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OUYA - A new $99 console powered by Android [Kickstarter ended, $8.5 million funded]
- Thread starter GK86
- Start date
I am surprised that people are actually surprised how many people have no idea how to plug their pc to a television. Heck, a lot of people don't even know how to plug up a normal monitor to a computer. I had my fair share of helping people set up computers during college, it's fairly astounding and reminds me why laptops are so popular outside of just portability.
I don't know what makes a computer so different, maybe it's all the crap typically sticking out of the back.
Perhaps, but we'll never know until this thing is in everyone's hands and a year or so passes. Saying if it will be successful or not at this point is unknown, but there is certainly a lot of interest in it so far.
I certainly agree with this but that will be in the future. If the next Sony or MS machine has the level of support for smaller developers the Ouya has it could be completely drowned out by how many units those consoles will sell in comparison. Or this could pick up steam and get a sizable fan base since it is coming out before those systems. Who knows.
I don't really feel like this is directly competing with other android devices though. Maybe there is another android console out there, but I have not seen it yet. This machine obviously is going for a different experience than the typical android device.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Well there's the Xperia Play...but that's aiming for a handheld like experience on Android, Ouya is taking the console route.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
That's great and all, but this thing is still going to be a pirate's dream. They haven't done shit yet for piracy on their phones, why is this going to be any different?
Suddenly they care? Where were they the past 3 years?
Besides, this thing runs 4.0, at least at the moment.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
I couldn't tell you where they were for the past 3 years. But, Google seems to be responding now with 4.1.
Wrong. The Transformer Prime Infinity has a beefed-up Tegra 3 SoC.
TheChocolateWar
Member
This isn't the first time a company has tried it. You need a huge market share to make something like this even remotely viable. The last time someone tried, EnVision, they were not able to get a large enough market share. Why? The market is already too saturated. Its just going to be an overpriced microatx PC with a poorly supported OS. Idealistic, but doomed to failure.
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
I know guys, but watch me use THED's words against him:
http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=5968338
** Phoenix Wright Moment **
The tides have turned.
I always say something akin to ''This is it for Apple!'' or ''Apple's demise looming'', but just for fun, I know the hipsters run the show. I tend to parody those who say ''This is it for Sony!'' ''Sony Dead, son''. Something like that, which a common trend.
HadesGigas
Member
You can pledge now and then mull it over for a month and retract the pledge before the time runs out if you want.
FiveMinuteHero
Member
Just wondering, if I wanted a small type of PC to play just emulated games (retro, not PS2/Wii etc), what would fit the bill and how much would I have to pay? I was thinking getting the Ouya for that reason.
SMT
this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
Why would you do that?
Publishers will take them more seriously if they show the amount of cash earned has risen significantly, more games for us, quality games.
They are stretching their goals now to accommodate more money, and even asked us what kind of games we wanted to see on their system.
Of course, Jrpgs like Final Fantasy Xii and Chaos Rings were at the top of my list.
That'd be unfair imho - but you have a point here.
Noisepurge
Member
Raspberry Pi or the handheld Dingoo A320 i mentioned earlier. both under 100$
DiscoJer
Member
Or maybe they tried selling their console for $250. And another $150 a year for the SDK.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/05/25/envisions-android-powered-game-console
I think people are overlooking that this is $99. I've seen Atari Flashback consoles in stores for $40. This isn't all that much more.
TheChocolateWar
Member
You're right, EVO was much more expensive than what Ouya probably will be. However, I still think that 99$ would be too high of a price point to encourage a large enough market share to make this thing viable. You're dealing with two markets which really need to be convinced to pick this thing up; console and PC audience.
The PC audience probably already has a PC and can just emulate this stuff without much issue. If they wanted a mini PC they could just pick up a shuttle or a mini. It seems kinda redundant to purchase this thing as a PC gamer.
As for console gamers, this thing will need some serious press coverage to get enough of an interest base. Even then, with three competitors out there how many people are likely to pick this up unless this price is really, really low?
I hope this thing succeeds, believe me, but the numerous attempts before haven't worked too well.
I suppose they can always implement a similar technology in their own store without making the move to 4.1. Although as they're not shipping until March they might sync with 4.1 before then.
I'm thinking might take off in the tech enthusiast market. They sold a lot of Raspberry Pi's in a very short time and Ouya is basically the user friendly game console version of that.
http://www.techspot.com/news/47673-35-raspberry-pi-is-selling-at-a-record-700-per-second.html
They were selling 20x greater than their ability to supply the product. The initial production run was 10,000 units so that means at the time that article was written they had sold 200k RPis. Sure Raspberry Pi is drastically cheaper but if Ouya can tap the same market it might sell pretty well.
