OUYA

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Zorua

Zedd
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OUYA is a new video game console being developed by Yves Behar through the use of Kickstarter.com. OUYA is an open-ended TV console powered by Android technology with a game lineup of free-to-play games. OUYA means that very specifically, every game will be free to "play", but not all free games will be full games, some will be just demos as decided by the developer of that game. But none the less, every game has a free aspect to it. More importantly, anyone can make games for it, as each console is it's own SDK kit.The controller for the OUYA is a standard game controller, including fast buttons, triggers, analog sticks, a D-Pad, as well as a touch pad for any games jumping from the mobile platform to OUYA. The console itself is about the size of a Rubix cube, and can be taken anywhere.

Tech specs include:

Tegra3 quad-core processor
1GB RAM
8GB of internal flash storage
HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth LE 4.0
USB 2.0 (one)
Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
Android 4.0
ETHERNET

The project has well exceeded it's $950,000 goal, raising almost $550,000,000. Discuss what you think of it here, what it could do for the gaming industry and whether or not you would/will back it.

Kickstarter link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console?ref=live
 
I think you read it wrong - $5,467,851 is already backed.

honestly, I don't think the console is as important as a lot of people are making it out to be, and will have virtually no real impact on the gaming industry as a whole.
 
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The Ouya is a joke, it's too niche to be worth buying, and doesn't have anything interesting coming out for it. The fact that they're appearing at E3's parking lot says everything about how much people care about this thing.
 
I think it's a cool idea in theory and I'm glad to see people innovating more in the console market, but in practice the Ouya kind of fails.

The lack of games is less than an issue now than it would have been 5-10 years ago; with things like Steam and phone apps, people are becoming more inclined to try out and buy indie-games, especially when those games are a small fraction of the cost of games for other console manufacturers. The ease of game development will likely mean that there will be a lot of cool things release for it, the same way you see cool phone apps created by nobodies. And the $99 price point means that it's more in the range of an impulse purchase rather than something you would save up for.

There are two really big issues, though.

The first that apparently the Ouya will have a new release every year, and there's no guarantee that new games will work on an old Ouya if you don't upgrade. Buying a new Ouya every year kind makes the cost for the system much more in line with traditional consoles when you factor in how long those last in the market before you have to upgrade.

The second is... why should I spend $99 on something when I can get the same effect by plugging my computer into a TV? The best thing this console is good for currently is emulators, and I can already do that with a cord and a cheap USB controller. In fact, I actually used to have a really sweet setup to play arcade games on my TV via MAME. So much awesome, especially when inserting another coin was an easy as hitting the L button. I doubt many of the games (if any) created for the Ouya will be Ouya exclusive, meaning it will have to compete directly with Steam, Android/iOS, and the traditional console market.

Also, this isn't really a detraction from the console itself, but... for as much as this is a very different model from traditional console distribution, it won't change the console market one lick. I highly doubt Nintendo/MS/Sony will take anything from the Ouya; it goes against their business practices. And people won't stop buying consoles and console games because of the Ouya either.

And that's all aside from the point of the console market dying in the first place.

So, sorry Ouya, nice concept and I'm glad to see people putting some thought into the industry, but I can't see this going much of anywhere.
 
^There's more than that.

First of all, playing mobile games on home consoles is incredibly pointless. Most mobile games are shallow, meant to be played in short sessions as you go about your day. When you're sitting at home playing a game, you probably don't want to play a game like Angry Birds, you'd want something with more depth.

Second, the free to play model won't really work with AAA games. They're expensive, they're not just going to be giving those kinds of games away for free with no strings attached. Sure, they could make it so you could jump in and play for free, but they're going to make you pay for it one way or another. "Free to play" just invites developers to implement things such as paywalls ("pay $10 to play the next level") or microtransactions ("pay $5 IRL to buy the Epic Powerup of Epicness"). You'd still be paying the same $60, if not more so, for the same amount of content that you would on any other home console.
 
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