Slashdot Mirror

It's not just the cost of the hardware. How much does an OUYA game cost (the price of the main entitlement) compared to the average Wii U game?

ODK IAP supports two kinds of in-app purchases, which lead to very different free-to-play designs. Entitlements This represents the shareware/expansion model: buy a feature once for a particular e-mail address and keep it. For example, Id Software could choose to put Doom in the store, with "Knee-Deep in the Dead" free. It would have an entitlement called "Ultimate Doom" containing "The Shores of Hell", "Inferno", and "Thy Flesh Consumed". It would have a second entitlement called "Doom II". Consumables These can be purchased more than once. The bad reputation of free-to-play that you mention comes from abuse of consumables in game design, such as "energy" mechanics on even the smallest actions designed to induce the player to pay to override multi-hour waits.

I don't think you're "wrong" for not wanting an Ouya. And I'm not "wrong" for not wanting a PS3.

Let me explain my side of it, hopefully better.

I see those tablet/phone style games as "mostly inferior" to the ones available on the PS3. Even Minecraft PE isn't as good as the PS3 version.

Now if you're on a phone/tablet without your PS3 around, that's a different story, you're stuck with mostly-crappy phone/tablet games...unless you got a DSfoo/PSP/Vita

But the Ouya is intended to sit in the living room next to the TV. And frankly, as a gaming machine, the PS3 is utterly superior to that Ouya. Maybe if all you want is the sort of cheap shovelware games available on phones/tablets that's okay, but when folks such as I consider them inferior...it's not.

And considering that one of the "big tips" for making Ouya a better gaming platform is connecting up a PS3's DualShock 3, installing emulators and playing Nintendo games on it...well you might forgive me for considering the thing a bad buy, even for cheap indie 2D games, compared to a PS3. And yes, there are cheap indie 2D games on the PS3.

Compare this:

https://www.ouya.tv/ouyas-best...

to this:

http://www.complex.com/video-g...

Yeah, openness is a double-edged sword. There are 180 games at launch - a tenth of that would be a respectable console launch. But when you look at a list of them, the bulk of them look embarrassingly amateurish. http://www.ouya.tv/games/

If they've any sense, they're going to have to start curating and categorising the game list. I absolutely think the platform should be open for anyone to develop on. But the mainstream isn't going to take seriously a platform where games in the main menu have Comic Sans loading screen text.

The game knows I have the game and the decrypt key

But it doesn't know that you obtained the game and the decrypt key legitimately.

What else does it need to do? Ask the retailler if I have the receipt?

Yes. For example, the Ouya platform implements a similar policy to Steam and Google Play Licensing, and it actually refers to this data as a "receipt".

Yes. You will be asked to provide payment information *before* you can download any games. Everything is free to try so you may never purchase anything, but, we need to collect your information upfront. We will expand our options as we grow. Initially, we will support credit cards, debit cards, and pre-paid/gift cards and promo cards (in June). Remember: we will never charge you unless you decide to make a purchase (for example, you want to unlock the full game or buy the flaming sword).

http://www.ouya.tv/faq/

The bigger problem it has is that its controller, from what I've read, feels "mushy" and suffers from high latency. That's an actual problem.

Are you talking about the Dev consoles or the ones that are actually shipping to regular backers?

http://www.ouya.tv/its-all-about-control/

if the two companies have colluded on the matter the console space may get very unpleasant

Unpleasant for Sony and Microsoft, pleasant for Nintendo and Valve. Wii U plays Wii U disc games without connecting, and Steam has an offline mode that doesn't need to connect more than once every few weeks to renew licenses.The License Verification Library on Google Play can be set to operate like Steam, where the license is cached for several days. It also has a strict mode that operates without caching, but Google warns in multiple places that this mode will cause an application not to work on airplanes. The Ouya receipt system isn't entirely clear as to whether receipts are cached.

You all remember OUYA, don't you? The 'Android console' destined to be a failure because Microsoft and SONY were going to crush them completely...remember?
Only now SONY and Microsoft have begun having a contest to see which one of them can completely tank their console sales the best and Microsoft just took a major lead in the competition... Not that I can really blame SONY as they're still smarting over how badly they got spanked when they removed OtherOS from the PS3.
Meanwhile with this latest salvo, Microsoft announcing a requirement for always on internet connectivity just to play the game, it looks like those triple A titles the fanboys were moaning about not being available on OUYA is a good thing. Instead of Planned Obsolesce games, the OUYA will offer games that will work darn near forever--and emulators will be available so you can still play all those old games you fell in love with gaming for in the first place!
Makes a nice HTPC with XBMC too I hear....what's not to love?

The solution is on the way then: http://www.ouya.tv/

That will solve both steps 1 and step 2 for you. As well as being a slight bit cheaper than buying your own mini-pc, and at the same time have a more limited application purpose. However, it sounds to me like that isn't something you would consider a problem?

Their console design looks a little retro to me.

http://www.ouya.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/photo-1-e1359051832288.jpg

Unfortunately, if you scroll to the bottom of this page to see the specs, it is USB 2.0. That's great for peripherals and basic PC connectivity, but with only 8GB of internal storage, having fast access to external storage would have been nice. I'll still be getting one, though ;)

Sure, there's fan art reminiscent of Soviet marketing materials. Creative Commons has the same thing.

What you describe has already been made and is almost ready to ship. It's called the Ouya.

$45 for this "Single Controller Pack", or $99 for a dedicated OUYA game console with controller, also runs android, doesn't have to worry about the game being interrupted by a phone call, no worries about frame rate drops due to various background services running, and already has dedicated third party developers (rather than a "developer program"). Yeah, sorry guys, the other team already has my money!

http://www.ouya.tv/

The correct pronunciation is "whee-ya", turns out. I thought it rhymed with "boo-ya". http://www.ouya.tv/

Have they published final specs for the controller? Last I checked it lacked start/select buttons and featured an unnecessary awkward button labeling and it wasn't clear how the trigger would be setup. Has any of that changed?

http://www.ouya.tv/

The bare bones site has a video and a pic of the controller.

I'd get them some gaming "coupons" for when you can order an Ouya. Android gaming on your TV is going to be a grand time. It will be far more focused on playability than fancy graphics. With the Android gaming community behind it, $2.99 to $0.99 will be your price range for a game, not $30-$50.

http://www.ouya.tv/

Problem Solved, and for only $100 - http://www.ouya.tv/

Link got cut out. It is here in case you want to go directly.