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Ouya Android Game Console Launches, Quickly Sells Out
Ouya, the Android-based game console that arose out of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, officially launched today. The $99 device quickly sold out at a number of retailers, including Amazon and GameStop. "According to Ouya, the console currently has more than 170 downloadable games, as well as a built-in software development kit that enables people to create and test titles right from the hardware." Many reviews of the console suggest the controllers are not very good, and there are reports that the Wi-Fi connectivity can be flaky. There's also a lot of commentary about Ouya that clearly came from unrealistic expectations of what a $99 device can provide. Most of the backers from the Kickstarter campaign have received their consoles, but some are still waiting as Ouya tries to sort out shipping problems with DHL.
Why get this when you can soon get Xbox One?
Well, it really depends on how much of an exhibitionist you are.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Are these actual games or just shortcuts to websites (like the ones that fill the Chrome App Store)?
This thing costs $400 less than the XBox?
The information "sold out" means nothing unless we know how many they released.
Are people so trained on sub-par, cheap Asian electronics that there's an expectation of suckage on a device that "only" costs $99 ? Is $99 the new throwaway price, where you use something, expect it to fail, then go buy another one? It's the Walmart generation I guess.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Why get a Honda Fit when you could get a Pontiac Aztek?
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Are you a joke account, or a paid shill? An honest question.
is that Sascha Segan is a douche who can't comprehend the difference between a device at $100 and others at $500-$700.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
People would be complaining about the shape, and the fact that it doesn't use Phillips screws.
And plays games worse than current cell-phones. The novelty will wear off very fast once people see how shitty it is at its main functionality. You can pick up pre-owned 360s and PS3s for around a ton, which absolutely shit all over the Ouya.
That said, as a media center, it could be awesome if it has h.264 decoding in hardware. XMBC on a cheapy box that can run many applications from the Android marketplace, being silent, will probably sell more units than terrible gaming. Netgear, D-link Boxee and Roku won't be happy!
I'm a sad panda. I backed them last year (August) as part of their original Kickstarter project. I live in Canada and still have yet to receive my OUYA. Its still in China.
The fact that the stores have sold out is just more salt in the wound. I'm not the only early backer to have his console be delayed. They were promised in March and no one got them at that point. Its now basically July. From what I've heard the console is not powerful (same CPU as my HTC One X) but the $100 price tag is hard to match. If it plays Netflix + Plex Client I'll be happy. If not this thing will be a waste of money.
that hasn't recevied their ouya yet :(
Early backer from day 1. Was hoping to get mine BEFORE retail to develop on. Guess I should have got the dev edition at $699?! Hrm. /me fustrated
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Because it's 1/5th the price and focused on being a *game* console instead of a media player/cable-box overlay/skype device/etc.?
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
I got my Ouya a few weeks ago. I feel sorry for the people that were part of the Kickstarter but haven't gotten theirs. I had a tracking number for weeks but the US Post office delivered it before the tracking number ever was recognized. DHL from Hong Kong is not exactly a good shipping partner. They took the cheap route on shipping and it looks like it really hurt them. Doing order fulfillment from HK was a mistake. They should have bulk shipped them to the US and shipped them out from here.
As for it's value as a game console. It's kind of disappointing. I've yet to actually pay money for any games, since not one of the demo versions were interesting enough. While the Tegra 3 is a decent chip, somehow they have managed to make it have about the same power as an old SNES. Oddly enough Final Fantasy 3 is one of the few name brand titles. A best seller on the SNES.
As as platform for Android development (one of the reasons I got it) it is fairly disappointing. Their "every game has a demo" model pretty much means anyone developing for it is giving them free content. It' is rare that a game will convince me with a great demo. More often than not a demo just gives me enough to know it is not worth buying.
It also has strange issues with it's sleep mode/power on (I almost always have to walk up and press the button on the top). The gamepad feels awful. The box itself is not exactly easy to place in the living room.
It does seems like a good addition to my collection of failed consoles though, joining my Atari Jaguar and 3DO (among others).
Why get this when you can soon get Xbox One? An honest question.
Why get an Xbox One when you can soon get a PS4? An rhetorical question.