Anyway, to all the people arguing this is going to flop, how exactly do you qualify success? I see this thing as a console positioned for indie developers, and even if the install base only reaches, say, a million, there's still plenty of opportunity for them on the platform with little risk as they can ship in the Android Market at the same time. The sort of people who have bought the Humble Indie Bundles will buy this. Is it going to be a PS4 killer? Hell no. Is there a market for this console? I think so, and best of all it should be a great driver for small-scale game development and it's launching at the perfect time.
That said, I'm not buying one until they actually get the thing made.
That said, I'm not buying one until they actually get the thing made.
Stephen Colbert
Banned
The Tegra 3 has a quad core A9 CPU and 8 nvidia gpu cores.
The CPU is amazing but the GPU is severely lacking, offering one third the performance that the new iPad's gpu offers.
Nvidia said they will have the Tegra 3+ featuring quad a15 cores and 24 nvidia gpu cores in prediction within the month. This gpu should outperform the iPads.
I would pay $130 for this console if it came with the Tegra 3+ and 1.5gb of ram instead.
Update: Nevermind, I was wrong. Tegra 3+s gpu is only 25% faster than Tegra 3, no where near as fast as new iPad. And it won't be out for several months. Main upgrade is an integrated LTE modem that's useless for a console.
Not worth the wait. I wish Nvidia would get its act together on the GPU front
The CPU is amazing but the GPU is severely lacking, offering one third the performance that the new iPad's gpu offers.
Nvidia said they will have the Tegra 3+ featuring quad a15 cores and 24 nvidia gpu cores in prediction within the month. This gpu should outperform the iPads.
I would pay $130 for this console if it came with the Tegra 3+ and 1.5gb of ram instead.
Update: Nevermind, I was wrong. Tegra 3+s gpu is only 25% faster than Tegra 3, no where near as fast as new iPad. And it won't be out for several months. Main upgrade is an integrated LTE modem that's useless for a console.
Not worth the wait. I wish Nvidia would get its act together on the GPU front
Also it's worth noting they're close to sold out now - only 4000 units left which at this rate will be gone within the next 12 hours. I wonder how they'll proceed? Their cost estimate at this point seems a little on the low side. The MK802 is $73 on Dealextreme, but it has a cheaper chipset (Allwinner A-10 which costs around $7 a piece, whereas the Tegra 3 is probably at least $15), half the storage and a much simpler and cheaper looking case and construction as well as not having a controller. On the other hand I guess the more orders they have the greater the volume of components they can order upfront and thus get cheaper prices for them.
Brad Grenz
Member
Just reminds me of the Pocket TV kickstarter scam. They were selling for $99 on Kickstarter and saying eventual price will be $160 retail. But they'll just turn around and buy from Chinese manufacturers already making and selling that product for less than $50 in bulk. Drop ship directly from China. Pocket a couple hundred thousand.
If you just want to fuck around with Android on your TV just buy one of these for $67 shipped today. It's dual core and has a better GPU than the Tegra 3. Plug in a USB controller and run all the emulators you want. Supports MicroSD, Android 4.0, Google Play Market place. Develop your own Android software if you want. The barrier for entry there has always been low.
They were close to sold out before, and they just bumped up the number available. The factories in China making this kind of thing can pump out hundreds of thousands a month each.
If you just want to fuck around with Android on your TV just buy one of these for $67 shipped today. It's dual core and has a better GPU than the Tegra 3. Plug in a USB controller and run all the emulators you want. Supports MicroSD, Android 4.0, Google Play Market place. Develop your own Android software if you want. The barrier for entry there has always been low.
They were close to sold out before, and they just bumped up the number available. The factories in China making this kind of thing can pump out hundreds of thousands a month each.
Canis lupus
Member
I have no need for this.
Stephen Colbert
Banned
More exciting than the gaming market, I think the far more exciting prospect is in the DLNA player market.
So far, the best DLNA player on the market short of building your own htpc is a jail broken Apple TV running XBMC. This will be a huge upgrade from that, and without needing a jailbreak.
So far, the best DLNA player on the market short of building your own htpc is a jail broken Apple TV running XBMC. This will be a huge upgrade from that, and without needing a jailbreak.
No thanks I don't want a tablet interface on my TV.
DiscoJer
Member
It's not all that much cheaper, when you factor in that the Pi is basically a naked card, not case or cover or anything (those seem to be $10-15) and doesn't have any storage (again, not expensive, but adds cost) and doesn't include a controller.
