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Ouya Dev Consoles Ship, SDK Released
An anonymous reader writes "Earlier this year, the Android-based Ouya game console project raised over nine times as much funding as they initially asked for in their Kickstarter campaign. Now, Ouya developer consoles are starting to ship, and folks on the Ouya team released a video showing what the developers should expect. As explained in the video, the console currently being shipped is by no means the final hardware, but promises to give developers everything they need to start developing apps and games for Ouya. The only surprise is that they decided to add a micro-USB port to the hardware, making it easy to hook up to a PC. The Ouya team has also released an SDK for the device (which they call the ODK — Ouya Development Kit), and have provided most of the source under the Apache 2.0 license. They wrote, 'We think we’ve got a great team of developers here at OUYA, but there’s strength in numbers and a wealth of passionate, talented people out there. We want you, the developers of the world, to work alongside us to continually improve our platform. It’s our hope that releasing a more open ODK will help foster such innovation.'"
Well, I said it couldn't be done, I was wrong. Very well done to them!
The logo looks like a commie piece of propaganda straight out of Moscow circa 1925
- Giant fan in a sealed box. Why?
- I know the xbox dev box comes in clear plastic, but doesn't make it look any less cheap.
- D-Pad from hell (another x-box transfer)
- Have they done any software to support their games? Didn't even see Jelly Bean load up.
- Awkward video full of awkward comments. Ouch.
I have high hopes for the console, but holy shit, it needs work.
Something about them not having a lot of downloads from their site flagged it as possible phishing or malware.
"There there, ship." *pats the hull*
Traditional game consoles will not be able to keep up with the pace of innovation now that a Kickstarter project can come along and do this.
Sony and Microsoft are going to have their work cut out for them. If their console is not significantly more powerful than the average PC then Google or any third party company can come along and take their asses to the bank. The linux, steam and android combination really is a game changer and with truly state of the art hardware they could get the hardcore gamers this way.
If a console were released for $1000 but it had massive graphics and computer power I would seriously consider buying it over the traditional $300 console. I think the reason people would be willing to pay is people now want gaming super computers and not just consoles. The first company to offer a true gaming supercomputer will get my money. They say graphics don't matter but obviously they do if people are always trying to buy the latest PC and latest graphics card.
What someone needs to do is create a console which somehow links up multiple graphics cards for under $1000. Call it a gaming supercomputer, and target hardcore gamers via Kickstarter. See how much funds can be raised. See if a custom chip can be designed for the project if enough funds can be raised to be used along side the Nvidia GeForce GTX 590. Allow for upgrading the card or cards and you have it.
Sure, there's fan art reminiscent of Soviet marketing materials. Creative Commons has the same thing.
Traditional game consoles will not be able to keep up with the pace of innovation
Of course they will. Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Walmart sewn up.
If a console were released for $1000 but it had massive graphics and computer power I would seriously consider buying it over the traditional $300 console.
That's been available since 2007, when PC inputs (VGA and HDMI) became standard features on television monitors. But Best Buy and friends are doing their dangedest to keep this idea from popping into home users' minds. A couple years ago, I asked a Best Buy sales associate about what TV would be best for a home theater PC, and he led me to the PS3 section.
What someone needs to do is create a console which somehow links up multiple graphics cards for under $1000.
How much do SLI-capable video cards for standard PCs currently cost?
Isn't the point of Android that any app runs on any device? Why would they then need a developer console (I assume for game developers). That implies they'd make games that only run on the console. Even if they set up their own separate app store, the other 99% of android users would probably find it and get all pissed off that their $600 smartphone can't run basically anything in it. That really defeats the intention of the Android OS. They should have just made it a Linux box in that case.
What the hell? A fan inside the box? Please tell me this won't be in the final version. Have these guys never heard about heat sinks? The way I would do this would be to have the case be made out of aluminum and the heats sink would be connected to the case utilizing the case itself to dissipate heat
Surely it wouldn't have killed them to put a photo of the production verson *somewhere* in the post...?
Isn't the point of Android that any app runs on any device?
How many current games can run on a first-generation HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1)? And how can a game that expects a gamepad run if no gamepad is available? True, the workaround of putting a virtual gamepad at the lower corners of the screen works for one button (Sonic). But extending it to two (Bubble Bobble, Mega Man, Contra, Metroidvania, etc.) runs into problems with players blindly reaching for on-screen buttons and missing them, which only become worse with four or six (Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter).
Why would they then need a developer console (I assume for game developers).
To make sure that their designs adapt well to the Ouya controller and that their graphics engines don't turn into a slide show on the Ouya console's GPU.
