OUYA: A $99 Android console meant to open up console gaming

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

A PC isn't a very cost-effective way to play video games compared to consoles. Not everyone has the knowledge or desire to build their own PC. Not everyone has a PC set up next to their television. Not everyone has a PC that can play games well. Not everyone likes to use a PC to play games. Hell, I'm sure there are still people out there that don't even have a PC but would be interested in something like the OUYA. I definitely see a market niche that could be filled, and apparently so do 39,000 other people.

But what niche does Ouya fill? At this point, there aren't that many people interested in gaming that don't already have a machine(or several) that can do what little the Ouya brings to the table that we know of thus far(which isn't that much).

What do we know? The thing is based on Android, so anything you want to run on Windows that doesn't have an Android version or can't be emulated 1-to-1 on the system? you're screwed. The thing is being designed to have a tegra 3 and a gig of ram. Not terrible, but for the people looking for the best audio/visual experience, there are better solutions. Not as cheap obviously, but these people are more than likely willing to pay top dollar anyway. What launch titles do they have? They showed Minecraft in passing, but Mojang basically said the Android version of the game isn't even that amazing in the first place.

I get that this is a cheap solution, but I just don't know for what. The gamers that want to game on their consoles want to play their Assassin's Creeds, their Call of Duties, Dead Spaces, etc., and they probably already have their console of choice. Chances are that they're already downloading stuff from Netflix or whereever they stream their content as well. The people that want to play strictly Android games? They're already playing said games on their Android phones or tablets. At best, I see this being used as an emulator box, which opens up another legal can of worms altogether.

How are they going to curate their games on what is ostensibly a digital-only platform? How are they going to build momentum to get anyone that isn't an indie developer to get off Steam and grab one? What about quality and standardization of content? If everyone can get in there and hack/customize the hell out of it to run a game they're creating, how does everyone else keep up? Sounds like a driver downloading and system updating problem, and isn't that one of the things that drives people away from PC gaming in the first place?

Edited July 17, 2012 by Malaki-LEGEND.sys

[Dj Mokram]

my main monitor is already a TV

Yeah, same here. That way I can use a gamepad for everything (with Joy-to-Key).

I don't think OUYA was designed for a niche of non tech-savy people, since it was advertised as easily hackable/moddable.

Surely folks who don't know much about computing are cautious about the security risks involved in an open platform.

edit: Ninja'd by Malaki.

[Dhsu]

The gamers that want to game on their consoles want to play their Assassin's Creeds, their Call of Duties, Dead Spaces, etc., and they probably already have their console of choice.

The Wii is a GameCube with waggle, but it's $100 cheaper than the alternatives, and more importantly it plays Nintendo games. The Ouya plays indie games.

The people that want to play strictly Android games? They're already playing said games on their Android phones or tablets.

You don't see why people would ever want to play Android games on something bigger than than a 4" screen? Also keep in mind that any non-subsidized Android device is going to be way more than $100. It can be a way to play Android games for people who don't have/want an Android for one reason or another. And what Apple fan wouldn't pee themselves at the thought of an Apple console, let alone for $100? I don't own any Apple products and even I'd buy that shit.

At best, I see this being used as an emulator box, which opens up another legal can of worms altogether.

I don't know what you mean by "at best," this alone makes it worth it for me.

How are they going to curate their games on what is ostensibly a digital-only platform? How are they going to build momentum to get anyone that isn't an indie developer to get off Steam and grab one? What about quality and standardization of content? If everyone can get in there and hack/customize the hell out of it to run a game they're creating, how does everyone else keep up? Sounds like a driver downloading and system updating problem, and isn't that one of the things that drives people away from PC gaming in the first place?

You're acting like these are insurmountable problems, rather than details to be ironed out. They'll probably have a rating system just like the Android and iOS markets, as well as featured games. And I don't understand where you're getting this idea that console devs will for some reason think it's a good idea to create software for custom hardware that they don't themselves provide. When has that ever happened?

[Dhsu]

Sweet, Final Fantasy III HD!

I think this is a good example of a typical Ouya use case -- yes I'll also be able to get this for phone or PSP, but I'd much rather play a game like this in HD on my TV. Crossing my fingers for Crisis Core!

