Kickstarter: Ouya Video Game Console (Coming to Target, Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy)

[quote name='Glomerate']I'm having a hard time believing that they can supply enough consoles for the masses with less than a million dollars. Seems fishy to me...[/QUOTE]

I think the key to that mystery is the hardware they're using. If they're using standardized Tegra 3 hardware, then they can piggy-back on the economics of scale as other manufacturers produce Tegra 3-based tablets en masse. And, of course, the million dollars looks like it's just a seeder fund.
 
[quote name='Glomerate']I'm having a hard time believing that they can supply enough consoles for the masses with less than a million dollars. Seems fishy to me...[/QUOTE]

Not to mention potential for corporate sponsors. If they show that consumers are already willing to invest without the instant gratification of owning the device then the support will explode. I'm becoming very intrigued and will be watching closely. I'm only sorry I missed out on the $95 package.
 
I wonder why they limited quantity of the $99 retail tier. Would have to think they are going to launch in march 2013 with eventually far, far more than 10,000 systems.
 
[quote name='vherub']I wonder why they limited quantity of the $99 retail tier. Would have to think they are going to launch in march 2013 with eventually far, far more than 10,000 systems.[/QUOTE]

They're probably going based off of what they know suppliers can deliver in a given time-frame in addition to estimates related to starting production and finishing development. I wouldn't be surprised if they add more slots into that tier if it looks like they'll reach their target and they've had a chance to adjust.

I guess we'll find out if the number of orders keep climbing...
 
[quote name='Lemarfanz']pretty tempting for 100 bucks...can anyone convince me otherwise?[/QUOTE]

No, but you are paying now in full (assuming it funds) for something you won't get until March of next year at the earliest and you have very limited recourse if they delay or never deliver. This is also MSRP, so other than making a donation to support something you are interested in, there isn't a huge incentive to do this now.
 
[quote name='vherub']I wonder why they limited quantity of the $99 retail tier. Would have to think they are going to launch in march 2013 with eventually far, far more than 10,000 systems.[/QUOTE]
It is probably a kickstarter site limit or they just want to limit the amount of people having founder emblem next to there username.
 
[quote name='htz']It is probably a kickstarter site limit or they just want to limit the amount of people having founder emblem next to there username.[/QUOTE]
You can have unlimited stock on kickstarter. I think they want to avoid over selling "first run" stock. It'd be a disaster to run out of them for backers. Basically, "We know we can make X by launch. So we cap it at X."
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']But the games have to be free, so we're talking ad supported versions of Angry Birds, Where's My Water, etc.[/QUOTE]

"We're handing the reins over to the developer with only one condition: at least some gameplay has to be free. We borrowed the free-to-play model from games like League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Triple Town, and many others. Developers can offer a free demo with a full-game upgrade, in-game items or powers, or ask you to subscribe."

Games have to at least be a playable demo, ie XBLA, not actually free.
 
[quote name='htz']This is more than a game machine, since the developers allow root access to the OS(They even support hacking and will warranty the machine). This is capable of becoming a media center once hackers get there hands on it, which this console is targeted to in the first place. It is basically a game developer's console like they advertise.[/QUOTE]

So is a PC. I think I'll stick to using my HDMI cord to connect my desktop to my big screen and call it a day.

The philosophy is nice and the hardware is pretty, but I'm not sold. Seems like it's greatest asset will be in getting more people interested in development and hopefully generating some publisher interest.

Take a look through this site to see what devs are saying about the effort: link
 
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Wow you people really like fruit ninja. Quickly this goes from cheap ass gamer to first adopter to accelerated commitment arguing and justifying gamers.
 
[quote name='Link2999']Is the retail price going to be $100 too?[/QUOTE]

Link is asking the right question. What confirmation is there that the plan is not to sell this thing at retail for $50 and have the console price subsidized by the developer keeping 10% of app sales?
 
[quote name='bgame2']Link is asking the right question. What confirmation is there that the plan is not to sell this thing at retail for $50 and have the console price subsidized by the developer keeping 10% of app sales?[/QUOTE]

Nothing. If you don't think you want it for $100, then don't pledge.
 
[quote name='bgame2']Link is asking the right question. What confirmation is there that the plan is not to sell this thing at retail for $50 and have the console price subsidized by the developer keeping 10% of app sales?[/QUOTE]

They've committed thoroughly to the $100 price point and have been courting consumers and developers alike with that information. They couldn't possibly pull the rug out from under all the interested parties at this point and magically charge less for a retail launch.
 
[quote name='midloo']So is a PC. I think I'll stick to using my HDMI cord to connect my desktop to my big screen and call it a day.