That really defeats the intention of the Android OS. They should have just made it a Linux box in that case.
An Android device is a Linux box. Why don't people say GNU/Linux when they mean GNU/Linux?
They do offer it, it's called a PC.
Very few people are willing to buy a second PC and connect it to a television. See, for example, these comments. Part of the difference is that devices marketed as PCs are traditionally associated with a different kind of game, the FPS, RTS, and MMORPG that can be played with a keyboard and mouse, not the platformers, racing games, fighting games, and party games that work with one to four gamepads.
When their Kickstarter began, I sent them a message (along with many other folks, I'm sure) that it needed _some_ means of getting a wired internet connection and/or access to by-wire accessories. USB was one of the possibilities I offered.
Now devs for Ouya can turn around and leverage that USB port to allow the Ouya device to latch on to a PC's network connection. Excellent.
(Page doesn't seem to show if it's USB2 or 3. At this point, I sure hope it's USB 3...)
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I am still not sure I understand the purpose of the OUYA. If it doesn't run existing Android games, then it is just another locked-down device/market from someone else. What's the big whoop? Just the fact that is runs Android?? Wouldn't a device that runs standard Android and has access to all the existing games in Google Play be far more desirable?
The hardware will be near zero-profit and they will just rake in the money from sales of apps on their proprietary "store". Why would developers want to lock themselves into another, different store with different rules, and target only the Ouya?
Wasn't the excitement to have a cheap set-top box that could play inexpensive Android games? If it is a separate, proprietary marketplace, then the selection will be dismal, the prices much higher, and you won't be able to use those apps on any other non-Ouya device.
Plus, if you already paid for Android games on the Google Play or Amazon App Store, they won't run on the Ouya either. I don't see how this is a good thing. Despite it running an Android fork, it is just another semi-proprietary platform.
I would rather pay more for a really "open" set-top box with decent hardware, joysticks, and have it just use Google Play and link to my existing account. They can make money off the box.
Will this take bluetooth standard controllers?
From the video it looks like they are shipping without real directional buttons and instead have the same braindead Xbox design.
Also put the fucking sticks in the middle where they belong, just clone a PS3 controller or thrustmaster and be done with it.
The only thing this console has going for it is the OnLive service and XBMC. The Tegra 3 was obsolete when they announced it. Perhaps that's why it's so cheap, they're buying up old stock?
I already have a phone in my hands that has more CPU power than the Ooya, it has an HDMI port, and I play games on it all the time using my PS3 controller. Why would I buy this device? It seems like it would be LESS convenient than what I already have, which is a powerful game console that follows me everywhere and can be plugged into ANY TV in about 3 seconds.... this is a less-powerful console tethered to my house that would mean something else I have to carry around?
I don't understand who the target market for this thing is or who is going to buy it. I am a geek, a gamer, and an Android fanatic. You would think I would be the ideal target market for this device. But if I don't see any use for it, then I don't think there is much hope in the broader marketplace. To me it is a solution looking for a problem.
They got two things right... that mobile is the future of gaming, and that Android is going to rule the market. But what they got wrong is the assumption that standalone consoles are going to stay around. Who need a standalone console when your phone is more powerful? All you need is a CONTROLLER. They should have put their project into making a seamless bluetooth controller experience that worked for any phone (the PS3 controller solution is great when you have it working but is a bit convoluted for a newbie to set up).
you seem to be implying that something cannot be both true and flamebait.
I seem to remember that if the truth is flamebait, it's what called an "inconvenient truth". What's the polite way to express something like this?
Wouldn't a device that runs standard Android and has access to all the existing games in Google Play be far more desirable?
Some genres work better with a capacitive multitouch screen. Games in these genres belong in the Google Play Store first and Amazon Appstore once they're successful on Google Play Store. (Amazon charges an annual fee.) Other genres work better with a gamepad. Games in these genres belong in the Ouya store. They could be published in the Google Play Store, but as I understand it, it's not easy to get solid sales figures for external gamepads such as iCade and iControlPad products.
Why would developers want to lock themselves into another, different store with different rules, and target only the Ouya?
Because not all developers already have enough "financial stability" and "relevant experience" to lock themselves into the Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony platform. And because not all game designs translate well to a flat multitouch screen.
Wasn't the excitement to have a cheap set-top box that could play inexpensive Android games?
The excitement is to have a cheap set-top box that plays inexpensive gamepad games developed by people who happen not to have been born near Austin, Boston, or Seattle.
Plus, if you already paid for Android games on the Google Play or Amazon App Store, they won't run on the Ouya either. I don't see how this is a good thing.
