New console coming.....(Not from China)

[MikeFishcake]

When I saw the announcement, I thought "not a chance" but the fact that, as I write, there are nearly 30,000 people who have backed it with over $3.7m in the last few days makes me wonder if it is going to go somewhere. TBH I think it'll end up for most people as being a toy they can hack around with rather than a gaming device. If XMBC doesn't end up on it, I'll eat my face*. Of course I'd love something like Mednafen to be on it too

As long as they're making a profit on the device itself I think it'll be quite interesting. For $99 US i'm even considering it myself.

It won't kill the mainstream consoles, but it may succeed where the OpenPandora hasn't, as long as they keep it cheap and can actually keep up with demand. Like the Raspberry Pi, demand appears to have far exceeded expectations, but I don't think the RasPi was crowdfunded in advance.

I don't think it's going to carry on earning as many pledges as it has done in the last couple of days, but it does have a few established people involved in the project so as long as it's not marketed as a replacement for the Xbox 720, PS4 and WiiU, I want it to succeed as a niche device.

* Not legally binding

[Matt_B]

Let's bear in mind that, although the kickstarter has been a phenomenal success, there's still a huge gap between getting 30,000 to sign up before launch and selling the millions to the mass market that'd be necessary to maintain it as a viable platform. I'll wish them luck, but they'll be needing it.

I'm still dubious of whether it's going to be that good for playing existing Android games; the controller has apparently got a touchpad but most of the best games that I can think of rather rely on you being able to see more or less where you're placing your finger and having to do it blind might rather spoil them. Also, cheap though the Ouya may be, it's still a heck of a lot more than an HDMI adaptor for your phone or tablet.

[AmigaJay]

I'm very skeptical myself, if the specs were raspberry pi like then maybe but £60 for a Tegra 3, 1gb etc... is dubious to say the least.
I also don't know why people are still pledging money, why risk it, the project is funded now, just wait and see, IF it happens then buy on release...

[Matt_B]

I'm very skeptical myself, if the specs were raspberry pi like then maybe but £60 for a Tegra 3, 1gb etc... is dubious to say the least.
I also don't know why people are still pledging money, why risk it, the project is funded now, just wait and see, IF it happens then buy on release...

The Tegra 3 will cost around $15-25, which is only a little bit more than the $10 for the BCM2835 in the Raspberry Pi, so I'd think the main board could be put together for about $50, and that still leaves about the same again for the PSU, case and controller.

They obviously won't be able to sell it at retail for that price to start with, what with the taxes and middle men to pay, but they can probably build the thing. It'll just have to be an internet/mail-order success first.

[DPrinny]

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/android-4- ... 12?item=30

Another Android device
>$69.99 (about £45)

[AmigaJay]

Yes I know all the components can be bought for under $99 but as a few others have said its the cost of production, testing and distribution which they may have underestimated....I'd just be very surprised if they hit this price, any if they don't, we'll lets just wait and see...

[Havantgottaclue]

@AmigaJay You may be interested to see the concerns Rich Stanton raises in his Saturday Soapbox article on EG. He raises some very interesting points, and I for one would be keen to see what the developers have to say in response. Personally, I'm less sceptical of the price than the timeline - does it really look as though this thing is going to be in anything like the right shape to be distributed to early adopters by March 2013?

[killbot]

Whilst there are indeed a lot of great Android games, you'll be playing none of them on this thing as they all need a touch screen. Quite what it will offer, I'm not so sure, but beyond ports of the usual open source favourites - presumably emulators included - I really wouldn't be expecting a huge amount.

For that price you're not going to get a lot of graphical and processing power; think Raspberry Pi and you're probably in the right ball park.

The video suggests there'll be a version of ShadowGun. Sensible, since that's one of the very small number of Android games that looks like a proper console game (I imagine there'll be a version of Modern Combat as well). But as you say, many of the best Android games (and there aren't that many good ones anyway) are based on touchscreen or tilt controls and will be hard to replicate with a traditional controller.

[MikeFishcake]

@AmigaJay You may be interested to see the concerns Rich Stanton raises in his Saturday Soapbox article on EG. He raises some very interesting points, and I for one would be keen to see what the developers have to say in response. Personally, I'm less sceptical of the price than the timeline - does it really look as though this thing is going to be in anything like the right shape to be distributed to early adopters by March 2013?

That's an interesting article and it's always good to read an alternative viewpoint (especially when something's getting so much hype), but whilst Rich criticises the Ouya team for making assumptions, he's doing a LOT of the same in his article: " the Ouya will never appear, and even if it does is doomed.". He also comes very close to sounding like a bit of a smarmy know-it-all churning out inflammatory linkbait. I can't work out if he's deliberately missing the point or not, and I don't buy the opinion that it would be "easier" to pirate games than it is on a standard PC.

Worth reading though, if anything to bring people a bit down to the ground. I believe there will be some logistical issues, but I genuinely believe it will appear.

[Matt_B]

I think he's just stating the obvious. The conventional wisdom is that you can't launch a games console without hundreds of millions of dollars to burn, and most of the attempts to do so end in vapourware. Those that don't have given us machines like the Pandora, GP32 and Dingoo A320; they've got very little to show for themselves in the form of original games, and the principle attraction is ports of open source games and emulators.

Anyway, I'm surprised nobody's put the boot in about it not using physical media yet.

[MikeFishcake]

Interview with their CEO: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/17/inte ... ie-uhrman/

I'm not convinced there'll be AAA titles on it though.

[DPrinny]

If it can run Minecraft really well it will be great for me

[MikeFishcake]

Now it gets even more interesting: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... ya-startup

[Matt_B]

Now it gets even more interesting: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... ya-startup

That's no surprise. Pretty much every new console is going to have to support streaming in one form or other. Well, maybe Nintendo's wont, but I'd think everyone else will be going down that route.

Elsewhere, they've said that it won't be supporting Google Play, so you'll only get the Android games that are specifically ported to it. I suppose that'll deal with the problem of filtering out all the fluff and things that are unplayable without a touch screen. However, the launch line-up might be rather thin when it comes to native games.

[killbot]

Interview with their CEO: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/17/inte ... ie-uhrman/

I'm not convinced there'll be AAA titles on it though.

What AAA games can they have? Most decent Android games require a touchscreen, so there'll be no Cut The Rope or Angry Birds even if anyone was mad enough to want to play those on a home console. There's ShadowGun but why bother with that when there's Gears of War? Why bother with Modern Combat 3 when there's Modern Warfare 3? Android games broadly fall into two categories - games that are pale, cheaply-made imitations of home console games and games that are original but designed for enjoying in ten minute bursts while waiting for a bus. With the possible exception of Minecraft, I can't think of a single AAA title that might be coming to this machine. Not enough to make it worth buying when the WiiU is around the corner and announcements from Sony and MS can't be far off regarding their new machines. Those consoles may be dearer than the Ooyah and require rubbishy old physical media (we assume) but at least there'll be some real killer apps for them.