Well shit.

That is awesome. I might pick this up now. I still want to see footage of the system in action.

Well that's nice I guess, though I have yet to finish a Final Fantasy game...

Wait...Subscribers? Am I missing something?

Well I asked for a console exclusive and they gave me one.

Biggest hoax this decade? Possibly.

At first I was thinking it would be funny when this all goes to shit and a lot of people are left less some money and majorly disappointed--idiots be idiots, right? But it's kind of... too far. Like, it's gone beyond joke and now I'm kind of sad this is going to bum so many people out :/

At least Jeff and the Giant Bomb crew will have funny stories for the Bombcast >_>

Clearing the Eye:
Biggest hoax this decade? Possibly.

At first I was thinking it would be funny when this all goes to shit and a lot of people are left less some money and majorly disappointed--idiots be idiots, right? But it's kind of... too far. Like, it's gone beyond joke and now I'm kind of sad this is going to bum so many people out :/

At least Jeff and the Giant Bomb crew will have funny stories for the Bombcast >_>

Why are you so certain that this will bomb?

Rainboq:

Clearing the Eye:
Biggest hoax this decade? Possibly.

At first I was thinking it would be funny when this all goes to shit and a lot of people are left less some money and majorly disappointed--idiots be idiots, right? But it's kind of... too far. Like, it's gone beyond joke and now I'm kind of sad this is going to bum so many people out :/

At least Jeff and the Giant Bomb crew will have funny stories for the Bombcast >_>

Why are you so certain that this will bomb?

It's all very... oversold. Not only have they not even made a proper console yet, they're shooting way over the stars. They have nowhere near enough money for any kind of success (it costs a fucking ton more than they have to mass produce a small computer, complete with controllers) and what they do have is a lot of ideas, promises and wishes. It's like a kid setting up a lemonade stand, then before it's even done, they start promising they have a thousand varieties of lemonade. This will tank and it will tank out hard.

The guys at Giant Bomb basically summed it up best. I'll go listen to it again and transcribe some.

Rainboq:

Clearing the Eye:
Biggest hoax this decade? Possibly.

At first I was thinking it would be funny when this all goes to shit and a lot of people are left less some money and majorly disappointed--idiots be idiots, right? But it's kind of... too far. Like, it's gone beyond joke and now I'm kind of sad this is going to bum so many people out :/

At least Jeff and the Giant Bomb crew will have funny stories for the Bombcast >_>

Why are you so certain that this will bomb?

It may bomb, it may not. Even finished products, and good finished products, fail in the market sometimes, not to mention the possibility that the console will suck after it's ready.

But I don't think it qualifies as a "hoax".

Clearing the Eye:

Rainboq:

Clearing the Eye:
Biggest hoax this decade? Possibly.

At first I was thinking it would be funny when this all goes to shit and a lot of people are left less some money and majorly disappointed--idiots be idiots, right? But it's kind of... too far. Like, it's gone beyond joke and now I'm kind of sad this is going to bum so many people out :/

At least Jeff and the Giant Bomb crew will have funny stories for the Bombcast >_>

Why are you so certain that this will bomb?

It's all very... oversold. Not only have they not even made a proper console yet, they're shooting way over the stars. They have nowhere near enough money for any kind of success (it costs a fucking ton more than they have to mass produce a small computer, complete with controllers) and what they do have is a lot of ideas, promises and wishes. It's like a kid setting up a lemonade stand, then before it's even done, they start promising they have a thousand varieties of lemonade. This will tank and it will tank out hard.

The guys at Giant Bomb basically summed it up best. I'll go listen to it again and transcribe some.

I don't really agree with that, but go ahead.

tautologico:

Rainboq:

Clearing the Eye:
Biggest hoax this decade? Possibly.

