat 'hack' for using it for something besides games.

          I was thinking of doing that just because it was so cheap...hell, I've had many bar tabs over the years that were more than $99...

      • We can get $0-$10 games on our smartphones and tablets, but those are almost always 1-player games on a tiny screen. If this offers a cheap marketplace for console-style games, I think it's great.

        But those games are cheap because the vast majority are just for killing time (like doodle jump or angry birds) - how many of them are the sort of game that you would sit down and actually play, i really can't think of many. Maybe Minecraft and Limbo - but then again they're on PC and xbox anyway.

    • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by jxander ( 2605655 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:45PM (#42802093)

      While I agree that Ouya probably won't set the gaming world on fire, it does have a few major benefits over the existing consoles : Price and release date

      The current generation XBox and PS debuted in the $300 - 600 range. Rumors have the next gen starting around $400. Meanwhile, neither of those two have a set release date. Sony has a press conference in a few weeks, and XBox is said to be targeting a holiday release schedule. Given those two factors, the only real competition for the Ouya is the WiiU. Of the two, Ouya is still cheaper and won't be as gimmicky as Nintendo's consoles.

      The only wild card here is the Steambox. But that, too, has no set price or release date... and it'll mostly be banking on people who have Steam libraries already setup, and just want to play in their living room

      If nothing else, Ouya will be a nice toy to tinker with... their intent to keep it 100% mod friendly certainly sets it apart from the other players.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • For your second factor, you are aware that the sales life of a console is supposed to be longer than 6 months?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by oGMo ( 379 )

        Even compared to the Wii U, this is still a toy. The hardware is 2+ generations old, and is easily outclassed by current-generation phones and other devices. This already looked pretty iffy when they announced it, and this year it's just bad. You can be pretty sure Nintendo and other developers will be putting out games for the WiiU for at least 3-5 years; where will Ouya be even next year?

        Even now, 6+ years after its release, I can pick up amazing new AAA games for the PS3 and 360. I'm in the middle of

        • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:4, Informative)

          by jxander ( 2605655 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @07:07PM (#42802833)

          Even compared to the Wii U, this is still a toy.

          WiiU [wikipedia.org]

          CPU : 1.24 GHz Tri-Core IBM PowerPC "Espresso"
          GPU : AMD Radeon "Latte" @ 550 MHz.
          Storage : 8GB / 32GB (depending on model)
          RAM : 2 GB total (4x 512 MB DDR3-1600) 1GB reserved for OS.

          Ouya [wikipedia.org]

          SoC: Nvidia Tegra 3 (T33)
          CPU : 1.7 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A9
          Storage : 8GB
          RAM : 1GB

          Look roughly in the same ballpark to me. If you want to benchmark the WiiU's tri-core Power processor vs Ouya's quad-core ARM ... or if you have an Ouya, I'd be happy to learn what kind of overhead the OS takes... but to call the Ouya 2+ generations behind is simply incorrect

          • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:5, Informative)

            by oGMo ( 379 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @08:03PM (#42803371)

            Err, you're comparing GHz between a SoC ARM and PPC64 with a dedicated GPU? Let's put it this way: the WiiU is compared favorably to the current generation consoles (PS3/360) in terms of performance, edging them out in a number of ways (and given they're half a decade old, we should hope!).

            The Tegra3 was used on numerous devices last year. Go find one in the same class, performance-wise, as the PS3 or 360. Or even the PS Vita, which is a few notches below the PS3, with its 2GHz quad-core ARM and its quad-core PowerVR GPU.

    • With the PS4 and the next Xbox coming out this year as well as the various Steam Boxes and the next round of high end GPUs for PC about to drop, the Ouya's brief appeal seems even less relevant.

      Since none of those are open platforms, I think Ouya's appeal will remain quite relevant.

    • Re:Ouya was more relevant, before. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Moses48 ( 1849872 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @06:08PM (#42802287)

      I pre-ordered my OUYA. I was torn between an OUYA and Ras-Pi with controller support. I decided to go with the OUYA for something quick and easy to get running, and faster mod time if I want to mod it. I want a system I can play my custom nes/snes/genises/n64 roms. oh, and I watch netflix. I also like creating my own interface for some of my media. So that leaves me with a few options: modded xbox/ps3, htpc, RasPi (modding for controllers), or OUYA. The htpc option is too expensive. The modded-ps3 is pretty good as it doubles up as a blue-ray player, but it's expensive. The modded-xbox is pretty weak (technically), but is x86 which gives me more support for my old pc games and better emulators, but not sure it can handle n64 emulator. The RasPi is fun to tinker with, I would do this if it wasn't on back-order. The OUYA comes good to go and i just have to root it and put my android emulators on it. It supports both xbox and playstation controllers. For me, it makes sense. (Although at $50/controller I would definitely prefer to buy a ps3 dualshock controller, I pre-ordered when the controller was $30)

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Every console system made has been reduced to conversation value or less in 15 years. Oh, sure, there's the retro market, but that's miniscule compared to the main market. The next sentence is what people said about the original Wii.