While I haven't yet used a controller that has a touchpad on it, I have used touchpads on numerous computing devices over the decades. They suck. While I'm sure it seems like a great alternative to having an actual touchscreen on the controller, it's not. You have analog sticks on the controller, if you need to control a mouse, then use a stick.
It's almost as bad as the idea of using your phone or tablet with playing games on your PC or console. Here you are, with your hands full either mouse/keyboard or gamepad, and then you need to drop that to use the smartphone or tablet to do stuff (inventory, whatever)? Really?
Sometimes I don't think real gamers are the one designing these products. I guess that is too much to hope for?
Be seeing you...
Is it? There's an awful lot of talk about xbmc, there's an upcoming netflix app, there's a built in web browser...
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
But can you run any game you want, any emulator you want, or write any game you want on an old XBox? Not really. Yes, it's a niche, but and important one that is not being served by the current console makers. That's why Ouya's been so popular so far. It fills a need that the console makers refuse to satisfy.
Why get this when many current phones are more powerful, can be hooked up via HDMI, can have a bluetooth controller paired to it and is something that you'll already own?
Why get this when you can soon get Xbox One? An honest question.
Why does anyone buy a Hyundai when they can just buy a Lexus? An honest question.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
raspberrypi.org
It will get sued for patent infringement.
Why buy a corolla when you can buy a corvette?
Good-bye
Brilliant point about emulation (if it works properly)! Although an original xbox could do that with a trivial mod, which would cost $50. It cost me almost the price of the Ouya (and a lot of time/frustration soldering tiny points) to modify my 2600 for s-video/composite/stereo for comparison. /me off to check emu support...
Pretty much this.
There are a lot of people after a good emulator experience.
Not to mention all the fun, novel indie gems that will be excluded from xbox by ms publishing stratergy.
People who want to play Clone of Duty 46 will get an xbox.... People looking for fun, novel experiences that dont cost the earth will get an Ouya.
The real thing that will determine the ultimate fate of the Ouya are not technical specs, or even the dross of noobie coders cracking their teeth. It will most likely come down to the management of its online store. And ability to easily distinguish said indie wonders from the fart app wannabies.
it uses a tegra3, so it should support h.264 high profile
1. Your cell phone doesn't have a 360-like controller.
2. Your cell phone likely won't play games on your TV.
3. Every game on the OUYA can be tried for free. You don't have to put a credit card in to start downloading apps from the store.
4. Your cell phone can't be a dedicated media center.
5. Mother-fucking-Towerfall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es-okjDMAbI
Consider that many people consider $99 media center appliances to be a good bargain. Now consider a device at the same price that includes a gaming controller and plays games. That somehow makes it less viable?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
don't put down money for things that don't exist, where you don't know whether or not they'll suck.
Clearly, he means children. The cruel man.
Kickstarter is just a method to pre-sell items that traditional funding methods didn't find worthy.
Okay, I get it; he jumped on the negativity. You know, bad news sells.
a lot of the stuff that comes into our office is crap.
Such as his writing.
Perhaps Ouya is having its learning curve right now, but it doesn't mean you need to contribute money to its educational process.
Again, I reference the topic of children. Clearly, his children are born geniuses and know-it-alls; just judge by his remarks, you'll see.
You take all the risk, they get all the rewards. That's the worst investment plan in history.
I hope no lady is trying to give this man a family.
Let other people be the suckers, and reap the rewards later.
Great plan. I'll do the same with his articles from now on.
And that's exactly why this thing will fail. Nobody seems to want "Ouya games", they just want to hack the thing into a media box or play MAME games.
1) Can accept bluetooth gamepads, and possible USB based ones too.
2) HDMI/MHL/Wi Di/similar adapter will take care of that.
3) I can try a vast number of games free.
4) It doesn't have to be.
Paid shill, was first to comment in defense of MS in just another article.
Bad example. :)
Both are driven by old people how know nothing about cars or motoring.
If I see either one, I know there is likely a BAD driver behind the wheel.
Both suck, hard.
See no difference.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
And what is wrong with that? A cheap, flexible, small media box for $99 sounds ok to me.
I have no mod points, but well done sir.
+1 Disagree
If you look at his previously posted comments you will also notice he has signed it with two different names. In one he claims to be a "Security consultant"
Serious question, how is the Xbox One Kinect any worse than any smartphone, tablet, or laptop that has a webcam and/or a mic that people take around with them everywhere, even to bedrooms and bathrooms?