Edited July 31, 2012 by Dhsu

[Level 99]

Okay so now Ouya officially support Onlive (meaning you now have a huge HUGE freakin' catalog of PC games available, along with some other stuff) and a company like Sqweenicks saying they're bringing a game (albeit already on Android) to Ouya as a launch title.

I have no worries about this system.

[The Derrit]

this will be the centerpiece of every hipster's living room

gratz to hipsters

[Dj Mokram]

Okay so now Ouya officially support Onlive

Wait, didn't Onlive already had their own console?

[Dhsu]

Which is the same price as an Ouya and only does OnLive.

this will be the centerpiece of every hipster's living room

gratz to hipsters

What the hell, man, you're not even making actual posts anymore.

[Brandon Strader]

Square Enix is supporting Ouya?

I foresee an unsuccessful launch and low sales for Square Enix in Ouya's future.

[Gario]

Sweet, Final Fantasy III HD!

That's the kind of support that could really make or break this system. I do hope more bigger companies follow suit.

[The Derrit]

What the hell, man, you're not even making actual posts anymore.

let me make an actual post then. it'll be rehash of a lot of stuff but here we go.

herein lies a system that is far and away the least powerful system on market. herein lies a system that offers nothing new to console gaming, other than the fact that the makers made it so you can hack it. which for all of you who haven't figured it out yet, means anyone who gets this system will, with some tinkering, be able to get any and all games for free. herein lies a system that creates no new market share, as the intended target audiences already use steam, xbox marketplace, psn network (whatever the hell it's called), the apple app store and direct indie purchases to get their games.

now let's start with developers. anyone who's looking to make a profit on their games? probably better to look elsewhere. i already listed the options above. and if you're developing android games, then up until now you've probably been trying to make them for people with phones. what people are going to quickly figure out is that android gaming doesn't extend well to a) multiplayer or long, extended experiences. and people don't sit down in front of the tv to play angry birds. that's why they do it on their phone.

let's talk about consumers. the big thing behind this whole system is price point. yeah, it's 100 dollars. great. i'll pay 100 dollars for something new. something different. something that meets my needs in a way that other services don't. what service does this system provide that i can't already meet, in some cases for free? (read: steam does everything this console does without having to pay 100 dollars for membership, and if you're trying to play indie, 1gb-ram-only capable games you really won't have an issue of your computer not being up to par.) it provides me, or ANYONE WHO EVEN KNOWS ABOUT IT given that any non-gamer or casual gamer would have no idea this system even exists, with nothing.

final fantasy 3 hd? that's cool. too bad it's already out on psp and ds. i get that remakes work for square, but anyone who's hype about that fact already owns final fantasy 3. that's not going to get them any new customers. in fact, anyone who hasn't played a retro final fantasy and tries now will almost certainly say "fuck this, it's difficult and makes no sense" and be done with it. i like the old final fantasy games but even i think they're very heavy in trial and error and more importantly trial and error without explanation, something that does not hold up in modern gaming. so that point is also moot.

also, you're damn right i don't see why anyone would want to play an android game on anything more than a 4 inch screen. because it wouldn't look too good. 1gb of ram hasn't been impressive since the early 2000s.

also, if you're willing to pay 100 dollars for an emulator box how about downloading emulators and roms for free and buying a game controller to plug into your computer? and do it for 30 dollars? and then just set up your tv as a computer screen?

so what it comes down to is, this system is made to do nothing new, and play only the low-end games people already buy just about anywhere else, and it's good because you can have all your indie, low-budget games in one place. and be like

also gario, the entire point of this system is to not be a slave to the whims of the big game companies. if they still need their support then the system's aim as a whole has failed.

Edited August 1, 2012 by The Derrit

[DaMonz]

let me make an actual post then. it'll be rehash of a lot of stuff but here we go.

I think the point was more "please don't write a post if you have nothing to say" than "please write an actual post". Just sayin.

herein lies a system that is far and away the least powerful system on market. herein lies a system that offers nothing new to console gaming, other than the fact that the makers made it so you can hack it.

Absolutely untrue. You can't deny that this console has the potential to bring a new and different alternative for console gaming. Indie devs have proven to be very original and creative with computer games, so I don't see why they would suddenly become conservative with console games.

now let's start with developers. anyone who's looking to make a profit on their games? probably better to look elsewhere. i already listed the options above. and if you're developing android games, then up until now you've probably been trying to make them for people with phones. what people are going to quickly figure out is that android gaming doesn't extend well to a) multiplayer or long, extended experiences. and people don't sit down in front of the tv to play angry birds. that's why they do it on their phone.

