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[alphaNoid]

I don't know about this yet. Wouldn't a controller plug-in thingy for your phone accomplish the same thing? Not sure there's a good enough reason for a standalone device.

In short, yes. This won't be all 'that' different than someone plugging their phone into their TV with a wireless remote controller.

It will, but it won't.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Thread title needs a massive updating, more related to Kickstarter. I missed the early bird cause I thought it was shown at some conference and didn't know it's Kickstarter-funded.

I feel like getting two of these! The possibility is amazing with this. I've donated to far more useless stuff in the past.

(Imagine if Steam can run through this! I would eat my hands if it happens!)

Since it uses Bluetooth, I'm sure PS3 controller will work as well via homebrew!

 

[monocromo]

would Onlive (and similar services) run ok on this ? (I assume "yes", but I'm not an expert)

 

[M3d10n]

It appears that you're not able to separate what MS, Sony, and Nintendo are doing compared to what this is offering. Devs basically have absolutely no barrier to entry into this ecosystem. $99 buys you the console which is also the dev kit. It's there for everyone. How much is the dev kit for the Vita?

If they're as open as they say they are, then in theory they could always be updating Android which is just getting better with every update.

And I don't care about the hardware specs. I'm not expecting this to replace my consoles or my PC. It's something different and I hope that we'll see some amazing mods if this thing is successful.

Edit: You're not planning on porting Cthulhu Saves the World to this thing if it's successful? You're already on Android.

Whoa, let's be realistic her for a moment, shall we?

There's very little chance of this being "successful" by any definition that could be applied to any console. It's a Kickstarter product, and these are not known by storming the world. This means no worldwide marketing, very limited distribution contracts, etc, etc.

Also, I might be wrong, but it seems games need to be "ported" to it? Google Store games which support gamepads won't just work automatically? If so, this is a huge roadblock. Success in this case would be matching GP32, Zeebo and similar stuff.

 

[Vormund]

Damn I keep refreshing the kick starter page and it just keeps going up.

Tempted to put in $100

 

[Truespeed]

Since it uses Bluetooth, I'm sure PS3 controller will work as well via homebrew!

Or the 360 wired controller via the USB port.

 

[DiscoJer]

This seems like an absolute disaster in the making.

$100 gets you a console and a controller. Take out kickstarter fees, amazon payment fees, taxes, shipping, and the cost of the materials and they'd be lucky to break even. And that's not taking into account labor.

Why on earth would a developer support such a system? It's hard enough to make a living as an indie developer on a popular storefront like Steam, the iOS App Store, XBLA, PSN, and Wii/3DSWare. Targeting a small fraction of an already fragmented market (Android) is just asking to fail.

And I'm really not seeing the appeal of the hardware specs. All the low power of a cheap phone with none of the portability!

Best case scenario, the system actually comes out. Nobody makes any real money with it but the hobbyists have have fun messing around.

Worst case scenario, the kickstarter is a scam and the people take the money and run.

Most likely scenario, the kickstarter is being run by naive individuals who don't realize how big of a task they're proposing. They get all this money and then realize they can't deliver and then desperately seek additional funding to actually do what they said they were going to do in the first place.

EDIT: Or to put it another way, it's hard enough to talk people into supporting the Vita and that's a portable system that has sold over a million units and has the backing of a major corporation. I expect the Ouya will do considerably worse than that.

I think people are overestimating how much this is going to cost to make. Someone posted about $50, that seems pretty likely. After the fees (which will take about $12.50 off out of the $99) and shipping (another $10-12 probably) they've got a small margin.

Bear in mind, while these aren't household names, exactly, they do work in the industry and if they tried a scam then they likely would be blacklisted. Brian Fargo for instance, apparently invested some of his own money and appeared in the video - he's planning on doing a Kickstarter for a new Bard's Tale after they do WL2. If this doesn't deliver, he's basically ruined his reputation, which he needs.

And as to developer support, you're right about the Vita comment - Western developers aren't supporting it. But they are supporting iOS and to a lesser extent Android. I think the idea is that this will be easy enough to support, that developers will figure it's worth their time to do, porting from more traditional Android.

Remember, at one time, before consoles ruled the gaming market (or maybe between it), companies would put games on the C64, Atari 400, Spectrum, PC, and so on. I can't imagine this would be more difficult, since it still basically just is Android, they just need to support the controller, really.

I don't know about this yet. Wouldn't a controller plug-in thingy for your phone accomplish the same thing? Not sure there's a good enough reason for a standalone device.

Well, believe it or not, but not everyone actually owns a smart phone. Sure, you can get an Android tablet, but that costs twice as much, almost literally. The most comparable thing is the Google Nexus 7, which is $199.