This space for rent.
Plenty of deals can be struck should everyone decide to use it as a media box. In fact, it's probably more profitable that way than as an Android gaming device. Roku has been successful, and *all* their device does is stream media (ok, they did try to tack on gaming with the Angry Birds edition in the second generation, but I'd be stunned if anyone uses it for games).
Why get this when you can get ebola? An honest question.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
At least a Lexus won't spy on you or decide to stop working if you don't let it phone home once a day.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
I dunno. The knee jerk reaction to optional, but enabled by default Kinect seems to be a little over the top, even for /. MS hate standards.
how is the Xbox One Kinect any worse than any smartphone, tablet, or laptop that has a webcam and/or a mic that people take around with them everywhere, even to bedrooms and bathrooms?
When you take a phone or tablet into the bathroom, do you have the cameras pointing at your face/floor - or ceiling / groin?
Also, do you turn on your camera while in the bathroom? What tablet or smartphone BY DESIGN always is listening through the mic and monitoring the camera?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Why buy a corvette when you can buy a corolla? Corolla gets better milage, has 4 doors, greater interior volume, the highest safety ratings, and won't attract the attention of the cops.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Every game on the OUYA can be tried for free
They're free to play, which is mostly popular on iOS and Android as the following type:
The games where they grow and feed their pet for a month and suddenly if you don't buy the Bird Feed Gold in-game purchase for $20, the pet starts dying of starvation before their very eyes?
No, thanks, but no thanks.
Lots of articles have been posted about XBMC on Ouya, but most of them have to do with early adopter Kickstarter backers sideloading XBMC onto the device, with promises that performance will be better when the real version ships. So, it's launch day. How's the XBMC? Does it stream Blu-Ray ISOs well? I think I speak for many people when I say this is the only reason we are interested in Ouya.
Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
The Apple TV doesn't come with a controller and play games.
Yet.
Is it really so hard to note that iOS7 includes an API for game controllers and divine the medium term future?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I don't hate MS at all. But the truth is that the Kinect default is not a good one. It makes way more sense to make it optional the other way.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
$300 less on something that has no practical use.
Flawless analogy.
It won't have a proper output (240p I think they call it) so you can use it on an RGB monitor with scanlines working properly etc
That raspberry pi can't play n64 games of snes games that use the superfx chip. I ordered a Ouya, simply for emulation.
SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
This is pretty much the exact opposite of what Polygon is saying?
My cell runs cyanogen, and my tablet doesn't have a camera. The issue here isn't just ability but also motive. A large corporation's marketing department is a lot more interested in whether or not you're jerking it to Sailor Moon than a gaggle of nerds hacking linux in their basements. And even if they were, at least one would go "HEY, there's code in here to turn the camerra on when an up down shake is felt". See: CarrierIQ
Sony, MS, and Apple have all decided that they're doing you a favor by letting you pay them for their latest offering of crap, and if you should, god forbit, try to use the crap you paid for, whellll you better start shelling out to the tax man department lest they disable the system permenantly. (Or once an hour in Microsoft's case. See: SBS2003 migration.)
I'll probably pick one up when Amazon has them back in stock. I like the idea of an underpowered console, as weird as that sounds.
/RANT
RANT
Modern mainstream games (360 and PS3 I'm specifically referring to) just suck. Endless rehashes with overblown budgets, 10 million polys per frame that look pretty great, but the games themselves pretty much just bore me to tears. 0 substance. Not to even mention the $60 price-tag for these overrated, over-hyped, disappointing excuses for a game. I'm not even using my 360 or PS3 these days, they just sit there. I'm no longer willing to give MS, Sony or the big publishers one more cent, or even a minute of my time. They just disgust me. AAA to me means "stay far away", it's rehashed vanilla crap for the masses. Actually, modern mainstream games remind me of Hollywood (that's not a compliment, BTW).
Anyways, I like the idea of a console released by a small company that anyone can write games for, and I plan on supporting them with a purchase. I think it's a huge plus that there's no Call of Boredom or Gears of Boredom type games on this platform.