      There's a lot of people that don't have a lot of money these days, and if they can get games for $10 on one system, but they cost $60 each on the other, that makes a huge difference. Kids might want the PS4, but if all the parent can afford is the OUYA, that's what they'll get.

    • Worse, the whole "we will support Ouya" thing became a plague on every single game related kickstarter afterward.

      Not really Ouya's fault, and doesn't really change anything about the finished product though.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nyder ( 754090 )

      I withdrew my backing after the first day of hype -- and I'm pretty easy to lure into your Kickstarter (I've backed about 450 of them, so far). I think the only value in this product will, ultimately, be in its conversation value as something sitting on your shelf in fifteen years. With the PS4 and the next Xbox coming out this year as well as the various Steam Boxes and the next round of high end GPUs for PC about to drop, the Ouya's brief appeal seems even less relevant. Most of the excitement at the time had been that it was touching on this mass appeal for *some* sort of new hardware in a world of aging seven-going-on-eight year old consoles this cycle.

      Worse, the whole "we will support Ouya" thing became a plague on every single game related kickstarter afterward. And if you didn't say you were going to port your game to Ouya, people would spam your comments non-stop about "hey, you should contact Ouya and consider porting your game to it". Because when you're trying to produce a game on the cheap that is iffy to begin with, the best thing to do is hitch that wagon to an unreleased piece of hardware that will probably have little success and certainly not offer you anything remotely near the existing platforms that you're already developing the application for, like the PC. Blech.

      I don't know. I'm thinking it might be nice for emulators. A small $100 device that plays emulators that I can take with me if I have to go visit relatives or else where that I have to stay the night at. My Wii is nice for that currently, but it's a bit bigger and has a dvd drive that can get messed up during transport (moveable parts).

      But ya, it's a small fish in a big pond of new consoles that are coming.

  • Console gaming dead? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    They've been hearing that console gaming is dead? It it backwards day already?

    • I don't know, if I say Yes, does that mean it is or isn't?

  • I've been waiting for years for someone to release truly innovative titles like "2D Cube Zombie Platformer" and "Bowling Pro"...

  • I don't know... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Dahamma ( 304068 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:26PM (#42801865)

    Their console design looks a little retro to me.

    http://www.ouya.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/photo-1-e1359051832288.jpg [www.ouya.tv]

    • OhYA, vector gaming! Lets game like its 1979!!!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Dahamma ( 304068 )

        I don't know, I have painful memories of playing it in college. If I remember correctly, it was a basic platform side scroller, but it took me forever to acquire the Vertical and Horizontal Positions and get to the Trigger Level.

  • Then no one will remember it existed

    • I can't see how this is supposed to be useful. I guess if you really want to play smartphone-type games on your TV this is a way to go since it is much easier to hook up to a TV and controllers than most smartphones. However I can't see why else you'd want it. I already have an Android phone, why do I want an android console that is by all accounts less powerful than my phone?

      Geeks love the concept because it is "cheap and open" but that really isn't going to do much in the long run. I think the appeal will

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Omestes ( 471991 )

        I think the appeal will wear off, and people will set aside for their existing game consoles and phones.

        I hate gaming on my phone. I do, but only games that are very quick and casual, and only when I'm someplace without anything else to keep me amused. My 10" tablet is a bit better, but still not as useful as a PC or console, touch controls suck for 90% of games. I generally use my phone of tablet for games, not because they are good, but because they are there.

        Having a good, big, screen and a proper input method is what is attractive.

        You can get that with a console, but I'm probably not going to spend $40

  • What's up with the lack of start/select button? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by grumbel ( 592662 ) <grumbel+slashdot@gmail.com> on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:42PM (#42802063) Homepage

    Does anybody know why they left away the start/select button? Those seems rather fundamental to a whole lot of modern game designs and not having them will probably be a rather big annoyance. Do they have anything planed for the GUI that will address this issue?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tepples ( 727027 )
      I'm guessing that games that don't use the trackpad will map the whole trackpad to Start.

  • no thanks, too little for too much (Score:4, Insightful)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @05:43PM (#42802071)
    I know if I saw anything unfavorable about kickstarter I'll get modded down no matter what merit it has, but I sure can't get excited about this. There are extremely hot Android tablets for $200 with their own high resolution screens. Take out the GPS, the NFC, the bluetooth, and other features and you can build a decent tablet for a hundred bucks complete with a screen and HDMI out. Why should I spend that amount for an Android device without a screen that can only be used for a limited subset of games when I should be able to buy a tablet that can do so much more?