If you paid for a game on a store that carries games designed for a touch screen, you paid for it because you thought the experience with a touch screen was worth the money.
Have you found a good solution for HMDI plugs?
All the ones on my devices are on the back and a bitch to get too. What I want is a way to plug my phone in to the front of the TV area and hook it up to wall power while doing so. A docking device would be best probably.
I don't have that.
I already have a phone in my hands that has more CPU power than the Ooya, it has an HDMI port, and I play games on it all the time using my PS3 controller. Why would I buy this device?
The fact that not enough other people connect PS3 controllers to their phones is enough to discourage game developers from targeting Android phones with PS3 controllers. If I were to develop a game targeting Android phones with PS3 controllers, how big could I expect my market to be? Are there even published sales figures for the iCade or iControlPad to reassure developers that the market for gamepad games on Android isn't entirely unprofitable?
All you need is a CONTROLLER.
And only one Android phone has ever been bundled with one: the Xperia Play by Sony.
the PS3 controller solution is great when you have it working but is a bit convoluted for a newbie to set up
And Android 4.2 broke the Wii controller solution.
Mine is MHL, so it's just part of the USB jack.
But to be honest, in 6-12 months HDMI out will be obsolete. Miracast mirroing is going to mean no one will bother with wires anymore. My phone supports it, waiting for my TV firmware to be updated. Supported by default in JellyBean 4.1.2
Why would you ask a bestbuy sales person anything?
To simulate the experience of the average home user. This is because the people who buy video games, who provide the revenue with which developers feed their families, are average home users more often than developers.
If it has bluetooth, nothing will stop you from using a 360 controller
Since when are Xbox 360 wireless controllers Bluetooth? I thought they used a proprietary RF layer, and using them with a PC required buying at least one of the controllers in a bundle with a USB receiver. And even then, PlayStation 3 and Wii controllers don't completely follow the Bluetooth HID standard, and underlying changes in an operating system's Bluetooth stack can break and have broken driver applications designed to map these slightly nonstandard devices.
So it's true. AGW is flamebait ;^P
having a very small, low power, computer allowing basic functions to replace my aging, loud and hot, HTPC would be nice.
Having a device that actually has games for it would be nice. Should Ouya not pan out, what games do you recommend that fully take advantage of what makes an HTPC different, such as a big screen and multiple gamepads?
is the hardware capable enough to handle anything beyond the typical iOS/Android fare?
That depends on how you define "capable". Do you consider retro consoles incapable? In one sense, any game that assumes the player has gamepad as opposed to just a touch screen is "beyond the typical iOS/Android fare" because only one Android phone (Xperia Play) has ever shipped with a gamepad.
I meant on the other end, or are you leaving this cable in all the time?
I would rather not play games over such a slow link.
I'm still a bit boggled by this world where PCs no longer really use their own controllers and resort to pre-existing console pads.
PC games and console games have traditionally been in different genres. Genres popular among PC gamers (FPS/RTS/MMO) tend to use a mouse and keyboard rather than a gamepad. See CronoCloud's explanation of the traditions resulting in the current state of the market.
By slow I mean the latency not the throughput.
The expensive part of PS3, Xbox, Wii is not the hardware or hardware development. (Excluding the Cell processor development, which was a big mistake.) The cost is in the software development. If they can't get good game companies on-board it will all be a waste. And if the big game companies do get on-board, they'll port to whoever's hardware has the most viewers. Doesn't look good for an open hardware company any way you spin it.
a controller in Android is just another input device. You can use a controller in Android with ANY game that supports keyboard input.
For one thing, how does an analog joystick translate into keyboard input? For another, the game has to be developed with keyboard input in mind. If there aren't enough people who already carry what the application sees as a gaming keyboard, then developers aren't likely to target Android devices with gaming keyboards, instead targeting other platforms whose users are more likely to already own gaming keyboards.
All that is needed is a seamless foolproof controller solution, and good marketing, and partnering with publishers.
Good luck getting this sort of marketing and partnering in a market already dominated by Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, and by devices that aren't widely sold to the public apart from a bundle with 24-month cellular voice and data plan. Perhaps Ouya might be the key to getting this marketing and partnering done.
Also, Android does not use GNU anything beyond GCC. It specificially kicks out anything GPLed from userspace.
That's exactly my point. Every Android machine is a Linux machine, and every GNU/Linux machine is a Linux machine. Saying "GNU/Linux" is less of a mouthful than saying "the Linux stack that is not Android".