You really think developers will make phone games for this console? It's not because the console runs on a phone's OS that the games will be the same. Devs aren't stupid (most of them anyway ).

let's talk about consumers. the big thing behind this whole system is price point. yeah, it's 100 dollars. great. i'll pay 100 dollars for something new. something different. something that meets my needs in a way that other services don't. what service does this system provide that i can't already meet, in some cases for free? (read: steam does everything this console does without having to pay 100 dollars for membership, and if you're trying to play indie, 1gb-ram-only capable games you really won't have an issue of your computer not being up to par.) it provides me, or ANYONE WHO EVEN KNOWS ABOUT IT given that any non-gamer or casual gamer would have no idea this system even exists, with nothing.

Yeah, steam does that. But you don't seem to get the point that finding a computer under 100$ is difficult/impossible/not recommended. An that a computer is a computer, it's not like console gaming. Yes, you can plug your pc in your tv. Yes, you can plug a controller in your pc. But that doesn't change the fact that pc games are not console games. Console games are meant to be played with a controller, on a tv.

final fantasy 3 hd? that's cool. too bad it's already out on psp and ds. i get that remakes work for square, but anyone who's hype about that fact already owns final fantasy 3. that's not going to get them any new customers. in fact, anyone who hasn't played a retro final fantasy and tries now will almost certainly say "fuck this, it's difficult and makes no sense" and be done with it. i like the old final fantasy games but even i think they're very heavy in trial and error and more importantly trial and error without explanation, something that does not hold up in modern gaming. so that point is also moot.

What the hell man, it's one game on the system. If you don't think you'll like a game doesn't mean nobody else will play it. And I don't think the ds remake is what they mean by "HD". If they are, though, I agree that the game would be becoming redundant and probably wouldn' buy it. But don't blast it yet if you haven't even the slightest clue of what they're going to do with the game. FF3 with FF13 graphics? I buy.

also, you're damn right i don't see why anyone would want to play an android game on anything more than a 4 inch screen. because it wouldn't look too good. 1gb of ram hasn't been impressive since the early 2000s.

Again, you don't even know what the games will be, and what the devs will be able to do with the provided hardware. 16GB of ram don't mean "gorgeous game" and 1GB of ram doesn't mean "ugly game". Just wait and see what's done.

also, if you're willing to pay 100 dollars for an emulator box how about downloading emulators and roms for free and buying a game controller to plug into your computer? and do it for 30 dollars? and then just set up your tv as a computer screen?

Again, if you find a good computer for 70$, please tell me where. I would really like to take a look.

so what it comes down to is, this system is made to do nothing new, and play only the low-end games people already buy just about anywhere else, and it's good because you can have all your indie, low-budget games in one place.

It's not about putting all indie games in one place, it's about opening the door for console gaming to indie devs.

also gario, the entire point of this system is to not be a slave to the whims of the big game companies. if they still need their support then the system's aim as a whole has failed.

It's not because your main focus is based on indie that you have to refuse partnership with companies like squeenix. I don't think they "need" their support. There's just no reason they would turn their back to them.

Right now, nobody can tell for sure if the ouya will be "just another console" or if it will be what it aims to be, because it's not out yet. There's no point in being pessimistic and in blasting something that nobody has even tried yet.

[Dhsu]

what people are going to quickly figure out is that android gaming doesn't extend well to a) multiplayer or long, extended experiences. and people don't sit down in front of the tv to play angry birds. that's why they do it on their phone.

Do you even own an Android?

final fantasy 3 hd? that's cool. too bad it's already out on psp and ds. i get that remakes work for square, but anyone who's hype about that fact already owns final fantasy 3. that's not going to get them any new customers. in fact, anyone who hasn't played a retro final fantasy and tries now will almost certainly say "fuck this, it's difficult and makes no sense" and be done with it. i like the old final fantasy games but even i think they're very heavy in trial and error and more importantly trial and error without explanation, something that does not hold up in modern gaming. so that point is also moot.

Good job just completely making shit up. Why does anyone hire business and market analysts when they've got THE ALL-KNOWING DERRIT. I've never played FF3 and this is perfect for me.

also, you're damn right i don't see why anyone would want to play an android game on anything more than a 4 inch screen. because it wouldn't look too good. 1gb of ram hasn't been impressive since the early 2000s.

