Ouya

[Keth]

Ouya

 

 

 

Ouya is a $99 box running on the Android platform, with a focus on free gaming, according to details spotted in a listing on a site for tech start-ups spotted by the tech reporters at The Verge. The most tantalizing detail that they report is that: "Even the underlying hardware is 'built to be hacked'—every customer who buys a retail box will get a dev kit in the bargain, the site claims."

The look of the console is being designed by Yves Béhar, who crafted the look of the One Laptop Per Child computer. The project is also backed by ex-IGN exec Julie Uhrman, former Xbox gaming honcho Ed Fries, and some other top tech folks.

Sources close to the project tell me there are even more surprises to what is an altogether out-of-left field new entrant into the home video game console wars.

 

Hmmm. Ouya?

[the division of joy]

Sounds like an hentai orgasm sound effect.

[Mortiis558]

I am curious as to what the Android platform is capable of doing gaming wise. I get the market for free-gaming so I doubt any will look next gen, but will it just be a bunch of android phone aps you can play on your tv essentially?

 

Definately interested, but need more info.

[Thelogan]

They have my attention. I need more information.

 

edit: same time posts! JINX!

Edited July 3, 2012 by Thelogan

[Keth]

 

 

List of some confirmed games some not confirmed.

 

Final Fantasy 3 catches my eye, plus I believe the 4 remake will be available too.

 

 

 

Also the mention of emulators.... again just a wiki post, but some cool rumors nonetheless.

Edited January 4, 2013 by axel_napalm
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[Jables]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4km3D3RuVVw

 

No embedding for JZA? :/

 

It's the dev kit unboxing.

Edited January 5, 2013 by The JZA

[The NZA]

 

also, its rival is likewise on kickstarter

 

[Keth]

Wow, that looks pretty cool. Didn't see any prices though, though I don't see it being more expensive than Ouya.

 

Goddamn the Ouya is tiny

[Jables]

Prices were on the right. No frills device was US$69. I'm a little tempted by this, to be honest. I don't play a lot of mobile games so I'm unsure whether multiplayer's an option but it's certainly be a consideration.

[Thrizzle]

Release date confirmed for June (retail, I think Kickstarter folks get it sooner?), controller slightly redesigned.

 

 

Ouya, the tiny box that is supposed to bring a revolution, has an official release date.

 

The console will be hitting the retailers in June this year, according to CEO of the company Julie Uhrman. It will be available on various retailers in the US like Amazon, Gamestop, Target, Best Buy and more.

The system, as revealed earlier, will cost $99.99 and we also have the latest pics of the redesigned controller. It has been revealed that they will be offering additional controllers for $50, that’s almost half the price of the entire package.

It runs on Android and they have demonstrated the console running before in an unboxing video. It comes in a really tiny package and is almost the size of a cup.

The console had an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign where more than $8 million was accumulated. You can see the redesigned controller and the console below.

 

 

 

 

I've decided not to be a launch kid with this. Gonna sit on it and get some feedback first. It sounds pretty appealing, since a ton of my gaming recently consists of indie/casual games.

[Thrizzle]

[The NZA]

Ouya on negative reviews: "a result from individuals who received early backer units"

 

In a statement sent to GI.biz, an Ouya rep stressed that he early consoles were not fit for press review and that a second press wave of units will go out in line with the console’s general sale on June 4. It begs questions as to why the early consoles sent to paying backers were missing features in the first place.

 

The message reads, “We will be making Ouya review units available in early to mid-May so that you are able to review the more complete consumer experience and prepare your coverage in time for the June 4th retail launch.

 

“To clarify for you – Ouya has sent no review units out to press. Any reviews you have seen online are a result from individuals who received early backer units from supporting our Kickstarter.”

 

kind've off to a rough start

[Jables]

Now that I'm on a Windows Phone and Android content is a novelty again, my interest is renewed. Obviously once they iron out the kinks.

 

Plus even if they don't retail in AU, postage won't be a killer.

[JunkerSeed]

Very interested, but since I got a Galaxy III phone recently I'm kinda like "wtf happened to all the great mobile games!" I still break out my ipod touch to play the fantastic indie games like Punch quest, mages gauntlet, 100 Rogues, Hero Academy, Every Jeff Minter game (llamatron guy) etc and I get to the Android market and there is JACK SHIT worth of anything. I'm basically playing super hexagon and emulators all day Only the biggest of the big games get ported and there is nothing android specific that is really great that I can't get on IOS. Sure, google doesn't screen the aps, but apparently that hasn't resulted in one single indie game worth playing on Android that doesnt exist on the heavily screened ios app store (I feel very similarly about the xbox 360 "indie" section; I have never seen anything remotely interesting on there, it seems that all the good indes make it to the "arcade" seciton)

 

I play the shit out of emulators on my droid, but I have an actual SNES genesis etc for that at home; I don't need a console for emulation. I hope the Ouya is successful enough to push developers to make shit that is droid specific or at least port more IOS games over (I'm very happy to see 100 rogues as slated for Ouya release) also, how will all these touch screen games play on that controller?