The philosophy is nice and the hardware is pretty, but I'm not sold. Seems like it's greatest asset will be in getting more people interested in development and hopefully generating some publisher interest.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='ijustw1n']Wow you people really like fruit ninja. Quickly this goes from cheap ass gamer to first adopter to accelerated commitment arguing and justifying gamers.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. I don't get it honestly. I don't see the cool in this thing (mostly). To me it seems like a 'console' for Soccer moms and hackers. I personally love indie games but that being said, Android and iOS games in generally suck ass.
 
[quote name='windsmere']Agreed. I don't get it honestly. I don't see the cool in this thing (mostly). To me it seems like a 'console' for Soccer moms and hackers. I personally love indie games but that being said, Android and iOS games in generally suck ass.[/QUOTE]

They key word here is in general. Yes in general IOS games and android games suck ass. However there are some really really good experiences shining amongst all those turds. There are also a ton of games that were not that great but only because they lacked a controller. If I had a dollar for every game I have played on my IPad and thought "this game is ass, but only because I have to use the touch screen" id be a rich rich man. I mean platformers alone I have played tons and tons and tons of games that I could tell were great but just did not want to play on the Ipad. I also think that people are just comparing this to IOS too much. I think the potential is just as high to see things like Binding of Issack, Minecraft and Super Meat Boy that blew up on Steam.
 
[quote name='windsmere']Agreed. I don't get it honestly. I don't see the cool in this thing (mostly). To me it seems like a 'console' for Soccer moms and hackers. I personally love indie games but that being said, Android and iOS games in generally suck ass.[/QUOTE]

But do you realize how many soccer moms there are? You'll find one sitting in a mini van in front of every gamestop waiting for their kid and in every Target across america. If they made this thing a Target exclusive they they'd be on to something haha!
 
As far as I'm aware the tech specs are the same as the Google Nexus Tablet; which for house gaming is subpar, even less quality than the Wii.
Maybe if the console + controller as $50, but $99 is too much to ask of an android system for home use.
Hell, just buy a Nexus Tablet and run games from it to your TV.
 
I'm in agreement with a number of other devs on this: It all depends on the appstore. There are challenges to developing new hardware, but I'm assuming they can solve those and deliver at the promised price point without breaking their own bank. The real challenge will be in creating an appstore that clearly highlights the best new experiences on the console. That's something no current distribution service is doing well. If they can successfully draw consumers attention to the good experiences and not the mountain of trash that will be deployed daily to the service at the hands of the everyman-programmer, then it could be a success.

The second biggest hurdle will be in the review process for new applications. It's tough to find the right balance. Again - each service currently has their drawbacks.

I'll wait and see before I develop for it.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']They key word here is in general. Yes in general IOS games and android games suck ass. However there are some really really good experiences shining amongst all those turds. There are also a ton of games that were not that great but only because they lacked a controller. If I had a dollar for every game I have played on my IPad and thought "this game is ass, but only because I have to use the touch screen" id be a rich rich man. I mean platformers alone I have played tons and tons and tons of games that I could tell were great but just did not want to play on the Ipad. I also think that people are just comparing this to IOS too much. I think the potential is just as high to see things like Binding of Issack, Minecraft and Super Meat Boy that blew up on Steam.[/QUOTE]
This, exactly this! Instead of looking at currently available games that require touch (Fruit Ninja) look at the potential the market could have if the market were opened up to include a controller. If this gets funded I fully expect to see new IPs that can compete with AAA titles from Indie guys.
 
[quote name='Carlanga']As far as I'm aware the tech specs are the same as the Google Nexus Tablet; which for house gaming is subpar, even less quality than the Wii.
Maybe if the console + controller as $50, but $99 is too much to ask of an android system for home use.
Hell, just buy a Nexus Tablet and run games from it to your TV.[/QUOTE]

It's pretty clear the specs on this are superior to the Wii (Tegra 3 quad-core processor w/1 GB of RAM compared to overclocked Gamecube-derived hardware in the Wii with 64 MB of RAM). So, yeah, pretty clearly superior.
 
[quote name='Carlanga']As far as I'm aware the tech specs are the same as the Google Nexus Tablet; which for house gaming is subpar, even less quality than the Wii.
Maybe if the console + controller as $50, but $99 is too much to ask of an android system for home use.
Hell, just buy a Nexus Tablet and run games from it to your TV.[/QUOTE]

You're a bit off in comparing a Wii favorably to ANYTHING, much less a device with a quad-core 1.2 to 1.6ghz Cpu, 1gb ram, and far superior graphics capabilities built into the Tegra 3. The Wii is nothing more than a cheaply upgraded Gamecube, in terms of pure specs it is a joke compared to this or almost anything else produced in the last 7 years.
 
looks real cool, but is it only gonna be good for android games.... cause most of them are lame compared to console games. not sure if i need a console to play free/.99 cent games on my tv and without the benefit of touch controls... interesting though for sure
 
[quote name='htz']https://twitter.com/playouya/status/222740620391882752
^They posted a video of the graphics capability of the ouya. Looks impressive for a $100 device.