At first I was thinking it would be funny when this all goes to shit and a lot of people are left less some money and majorly disappointed--idiots be idiots, right? But it's kind of... too far. Like, it's gone beyond joke and now I'm kind of sad this is going to bum so many people out :/

At least Jeff and the Giant Bomb crew will have funny stories for the Bombcast >_>

Why are you so certain that this will bomb?

It may bomb, it may not. Even finished products, and good finished products, fail in the market sometimes, not to mention the possibility that the console will suck after it's ready.

But I don't think it qualifies as a "hoax".

Agreed.

Is squenix going to come back and whine when their .apk gets handed out like candy thanks to the open nature of Droid and that this console is designed to be hacked?

Giant Bomb crew talking about the OUYA:

They're promising an exclusive prequel to a 2015 game, Element. That seems a little cart in front of the horse.

It all sounds kind of nuts.

Penny Arcade has a good report on it, actually, about the company and the people behind this thing, what it is and what it's not--what they've actually done so far.

I'm not going to call it a scam, but... they're really over selling what they have if this isn't a scam. It doesn't even exist yet in any real form. It's all mock up at this point.

Is this The Phantom?

If it is, it's The Phantom with millions of people's money behind it.

Like, they have Minecraft shown in a video, but Notch hasn't even offered it yet.

I'm suspect. I'm very suspect.

Penny Arcade article, The reality of the OUYA console doesn't match the hype: why you should be skeptical

Ignore all the question marks in this one where commas should be--it's caused by the different formatting/grammar. I Don't like linking to other sites here, as it's kind of shady.

There is a reason that the press around the newly-announced OUYA game console is based almost exclusively around the amount of money being raised by the product's Kickstarter, and that reason is simple: There is very little else to report on. There is almost no information about the state of production hardware, and in fact nearly everything about the system seems to be in flux. The Kickstarter page contradicts itself on some points, and many of the images and statements seem to be intentionally misleading.

While there are many aspects of the OUYA game console that are attractive, there are many more reasons to be skeptical about what's being offered.

The system doesn't actually exist, at least not yet

The Kickstarter page states there is a single working prototype of the hardware. Everything else, from the digital distribution platform that will sell the games to the internal components that will make up the final product are in the first stages of production. That's an uncomfortable reality for a product that's supposed to hit the market by March of next year.

"We have a functional prototype, and we have almost completed our industrial design (the shape and materials of the product you see here)," the Kickstarter page states. "We know the hardware specifications, and are working with electrical and mechanical engineers to test the performance of the hardware. We have begun work on the user interface and software. We'll pull all these pieces together and test how they fit, while we finalize the product." There isn't a finished design for the external case, and work has only begun on the interface and the software that will power the hardware, not to mention the challenge of creating the online store that will sell and deliver the games.

Creating a robust, stable platform to offer for-pay game downloads is a complicated undertaking, and according to the Kickstarter page work has only just begun on that aspect of the project. The specifications seem to be in place, but testing can be a long and tricky process, even with known components. There are only eight months between now and the stated ship date of March 2013. That would be an aggressive timeline if we were talking about Microsoft or Valve, much less an untested startup. I asked specifically about the ambition of this product, and my misgivings about the goal of a March launch. "We continue to march toward that date," I was told via email. No further details were given.

There are more basic problems, such as the lack of a final controller design. The video on the Kickstarter page shows a few mockups and models, but only one side of what looks to be a production controller has been shown to the public. I asked about this as well. "That design is not final," I was told. "We are in a prototype phase and exploring several options." That's why they can't show a finished controller; there isn't one. No one knows what it will be, or how it will look. When a product makes such a big deal out of the fact it uses a standard controller to interact with games on the television, it's unsettling to have so few details about how that controller will look, much less operate.

The one side of the mock-up controller they're willing to show you

It's likewise important to note that the company refuses to confirm the existence of a single game that will run on the OUYA hardware. I asked if they could confirm a single game for the platform. "Not at this time," I was told. "We are obviously talking to developers behind the scenes but feel that its too early to announce."