Edited April 10, 2013 by JunkerSeed

[The NZA]

yeah, that last question is a pretty important one id think, at least the ones built for touch controls from the ground up. i think this is gonna be an interesting console to watch, wish i knew someone planning to get one.

[JunkerSeed]

DA OUYA (Pronouced oo-ya)

 

So, I've been playin the hell out of this cube thing for the past couple of weeks, so here are my thoughts:

 

First thing you notice when you bring home the Ouya is how small it is... no actually the first thing you notice is the giant red sign that says "AND SO BEGINS THE REVOLUTION..." then you notice how small it is.

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98979749@N08/9291379896/" title="revolution by junkerseed, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/9291379896_4d31cb3671.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="revolution"></a>

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98979749@N08/9288606167/" title="controller and cube by junkerseed, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/9288606167_f61e732ca3.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="controller and cube"></a>

 

It has usb, miniusb, hdmi, power, and ethernet ports, one of each. What's important about that is that there is only one usb port, so if you plan on getting one of these, it would be very smart to get a powered usb hub. A lot of what you want to do with the Ouya will involve a third party controller/s and/or a flash drive/external harddrive because dear old Ouya only has 8 gigs in him.

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98979749@N08/9291378642/" title="side view plugs by junkerseed, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/9291378642_1cf8253d57.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="side view plugs"></a>

 

The ouya is little and minimal looking, but then you realize that all of the stuff basically plugs right into the top of it, so it actually ends up looking pretty messy no matter what you do.

 

Lets play spot da ouya

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98979749@N08/9291388540/" title="console set up by junkerseed, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5488/9291388540_ee7fca7192.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="console set up"></a>

 

I have a minor issue getting Ouya to stay on my wifi (which has admittingly been shit recently) so I use the ethernet port and we're all good. Pairing the controller is a breeze and in about 10 minutes total I'm up and running.

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98979749@N08/9291385494/" title="ouya menu by junkerseed, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3735/9291385494_53284c98b7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="ouya menu"></a>

 

The main activity you do with your Ouya is figure out what to do with your Ouya. Browsing the "store" (all downloads on the store are free as all Ouya games are required to have a free component to them. The store goes as far as not listing the prices to unlock the full games. Da Ouya is the first freegan gaming system.) is actually pretty fun. For day one of a console, there sure was a lot of shit on there to dig through. I would rate the quality of the content in the Ouya store as better than the Xbox live indie section, which is impressively bad, but not as good as apples app store, or even google play. Certainly not as good as Xbox arcade.

 

As you can imagine, there are some great games and some awful games. Sorting through them right now isn't too hard, and I really like that the store has recommendations from folks like Ben Kuchera of Penny arcade Report and my favorite snobby game mag, Killscreen. Unfortunately the search function sucks, and you can only search a word in the title, not a developer or any other useful tags, so once the store gets more crowded, good games may get lost in the shuffle.

 

The main focus right now seems to be on excellent local multiplayer games. I think this is smart because it's an area mostly neglected by the current gen systems. If you want to have people over to play Towerfall, Bombsquad, Hidden in Plain Sight, or Get on Top, you'll have a full night of awesomeness and have no complaints of a lack of launch games or exclusive titles. With bombsquad, which is 8 player, you can even use your smartphone as a gamepad; that's a fackin revolution right there.

 

A current problem the selection has is a lack of in-depth single player games. Some of the single player stuff is a trip, but being games built for android, too many of them are designed to be played in intense 60 second spurts. The whole point of the Ouya is that you're playing on your couch. While it's been a blast to play super crate box with a controller on a big screen, when I'm sitting on my couch I like to play something that has some progression past high scores and unlockables. There's a good port of FF3, but I've already played that so I don't have a lot that I want to play for more than 15 minutes.

 

To answer the question about touch controls and android games, well, you don't exactly have the whole google play store available to you. The stuff on the Ouya store has been ported and works well. Most of those are games like super crate box that had annoying virtual gamepad controls on the phone/tablet and are a much better fit for a controller. You can sideload other android apps, meaning you can use the web browser (or your flashdrive) to install them from outside the Ouya store, but you'll find that some stuff works well (especially games with something like icade or other gamepad support), and some stuff doesn't. The Ouya gamepad has a laptop-style touchpad on it, a la the PS4, but it's mostly useful for menus, you'd never want to play a game using it. So, you can continue to play fruit ninja on your phone or your Kinect (do people actually do that????????)