Wait a few days until actual retail buyers get the units in their hands. Right now on Amazon for example, the majority of the reviewers are kickstarter people, and half of those are whiners who are surprised they didn't get the thing delivered on a silver platter w/a complementary BJ. The sense of entitlement that some of these kickstarters display is pretty sickening. It got to the point reading the Amazon reviews where, when I saw the word "kickstarter", I immediately skipped to the next review.
If I've learned one thing, that is the fact that you don't buy rev. 1 of *any* tech related product. I've got better things to do w/my time than pay to alpha test hardware/firmware/software.
Congrats on the release OUYA! I wish you the best of luck.
Are these actual games or just shortcuts to websites
Ouya applications are Android applications. The biggest difference between an application for an Ouya console and one for a Kindle Fire or Nexus 7 tablet is that phone and tablet applications expect a multitouch screen, while Ouya applications expect a controller with a physical joystick and buttons. A touch screen is better for point-and-click games, while the Ouya controller is better for platformers and the like.
(like the ones that fill the Chrome App Store)?
The Chrome App Store is full of "shortcuts to websites" because Google decided to use the HTML DOM as the primary user-mode API of Chrome OS. I imagine that Ouya went with AOSP instead because WebGL isn't quite as mature as the version of OpenGL ES in Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).
people were expecting COD and the like to be playable on this and thats just stupid.
The first game in the Call of Duty series, released in 2003, was based on a heavily modified Quake III: Team Arena engine. That'd certainly run on a Tegra 3 if Activision cared to port it.
Smart people looking for fun, novel experiences already have computers.
But can you run any game you want, any emulator you want
But for that I have a PC which actually does a good job of it, the N64 emulators run like shit on Ouya and even old games like GTA 3 and 4 run like absolute crap on it. Sure it wasn't $99 but it's a lot more functional and I prefer to pay a little more to have a good experience than cheap out on a shit one. For most of the games on there they are just as good - if not better thanks to things like accelerometers and touchscreen (no a touchpad isn't the same thing) - on a tablet or phone, hopefully there will be some decent games where the Ouya will actually shine (and given the low price point it won't need much to justify).
Not really. A ton of the people I've seen talk about the Ouya are getting it for XBMC or to hack away it, playing games is an afterthought. People who want to play games already have computers, cell phones and other consoles.
Why the hell would you want to keep one for 10 years?
Because it works and suits my purposes. Why else?
Because it will stop suiting your purposes, for one. Microsoft has announced that there are only ten more Patch Tuesdays left for Windows XP: July 2013 through April 2014, after which Microsoft will end support for the operating system. This means that a PC that still runs Windows XP will no longer suit the purpose as an Internet client after mid-April 2014 when the black hats begin to release their forever-day XP exploits to the throngs of script kiddies.
Neither does an xbox :P
I am a kickstarter backer, last I heard was "thank you for the money, here is a receipt number", I received no other communication let alone the infamous tracking number. My experience directly contradicts Operations Chief Ken Stephens public statement that "All of these units HAVE left Hong Kong, and you have received your tracking email." I suspect I am not the only one.
Is it really so hard to note that iOS7 includes an API for game controllers and divine the medium term future?
Yes. No iPhone older than the 4S and no iPod touch older than fifth generation will get iOS 7. So if your iPod touch is more than one year old, you'll have to replace it before using a game controller.
There are several problems with using an iPhone as a game controller. For one thing, it's a lot more expensive than a wired or wireless gamepad. It costs hundreds of dollars a year to own an iPhone. Not only do you have to pay for cellular service, but you also have to replace the device when Apple stops supporting it with iOS updates. The iPhone 4 and iPod touch (fourth generation) won't be getting iOS 7, meaning any iPhone older than two years and any iPod touch older than one year won't get any application that relies on iOS 7.
In addition, an iPhone's screen is completely flat. This means that while the player is looking at the action in the middle of the screen or on the Apple TV, he has no tactile reference point against which to position the thumbs over the on-screen jump and fire buttons. Some genres, such as platformers and fighting games, really need physical buttons. Apple is working on a controller API for iOS 7, but again, devices too old to get iOS 7 are too old to be used as a controller.