But wait, isn't Minecraft a game that will run on the OUYA? "Mojang has committed that Minecraft (and their other games) will be on OUYA," the Kickstarter page stated. The next sentence, however, makes it very clear that there is not the case: "But only if we prove that we can make a great product (that's our job) AND enough people want their games (that's your job). Show them with your numbers that you want Minecraft on OUYA!" In other words, there is no commitment being made, and no reason to believe the game will ever come to the platform. If the console sells well and consumers seem to be interested in the product, Mojang may offer its games on the platform. That's a very big "if."

The promotional video states outright that Minecraft is coming to the system, which is, at best, misleading. I've contacted Mojang for clarification, and will update the story with any comment.

Another problem is the fact the OUYA does little except further fragment the Android market, although I was told that's not an issue. "There will be only one chipset for OUYA and a totally standard one at that," I was told. "This is the best way to develop Android for TV. We will work hard to make it as standard as possible." I'm going to be blunt: That's a ridiculous answer, and it's akin to claiming the Kindle Fire doesn't count as market fragmentation as long as you only develop for the Kindle Fire.

The OUYA will use a controller when most Android games are designed for the touch screens of phones or tablets, which is a problem. Games are either going to have to be designed from the ground up for the OUYA, or ported from other Android devices that rely on touch screen controls. Unless the hardware sells a few million units very quickly, neither option is going to be attractive to smaller, or even AAA, developers.

The definition of free-to-play given on the Kickstarter site is so broad that as long as it has a demo, it's considered free-to-play.

It's selling a dream, not a solution

"I'm skeptical of why people are so excited about OUYA," Antichamber developer Alexander Bruce said. "If you want to develop a game for consoles with less gatekeeping than PSN or XBLA, I'm pretty sure that's what XBLIG was supposed to be for, but people aren't exactly going crazy over selling their games there. If openness is your main concern, I'm not sure what is stopping you from targeting the PC and selling games directly through your website. I personally believe that until you've got a high quality game on your hands, where you sell it or which gatekeepers you have to get past aren't your biggest problems."

I spoke with Robert Boyd, who has released retro-styled RPGs on both the PC and the Xbox Live Indie Channel, and he has harsh words for the system. He's the sort of developer OUYA is trying to attract, but he doesn't buy any of the system's strengths. (Disclosure: Zeboyd Games developed On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3, which is a Penny Arcade title)

"My main problem with the OUYA is that it's selling a dream: 'The Console for Indie Developers,'" he explained. "It's primary selling points are that it's cheap and developers can make games for it without buying expensive development kits. However, you can already get all that with a cheap PC and unlike the OUYA, the install base for the PC is already massive."

He also rejects the idea that an "open platform" is the secret to independent success. "The reality is harsh; we've seen what happens with open platforms. Look at Xbox Live Indie Games, where very few developers were able to make a living off of it and now the platform is dominated by knock-offs of popular games and wannabe Japanese softcore porn," he said. "The Apple App Store has been more successful than XBLIG, but even there, you either get in the top 10 and make a fortune or you 'die in obscurity.' And the Android is even more open than Apple's and yet how many success stories do you hear for Android developers? Not many." Keep in mind all of these platforms have an installed base many times that of the OUYA.

"It's hard enough to make a living as an indie developer on a popular platform like Steam. Even on popular platforms, there are many games, both indie and otherwise, that fail to sell enough to support the developer. However, trying to make a living on a niche console like the OUYA feels like an even bigger gamble," he continued.

OUYA is actually making these problems worse with its marketing. "Finally, the creators of OUYA are actively encouraging both free-to-play, all games must be 'free-to-play' although their definition is very loose and includes demos and purchase for full version, and hacking. Trying to get a significant portion of an audience like that to actually pay money for a game and not just spend all their time on free emulators for old arcade and video game systems could prove challenging indeed."