Do you just like spouting shit hoping one of the turds somehow comes out resembling a valid point? Developers create HD versions of games all the time for tablets, most which work just fine on 512MB or less. The graphics chip is what matters and if you ever bother watching any Tegra 3 demos you might realize how amazingly stupid you sound right now.

also, if you're willing to pay 100 dollars for an emulator box how about downloading emulators and roms for free and buying a game controller to plug into your computer? and do it for 30 dollars? and then just set up your tv as a computer screen?

I'm not even answering this one, because you would know the answer if you had actually read any of the replies when you asked the first time.

so what it comes down to is, this system is made to do nothing new, and play only the low-end games people already buy just about anywhere else, and it's good because you can have all your indie, low-budget games in one place.

Tell me, what can you do with a PS3 that you can't with an Xbox 360? Then why do both exist? Why do a large number of people actually own BOTH?

Edited August 1, 2012 by Dhsu

[Crowbar Man]

I don't know why some people are acting like they are personally offended / threatened by Ouya's existence. If you don't want it, don't buy it. Nobody is expecting it to be a competitor to or overtake "real" gaming consoles, its just a nice option for indie devs, people who like indies, and/or people who dont WANT to spend an arm and a leg on games / consoles.

Ouya is NOT for everybody. If you are a gamer who has everything he needs on his PC and/or another console and/or mobile device, you probably dont need Ouya. But for $99 I dont see why anybody wouldn't be curious.

Hook your computer to a TV: You hook your PC up to a TV? Cool. I do too. Not everybody does or wants to though, most people aren't willing to do this. And it doesn't really make your computer into a console. This is only for people will skill with computers or even want to mess with computers. It is not a real "console" type solution.

I still hook up other consoles to the tv for the same reason.

Also just use a controller? Over half of PC games do not support controllers. The ones that do usually only the 360 controller, which is crap for 2D gaming. So you either have to use joy2key/Xpadder for direct input controllers or the awful MotionInJoy program for PS3 controllers. This is not a fun setup even for me, I don't think normal people would have the patience

Piracy: Repeating myself. Piracy is not even a real issue. Its imaginary scapegoat. If piracy was a real issue, NO consoles, mobile devices, or PCs would still have games made for them, because they can ALL be pirated.

Plus the console is being advertised as having free games, and offering things like OnLive which you cannot "pirate".

RAM: Why do people keep touching on the 1GB RAM "Issue", most android devices these days are 512MB, the PS3/360 are 512MBish. The Wii has 88MB. Why is 1GB an issue for a console and/or android device that isn't looking to push graphical boundries? Its plenty.

The Derrit:

How the hell is the DS and PSP versions "HD"? 256 × 192 and 480 × 272 are "HD" resolutions?

And I don't think the ds remake is what they mean by "HD". If they are, though, I agree that the game would be becoming redundant and probably wouldn' buy it. But don't blast it yet if you haven't even the slightest clue of what they're going to do with the game. FF3 with FF13 graphics? I buy.

Its a port of the iOS/Android editions FFIII, which are higher res / slightly touched up versions of the DS game. HD usually just means "ported with higher res", it usually does not indicate it is a remake.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Crowbar Man

[DaMonz]

Its a port of the iOS/Android editions FFIII, which are higher res / slightly touched up versions of the DS game. HD usually just means "ported with higher res", it usually does not indicate it is a remake.

Thanks for clarifying I should've looked into it before talking about it.

[Nabeel Ansari]

I for one think this is the perfect thing to get me back into using my TV again.

Don't know what The Derrit is talking about; I have an Android Tablet and phone, I also have emulators, and I have a beastly PC. Ouya still seems like a pretty great device to me.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Neblix

[KyleJCrb]

1 GB of RAM is more than both the PS3 and XBox 360, which only have only 512MB of RAM (though the latter is clocked up to an effective 1.4 GHz,) so it's an improvement over the current HD consoles. Combine that with the Tegra 3 and you have a damn powerful little HD game box for dirt cheap.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Did anyone (I mean The Derrit) ever stop to think that PC Games have a high RAM requirement because you have to hold windows in there too?