    • Why should I spend that amount for an Android device without a screen that can only be used for a limited subset of games when I should be able to buy a tablet that can do so much more?

      Because it costs $100, not $200. Oh, and it has buttons, joysticks, and a touchpad - things you won't find on a tablet.

  • do most of those game trailers from TFA look pretty bad?

  • From the summary, I thought this device would support android games. If that is the case, why are their only 166 entries? Do Android games need to be ported to make use of the controller?

    I also wonder if any big-named titles are coming to it. Without that, I believe this console is dead in the water. Most people who do console gaming want big famous titles (like Halo/Zelda/FIFA/CoD).

    Angry birds on a console wouldn't (IMO) do much good. I doubt anyone would play angry birds on a PC/Console. Part of the ap

  • I recently got a Nexus 10 and having spent hours on the Android marketplace looking for some half-decent game that is not Angry Birds, I came up far short. Sure you get something that plugs Android into your TV, then what. Hope the games come while you struggle to play Angry Birds on a platform it was not intended for?

    The complete dearth of quality game content kind of suggests that for a good long time OUYA will not be as revolutionary as everyone thinks. Not to mention that what games are there are in

    • Not to mention that what games are there are intended for touch screens, not game controller play.

      Every game has to support the touch screen, even if only to drop a virtual gamepad [pineight.com] onto the screen. But a lot of games already support the iControlPad, iCade, Sixaxis Controller, Xperia Play, or a slide-out physical keyboard, and could be easily ported.

    • ...then you haven't looked very hard.

      The Android market place is notoriously disorganized. You need to look for dedicated Android gaming websites. There are quite a lot.

      Just a couple of days ago I read about Max McMann, bought it on a whim, played it and found it was the small hours of the morning. There's also Machinarium for your classic point&click pleasure. Zen Pinball is one of the best pinball games I've played since the Epic ones from the 90ies. Sonic has been superbly ported. There are a cou

  • Looks like they're snagging some pretty heavyweight retailers. I will probably buy this pretty early on, as I really like the concept, or perhaps even pre-order. I just need to learn some more details about it. Good luck to the platform and to the game developers!

  • I'm excited about it in that I'd like to see a device I can play around with. The entry cost is fairly low. My concern is the amount of effort they seem to be putting into the design, or want you to believe they are putting into the design. Seems like they could have saved a lot of money by squeezing that motherboard into square-ish OEM Roku box and used some standard usb gamepads. I'd also like to see it act just like another other Android device - meaning I could install stuff from the Play store, etc

  • OUYA: Free To Play PITA. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by VortexCortex ( 1117377 ) <VortexCortex AT ... trograde DOT com> on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @07:05PM (#42802807)

    IMO, everyone misses the biggest deal with the OUYA: Its payment API stinks.

    In the OUYA developer API: All programs must be down-loadable for free. There's no option to charge for the game first. There's no option to have a free version and a paid version -- It's got to be an in-app purchase if you want that, it's more complex and harder to get right, esp. from a security standpoint, esp. when trying NOT to annoy your customers. The payment API has re-occurring subscription payments, it has replenish-able items that can be bought multiple times (think Zynga Energy Bars, or game currency), and it has one time purchasable items (like unlockables). This means I just say NO to OUYA.

    This means developers who just want to sell you the whole game once and you have it and that's it, really only have one option: Game Demo -> Try Out -> Purchase Rest of Game -> Wait for it to download the rest of the game. Otherwise, OUYA games really will be the most hackable: Download full game -> It's got locked features -> Run the keygen / crack. -> You've got the full game -- I wonder what the Venn diagram looks like for people to which a $100 console price point is compelling vs people who've ever ran a game keygen / crack... I bet it it looks pretty much like a single circle.

    I've done research on the try-before-you buy "game demo" method in my own apps. What happens is that players impulsively download the games. Some forget about them, then delete them without ever playing the games. Most play the game first, feel their curiosity is mostly satisfied, then they forget about it and delete it later. A rare few will download the game, play the demo, then after that impulse has passed, return to the game and buy the "next episode" or "full game".

    So folks like me who actually love making and playing games, and have no interest in being nickel and dimed to death or doing so to our customers see the OUYA as a non-starter. Less Choice Is Bad. OUYA gives devs LESS CHOICE about how to sell their game, they're betting big on the Free to Play (read: Pay to Win) model that I will never buy into. There's some controversy over whether or not game demos actually hurt sales [slashdot.org], so IMO it's foolish to leave no option other than to have game demos, or free to play. Additionally, I've done all the research I need. I've seen our sales numbers much lower for apps released with trials vs those without trials. A better method is to not do trials and simply reduce price slowly until you discover the impulse buy amount.

