• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Kotaku: Meet Ouya, A New $99 Console That's Not The X360, PS3, Wii

pramath

Banned
Kotaku said:
Leaks are springing, and word is out that a new mystery home video game console called Ouya is in development. This is a real thing.

Ouya is a $99 box running on the Android platform, with a focus on free gaming, according to details spotted in a listing on a site for tech start-ups spotted by the tech reporters at The Verge. The most tantalizing detail that they report is that: "Even the underlying hardware is 'built to be hacked'—every customer who buys a retail box will get a dev kit in the bargain, the site claims."

The look of the console is being designed by Yves Béhar, who crafted the look of the One Laptop Per Child computer. The project is also backed by ex-IGN exec Julie Uhrman, former Xbox gaming honcho Ed Fries, and some other top tech folks.

Sources close to the project tell me there are even more surprises to what is an altogether out-of-left field new entrant into the home video game console wars.

We've got Xbox, PlayStation and Wii. Have we got room for something like Ouya in our living rooms?

I'll have more on this very unusual project in the coming days.

original.jpg
Although I'm not sure this means much to any of us who frequent message boards like GAF beyond being a novelty at best, to the casual market, this might prove to a very attractive proposition, and it might prove to be another in the long line of blows against traditional console gaming that everyone keeps claiming keep being made.

SOURCE
 
Best quote:

"The project is also backed by ex-IGN exec Julie Uhrman, former Xbox gaming honcho Ed Fries, and some other top tech folks."

You know it's bad when an ex IGN exec is the first named.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
2 simple questions need to be answered

Can it run crysis?

Can I play Call of Duty on it?
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I'm not convinced this will actually become a product that is available for sale.

If it does, I'm highly skeptical that it will obtain retail distribution.

If it does, I'm certain it won't generate any new game software development for Android as a whole.

If it does, I don't think that development will be successful.

If it is, I expect that success will be short-lived.
 

DGRE

Banned
The software isn't there. I think apple and Google are missing the point if they think that people want to play mobile games at home.

I know this is 3rd party for Android but we've heard these rumblings for a long time.
 

DGRE

Banned
EDIT: double post. Sorry.
I'm not convinced this will actually become a product that is available for sale.

If it does, I'm highly skeptical that it will obtain retail distribution.

If it does, I'm certain it won't generate any new game software development for Android as a whole.

If it does, I don't think that development will be successful.

If it is, I expect that success will be short-lived.

This is what I was trying to say. Thanks Stump.

/thread
 
I'm not convinced this will actually become a product that is available for sale.

If it does, I'm highly skeptical that it will obtain retail distribution.

If it does, I'm certain it won't generate any new game software development for Android as a whole.

If it does, I don't think that development will be successful.

If it is, I expect that success will be short-lived.

Time to invest.
 

Boss Man

Member
I don't know that people who play free games on their phones really want to buy a console to have at home to begin with. Interesting though, I guess we'll see.
 

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
I don't like the free part. If you design a console like this (that's all DD and focused on small games) it should have some good money behind it and a solid framework, store/network stuff and have a boatload of people ready for relations with devs. I'd say pay those small and new devs beforehand according to their game project and make them release on your platform. If you make a game platform, having the whole "open" thing behind it is very difficult to successfully pull off

Design is ass too :/
 

VerTiGo

Banned
Actually, I would surmise that it probably has a better chance of surviving without the black, destructive plague that is "AAA" garbage.

Agreed. The core gamer's concept of what's AAA is part of the reason as to why so many studios and publishers continue to go down the shitter. Someone, said above that it would be an emulator machine and if it's easy to customize and install applications and games using the Android OS then it will probably be used as many as an emulator machine. Can it go further than that? Perhaps, but I also think that all next-gen machines will be taking a similar route, but if it's cheap... who knows -- could be a hit.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
I'm not convinced this will actually become a product that is available for sale.

If it does, I'm highly skeptical that it will obtain retail distribution.

If it does, I'm certain it won't generate any new game software development for Android as a whole.

If it does, I don't think that development will be successful.

If it is, I expect that success will be short-lived.

Sooooo what you're saying is, invest?
 

VerTiGo

Banned
I don't know that people who play free games on their phones really want to buy a console to have at home to begin with. Interesting though, I guess we'll see.

Well, it wouldn't just be about the games but other services provided. Once again, all next-gen consoles are providing this. The disparity is price and power -- and of course software but that's not so important unless you're Nintendo and looking to dominate the industry.
 

pmj

Member
If they make the hardware for this thing cheap and compelling enough I might just buy one just for playing around with. I think I'd need a solid controller, and maybe a remote for media center purposes.
 

Mlatador

Banned
Ok, if this can play MAME without problems (as good as a pc), can be hooked up to my CRT via component or RGB, then I'll buy it!
 

Swifty

Member
I think I'd get it just to have an easy, out of the box method of getting console emulators running on my TV.
 

VerTiGo

Banned
You may be sick of them but the masses are not.

Is Angry Birds considered "AAA" now. If so he's right, and you're not. Games designed to be AAA "quality" are what's hit the current home console software pool so much lately. What any platform manufacturer is hoping to come across isn't exactly "AAA" quality but disruptive and popular and you do not need an uber powerful machine or epic publisher list to get... it just happens.

The bigger concerns are the ease of development, licensing fees, and most importantly branding and marketing. On paper this idea sounds like it could work, the same way consumers by cheaper smart phones, netbooks, etc... there is a lot more room in a competitive home market than we think there is these days.
 
One of the "top tech folks" needs to give us the specs.

In all honesty if it does:
1) 1080p video out
2) Netflix, Hulu, Funimation (through google apps)
3) Has near perfect emulation for N64 down, with added resolution and AA
4) Can do Mame
5) Supports all my google play movies

I am in. Strange I know.
 

VerTiGo

Banned
Ok, if this can play MAME without problems (as good as a pc), can be hooked up to my CRT via component or RGB, then I'll buy it!

Well MAME does work exceptionally well on most Android phones so I think that's a given. Pirate heaven for sure....
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Ehhhh... You can already get access to all kinds of homebrew shit you want if you have any kind of (even non gaming) PC, HTPC, Tablet PC, laptop, small form PC, whatever. What does this bring to the table? It's just going to be another super niche product like those homebrew geared handhelds which are bought by hackers/developers more than gamers and at least had the benefit of being handheld. I guess this one comes with Android rather than Linux or Windows or whatever else and gives you access to that library but then again any other Android device, most of which are also handheld, has access to that same library and anyone can develop for it too, so... Hyping it up like it has any chance of standing up to the big three is silly to say the least...
 
If we can hack the Google TV software on there, that would actually be a quite good GTV box. Or better yet, XBMC.

As a console? :lol
 

wondermega

Member
as an indie developer I am 100% behind this idea. Android has been great to me (way more lucrative than iOS) and I see big, big things in their future. Whether it's this ouya thing, or just building the OS into new TVs, or bluetooth connection between TV <-> phone or whatever damned shape it ends up as, I really don't care - I just want to see some mainstream, non-niche way to get physical controllers (or mouse & keyboard) into the hands of people with at least a casual interest in playing games so that I can get my games to them.

PC is decent but it's really "if you're not on steam then it's almost not worth your while" and every other service has pretty hefty hang-ups compared to Android. Sure, things are still extremely early (who knows what will happen with the big 3's online networks, never mind EA, Activision, etc) but for now self-publishing can actually be feasible.
 
Top Bottom