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Ouya will expand to an ecosystem and allow Ouya games to run on other devices

chadskin

Member
The [a]list daily spoke with Ouya's CEO Julie Uhrman about the Ouya's future, the prospect of direct competition from Amazon and Apple, and how Ouya is marketing its console in a noisy retail environment.

On the new consoles:
The launches of the PS4 and Xbox One attracted enormous media attention, but did that affect Ouya? “It didn't affect us in any way beyond what we anticipated, which was a lot more attention and excitement for video games on the television,” Uhrman said. “We saw a lift in our sales for the holidays, despite new platforms in the space. At the end of the day, these were exactly what we expected them to be: Very expensive boxes that have a lot of features and functionality, with limited choice of content for gamers that is also really expensive.”

On the expansion of the Ouya platform:
Ouya's platform strategy is evolving. As the mobile hardware that the Ouya is based around improves rapidly, it's reasonable to expect improvements in the Ouya hardware as well. The downside is this would fragment the user base, as some would have more powerful devices than others. It's a problem, but Ouya's plans go beyond that issue. “We will always have an Ouya reference device. Think of it similar to the Kindle strategy, or Google's Android itself,” Uhrman explained. “Ouya is more than just that reference device, it's an ecosystem that really can live on other people's devices. One of the focuses this year is Ouya finding ways to bring games to more people, regardless of where they play.”

Then Uhrman dropped a bombshell. “One thing you'll start to see is Ouya on other people's devices,” she said. “For us, we'll always have a minimum set of standards so the games will work well on our device as well as others. It's the hardware plus an ecosystem. If you think about the traditional game consoles, they're custom hardware and custom chips. To get those games, you have to buy a box for hundreds of dollars. We've always wanted to open that up. We started with a $99 box, but we always wanted to create a console platform that can live on other people's devices. We just knew it was going to take us a little bit of time to get it ready. Now we think the software is good enough, it's ready to be embedded in other people's devices. We actually started having some of these conversations during CES, and the takeup was so great that we're really jumping into the strategy with both feet this year.”

On Amazons and Apples rumored foray into the gaming market:
That's an interesting expansion of the strategic vision for Ouya, but the company needs to be aggressive. Both Amazon and Apple are rumored to be launching direct competition to Ouya this year, but Uhrman's not worried. “It wouldn't be a legitimate product category if Amazon or Apple didn't try to compete in it,” Uhrman said. “We think that there is no better proof to our category that it's worth pursuing than Amazon deciding to go into it. We remain focused on being about games first, and changing the way console gaming works.”

Lots more through [a]listdaily
 
Uh I'm pretty sure developers of Ouya exclusive games are simply choosing to develop them on other platforms and that it's not an Ouya backed initiative
 
The only Ouya game that interested me was Towerfall, and that's coming to PC. I don't see this being much use, as Ouya doesn't have very many (or any at all?) worthwhile exclusives.
 

GribbleGrunger

Dreams in Digital
So they took the mobile games market and turned it into a mini console and now they're taking the mini console games and making them available to other mobile devices? What is the point of Ouya again? Looks like they're travelling a hundred miles to stay where they are.
 

MercuryLS

Banned
These micro consoles are doomed to failure unless you've got a strong content ecosystem (Apple/Google) or incredible exclusive game content (Nintendo). It's all about the content because you can't compete with dedicated consoles like PS4/XB1/PC on any metric other than price.
 

KHlover

Banned
So OUYA themselves admit the few devs supporting the platform would be better off releasing their games on the Google Play store? LOL
 

Het_Nkik

Member
Does anyone remember when the Dreamcast was going under and Sega was talking about having Dreamcast hardware built into other devices likes DVD players and computers?


This is like that but even more sad.
 

sibarraz

Banned
ouya-vomit.jpg
 
truly feel sorry for ouya the company. remember when they had to set up their kiosks on the parking lot of that e3 stadium? damn.
 

DrXym

Member
They screwed it up by creating an "ecosystem" in the first place. Should have just released a controller SDK (which could also do cloud, gaming services) and made money from certifying games, certifying hardware and selling controllers and their own console. Let the games live on Google Play.
 

rrs

Member
I'm guessing Ouya stauff think the name can stay alive by licensing the front end to whoever, but I wonder who would want the name.

They're certainly putting up more of a fight that Onlive.
Hehe I remember reading articles with one of their bigwigs that basically said the company was going to be worth a bajillion dollars and those that denied their service was revolutionary were living in the past.

Onlive was onto something big, however. Ouya is a retread on old ground.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
They're certainly putting up more of a fight that Onlive.

Hehe I remember reading articles with one of their bigwigs that basically said the company was going to be worth a bajillion dollars and those that denied their service was revolutionary were living in the past.

As for Ouya, they can't get too smug with the 'oh teh PS4/xbone are super expensive, we are the way' angle - If I were looking for a cheaper gaming alternative, instead of £99 I reckon with some good bargain hunting I could snag either a Vita or hell a Wii U for not an unreasonable amount more.
 

massoluk

Banned
Android games licensed for a system made to run a forked Android OS to be made available for other systems running Android OS through said apps made to imitate the system...
 
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