Just heard about this new Android TEGRA 3 console planned for $99
Designed to be hackable and all games free to play?
It should’ve been a tablet. They could name it Ouya board 
Saw this this morning. Very promising. Not unlike a design I made a mockup of a few months back.
I’ve always had nightmaric dreams about a console at $100 with all free games that implements the recently surfaced Sony patent on ‘game breaking advertisement injections’ …
I like the idea itself but free games and subpar hardware will not get it anything at all. At least a Tegra4 or Core A15 + PowerVR Series 5XT / Series6 gpu are a pure must for hd resolutions and anything lower than that isn’t worth the volume the box wastes in storage
I see it as a $100 immobile “value” tablet that hooks to your Tv and gets people on Google Play, that can’t possibly be a bad thing.
I don’t think it’s a tablet, no built in display!
Its a Quadlet with external display.
This is very cool.
Looks like its basically another next-gen console, like the PS4, WiiU, and XBox720. The difference being that, if I were to guess, it will not have discs. It sounds like it just connects to a library of games online that you can download and play via the console.
Makes me wonder if Unity will have to make many significant changes to allow us to build for it…
Unity already exports to Android, so my guess is not major changes.
I’m trying to figure out where either article mentioned Tegra…much less Tegra 3. Considering the price point of the Tegra 2 Trim-Slice, it’s hard to believe you’d be looking at a Tegra 3 for $100. I run Android x86 on an ol’ netbook - so I’d figure it being more a case of something along those lines, Android x86 running on old Atoms that never got sold…
Nintendo would like to introduce you to the Wii. The games aren’t free, but they deliberately never even tried to compete on the beasty hardware/HD bandwagons, and the box is hardly a waste of storage as a result.
And if the thing is going to be approximately as powerful as the current average tablet, that’s plenty of power for decent games. It might not be up to playing Skyrim or Gears of War 3, but somehow I doubt that those are the games it’s intended for.
The whole “free” thing is what makes me dubious. Surely that means that the whole platform is designed around ad-based revenue?
But it’s “easily hackable”, so people would be able to easily turn off the ads if the system itself is displaying them.
I’m hoping there’s at least some method available to put paid games on.
So, after all, it looks like the trend is starting to march “real console” out of oblivion!!
The death of console has started - next gen console won’t be able to compete in price against these mobile offering.
Ngmoco’s Cousins predicts the death of consoles within 5-10 years
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/141407-Ngmoco-s-Cousins-predicts-the-death-of-consoles-within-5-10-years
If I were to guess, it will most likely display ads on the library itself (not necessarily in the games). Still not sure how developers would benefit from this (beyond exposure).
Google has always been all about open information and free service. I think this is a brilliant move that could prove to be a major landmark in the coming game era.
Google has always been about making money. It’s a business.
Well, for starters, people who are able to “hack” with it would be the minority. PCs are “hackable”, but how many people actually do it?
But more importantly, if games are monetised through adverts then I expect that the adverts would be built into the games as well as the dashboard, and I doubt that the games themselves would be “hackable”.
Interestingly, while they’re talking about their free-to-play model, the games they’re showing in their promo image aren’t free ones, and the image clearly refers to a “store”…
Of course they’re interested in making money. They have to pay their bills too. But if you look at the evidence; an open market on their app store, Google Docs, SketchUp, Google Maps, etc, etc.
Google has almost always been the first to step up in nearly every category of technology and offer a free service. They’re even working towards providing free internet to the world (one step at a time, of course).
You’re looking at free versions. They have commercial/business versions of most items.
Think Unity. There’s free and there’s pro. That’s Google.
Yes, and before companies like Unity came along, you’d be paying $500k for HeroEngine. $1 million for the CryEngine. $500k for Unreal. Its companies like Unity (and Google) that have stepped up to provide free alternatives (even if they are limited versions). This is a major reason why I support companies like Google and Unity so wholeheartedly, while finding companies like Apple and MS annoying at best.
Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re in the business of openly exchanging information. That’s the value that they provide.
And it’s free to individuals precisely because that’s what makes it most valuable to the commercial users who pay for it. Almost everyone uses Google because it’s free and useful, which means that they can easily collect aggregate information (which companies will pay for) and they have great market reach for advertising (which companies will pay for).