Ouya console available for pre-order starting at $109, ships in April

Shawn Knight

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Ouya ended their Kickstarter campaign less than 24 hours ago with an impressive $8.5 million haul from over 63,000 backers. If you missed the opportunity to secure a console during the fundraising event, fear not as the company is now taking pre-orders directly on their website.

Buyers in the United States can pre-order a single console and controller for $109 which includes $10 for shipping. If you need more controllers, there are console + controller packages that include two or four controllers for $139 or $199, respectively. International customers are offered the same controller packages with a $10 premium per selection to cover shipping.

Expected delivery date is listed as April 2013 regardless of which configuration you purchase. That is, of course, assuming there are no hiccups in the manufacturing process between now and then. It’s worth pointing out that there aren’t any money-back guarantees following a successful Kickstarter campaign.

If you aren’t familiar, Ouya is an Android-based gaming and media hub that is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of system memory and has 8GB of onboard storage. The wireless controller that ships with the console features a familiar button layout with two analog sticks, a directional pad, eight action buttons and a touchpad. Both the console and the controller were created by designer Yves Behar of One Laptop per Child and Jawbone Jambox fame.

Does the Ouya console look like something you’d be interested in or are you content to stick with your Android phone / tablet for media consumption?

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This is a very neat concept, but I just can't get into mobile games period. Not using a 4" touchscreen might change that perception, but at $100 I'll wait for others to try.

Love seeing all the innovative ideas popping up lately though.
 
I'll be interested in seeing benchmarks for the Ouya compared to all of the Tegra 3 benchmarks that get thrown at it as arguments against performance. The Ouya will be one of the few platforms to actually leverage the full potential of the Tegra 3, without artificial throttling to conserve battery life or deal with extreme heat in mobile packages. Even the Infinity Pad has to throttle back to maintain that efficiency/performance balance. I think it's telling that the Ouya team is working directly with nVidia to eek every ounce of performance out of the platform.
 
I got one during the Kickstarter campaign since I like to check out everything new, WTF why not check it out at just over $100 (if you have the money that is)! If I can develop and make some money myself HELL YAH I am going to check it out! I sit at home work a few hours a day then getting to spend time with my family, play video games and do things I like to do all while raking in the bucks, while my friends work long hard hours for others and make little to nothing and have little to show for there hard work. It is all thanks to concepts like this that I get on board when they first come out that I get to live happy and free and do what I love doing.
 
I don't get it. My phone an, 'old' HTC Evo has an HDMI output. I can hook it up to a TV and use a bluetooth controller and wow, I have an android based console. I guess because it's only $100 it makes it cool, but do people realize they're probably already carrying around the same thing?
 
I don't get it. My phone an, 'old' HTC Evo has an HDMI output. I can hook it up to a TV and use a bluetooth controller and wow, I have an android based console. I guess because it's only $100 it makes it cool, but do people realize they're probably already carrying around the same thing?

Your Evo doesn't have a Tegra 3 processor which can play way more advanced games and do it smoothly. Check out the game Dark Meadow for instance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSrvQz8BCYY
 
And, to add to what @Chis2k said: Even if your phone DID have a Tegra 3, the Ouya doesn't have to throttle back video performance to fit into the tight mobile packaging and battery efficiency profiles.

I am amazed at how many anti-Ouya arguments start out with something like "big whoop, I can just hook up my phone to the TV..." It's like people don't even bother to consider the convenience factor involved. Reminds me of the smartphone "replace all of your remotes with this cool app" feature, which is all well and good until you actually need to use your phone for a call, go outside the house with it, etc. You take away your phone, everyone else is hosed. The Ouya stays put, so everyone else in the household isn't hostage to your phone usage patterns.
 
Never going to take off in my opinion.

A console with a slightly better gpu than a modern tv pluggable phones is just pointless.

Phone games are a " bonus" in my opinion and certainly not a major selling point.

Smart tvs and cheap consoles like the wii have rendered this obselete before it has even launched.
 
Never going to take off in my opinion.

A console with a slightly better gpu than a modern tv pluggable phones is just pointless.

Phone games are a " bonus" in my opinion and certainly not a major selling point.

Smart tvs and cheap consoles like the wii have rendered this obselete before it has even launched.

I think you're misunderstanding the concept a bit, so let me clear a few things up for you. What makes the OUYA significantly different than a phone hooked up to a television is the fact that developers (both large and small) will be developing for as its own platform. That means you'll see games that will be desinged specifically for the OUYA to be played on a television screen with a controller. What Vrmithrax, and Chis2k were trying to explain is that even though current android games don't seem too impressive you'd be incorrect to assume that the same would be true for the OUYA because you don't have the issue of worrying about power consumption and performance throttling. You'll find that the Tegra 3 is a very capable chip since developers will now be developing games designed from the ground up to run on it rather than having to accommodate every other POS mobile cpu on the market.

Lastly, I also feel it necessary to point out that the OUYA is not being marketed as as a rival to the major consoles. It's quite a different animal. Even though there will be games from major developers,the main draw is that it's much easier to develop for so many of the indie developers out their will have an opportunity to get their stuff distributed. If this takes off, it'll be like nothing we've ever seen before! keep an open mind guys. This is some really cool stuff.
 
"That means you'll see games that will be desinged specifically for the OUYA to be played on a television screen with a controller."

So in other words, A console. In fact an underpowered console with no reputation, user base or track record.

As for indie developers, nintendo dsi and wii ware run a similar setup, as do steam, and numerous other developers on much better equipped hardware.
 
sounds neat. but I need to see some cool games on it before I'm going to get behind a console. people saying its meant to play phone games, has me skeptical about it however.
 
"So in other words, A console. In fact an underpowered console with no reputation, user base or track record."

Um yeah, but here's a news flash, once upon a time Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft also released their first consoles and *gasp* they didn't have any reputation or user base. What's your point?

Also with regards to it being "under powered", that's not really a big deal because it's not being marketed as a powerhouse. That's kind of why it's selling at a much lower price. If graphics mean that much to you, then yeah, stick with Xbox and PS3. But I'm willing to bet that there is a significant segment of the market that value experience & gameplay way more. However, I'm going to challenge your assertion that the Wii and dsi are have "much better equipped hardware". I'm pretty sure the tegra 3 is probably on-par or exceeds the Wii's capabilities and it's certainly exceeds dsi.

I don't know too much about steam's indie developer program, but somehow I doubt it'll be easier or more accessible than developing for OUYA which is based on Android 4.0. An opensource OS.
 
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