We’re starving for some new blood in the console market. A group of established industry professionals is trying to get in on that, and they’ve had a minor success. Meet the Ouya, an open source Android console that could be a great success, or a whimper in the wind.
Let’s look at the hardware: a Tegra 3 quad core, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal flash memory, and “support” for 1080p resolutions. The console also features a wireless controller and a single USB port. Everything is held together by the latest Android operating system. There isn’t anything too revolutionary here. It’s pretty much just a smartphone without the phone. The Tegra 3 is great for mobile devices, but its crushed by even the lowliest of desktop GPUs. Who knows if you’ll be able to overclock the processor or make your own tweaks to the hardware easily? And with only 8GB of internal memory, you can’t expect many large games to be released for the console either.
I think the makers of the Ouya are also to blame for misleading their audience, simply by calling it a console that will play AAA games. I’ve seen comments pleading for ARMA 2 with Day-Z and other graphically demanding games. I can already feel their disappointment.
Don’t count on it.
The Ouya promises to follow an open-source model, so I expect to see various types of Linux distributions popping up very quickly. The open source model may also be interesting for hobbyists and developers, but I doubt the typical person that buys this console will know much about it or even care. The list of open source games is pathetically small, and most of them fit into a niche market.
The console is planning to launch with games that you can already play on your PC and your phone. Minecraft and Shadowgun are featured often. I’m skeptical of the “mobile experience” translating to the TV. The upside is that all of them will be partially free to play in some way, but then we could see some horrific business models from software developers. They could get away with it too. A person who buys an Ouya or a subsidized Xbox 360 for $99 can’t be trusted to make the best financial situations.
This is one of the potential problems of Kickstarter that we’ve been seeing lately. A group of talented people decide to make a quick test product, and then everyone on the planet decides to give them money for no reason. The Ouya is just a symptom a larger problem. People will fund anything.
Brilliant eyecandy that fills up a room.
Despite all these issues, the Ouya does show some promise. Like they’re saying, this has the potential to upend console gaming (if only for a moment). Bringing new payment models to the living room could change the strategies of the Big 3 and other software developers. The game industry is in a time right now where games just aren’t worth $60. Casual gamers are looking for a cheap and quick experience, and they don’t have any brand loyalty when it comes to that. Sony and Nintendo’s recent issues with their handhelds show that even the Big 3 are struggling to maintain dominance.
I don’t see the Ouya becoming a massive success. A successful Kickstarter may not translate to a successful product. There isn’t any clear direction for the hardware or software. What I see the Ouya doing differently is rapid iteration of new hardware, just like mobile devices. For a console generation we wait anywhere from four years at a minimum. The Wii-U and this venture are trying to disrupt the abnormally long console generation.
This half does look pretty cool.
The problem with the Ouya is what does it do that my PC, phone, or dedicated consoles don’t? Will emulation be smoother? Will Angry Birds be compelling on the 1080p big screen? How will it stay relevant when the next batch of consoles is right around the corner? Do they even have enough money for stable production?
As more funding rolls in, we better see changes to the Ouya’s hardware and a tighter design philosophy. I hate to say it, but games won’t be the focus of this thing. You can get them from anywhere else. Otherwise, this will end up as one of the more high profile Kickstarter failures.
I backed Ouya, I’ll admit it. If nothing else I’m guarenteed a decent set top box that can also function as an NES, SNES, etc. emulator, and I’ll get to explore Android a bit, which I’ve never used. There are worse ways to waste $100.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW9ne0j9NJs
And it’s probably the same price, if not cheaper at this point.
I might be wrong but that doesn’t look like Android.
SPEAKING DUMB KICKSTARTERS: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1820893788/katalyka/posts/239764
Damn it. Speaking of*
Everyone’s complaining about how it doesn’t do anything a PC can’t, but the real key here is that the thing is only $99. As Mr. Reichardt pointed out, there are worse ways to spend that money.
As of now, it hasn’t shown anything that a phone or tablet can’t do either.
Most tablets or phones that have an HDMI port are more expensive than $100, or require a contract. It’s a solid android device.
No, it won’t take off and become a massive success, but it’s easily accessible, inexpensive, and doesn’t take a lot of effort to set up. The most positive thing it’ll do is finally get the android market filled with games actually worth playing.
This is an idea that would have been better executed with a proven architecture and OS for gaming. Basically, the “Steam box” everyone was going on about a while ago.
Use one of AMD’s Fusion APUs instead of ARM, and a stripped down, non-bloated version of Ubuntu since it has the highest GNU/Linux gaming compatibility instead of Android.
The game selection would not be massive, but you have pretty much every game from id software, and good indie games that have already been developed and would work “off the shelf”. I mean, off the top of my head I can think of Doom, Quake, Minecraft, Amnesia, Braid, LIMBO, Psychonauts, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story+…I’m sure there are more. That’s a line-up the OUYA would be incredibly lucky to get.
Plus, there’s the Linux Steam launch this year. I have a feeling gaben will port over at least one game, my money’s on TF2.
I want one if they upgrade the hardware. But I want to get into android dev, so i might buy one for my little sister
its being executed very poorly, what we need is a low cost up to date hardware gaming device that is easy to use
what we are getting is well…. i dont even know but it has a twat stick controller
if they really want to ouya to be the kickass console they want the only difference between a normal gaming PC is its basically a prebuilt and has a custom OS made for gaming that runs everything, and the aforementioned OS can be used on a normal PC (so you could like… duel boot it and access there network and stuff)
…..oh and you stick the shiny bits in the TV
i stand by my choice to never ever EVER give kickstarter a cent of my money, no matter how cool the project is. the ability to “go insane” and keep everyone’s money without a return is hysterical and depressing
i want my steam box ;_;
Android is Linux you realize, right?
I did not back it, I will not buy one, yet I think it’s a positive move. Many of the greatest games ever made were made before 7th gen. You don’t need a powerful GPU to make a strong system.
A much bigger issue is the issue with indie games in general, they have no idea how to make games (not that the triple A studios are much better).
I don’t even understand why anyone would want to play iOS Minecraft in the first place, let alone Angry Birds in 1080p (funnily enough, wouldn’t the addition of a controller end up hindering the Angry Birds “experience”? It seems that game benefits more from a Touch Screen than anything else).
What is it, $7 and it’s not even a tenth of the complete game? As far as I know, you can’t even CRAFT in the iOS version of MineCRAFT.
For its price it sounds really good, i mean, even being able to emulate old makes it more than worth it…
so what if you cant play arma 2 on it? you get to play super mario 3 and final fantasy 6, its very convenient and i think it will be successful.