Hells yes
Maybe it's just my age showing, but I've always preferred my generation of video games over the current crop. The NES, SNES, Genesis eras. Mega Man, Squaresoft (pre-enix), Sonic, River City Ransom, Altered Beast, etc - and having them all in a single device with simple HDMI output and a real controller - can't beat it
The fact that it might play some new games, and run XMBC sweeten the deal even further.
This signature is false.
No iPhone older than the 4S
iPhone *4* (I'm running it on one right now!!). Can't you Apple Haters learn to read a spec sheet right just once?
So if your iPod touch is more than one year old
Then it may still work because the 5th gen iPod touch launched on October 11th, 2011.
Do you know what year it is now?
Then again, why the hell are you bringing the Touch into this when we are talking about Apple TV?
A newer AppleTV that supports games is not out yet but neither is the XBox one, so the point of ages of devices that support iOS7 is utterly irrelevant to my point or anything else. It's just your Apple Hater Tourette's forcing you to post anything you find slightly negative about Apple even if irrelevant to the discussion at hand.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I have to ask the questions, how many of these were bought out by "experts" or publications that wanted to review the console? How many were actually bought by pure gamers? Usually they give reviewers the equipment to try out, however because it was crowd funded how many of those donations came from gamers rather then people that just wanted to see a linux based game console.
I would have thought the system would have been tested extensively before releasing it to the public and or it is just haters wanting to bad mouth a Linux based system.
That's precisely why I got in on the Kickstarter - XBMC announcing support was my sole reason. Ouya does everything any of the existing media streaming doodads do (AppleTV, Roku, whatever) and adds total openness and the potential for emu or native games (if something neat ends up showing up). I've had mine for two weeks, zero regrets. Kinda wish I'd bought two.
See Lexus Link (OnStar of some kind) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_Link
Smart people looking for fun, novel experiences already have computers.
But are these PCs in the living rooms of smart people? Sources say no. So what do smart people looking for fun, novel experiences to share with house guests have? Until Ouya, "fun, novel experiences" and multiplayer with multiple gamepads and one big monitor were almost mutually exclusive because there aren't enough deployed home theater PCs to make the home theater PC attractive as a target platform.
Nobody seems to want "Ouya games", they just want to hack the thing into a media box or play MAME games.
And what is wrong with that?
It opens Ouya to copyright infringement lawsuits from the publishers of games that are pirated in MAME/MESS, claiming that the device lacks a "substantial noninfringing use" because nobody wants native games.
They're free to play, which is mostly popular on iOS and Android as the [pay to win] type
Pay-to-win may have become popular on certain mobile phone platforms due to early unavailability of priced applications in Android Market in some countries. But what evidence do you have that developers of Ouya games are flocking to the pay-to-win model rather than the "demo" model under which Id Software distributed the first Doom? Say a game offered the first episode without charge and then unlocked everything for a $10 payment. Would you find that acceptable?
I'm glad I didn't buy into it.
I found it to be deeply disturbing that they didn't have a final design on either their appstore or their controller at the time they went to ask for money. And the demo requirement for all the games, was not what they originally promised. All software should have a demo version, but that does not mean that it's free software. It just means you have some option to test drive some of the features.
Why get an Xbox One when you can soon get a PS4?
Say halo to exclusive games. Unlike Sony, Microsoft requires all games sold in its console's app store to be approved by a disc game publisher. I'm under the impression that some publishers don't want their products to be on the same console as indie games, and these publishers are more likely to make their games exclusive to Xbox One so that they don't have to compete with reasonably priced indie titles.
1) Can accept bluetooth gamepads, and possible USB based ones too.
This helps only if the game is 1. ported to Android and 2. designed to use the gamepad API. I imagine that prior to Ouya, a lot of developers didn't plan to spend time and money porting their games to Android or adding support for gamepads to an existing Android game because they were under the impression that not enough Android gamers had a gamepad. How many Bluetooth gamepads for Android have been sold?
The play store filters according to your build.prop file. Changing it on a rooted system is trivial.
Even if you can search for controller-friendly games on a rooted Android device, the advantage of Ouya is that you don't have to reformat and root your device just to do so.
It was enough to get Sony to loosen up its developer qualifications and embrace smaller developers on the Vita and PS4.
Proof please.
I can't prove that Ouya was directly responsible for Sony making this policy change, but Sony has become considerably more open to indie developers than Microsoft. Compare PS4 to Xbox One.