[Ramaniscence]

I'm kind of confused. I've noticed a lot of people saying "Why do I need a console to play Android games?" and "Android Games aren't even great"

...but I've seen PC versions of Osmosis, Plants vs Zombies, Anomaly, World of Goo...I mean there's a ton of cross overs. It's not just Angry Birds and Sudoku. Hell, I played ALL of PvZ on a PC, and a lot of them are on XBOX360 and PS3 too. Now that's not a "Well then why put them on Ouya?" statement. That's a "Cell phone games do perfectly fine on consoles" statement.

Furthermore: Who says that Ouya will have strictly games that also DO/CAN run on a) phone? Why wouldn't there be exclusives that don't need to work on phone hardware previously? The controller alone really seems liek something that would signify that these won't necessarily be cellphone cross overs.

Also also also: 1GB of RAM isn't so bad when it's soldered right to the board.

I'm not saying that there's not any reason to be cautious, but those 2 specific reasons just seem really weak.

Android...really is just a code base and doesn't need to be associated with a phone/tablet

=\

Edited August 1, 2012 by Ramaniscence

[Nabeel Ansari]

For the record, so everyone can talk about this while actually knowing what this could look like, here's some Tegra 3 footage.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

My biggest concerns with the system have just been market-related honestly. I don't really have any problem with "weaker" hardware, I mean I love portable gaming in general and those aren't exactly powerhouses.

I'm glad to see a big gun(SE) showing some support, and now that I'm stateside I can definitely see the appeal of OnLive, but I think with Sony's latest acquisition of Gaikai, it'd be interesting to see if Ouya could get sanctioned PlayStation library support.

That alone would be huge to me.

[Gario]

also gario, the entire point of this system is to not be a slave to the whims of the big game companies.

Correct, and they do so through their business model, not by arbitrarily shutting out large companies. A large company willing to release games on the OUYA is a victory on their side, not a compromise - if larger companies release more games following the OUYA business model then they've succeeded in their goal in a larger way than expected.

My mention of 'make-or-break' was in reference to the fact that one of the big issues that people have had about the system - it's lack of showing games in production for the system. There are currently two that I can see presented for it now, and one of them is from a big player in the software industry. That really helps alleviate the problem that it had. It didn't need to be Square - the fact that it is Square is icing on the cake.

Also, yeah, Neblix is right - 1GB of RAM with a processor that's 1.4-1.6 GHz is plenty, as long as it's on a dedicated platform (as opposed to a computer, which needs to simultaneously handle hundreds of background tasks that come with the operating system). That's why gaming systems can generally get away with being inferior to PC's in raw power and yet perform reasonably close.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Gario

[liquid wind]

I'm a little skeptical about whether this will take off but looks interesting, certainly a more meaningful attempt at disrupting gaming than Nintendo's various control gimmicks or Sony and Microsoft's imitations of them. Also have to say that for a console building itself around indie games(lots of 2d games) the circle dpad is a little concerning, immediately makes me think of the 360 pad

the name is also pretty awesome

Edited August 2, 2012 by liquid wind

[Crowbar Man]

Also something I forgot to mention: None of you may care since you are not developers but the cost of entry on XBLA and PSN, and just the cost of updates or even bug fixes, is absolutely ridiculous. See Polytron's current struggle with not being able to afford to release another update for Fez. PC, iOS, and Android allow quick updates, content expansions, all inexpensive for the developer. Current consoles do not. Ouya will fix that

Edited August 2, 2012 by Crowbar Man

[Toadofsky]

Also something I forgot to mention: None of you may care since you are not developers but the cost of entry on XBLA and PSN, and just the cost of updates or even bug fixes, is absolutely ridiculous. See Polytron's current struggle with not being able to afford to release another update for Fez. PC, iOS, and Android allow quick updates, content expansions, all inexpensive for the developer. Current consoles do not. Ouya will fix that

Phil Fish should have researched dealing with XBLA before he jumped into making the game exclusive to it (of course, he took 5 years to make a game that has barely any challenge). That patch is his responsibility, and the fee for that is ridiculously high, but the fee is that high to make sure the games are at least stable and playable. I don't agree with the price tag, but I see SOME reasoning behind it.

This is the guy who's now clamoring to put his game to PC now after saying they're for spreadsheets (he must not have made bank like he thought he would, boo freaking-hoo). And based on what I've seen and read about the guy, he looks certifiably crazy.