 

So why have I been playing nothing but the Ouya for the past 2 weeks? EMULATION!

Maybe I fit into a strange, rare corner of the market, but I think the Ouya is worth it in spades for it's function as an emulator for every system up to and including PS1 and n64. I have computers that can run these emulators, but I just don't enjoy sitting in a computer chair with a gamepad and playing a jrpg or an old platformer. I could certainly hook a PC up to my TV and use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse or something like that but I don't have an extra computer lying around to permanently attach to my television, and I generally don't like the ghetto rig pc/TV setup.

 

I also have retro game consoles, but I don't own all of em nor do I own every game. My PS2 (and therefore PS1) is broken, so since I've had the Ouya, I've played through Parasite Eve and Tail Concerto, and wrecked some friends in Bushido Blade. While I've always played my SNES and even Sega CD a bunch, it's never occurred to me how important it is that I can play any older game I want to, in a format/setting in which i can enjoy it. Imagine not being able to watch older movies or listen to older music, or only being able to watch older films on your laptop. It's silly. Since getting the Ouya, I feel like I have the same access to games as I have to films and music. Granted, a lot of this access is due to piracy, but there's prolly a whole thread about that. I'm about 700% ok with piracy.

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98979749@N08/9291381776/" title="psx games by junkerseed, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5450/9291381776_a83762a0f2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="psx games"></a>

 

So, think of it this way, da Ouya is a $99 machine that recognizes your wifi and pairs up with your PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers so when your friends come over, you can boot up Alien vs Predator arcade for MAME and play 3 player with controllers you already have, then when they leave, you can chill on your couch with your companion animal and finish your playthrough of the translated Seiken Densetsu 3 rom. Every once in a while, they'll put out a cool game that's actually for the Ouya, like, Gunslugs, Towerfall, or Amazing Frog, and you'll remember it's its own game system, but for now, Lester the Unlikely isn't on the Virtual console, and I've gotta play it somewhere!

 

This is definitely not for everyone. If you have your PC hooked up to your television, you have plenty of indie games and emulators in your living room as is; you probably don't need the meager library of Ouya exclusives that will come into being. That being said, a lot of folks seem to be knocking this thing for not being as powerful as most newer android phones and having some lame stuff in the store. People seem to be missing the point, the Ouya isn't about how powerful it is, or even it's exclusive titles. It's about THE REVOLUTION man.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tips if you actually plan on buying one:

 

A powered USB hub will seriously be helpful. You will want a flashdrive or external HD plugged in pretty much at all times so if you want any wired gamepads on there you'll need extra ports.

 

If you plan on using you wired Xbox 360 controller,s you'll need the Microsoft wireless usb receiver to recognize your controller. Microsoft has fucking proprietary wireless tech so the Ouya's bluetooth (and your PC for that matter) won't recognize your 360 controller without it. Thankfully one receiver will recognize multiple controllers. PS3 controllers work out of the box.

 

INPUT LAG. So, apparently, this is mostly a kickstarter issue, but Ouya is replacing controllers due to a lot of input lag. I absolutely experienced it, and it made stuff pretty much unplayable until I started using my 360 pad. Interestingly enough, there is no input lag at all with xbox and ps3 controllers. My Xbox controller is better anyway, but I'll be sending my Ouya controller back and I think folks have been saying it's not an issue anymore for the most part. Aside from that, the Ouya controller is serviceable, but for gods sake, don't buy and extra one. You can hook your cat up to this fucking thing, I'm sure you have a gamepad somewhere laying around you can use for multiplayer stuff.

[The NZA]

fucking thorough, and yeah i was thinking that'd be one of its larger uses...what are you mounting PS1 iso's with? and how's N64 emulation, that scene still isn't perfect on PC for me. MAME alone sounds awesome though.

 

as you said, most complaints i heard involved the controller so working right around that sounds wise - i've been looking at the Retron 5 for similar reasons but since its not confirmed to work with ROMs i don't know if that'd be worth your time...for me, if its cart only, i vastly prefer original hardware anyway.

 

some others were having bigger logon/wifi issues, glad to see that's not the case here either.

[Keth]

Great review Junker! I keep forgetting this thing emulates. I love playing my roms on my PC, but hooking it up to the TV is a hassle, and it would be cool to have a dedicated machine for this. The ability it has to pair with your current controllers is enticing also. Bumped it way up on my eventual buy list.

[Thrizzle]

Yeah man. I didn't know about the controller thing either. I really appreciate that post, junker.

+1