A newer AppleTV that supports games is not out yet but neither is the XBox one
Of the two, which has the earlier release date? Which has a release date at all?
Tried sideloading the latest version on Saturday night, and it crashed whenever I tried to add a network share.. :-(
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
I already have an HTPC hooked to my TV... that said... it's the "standard" controller that makes it compelling... software targeting the ouya only has to worry about a single controller config... that means a lot... especially if you've tried setting up a front end loader for game emulators etc in the living room.. it's not a fun experience.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
Ability to scan, locate, identify and track people in real time even in the darkness.
I also limit access to my house to other devices that have cameras / microphones on them, not just the kinect. I purchased a kinect 2 years or so ago and was disturbed the first time I got up to go pee and the movie automatically paused. My xbox knows when I pee.
The Ouya's ability to act as a networked media player (including from SMB shares) is one of the main reason I backed the project. I was in the market for a "WDTV" like device and figured that the added openness and game-friendliness were great bonuses for the price!
When my Ouya arrived a few weeks back, I loaded and installed XBMC using the AOSP Browser that is installed under the "make" tab. It is very important to note that the mainstream XBMC package, even the XBMC for Android and/or ARM etc.. did not support hardware acceleration on the Ouya. There was a very specific Nightly version compiled to be compatible with the Ouya's hardware - at the time, it was " xbmc-20130604-249ada1-Gotham_alpha4SF-armeabi-v7a.apk ". There is likely a newer one now. I encourage you to check the XBMC forums and find the Ouya threads, and also head over to XDA Developers who have Ouya boards that are involved in more advanced hacking around the Ouya in general - there are instructions there for how to get the Play store working, and lots of others etc..
Once installed, XBMC is easily activated from the Ouya's "Make" screen (where all Sideloaded items go at the moment) and works very well. It plays 1080p mkv content w/ subtitles perfectly, thus far, from Samba shares hosted on the local network. There may be a few issues with very particular setups (ie I hear DTS passthrough isn't active yet), but on average it seems to work well. There were a few recoverable crashes here and there, but nothing I wouldn't expect on any alpha build - its very workable. I am to understand it will only grow to be a better experience. I expect in the future as it matures for the Ouya, well vetted builds will be included in the Ouya Store to make installing XBMC more accessible to Joe User.
To answer your questions.
1. Yes you can.
2. Yes you can.
4. So can the majority of games out there for Android that have full versions.
5. Yes it can. http://lifehacker.com/5915083/how-to-turn-your-android-into-an-awesome-portable-media-and-gaming-center
6. Looks like Pooyan mixed with Joust.
1. Moga pro http://www.mogaanywhere.com/about-moga/moga-pro-controller/
2. MHL HDMI
3. Same as most android games
4. Yes, actually it can
5. Okay that looks pretty cool.
no more than any computer
...
Oh, come now. If that argument can fly in court, then PSP would have been banned by now.
Computers can be used for things other than games, such as homework and personal finance and illustration and video editing. I have yet to see evidence of Ouya's attitude toward non-game applications.
Lets's face it, whether Slashdot likes MS or not is irrelevant.
What's important is that customers hate most of Microsoft's recent ventures. Surface is dead in the water. WP8 phones are being price-dumped in every market they're sold in, Bing survives solely on Corps who set it as default, Windows use is dropping more than 10% every year.
This is a company that does not produce products people want any more.
Why would their game console be any different?
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Does the hardware vendor get a cut of Netflix/Hulu/Amazon revenue? You figure that Ouya is counting their 30% of game sales.
Not to mention, this is a lousy business model because in six months some other "hacker special" box will come out and the XBMC/MAME crowd will flock to that.
So can Ouya. As I understand it, it supports keyboard and mouse. It is a computer.
5. Mother-fucking-Towerfall
Looks like a rip-off of Teeworlds.
So far, for me, it's pretty good but crashes when playing some things which I can actually play in XBMC on my 2011 SEMC Xperia Play... On the other hand, when it's not crashing it's a hell of a lot nicer to use than XBMC on RasPi because it's far more responsive.