The OUYA console will likely be the Android platform with the lowest installed base, and it will require the most work to get games looking good and playing well compared to the Android handsets and tablets that make up the majority of the market. Why retool your existing Android games to use a controller and look good on your television when you're targeting an untested platform? Piracy will also be a major concern, due to the fact that rooting the device will be made as simple as possible. Developers already wrestle with pirated and cloned games in the Android ecosystem, and the OUYA prides itself in being open and hackable, both in terms of software and hardware. That's attractive in some ways, but it also makes it very easy for piracy and other shady activities to thrive.

So not only is there no finished hardware, no service at the moment, no controller, and no games-although we're being asked to take their word that they can create each of those things in eight months-but focusing development costs on an incredibly risky platform with a small installed base and features that make piracy all but given makes no sense for most developers who release games you'd like to play. It's an environment that not makes little sense for commercial development, in many ways it's actively hostile to people hoping to create games for it.

The OUYA may find a home for people interested in hacking, piracy, and fun homebrew projects, but most details about the project point to an ecosystem that, if launched, will make very little sense to support commercially.

The hype doesn't match the reality

The entire system hangs on the ability that you want to play ported Android games on a cheap system, with an unseen controller, on a television screen. While many developers are willing to provide quotes about how great the OUYA could be, so far no one is willing to put their money where their mouth is and announce projects for the hardware. No one involved in the project has experience launching products even close to the complexity of the OUYA, in terms of either gaming hardware, software, and services.

At least, we don't think so. "There are plenty of other people involved, but some of them would get fired if we tell you who they are," the Kickstarter page stated. That doesn't inspire confidence, and if any of these individuals works at a company that owns their extra-curricular output, which is a sadly common state of affairs, the legal mess could become quite deep.

It will be great if the OUYA is a high quality system that finds success, despite the fact it's worth throwing some cold water on the hype. The more homes developers can find for their games, the better for everyone. Still, the challenges the system faces and the fact the OUYA doesn't have a single game to promote should make you cautious, not excited. There is nothing wrong with taking a step back from the hype and waiting until the system is released commercially and has a robust catalog of games to enjoy. Until then? Caveat emptor.

It's all very... oversold. Not only have they not even made a proper console yet, they're shooting way over the stars. They have nowhere near enough money for any kind of success (it costs a fucking ton more than they have to mass produce a small computer, complete with controllers) and what they do have is a lot of ideas, promises and wishes. It's like a kid setting up a lemonade stand, then before it's even done, they start promising they have a thousand varieties of lemonade. This will tank and it will tank out hard.

Add to that it is becoming quite clear that they don't really know who the target buyer for this console is, the deal with on live and the survey showing that most supporters thought they would be getting triple AAA titles rather than the usual five minute time wasting nonsense that is the mainstay of Android and App gaming.

Plus whatever market it is aiming at, has already been well and truly filled by tech that is established and better at the job.

It's comical how hard this thing will tank!

Laughing Man:

It's all very... oversold. Not only have they not even made a proper console yet, they're shooting way over the stars. They have nowhere near enough money for any kind of success (it costs a fucking ton more than they have to mass produce a small computer, complete with controllers) and what they do have is a lot of ideas, promises and wishes. It's like a kid setting up a lemonade stand, then before it's even done, they start promising they have a thousand varieties of lemonade. This will tank and it will tank out hard.

Add to that it is becoming quite clear that they don't really know who the target buyer for this console is, the deal with on live and the survey showing that most supporters thought they would be getting triple AAA titles rather than the usual five minute time wasting nonsense that is the mainstay of Android and App gaming.

Plus whatever market it is aiming at, has already been well and truly filled by tech that is established and better at the job.

It's comical how hard this thing will tank!

It's supposed to be in peoples homes in about eight months, but they haven't even made a single final product, controller or interface. They have no system set up to offer games and nothing at all done besides one prototype.

And it's coming out in half a year? No.

EDIT: my apologies. It's coming out in a year, not eight months.