Canis lupus
Member
Have they no shame? Thats really wrong, not only buying Chinese products 1/3 of the price you'll be selling but claiming it your own.
Stephen Colbert
Banned
Cool device but no the Mali400 is not better than Tegra 3. The Tegra 3 has a much better CPU.
The GPU performance is about the same. However Tegra 3 has Nvidias backing, much better support and better games as a result. Some Tegra 3 games look better than new iPads games despite the iPad featuring a gpu 2-3 times more capable because of Nvdias investment into Tegra 3 gaming.
HadesGigas
Member
Yeah I don't think that $67 dongle is a better deal, but by the time March 2013 rolls around, there will probably something like that that is actually a better deal if you're just looking for multimedia/emulation.
For $99 there's no way the hardware in this thing is going to compete in the ways that appeal to me. I'd rather support PC gaming and the upcoming Wii U. What kind of a gamepad can they afford to put in the box if they are only charging $99? Yet it's supposed to even have a screen on it? I just don't have any faith in what they are attempting here. If it turns out I'm wrong, I'll buy a post-launch unit.
HadesGigas
Member
No, the controller has a touch pad on the front, not a screen.
... I don't know what to think about this console. I need more information. This could as well turn into a revolution, or into a catastrophy.
I pledged (because, hey, if it's a revolution, I want one in my living-room, and these $99 rewards are "selling" fast), but I will retract it if I smell something fishy, or if I end up unconviced (it's my right, and I will use it).
Also, the major factor is the games : what games can I expect from this console ? Which developpers will make games on it (even Mojang is cautious with his wording in his support message) ? Quid of piracy issues ?
Wait and see. It's way too soon to be certain of anything at this point.
I pledged (because, hey, if it's a revolution, I want one in my living-room, and these $99 rewards are "selling" fast), but I will retract it if I smell something fishy, or if I end up unconviced (it's my right, and I will use it).
Also, the major factor is the games : what games can I expect from this console ? Which developpers will make games on it (even Mojang is cautious with his wording in his support message) ? Quid of piracy issues ?
Wait and see. It's way too soon to be certain of anything at this point.
MadraptorMan
Member
They shoulda went for more graphics processing power..
Brad Grenz
Member
Prepare to be disappointed by Ouya, then. They aren't putting a touch pad on the controller by accident.
You haven't watched the video have you? The interface has been designed for a controller. It's a bit like the 360 NXE if your games were displayed as banners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaUlyghHpOA
HadesGigas
Member
It has a 360 dashboard NXE rip-off interface.
This may explain this.
*is still scratching his head on wheter the OUYA is a good idea or not*
In any case, this project will top Double Fine Adventure in terms of founding. No doubt about it.
Brad Grenz
Member
Until you launch a touch-based game that has been ported. Anyway, lots of those Chinese dongles have cheesy UI layers you drive with a directional pad on a remote, too.
Stephen Colbert
Banned
Seeing how much butt ARM and PowerVR are kicking and how cheap they are.
A part of me wants a $199-299 Andriod based PS3 packing a 16 core cortex a15 cpu, 4gbs of fast ram, and 6th generation 16 core PowerVR gpu. Oh and yeah XBMC support!
With a set up like that, Sony could drop the price down to $99 by 2014-2015.
A part of me wants a $199-299 Andriod based PS3 packing a 16 core cortex a15 cpu, 4gbs of fast ram, and 6th generation 16 core PowerVR gpu. Oh and yeah XBMC support!
With a set up like that, Sony could drop the price down to $99 by 2014-2015.
DiscoJer
Member
Doing a quick google search, they seem to sell for $599. So that pretty much answers that.
After the KS and Amazon cut, they are getting $86 out of the $99. Factor in the controller and shipping, even if they are picking up $50 thingies from China (which I doubt) they don't exactly have a large profit margin.
This isn't like the big 3 consoles, where they have billions of dollars lying around and can afford to subsidize the cost of hardware for a few years until software sales add up.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
99 bucks for something that you can use to run emu's and as a media center seems like a great deal even if the game part is a shit hole of terrible ports of android games that don't suit the comfy couch model seems really enticing to me.
There should be a reasonably priced device which sits by a TV, starts up in seconds, has a UI that's smooth and easy to navigate, streams video from devices on the local wifi network (including PCs, NAS, Android and iOS devices), from all the major internet streaming services, and plays OnLive games.
If Ouya can do that stuff I'll probably get one.
If Ouya can do that stuff I'll probably get one.