$400,000+ currently, looks like they will hit half a million soon. Probably will meet its goal of about 1 million by tomorrow.[/QUOTE]

This backs up what I was saying before. That yes this will be flooded with cheap IOS ports, but I imagine just as many indy developers and even big companies who have released games to Steam, PSN and XBL will also port games to this platform.

I am not backing the Ouya thinking I will be playing the next Uncharted or Gears of War on it anytime soon. I am buying it hoping I see some great indy titles like Binding of Issack as well as big franchises like Sonic 4 pop up. I am also buying it hoping that this may be the ideal place to buy these games over PSN or Steam because they demand all games have at least some free content.
 
O I also want to add that THIS is what I wish Nintendo had done. For the last two generations(Wii and Wii U)I thought Nintendo would have been brilliant to make a $100-$150 console that is super easy to develop games for. Double down on the fact that you are not the epic graphic machine, you are just the game machine period. $30-$40 games and take the R&D money you save on the console and invest it in making sure you have a new game out every 2 or 3 months.

I doubt the Ouya is the next big thing, but if Nintendo had done something like this I think they would have made a huge splash.
 
great idea but im not sold. next thing we'll know... the ouya console needs to be upgraded every year to be competitive with next years smartphones/tablets running better graphic cards. the ouya controller looks hot though...
 
[quote name='ijustw1n']So the deal is....(please fill in the blank)[/QUOTE]

if what I read is correct the deal is the games for the console will be free themselves.
 
Seems like a nice device for the price but I already own an android tablet so I have no use for it. I'm curious on how they are going to get developers to make games with controller support. I have the asus transformer prime and despite it and many other android tablets having controller support most games on the app store still don't support controllers which sucks.
 
[quote name='DurbanBrown']looks real cool, but is it only gonna be good for android games.... cause most of them are lame compared to console games. not sure if i need a console to play free/.99 cent games on my tv and without the benefit of touch controls... interesting though for sure[/QUOTE]

Lol.

This thing has the potential to emulate many things, and decode all sorts of video. Any possibly run normal linux, be a web server, etc etc. It's basically a small, cheap computer.

My biggest gripe is the lack of USB 3.0/eSATA/some fast bus to an external drive.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']O I also want to add that THIS is what I wish Nintendo had done. For the last two generations(Wii and Wii U)I thought Nintendo would have been brilliant to make a $100-$150 console that is super easy to develop games for. Double down on the fact that you are not the epic graphic machine, you are just the game machine period. $30-$40 games and take the R&D money you save on the console and invest it in making sure you have a new game out every 2 or 3 months.

I doubt the Ouya is the next big thing, but if Nintendo had done something like this I think they would have made a huge splash.[/QUOTE]
Ummm they killed it with Wii... Their profit margins were higher than Sony or Microsoft this generation. I do think the Wii-U should have pushed farther into this domain (Ouya) and tried to compete with 360/PS3 less.
 
I'm not much for downloadable games. I do get a few, but usually none that are over $10. They're just too susceptible to variables like copyright issues that could make them no longer available. You could also lose them due to data corruption and whatnot. Plus, no collector's editions, manuals or artwork. And without the internet, they're completely unavailable.

This and a million other reasons are why I think digital distribution for gaming will never become mainstream.

But this thing looks kinda cool. It's cheap and since the games are partially free, it eliminates the discomfort of not having physical media to guarantee that you will always own the game.

I'll probably get one when they go retail, but it's not something I'm interested enough in to donate to.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']This backs up what I was saying before. That yes this will be flooded with cheap IOS ports, but I imagine just as many indy developers and even big companies who have released games to Steam, PSN and XBL will also port games to this platform.

I am not backing the Ouya thinking I will be playing the next Uncharted or Gears of War on it anytime soon. I am buying it hoping I see some great indy titles like Binding of Issack as well as big franchises like Sonic 4 pop up. I am also buying it hoping that this may be the ideal place to buy these games over PSN or Steam because they demand all games have at least some free content.[/QUOTE]

I really think this is going to happen. I think more indie guys are going to stop with just doing PC platforms and make it compatable across between Android, iOS, and Android. I know in Game Informer(Which I'm sure many people dislike, but nonetheless) I see newer XBLA/PSN games talk about how there's a version being developed for Android and iOS often. Yeah, it may not be perfect, or as great a port as you want, but it's still something exciting we can see. If they did a Minecraft for this, that alone would get a lot of people interested, especially if it were free-to-play/microtransactioned. And I mean, they could even produce a smaller scale MMO that was free to play, but make it all microtransactions like Maple story or any of the Korean MMOs out there. I think there's a lot of potential for it to be neat.

