Thoughts?
Looks amazing. Will be a welcome platform if it comes into fruition. They key word here is ‘if’
Yeah, wonder what the retail price will be.
I’m wondering if this is the start of a whole flood off ‘budget consoles’, much like Slender games.
People see an opportunity, and want to cash in on the hype.
The kickstarter amount of $8 million OUYA received must have gotten some people thinking.
As a matter of concept, an Android console is a fantastic idea. Which makes one wonder why none of the big names haven’t gotten into it in a big way. Thats topic about which I came across this interesting article on Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/08/01/this-is-ouyas-fatal-flaw/
Among other things what it points out is that the Big names are probably watching the Android Console Space keenly. The moment any small/indie entrepreneur becomes even remotely successful, expect the big names to come barging in as well.
This does not make any difference to us as indie game makers of course. But this does pose a huge risk anxiety to all those small time guys trying to make an android console successful
I’ve read that article before.
The OUYA is a $99 console. Yet a new TV costs several hundred dollars, or more depending on if you like a really big screen… several thousands.
When OUYA is released, it’s going to make a lot of sales, why? Because even if Samsung or some other big tech company releases their own console built into a TV, its still going to be the price of a new TV, and people will be more willing to fork out $99 than buy a whole new TV. On top of that, there doesn’t seem to be anything on the horizon competing with OUYA, other than apples Smart TV and Steam’s console.
So while the author of that article makes a point, there is much speculation and that article may only be valid in a few years time, when it is time to upgrade the TV again.
While I agree with you that a console built in to a TV will face the problems you mentioned, the big names will not necessarily go that route. As the article points out, the big names could very well make competing consoles and presumably use their bigger manufacturing and marketing muscle to marginalize the little guys
Excerpt from the article
"Let’s say that I see this new upstart Ouya console, and it’s a success. A bunch of people are paying $99 to get this thing plugged into their TVs and a few dozen (hundred?) Android apps are already ported over. These games are all adapted to the proper 1080P resolution and work with controllers.
Now I decide I’m going to build my own Android-based console. Maybe I’ll sell mine for $75 and undercut Ouya. Or maybe I’ll sell it for $99 but pack in more powerful hardware – a faster processor or a better graphics chip."
Then it becomes a game of cat and mouse. While the bigger player may have more purchasing power, at that price point $75 over OUYA’s $99 is not going to be much of a factor. What will be the factor is what features the console offers, hardware (which OUYA can upgrade at any time) and supported games. Just because a big company wants in, doesn’t mean they CAN provide a superior product that everyone will prefer.
I guess the larger point I am making here is, a video game console space doesn’t seem to me like the natural space for small timers. It is a big space. It aint a nook or cranny. So, since it is a big space, the big fish will get there sooner or later. The smaller fish might be the ones to explore it first, but the bigger fish will be the ones to eventually dominate it
Exactly
The only reason why the big fish dominated the console space was because only the big fish game developers were making games for consoles.
Now that is all changing… an indie friendly console is long overdue and console development isn’t all about AAA titles and big money and publishers anymore… anybody can get into the living room now which is a huge game changer.
As indies, lets all hope that turns out to be true. That would be most ideal for indies
Lol, no thanks. This is obviously just a group of guys trying to ride the coat tails of Ouya.
If you read their experience, its “We made software for PC and iOS. We also work with engineers.”
Also, while the Ouya has its own library of games, the only thing this thing does is port your Android apps to the tv… who cares?
But you can buy matching decorative flower vases for this one… so there’s that… 
The Wii-U game pad rip off is better IMO
It might not be on TV but still I’d prefer to play indie games on that then play AAA on my Wii-U or even indie on the Wii-U.
it’s still a mobile quality game.
its like going back in technology in terms of console also mobile games are casual and will never be as deep as the good console games
This looks like a badly designed me too console.
It’s the 80s all over again!
And all the currently established big guys have to do is push a software patch to their game consoles to make this a reality and at the same time kick Ouya out the door again.
And either way, we win!
Plus, how many people buy TVs with built in DVD players compared to people who buy a TV and a DVD player?
Furthermore, with the hardware this cheap and readily accessible I expect we’ll be seeing a rapid upgrade pace. If they’re all Android based there’s no reason that games can’t target multiple vendors, and you’d only need to target the top two or three to get great market coverage. If they’re under $100 then people who play a lot of games may happily purchase a new console every year if it means that their games play better. So what matters won’t so much be the hardware as it’ll be the store - if I’ve bought 20 games on the OUYA market place then it’s not their hardware that’ll keep me around, it’s the fact that if I buy an upgraded OUYA next year I can still play all the games I’ve already got on the same device.
Then take friends into consideration. A bunch of my mates and I already have OUYAs on the way, and presumably we’ll add each other as friends to whatever community and multiplayer features there are. So when other people we know buy something, are they more likely to buy the Samsung or the OUYA - on one they can easily play with us, on the other perhaps not so. And the difference in hardware won’t matter so much in the short term because all of the (decent) games will be scaled to play well on the console with the best player base, not the one with the best chips.
Furthermore, it might actually be easier for a game to support multiple Android consoles than is to already support multiple Android handhelds. For a console game you can happily support 720p and 1080p in a single orientation and call it a day. For a mobile game you’ve got potentially dozens or resolutions to support…
The painful bit will be that most likely everyone will have their own controller APIs and possibly their own social networking systems, though if we’re lucky even these can be handled just once per platform.
I thought that all OUYA games were to be free?