By David Ponce
This could be big. The above gaming console currently raising funds on Kickstarter is off to something special, raising a record setting $1 million in less than 12 hours and still climbing. As of this writing, 20,000+ backers have pledged over $2,500,000 to make it a reality… and there’s still 28 days left. What’s all the fuss about? This project kicks ass, is what! Designed by none other than Yves Behar (of One Laptop Per Child fame), the Ouya is a $99 Android-based, big muscle, open source gaming console with a fantastic looking controller. It promises to bring a breath of fresh air to console gaming, and we… believe they just might pull it off. With internals consisting of a Tegra 3 CPU, 8GB of storage, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot, the device will certainly have the muscle to handle anything developers throw at it. And given the excitement the project is generating, there clearly seems to be a demand for something like it. See, there’s a lull in the life cycle of the more established consoles; no one knows when the next Playstation or Xbox will be released… but if all goes well, the Ouya will ship in March of next year. The project is open to independent developers with the SDK being freely distributed, and every game will have a free-to-play aspect. It’s part of the ethos of the project.
And while no launch titles have yet been announced, there’s a good chance Sony and Microsoft will get their asses handed to them. While the Ouya is not meant to go head-to-head with the Big Three, it has the potential to get more than small indie developers on board; with the kind of demand that is being demonstrated right now, there just might be some big name devs perking their ears up.
Quantities are unfortunately limited, so hurry up and place your order now if you’re interested. Hit the jump to see a video about the Ouya and links.
[ Project Page ]
I am incredibly sceptical about this. For one thing, it’s an Android based games console but virtually every Android tablet and phone is already a games console, capable of using bluetooth controllers. There are dozens of dedicated handheld games consoles using Android, usually with a PSP style casing.
“the device will certainly have the muscle to handle anything developers throw at it” – no it won’t. It’s as powerful as a good tablet, and with visuals blown up to 1080P you’ll see just how bad everything really looks. This is a hi-end phone with an HDMI out. Jeeze. Why do i want to buy a cheap console to play games that look like crap? I’m a big fan of iOS games for when I’m away from a screen, but I’m not about to plug my iPad into the TV when I have a 360 and a PS3 available.
What’s so special about the controller that Sony didn’t figure out with the dual analogue stick controller over a decade ago?
And why make it square? This is something you’ll want to slip onto a shelf on the entertainment centre holding your TV, so why square as opposed to something with a low profile?
The solitary good thing that I can think of is that it will solve one of the major problems with Android development right now, which is diversity. Developing for Android is like spearfishing from the beach, whereas Ouya will round the fish up into a barrel. But as developers become more accustomed to Android their apps and games will start to show up on the standard market.
30k backers is impressive, but that figure is a rounding error in the world of consoles from the big two. And the console business is one that almost managed to sink Sega, albeit with a very different business model. Once the Ouya spec is finalized, expect to see a hundred Chinese clones if it is successful.
Oh. oh, also, existing Android games are mainly touch based – how do you even play something like Angry Birds on this? If you look at the Sony remote control for their Google TV device, now THAT is how you do a controller. Remote control plus touchpad and keyboard.
Oh. oh, also, existing Android games are mainly touch based – how do you even play something like Angry Birds on this? If you look at the Sony remote control for their Google TV device, now THAT is how you do a controller. Remote control plus touchpad and keyboard.
… so, three years later, another of my great ideas may soon become real … ht tp :// newgoos . blogspot . it /2009/08/ new . ht ml
Where are all these articles getting the information that there will be an SD Card slot? I haven’t heard that anywhere except that they were considering it.
“With internals consisting of a Tegra 3 CPU, 8GB of storage, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot, the device will certainly have the muscle to handle anything developers throw at it. ”
What happened to you OhGizmo?