    The OUYA dev platform didn't have all the payment and registration services even working to test games against when I checked a couple of weeks ago. As a developer: Screw OUYA. I'll release some of my 100% free games there if I remember. This console has "cheap" selling point that targets people opposite to the ones that will actually buy the games. The folks that have disposable income are the ones who unlock the full game after playing the demo. They're the ones that spend $60 on "energy" to get some in-game artificial delay, rather than the poorer sap who'll grind away tons of time to achieve the same. Protip: these non-in-game purchasing grinders are the bigger fans; The grinders will buy the next game, or nearly anything new you ever make -- esp. if it's not free-to play.

    I'm not seeing WHY people will buy the OUYA (other than all the damn hype). Having a portable game system (smartphone / tablet) that can optionally hook up to the TV and use wireless gamepads, or having a portable game system / tablet and also spending an additional $100 non portable OUYA that you must hook up to your TV, uses a gamepad, and doesn't run all the games your smartphone / tablet will. Folks are not going to say: OUYA! Great! Now I don't need a SmartPhone! No, they'll buy those, and then see the OUYA and think either: "I've got disposable income, so I'

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Optic7 ( 688717 )

      The way I read their FAQ is that you must have SOME free element to the game that the buyer can try first, not that you have to provide the whole game that can then be unlocked after purchase. But I will defer to you since you seem to have read the actual developer docs.

      Anyway, as a consumer I love the fact that I will be able to try any of the games before I buy one. I understand that that hasn't worked well for you in the past, but what if the fact that everyone is required to do the same actually ends up

  • Backed down from initial vision (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I watched the kickstarter video and they promised that all games would be "free-to-play". That'd be great for children and poor students who have plenty of time to grind but no money to purchase. I see that they pulled back that promise and turned it into "free-to-try", meaning that every game should have a crippled demo you can try before you buy. Just like all the other consoles. So much for revolutions. I guess getting $7M from the kickstarter made them forget revolutions and to look forward for the

  • I didn't do the Kickstarter deal, I was reluctant but it's OK. Me and my brother will be buying one, I don't know why he is buying one but I am buying one specifically as a kick-to-the-face to Sony and Microsoft. I don't support their 'I'm a DRM'ed PC pretending to be a Console' Ideas. I've said this twice before, but my brother owns a soon to be outdated 360 whom is tired of the "Nickel and Dime me to death" game that Microsoft plays.

  • If they can get Netflix, Hulu, XBMC and etc... (Score:3)

    by future assassin ( 639396 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @07:22PM (#42802983)

    on and its not a slug fest like my WD Tv Live's they could potentially corner the media player market also. I just spend $1000 on building two HTPC's and one requirement was to play video games. If this can do it at $150 I and everyone I know will have 5 of them in their house.

  • Lack of vision on the part of detractors so far (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Optic7 ( 688717 ) on Tuesday February 05, 2013 @07:43PM (#42803195)

    I have to say that I'm kind of amazed by the lack of vision on the part of so many posters here so far. Most of the complaints that I've read so far are either petty or short-sighted. I think this thing will take off pretty well.

    What is there not to like about it?

    Price: one third the price of other consoles. About the price of a top Roku model or Apple TV. If this thing takes off I can actually see it eclipsing Google TV in the media apps arena too. If the games are in the $1-$10 like some people predict, that will also be a bonus.

    Openness: more open than any other consoles.

    Ease of developing and releasing for it: great - Android, no expensive licenses or development platforms, etc.

    Ease of use and buying games: great - looks like it will be well-designed. All games have some free element to them so you can try them first. All games are downloaded. Not having to go to a store or wait for shipping, combined with the anticipated price of the games should make for lots of game sales.

    Power: fine. It will do 1080p. Sure, you won't be playing the latest Crysis or whatever on it, but look at where the money is going in gaming nowadays - casual games and mobile games. Imagine some of the better casual and mobile games running in 1080p and this thing will kill, especially if the price of the games is in the $1-$10 range.

    Internet buzz: pretty strong. I keep reading about this thing constantly. If you're into games, you've heard about this.

    The only ways I can think of this thing failing is if there's some major flaw with the hardware or software, or if patent trolls gang up on it and kill it, or if the game prices get inflated to significantly over $20.

    Really, I have not yet read one single legitimate concern out of the other (early) posts so far. Sure, you can complain about the low hardware power, but for the price and the category of games they're going for, that shouldn't be an issue. It would only be an issue if they tried to run AAA FPS games, etc.

    Ouya so far seems to be doing fairly well with the opportunity to coalesce the whole indie, casual, and mobile gaming markets on to one affordable device, and could build a significant library of games pretty quickly.

    So again, what is there not to like about it?

  • I'll be happy if it works as a good $99 mame box.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nyder ( 754090 )

      I'll be happy if it works as a good $99 mame box.

      Depending on how modern of video games you want to emulate, I see this being a great HD Mame Box.

      One of the reasons I'm considering buying one when it ships.

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