ouya

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Ouya Kickstarter Campaign Over, So Let the Pre-Orders Begin

Posted by Brad vanVugt on August 10, 2012
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We’ve talked a bit about the upcoming Ouya console, the Android-based console that if successful could be a potential haven for independent game developers.  After wrapping up an incredibly successful fundraiser on Kickstarter, where they were able to raise over $8.5 million (they were only shooting for $950,000), pre-orders for the console have gone live on the Ouya webpage.

Here’s the breakdown of your pre-order options:

  • Ouya console with one controller- $109.99
  • Ouya console with two controllers- $139.99
  • Ouya console with four controllers- $199.99

The prices above are for U.S. orders only; add $10 to each tier for international ordering.  Included in the shipping cost is the fee for shipping as well.

Full disclosure: we did contribute to the Kickstarter campaign and will be receiving an Ouya console when it releases.  The Ouya garnered quite a bit of support during its campaign.  Robotaki (Robert Bowling’s, formerly of Infinity Ward fame, new development studio) will be releasing the episodic prequel to their first game, The Human Element, exclusively on the Ouya.  OnLive will bring it’s streaming game service to Ouya.  Popular open-source media center XMBC will be on the console.  It was also recently announced Namco Bandai is in discussions of a partnership with Ouya to bring some of their most popular titles, like Pac-Man and Tekken, on to the console.

Basically, early indications are this console is going to be legit.  The hope for me is many Android app developers also get on board and essentially make this your Android-powered media center/game console for your home.  I don’t think this will take the place of the PS3 or Xbox 360 in your entertainment center anytime soon, but it should certainly be a solid supplement.  There are lots of games in the mobile space I purposely avoid because I can’t get down with the touch and accelerometer controls required for smartphone and tablet gaming.  Getting to play these titles with a proper controller, on a 60″ screen, is exactly what I’m looking for, and the free-to-play model Ouya is aiming for encourages gamers to really give a chance to some titles they might have otherwise turned a blind eye to.

No release date has been set for the console, but their website says pre-orders should ship in April 2013.

OnLive Coming to the Ouya; We Get Our First Full Look at the Controller

Posted by Brad vanVugt on July 30, 2012
Posted in: News. Tagged: , , . 1 comment

I think the upcoming Ouya console has some real potential to be a cool little device when we see it supposedly next Spring.  It looked cool enough that I decided $99 was a fair price to pre-order pledge to the Ouya cause.  This past Friday, some news was announced that might get even more hardcore gamers interested in the upstart.

In a Kickstarter update, it was revealed OnLive will be supported on Ouya at launch.  For those not familiar, OnLive is a cloud gaming service that allows you to purchase and stream games on demand.  The service currently has hundreds of titles available from over 80 publishers.  In keeping with the Ouya edict, almost every game in the OnLive catalog will offer a 30-minute demo that will work almost identically to the full-game trials offered on the PlayStation Network: you’ll be able to play a title for 30 minutes and then pick up where you left off if you decide to buy the game.

The fact that OnLive is simultaneously surprising and expected.  OnLive has their own console, so it’s interesting they are willing to support someone else’s.  That said, OnLive is also available on PC, Mac, Tablets, and soon to be on Google TV, among other places.  Couple that with the fact that Sony, who was rumored to be interested in acquiring OnLive, ended up going with Gaikai to move them forward in the cloud space, and it’s no wonder OnLive would be trying to get themselves in as many gaming spaces as possible.

What does this mean?  Potentially a lot.  First of all, it provides serious incentive for any current OnLive subscriber to adopt the Ouya console.  It also will provide a very cheap alternative to get triple-A titles to those people who can’t afford current, and maybe even bleeding into the next, generation consoles.  The biggest draw to cloud gaming is the ability to easily stream your content to any device you own that supports the service.

My excitement for OnLive isn’t for OnLive itself though.  It’s the fact that my fingers are crossed that other Android app makers will see this and also get behind porting their apps to work on the Ouya.  What amounts to a very powerful Google TV box that happens to have an extensive gaming catalog to draw from for only $99 sounds like a pretty good deal, and that could happen if companies like Netflix get on board.

A full view of the Ouya controller was also shown off for the first time, and it’s…interesting.  The alignment is standard fare: two analog stick arranged Xbox-style, four each of face and shoulder buttons, a d-pad, unique touchpad in the middle (a smart inclusion, for my money), and a partridge in a pear tree.  Where I raise an eyebrow is with those seemingly long grips on them.  They’re not quite PS3 Boomerang-y, but they seem way bigger than any standard controller out there.  Maybe the pic is showing them at an unfortunate angle.  We’ll see how it feels when the console actually releases.

As of this writing, the Ouya has raised $5.8 million, or almost $5 million more than their original $950,000 goal.  There is still 9 days left to pledge on their Kickstarter page, so if you want an Ouya on the cheap (I think it will release at retail for more than $99) you can go check it out right here.  The Ouya aims to release next Spring.

Ouya, a New Open Gaming Console, Raises $1.5 Million and Counting on First Day

Posted by Brad vanVugt on July 10, 2012
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If you haven’t yet heard of Ouya, pay attention, because it’s quite the interesting piece of hardware.  Console gaming is awesome, but it’s a tough market to break into for independent game developers.  Many of those developers have found much more success developing on mobile platforms, like smartphones and tablets.  There are a lot of solid, awesome looking titles in the mobile space, but they’re limited to being played on small screens with imprecise touch-screen controls.  Ouya aims to change that.

Ouya is going to be an open gaming console that runs Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich.  It is a home console, meaning it will plug into your tv, and be controlled with a good old-fashioned game controller.  Being as it’s an open platform, any developer will be free to publish any game they want on it with one catch: at least part of the title must be free-to-play.  The Ouya will also be available for hackers to do what they will with it, and since it runs Android, any Android app developer can port their app to work on it as well.

This device is no slouch spec-wise as well:

  • Tegra3 quad-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 8GB of internal flash storage
  • HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth LE 4.0
  • USB 2.0 (one)
  • Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
  • Android 4.0
For those who aren’t huge spec nerds, that’s pretty much on par with the high-end Android tablets available in the market.
A pledge of $99 guarantees you an Ouya console and controller before the device hits stores.  The project began funding on Kickstarter today with the goal of raising $950,000.  They hit that goal within 12 hours, and currently are sitting at just under $1.5 million with 29 days to go with over 11,000 backers.

This could be a revolutionary device for the independent gaming market.  The price of entry is incredibly cheap for consumers, and if app developers, not just game developers, get on board with this, it could also cause issues for devices like Google TV and Apple TV.  What could the long-term ramifications be for services like Xbox Live and PlayStation Network if this device gains steam as well?  Microsoft especially has been called out in the past by indie devs as being tough to work with in terms of getting content published to the marketplace.  Having a wide-open platform to publish on might get a lot of developers to forego the major console manufacturers as a mean to interact with their consumers directly.

The Ouya looks incredibly intriguing, and is worth keeping an eye on.  Check out their Kickstarter page for more info, and to make a pledge if you want one.