My biggest problem with the unit so far is that the scaler is underutilized. If your display does not handle one of the two "native" (weasel words for hand-picked, since only one of them is a standard native resolution) resolutions then you wind up with 1080p scaled to VGA. This is unacceptable. If I can't find someone to trade me a TV for some monitors, I'm going to have to take it back. The GPU has a scaler in it, I don't know what the hell they're thinking.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why get this when you can soon get Xbox One?
Well, it really depends on how much of an masochist you are.
There, I fixed it for you.
Looking for a job?
Want your resume written professionally?
DON'T USE TUNAREZ!!!
well on xbox one you can buy disc games..
you can probably get away without putting in your credit card ever too. not on ouya.
and the reason it's sold out is.. ... .. they didn't ship too many of them.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Computers can be used for things other than games, such as homework and personal finance and illustration and video editing. I have yet to see evidence of Ouya's attitude toward non-game applications.
that logic doesn't really open ouya to lawsuits - you can't sue them because it runs mame - or you can but you would lose the suit.
you could run android apps on it anyways.
I'm not getting an ouya though. I don't feel their gamestore is worth it and if it's not worth it you can get any android hdmi stick/box you want. ouya wants the appstore cash from their own appstore and that's what their investor predictions are built on.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Why get an Xbox One when I can get this?
N64 emulators run like shit on Ouya and even old games like GTA 3 and 4 run like absolute crap on it.
How would YOU know?
You're a Microsoft sock-puppet. You can't even type any more without somebody's fingers up your ass.
I got my Ouya some weeks ago and while I'm not overwhelmed I am not really disappointed either (at least not from the hardware). The console is IMHO as fast as one can be expcected (at launch time with little source code optimization around) and the controller feels ok. What really bothers me is that the OS/launcher isn't ready at all. The main UI works but still needs some polishing (but has seen improvements during the weeks before the launch) and plain Android is shining through at some points (eg notiffications and system settings). They also failed to ship XMBC (that was a promise) and the shipped browser isn't great and is well hidden in the UI. BTW, the touchpach on the controller is a great thing when it comes to browsing, perhaps some strategy games can make use of it as well.
As for the games: a bunch of ported Android games, a couple of amateur works, some really horrible ones ("God of Blades") and a few that seem to be only proof of concepts (eg "The Amazing Frog?"). The free part of the game is rarely convincing to pay for the rest of it.
It was fun to be a backer, my losses (if any - time will tell) are small, but I definitely don't recommend to buy the Ouya right now.
I know the Ouya doesn't come with Google Play Store by default.
Genuine question: can you get it by rooting?
I'm on the lookout for a cheap device that'll let me watch Google Play Movies on a TV, without tying up a PC or my phone. An mk808/similar might be it. An Ouya might be it too.
I find it hard to believe that anyone thought this $99 console would outperform vastly more expensive consoles.
What is true though, is that you can fit surprisingly pretty 3D games into a smartphone's capabilities.
The $99 price is excellent, but my OUYA was DOA and I've been dealing with their customer support which has certainly eaten up more time than the $99 sticker price was worth to me. I wish I could tell you how awesome it is. Instead I'm dealing with cheeky emails from their CSR. I tried to explain to them that this cheeky language is not appropriate for a support channel since they're likely dealing with irritated customers.
Note: I am not the grandfather poster.
I have a bluetooth 360-like controller that works with my cell phone.
My xperia z works fine with televisions. I can connect to Bravia screens wirelessly.
I believe I can do that with the Amazon and Playstation Network stores.
Never heard of it.
Or I could just spend less and buy a bluetooth controller for my phone.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
From everything I read about the Ouya.
It has poor quality construction, gamepad fall apart in your hands (well, just the magnetically attached battery cover falls of, but its annoying none the less). Console DOA or dies after a mandatory update.
The menu-interface is slow and reboots frequently.
The games are not great, selection isn't great.
Requires you to have to provide credit card just to use it.
Bottom line is, you got what you paid for.
And the company's official strategy is to replace it quickly with another version you will have to buy again for $99 that may or may not fix the original Ouya issues.
If you think this is a competitor to Xbox One, PS4 or even the Wii U, you are just out of touch with reality.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Actually, it seems about half of the Kickstarter backers (myself included) are being forced to enter their credit card info just to get to the console's main menu.