Beyond that, I can't imagine it's that convenient constantly plugging your phone into the TV. What if someone calls you? And wouldn't you have to constantly charge it? And how much would a controller cost? Doesn't a 360 controller go for about $50 stand alone? Really depends on the build quality of the controller in this, but good controllers aren't cheap.

 

[JoeFu]

I dunno about this thing... I mean if you're just going to do emulators you could use any up to date Android phone and MHL-HDMI to TV and play games using the Wiimote/classic controller or Dualshock 3

 

[Truespeed]

would Onlive (and similar services) run ok on this ? (I assume "yes", but I'm not an expert)

Onlive already runs on Android. Here's the app

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onlive.client&hl=en

 

[dLMN8R]

The more I think of this, the more awesome it sounds. Not actually as a games console, but as a home theater PC.

A Tegra 3 CPU should be more than capable of handling full-HD video, and Android can play practically any video under the sun, and even stream from Windows networks. So there you go. A full replacement for my Acer Revo, and hey, it also has a nifty controller that can play some games for free if I wish.

 

[Lucis]

Where are you getting these figures? This thing will easily be sub $50 to produce in 2013 (which is when they plan to deliver). It will be competing with $30 HDMI sticks running stock Android with better GPUs. They're just going to place an order with a Chinese factory that's already making millions of nearly identical devices. There are already multiple Kickstarters based on the same principle. The economies of scale from smartphone production have driven the price of ARM SoCs so low that once you eliminate the screen, battery and cellular modem the rest of the hardware is practically free. The only wrinkle is preselling generic Chinese devices on Kickstarter as if its some kind of revolution. There's a veritable gold rush of Kickstarters just trying to get money before the no-name stuff shows up next the the register at every Rite Aid in a few months.

I work at nvidia.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Whoa, let's be realistic her for a moment, shall we?

There's very little chance of this being "successful" by any definition that could be applied to any console. It's a Kickstarter product, and these are not known by storming the world. This means no worldwide marketing, very limited distribution contracts, etc, etc.

Also, I might be wrong, but it seems games need to be "ported" to it? Google Store games which support gamepads won't just work automatically? If so, this is a huge roadblock. Success in this case would be matching GP32, Zeebo and similar stuff.

I thought I was. I have no idea if it will be a success, but I see potential. I don't even place it on the same level as MS, Sony, or Nintendo. I do think it's cool that when I have it, I could potentially start mucking with it like a madman. Anyone can if they're so inclined.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Its not the success in gaming industry that matters to me, it's the fact that it will be homebrewed and will be used as an entertainment device is what matters.

It's a freaking cheap console! I'm sure market price would be $150 and that $100 is only for Kickstarters.

 

[Massa]

I dunno about this thing... I mean if you're just going to do emulators you could use any up to date Android phone and MHL-HDMI to TV and play games using the Wiimote/classic controller or Dualshock 3

Or you could just hook up any computer to a TV.

 

[mr_toa]

Damn I keep refreshing the kick starter page and it just keeps going up.

Almost at $2M now, that was pretty quick :-D

 

[dLMN8R]

Ok, I pledged for this thing. I don't even care if it's successful or not, or if developers actually bring games to it. Its potential as an HTPC and emulator box are way too awesome to overlook for $100.

 

[GK86]

Made the ot

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=481997

Be nice, had to make it from my phone(wasn't easy).

 

[Brad Grenz]

I work at nvidia.

But not the part that knows how much stuff costs, apparently.

EDIT: When announced nVidia said Tegra 3 would cost $15-25 in bulk. That number has come down and by 2013 when Ouya actually comes out it will be even lower.

 

[Rimfya]

Did you watch the video? Those offices. Those computers. Those hipster employees.

Why do they need $1m?

 

[Lucis]

But not the part that knows how much stuff costs, apparently.

EDIT: When announced nVidia said Tegra 3 would cost $15-25 in bulk. That number has come down and by 2013 when Ouya actually comes out it will be even lower.

Not sure what that is but... I am fairly sure I know more about unit pricing more than whatever that article gets their pricing. Also 20k parts is hardly bulk. Also the price I listed for everything else is really a low ball according our AVL (and thats going off the cheapest possible thing which is what nexus 7 is based on mostly)

 

[NeOak]

Did you watch the video? Those offices. Those computers. Those hipster employees.

Why do they need $1m?

Maybe so they can show actual interest from people?

 

[Coconut]

would Onlive (and similar services) run ok on this ? (I assume "yes", but I'm not an expert)

Yes they could.