Not that an extra six months is enough time to mass produce a console and a controller they haven't even settled on a design for yet, come up with and create an entire interface and market for people to use...

EDIT EDIT: Oh wait, I was right--it is eight months. What the fuck am I smoking ><

I'll leave the edit in, for the lol factor XD

Still meh on the Ouya. I'll just wait and see if anything I want is going to be on it later. Not like it needs my help on it's kickstarter already.

everyone keeps talking this thing down but no one seems to be answering the question what if it doesn't What if the Ouya is a success? How will this change the gaming industry?

I'm still super excited for the Ouya, but FF3 seems like a pretty meh choice for me.

At least Square-Enix are taking notes, hopefully we'll see bigger and better games for it from them.

Weren't the games on this console supposed to be free-to-play?

everyone keeps talking this thing down but no one seems to be answering the question what if it doesn't What if the Ouya is a success? How will this change the gaming industry?

The reason no one is answering that question is rather simple, for it to change the gaming industry it has to have something to bring to the fight. It has to be sitting there with that huge all consuming feature that makes it so radically different from anything that is within the industry that it will supposedly change, that the very idea itself forces people to ask and answer that question.

The reality is that the Ouya doesn't have anything, even within the remit of the existing games industry it has nothing, but to swagger on to the scene and say it is going to change the established norm, with NOTHING, well that is a bold statement. The fact no one has debated it really does show just how little the Ouya has or will bring to the current industry.

Weren't the games on this console supposed to be free-to-play?

No, this is another myth that seems to have crept in to the hype surrounding this 'console'. The games were to have content that was free to play, I.e any game released for it would have a demo with a certain amount of content that would allow you to download it for nothing but the full games, no they will be paid for.

It is business model that Android Play uses at the discretion of the developer. Most developer for Android provide free content because they can off set the cost by either hooking you with a decent demo or through in game advertisement. They DON'T have to provide free content it's just a lot choose too. The information from the Ouya camp is that anyone developing for the console will HAVE TOO provide free demos or content. Bit of a fail really, force the developer to provide free content to get a release on your console when that same developer could just stick the game on the Android market, charge at full price and provide no free content at all.

I am still amazed at the amount of negativity about this product. They better news they come with, the more people try to trash it. It might tank, or it might become a huge success. We don't really know, but its not illegal to get excited by the idea. Especially if you're not even putting any money towards it.

It's good to see a little more support for this console, even though I am still on the fence about it. It does annoy me though that people are instantly jumping at an opportunity to bash the thing. When the fuck did it become cool to piss all over someone trying to do something different? I'm not standing up for Ouya because I'm some fanatical follower or anything (personally I see it more like a physical version of Steam), but almost no one seems to realise that this is still the dream of a group of people who seem to really want to change the way we play games, and from their perspective, for the better.
Can't y'all stop being an asshole to someone just because you don't think their idea will work?

Sheesh, people keep talking about how the Ouya project has jumped the gun, despite the inescapable fact that so has the negativity surrounding the thing.

drkchmst:
Is squenix going to come back and whine when their .apk gets handed out like candy thanks to the open nature of Droid and that this console is designed to be hacked?

It's already available for Android phones and they haven't complained yet, as far as I know anyway.

So a game already on Android is getting released on the Android-in-a-shiny-box. How is this news?

I really, really hope the Ouya-people succeed. Their idea is ambitious, if a little all over the place. For instance, I still can't figure out who the audience for the console is and how they Ouya is going to draw them in.

I do think they're going to have to step up their game. Promises are nice and all, but sooner or later people are going to want something more substantial and there is still a lot of work ahead on a very small budget. They are after all complete beginners at this game and can't rely on their name and experience as the Big Three would be able to.

And then there are the unfortunate similarities with the Phantom story.

considering that you mention the ds version in the article, the whole "first time ever outside japan" thing seems disingenuous

btw, you can actually get the onion knight class back as an easter egg, which, with the rare onion knight gear, becomes game breaking powerful