My OUYA is sitting on my shelf, unused at the moment, because I refuse to put my credit card into it as I wait for a response from OUYA support. I have no idea why some people are getting in for free, and others of us are being forced to enter credit card info, but there had sure be a good explanation.
I have an OUYA, the "Kickstarter" edition. Got it about 2 & 1/2 weeks ago now I like it. The kids really like it. It does pretty much exactly what I wanted it to do. I have 0 problems with the wifi & the only issue I have with the controllers is that the touchpad needs work. Wired Xbox 360 controllers work well. I haven't tried pairing the Wii controllers yet, but I should be able to. I've bought two games (BombSquad & Ice Rage) cause the kids loved the demos. Stalagflight is simple but fun. Canabalt has laggy input which makes it difficult to time jumps. XBMC works well even in beta, but you may want to hook a keyboard up for the initial setup. Most of the emulators are well done but I wish they had more output filters.
I've tried side loading basically all of the Humble Bundle Android games. If they are made to work with a controller, they work well. The rest of them, not so much. Aquaria is as just as responsive as any PS2 title, so I'm thinking a lot of the current controller issues are with the games themselves & not the hardware. F-Droid has a quite a bit of GPL software & games that will run on the OUYA. Frozen Bubble works great.
There is a war going on for your mind.
I played some River City Ransom with the kids last weekend. Good times.
There is a war going on for your mind.
Sad, pathetic, and most of all, lonely.
Are you talking about FOSS fanboys or COD fanboys?
How much of that Kickstarter money went to Ouya Park at E3? That can't have been cheap. It might not have been necessary. I understand the need for sales and marketing expenditures, and the need to distinguish yourself from the multitude of "indies," but half a city block with music and activities? Gotta be big bucks.
Full disclosure: I didn't go to Ouya Park when I was at E3 (pesky day job), but my first instinct is always to throw money at development rather than marketing. Maybe that's a bad thing.
the 5th gen iPod touch launched on October 11th, 2011
Then why is Wikipedia off by a year? Perhaps the TechRadar article that you cite is confusing the fourth generation hardware with iOS 5 preloaded, which did ship in October 2011, with fifth generation hardware, which appears to have shipped in October 2012.
Xbox 360 sold over 44 million units. Xbox Live has 22 million users. Those are some HUGE numbers, and there is a lot of brand loyalty amongst console buyers. Office is still king with businesses everywhere.
Vonnegut was right: Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been."
It's not going to outperform more expensive consoles. This could be a killer for casual gamers that don't want to stare at their phone or tablet. Nintendo had better watch out...
My phone remains in my pocket, so it's camera doesn't point at me all the time.
I also know that my phone's microphone is off.
>I also know that my phone's microphone is off.
How do you know that?
This space for rent.
Nobody seems to want "Ouya games", they just want to hack the thing into a media box or play MAME games.
And what is wrong with that?
It opens Ouya to copyright infringement lawsuits from the publishers of games that are pirated in MAME/MESS, claiming that the device lacks a "substantial noninfringing use" because nobody wants native games.
Utterly ridiculous. Microsoft's Windows is the platform where 99.99% piracy takes place, are MS being sued? Besides, the Ouya is rubbish at emulation, even ancient consoles under emulation are unusable and perform worse than the original pentium MAME.
Gah towerfall looks cool, but 15 dollars for that? Gah. I'd snag that on pc for 5 in a heartbeat though.
Xbox 360 sold over 44 million units.
So less than a month of Android sales?
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Because I can run open source software on it, and I can also monitor it's network traffic at any time.
Or was never in stock? Ask many OUYA backers on Kickstarter, with the 'promise' that it would be delivered before it went retail... :(
I was sarcasm-ing. I guess people need tags to recognize such things here.
For future reference: There are two reasons you might need tags. One is the correlation of proficiency in computer science and information technology with Asperger syndrome. This means Slashdot users are more likely to be Aspies like myself (diagnosed in ninth grade) than the general population. Another is that we have enough actual iOS fanboys here that any attempt to sort sarcasm from sincerity runs smack into Poe's law.
the iPhone is [...] a controller that plays games -- i.e., a controller for the Apple TV (which it is) that can ALSO play games (which it can).
It's a controller that can't play certain kinds of games very well, at least without an additional controller.
So phones, tablets and consoles are now all the same thing?
Vonnegut was right: Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been."