I mean, I know I don't have a great PC rig, and I have a hardtime on my laptop running some of the more recent games on Steam with it sometimes, so having another alternative to play, much like I do with my other consoles, solely for PC/indie games is exactly what I want.
 
Judging by the amount of money being thrown at this, if you are a developer you just got a major earning of what people want. You don't get a million bucks in a day for a flop, and they're well on their way to that. 5 hours. 500,000.
 
[quote name='blcklblskt']I would love to support this, but just like OnLive, no physical media = no go for me.[/QUOTE]

I'm with you. I like to own what I pay for... rather than have some company tell me what I can/can't do with it.

But cheaper games do sound nice. I'm taking a wait and see stance on this... even if it'll cost me a lot more in the end.
 
[quote name='Vinny']I'm with you. I like to own what I pay for... rather than have some company tell me what I can/can't do with it.

But cheaper games do sound nice. I'm taking a wait and see stance on this... even if it'll cost me a lot more in the end.[/QUOTE]

It'll supposedly retail for $99...the same as it's "you get a console" donation on Kickstarter. Given how little protection Kickstarter offers backers of successful projects, i'm with you in the "wait and see" line. Not to mention - who knows how many of its current features remain in when the thing is actually launched.
 
[quote name='Vinny']I'm with you. I like to own what I pay for... rather than have some company tell me what I can/can't do with it.

But cheaper games do sound nice. I'm taking a wait and see stance on this... even if it'll cost me a lot more in the end.[/QUOTE]

You do own the games that you purchase, just like you do with any android or ios game. It isn't like onlive where you lose the games if the company goes under.
 
[quote name='kab030']You do own the games that you purchase, just like you do with any android or ios game. It isn't like onlive where you lose the games if the company goes under.[/QUOTE]
Well, you "own" the rights to have access to those games. If Google/Ouya goes under :roll: you will be unable to gain access to those games. You have no rights to seek other ways of obtaining those games any more. They're just gone.
 
[quote name='DarkZero104']Judging by the amount of money being thrown at this, if you are a developer you just got a major earning of what people want. You don't get a million bucks in a day for a flop, and they're well on their way to that. 5 hours. 500,000.[/QUOTE]

This. I jumped in on the backing because I've seen the effort people put into hacking and coding on a closed source console. I can only imagine the results after you have a totally unlocked console to these guys and say, "have fun".
 
With only 8 gb of internal storage, how can one get more stuff to the device? external harddrives via usb 2.0? wouldnt that be slow?

the goal will probably be reach by the end of the day... still not sold but im contemplating by the minute. hehe!
 
[quote name='Woocls']Ummm they killed it with Wii... Their profit margins were higher than Sony or Microsoft this generation. I do think the Wii-U should have pushed farther into this domain (Ouya) and tried to compete with 360/PS3 less.[/QUOTE]

O I agree the Wii killed it and that they ultimately made the right move. I just think first off the Wii was a fluke and second will it ended up the right move in the short term I think they have damaged their long term fan base. Now I think they REALLY needed something like this to happan, but they went for another gimmick. Hopefully even though the Ouya doesnt have a big name behind it it can gain similar steam.
 
I think a lot of folks here "console" and start immediately thinking of the consoles we've known over the years. This device has potential, but it does not have the infrastructure behind it that we are used to in a console. This seems initially focused on lightweight freemium content. Maybe I'm just being negative, but I could see this box becoming a platform for shovelware just as easily as it could become a fun toy for hobbyists.
 
Yeah, over 550,000 and rapidly growing. It isn't making a million bucks in a day. It's making it in half of one.

Devs really better start working on console style android games.
 
Love the idea. What makes me wonder is how far they can go on a Tegra 3 and 1 GB of ram. Also another feature that makes me wonder is can the flash memory be upgraded? Either way, love the idea and I hope this comes to life. Anytime I play a cell phone game, I shiver in pain unless it's tap the screen and only tap the screen.

This is awesome and well if this ever comes out I will be getting one for some game development (I always wanted to get into game development). I just don't have the cash now to buy a box.
 
[quote name='CAGkrazy']With only 8 gb of internal storage, how can one get more stuff to the device? external harddrives via usb 2.0? wouldnt that be slow?

the goal will probably be reach by the end of the day... still not sold but im contemplating by the minute. hehe![/QUOTE]

Hmmmmm I did not see the 8gb storage thing. That could be a major major issue unless they either do lots of streaming or they allow pretty much any external hard drive to work(which id be ok with since I could then pick up a super cheap 100 gig external drive).
 
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