Ouya Dev Consoles Ship
You know, actual inflation numbers -- and calculators which use them to do conversions of prices -- are trivial to locate online, so why use assumptions like this? Adjusting for the actual inflation, the $299-in-2001 launch price of the Xbox is $388.68 today; the $199-in-1991 of the SNES would be $336.37 today, and the $649-in-1990 of the never-successful Neo Geo console would be $1,143.18 today.
Not so much. While I can't find 2012 figures, per capita money income in the US was lower in 2011 compared to 2001 (adjusted for inflation), though it was about 17% above where it was in 1991.
bargain-basement phones people get for free with their plan
My carrier doesn't give any phone away with its plans, but that's because the plans are substantially less expensive over time than AT&T or Verizon. The only catch is that it appears Virgin Mobile USA (a Sprint MVNO owned by Sprint) won't activate any plan below $420 per year on a smartphone; only dumbphones are eligible for $65 per year "payLo" plans. I thought parents were more likely to buy a cheap flip phone on such a plan for under-13 kids, if they're allowed to have a phone at all.
This is exactly why standalone consoles don't have future.
Standalone consoles ship with gamepads. Phones that aren't called "Xperia Play" do not.
My PS3 is my meda hub.
What if someone wants to play media that isn't the latest Tyler Perry "masterpiece"? How well does a PS3 support movies that aren't distributed through Sony or any of the other five companies in the MPAA?
It's just sad, if you don't know Logitech from their glory years, you don't really know what PC gaming is missing.
I own several Logitech products. It's just that a lot of the games for which they would be wonderful never end up ported to PC. "Cross-platform" in the case of games like Mortal Kombat (2011) means Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, not PC. Are there any PC platform fighters (games in the same genre as Power Stone, Super Smash Bros., and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale)? Or any counterparts to Mario Party?
Did you know there used to be PC fighting games? Like OMF, Virtua Fighter, and damn, I know there were others.
Key words: used to be. Nowadays, if you want to play fighting games that aren't Street Fighter IV and aren't emulations of usually illegally copied ROMs, you have to buy a console. If you'd believe console apologists, there appears to be no room in the market for indie fighting games at all, except for mods of the ancient MUGEN.
I see no need to convince anyone of something they can see for themselves.
I'd like to see for myself some reliable statistics about the prevalence of HTPC gaming.
I have an HTPC so I know they exist.
A work of authorship is typically financed by amortizing the cost of development across a large number of users, be they owners of a copy under the copyright model or backers under the Kickstarter model. This means h4rr4r alone does not a market make. Nor do all the other admitted HTPC users I know about, to be honest. A platform, such as Ouya, phones-with-external-keyboards, or PC-with-gamepads, has to have enough other users to make it profitable for professional developers to target it. Case in point: There were still paying Xbox Live subscribers logged on to Halo 2 when Microsoft pulled the plug on Xbox Live for original Xbox games two and a half years ago. There just weren't enough to convince Microsoft that keeping their subscriptions was worth the cost of keeping online connectivity in original Xbox games working.
Watch the video carefully. It seems there are long but thin vents that run from corner to corner in the removable top / lid around 1:59 and 2:03. Also, I'm not certain, but it looks like there may be small slit vents near the bottom in a circular pattern at 2:08
If I weren't living in a rented house, I'd have GigE everywhere.
What excuse did the landlord give you when you asked whether you could have Ethernet put in?
Vents in the OUYA have been confirmed:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/ouya016.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/ouya017.jpg/
Hi-Speed USB's theoretical maximum is 480 Mbps. Let's assume it can do half that in practice, or 240 Mbps, or 30 MB/s. That's still over thrice as fast as the 9 MB/s BD-ROM drive in the PlayStation 3, and seek times are generally far faster on an HDD or especially an SSD.
Basically, you're saying that *all* games consoles make no sense compared to your smartphone. Tell that that to the massive number of households with game consoles that shell out a fortune for games. There's clearly a market for devices permanently hooked to the TV to play games. They don't need to be portable (though ironically the Ouya is probably the most portable of the lot).
What I'd really like to see is something like CyanogenMod 10 port to it to open up to Google Play. I think the Ouya won't fail because of the idea of it being hooked up to a TV with a controller. It'll fail if they keep it locked down to a proprietary store with no way of playing the games from Google Play (or Amazon App Store if you must). Devs aren't going to magically put all their games on Ouya's store when there's a much bigger market on Google Play.
One minor note - at least XBMC is being developed for the Ouya, but that's mainly because it's being ported to Android anyway and will no doubt officially turn up on Google Play at some point.
So let's break it down: "The logo looks like a piece of Communist propaganda straight out of Moscow circa 1925." What steps should one take to 1. determine that this wording is inflammatory and 2. reword it to be less inflammatory?