RF Generation Message Board

OUYA just broke the record for first day pledges on Kickstarter.  Here is the spec sheet so far:

Specifications:

Tegra3 quad-core processor
1GB RAM
8GB of internal flash storage
HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth LE 4.0
USB 2.0 (one)
Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
Android 4.0

Price: $99

There is a pretty good video that shows the console in action on the kickstarter page.  Anyone planning on getting one?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

But I dont want to forget about retail fees :(

Sounds interesting. Not for me, but interesting. I'll be watching to see how it does.

If it is every made I will not be getting one.

Maybe I'm missing something, but this just seems like a machine dedicated to XBLA/PSN/WiiWare/iPad/Android type games? It also appears that there is no game media, so its all download?

It seems kind of odd they're only putting one USB port and just 8GB of memory in it. Memory is so cheap and I can't imagine USB ports are that expensive to add. I get that its supposed to be inexpensive to buy, but limiting it like that can only hurt it in the long run IMO.

That's what it seems like to me too.  I guess the idea is that it's so hard for a developer to make a game on an established console but simple for them to make on on the Android platform.

I don't imagine that this thing will compete with the big guys but I don't think that's what it's meant to do.  It's a small, inexpensive hacker friendly platform.  When you think of something like a Roku, Apple TV, or Boxxee, the pricing is comparable to this unit but none of those devices have the gaming potential that this thing does.

That being said, I'm still on the fence.

I agree with you on this. When I saw 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal flash storage I was thinking damn thats it.

The Xbox 360 has 512MB of RAM.  I will agree that the internal storage is quite low but they are already talking about adding USB ports and increasing storage since the campaign has been so successful so far.

I'm not really convinced of Android as a great gaming OS yet. Though in fairness, maybe that would change if I were playing on my TV with a nice controller rather than dicking around with my phone and getting frustrated with touch controls and a tiny screen...

Oh I know the 360 would be lower but it is also going to be 7 (I think) years old ion November.

Very true.  I'm hoping the memory gets a bump.

8GB internal storage wouldn't be bad if they added a second USB for an external hard-drive and/or a SD Card slot. But using your only USB port for a hard-drive when the games are all downloaded would just be a hassle for people that download a lot of games.
The 1GB RAM seems like plenty of power for a console like this.


After reading more about how their games are all "free" I'm a bit worried as it'll likely encourage more of these "free to play" Facebook type games where the base parts of the game are free, but you have to pay for every little extra piece and the game is constantly encouraging you to buy more useless pieces of the game. I'd rather pay upfront for a game than be nickel and dimed to death by it.

How many good games are on Android and how many are pure shit?

First, the same could be said of any console, but I do see your point.  The iOS and Android market are FILLED with crappy games.

I'm not saying that people should be interested in this because of the Android games that are already out.  I think that dismissing or writing off this device because of the reputation of touch screen games is missing the point.  They are giving startup and indie developers a well known and easy to program for OS where they can make a game and put it on someone's TV without having to court a publisher or pay a huge licensing fee and I think that's cool.

I won't give the system the time of day no matter what since it is download/stream only.

fair enough

Once stuff is download only I will be saving a lot of money since I wont be buying current gen games then :)

Lol,  I know, right?

That's one of the big reasons I can't get into my Steam library as much as my console library.  There is nothing to display, just a big list of titles that I own. 

When the Fallout 3 DLC was release on the 360, they released them on discs and that's how I bought them just so I could have the physical media in the collection.

Personally I could really care less about this. Call me if they decide to add a cartridge slot.

Lol, I should have known better than to post this in a retro games forum.

OK, so, they have been picked up by Sega so it will have the big Sega logo right on top, it will have a multi slot that will accept master system, Genesis, and 32X games, and the optical drive reads Sega cd, Saturn and Dreamcast.

ALSO, the multi-cart adapter will play Famicom, NES, SNES, Genesis, and 2600 games.

NOW who is getting one? ;)

I have a folder in my collection tool here on RFG for Xbox 360 DLC Retial discs :). It has 15 items listed.

This is...  very interesting.  I think just about anything that can come into the market and shake up the monkey tree we have now is interesting, but whether or not this could be it is up in the air.  More than anything it will be funny to see the reactions of the "Big 3" as well as the "other" contenders (Valve and Apple).  The creaters of the system have also showed a preference for traditional controllers over touch controls, which interests me greatly.  I too feel that many of the iOS and Android games would be more fun with a controller.

While provocative I do have some reservations about it:

1) The obvious question of support, which is partially alleviated by the amount of people who have bought developer kits (350 at this time).  Sure that isn't a lot in relation to the amount of people who develop on the mobile platforms, but considering that the cheapest kit was $699...

2) As a open-minded gamer this console has me intrigued, as a collector this system holds no interest for me.  No mention of physical gaming media + collector's editions (no possibility of box variations) = no shelf space.

3) I'm afraid the overall gaming expereience available on the system will be lower.  This stems from the promise of a hackable platform (if they can sustain that), the Android OS, and a touchpad, as well as their promise of free content available in all games.  This smacks a bit of mobile gaming stores, which are littered with crap.

Overall I am very curious, just not curious enough to buy into it now. Instead I will watch the progress of this machine closely.

Very well put.

I'd be so in if they went back to carts!

It's not so much retro as it is non-collectable.  Lol, but you should have know better.  I used to write a bunch of articles about PC stuff (old and new, physical and digital) and some indie games, but I've never published them here.  Why?  Because very few people care about that sort of thing on this website, and that's fine.  This is a website dedicated to collecting video games, after all, and while I love Steam and GoG and for their awesome value and service, looking over games in my Steam library isn't as cool as going down to the pit and going over my old PC games.

I am extremely glad that you chose to post that info on this thread, though, as I haven't been in the loop as far as cool Kickstarter stuff goes.  Thanks for that.

so where ARE you writing such things bomba?

My main PC outlet is Giantbomb (whom love their PC games) though I've used to publish on both my old blog and my blog on 1up.  Haven't done anything in a while except idea-scribbling lately, due to loads of work and trying to find a new job.

Even though we may not love the thing, doesn't mean we don't appreciate the head's up on its existence. I had never heard of it before and may not have otherwise for months, years, or ever if you didn't post this. Its good for us collectors to know what's going on today because today's gadgets become tomorrow's collectibles.

And this new version sounds intriguing. Is it still $99 and will it be region-free? And I can't believe they didn't give it N64 support. That's probably a deal breaker for me.

It looks like they have a limit of 80,000 units at $99.  Not sure whether the price will go up slightly after that or if they will just add another 80,000 units at that price.  As of right now, about 22,000 still available at that price.

That "new version" only exists in my mind.

Here's to hope, right?  Plus, it's made to be hacked, so one can imagine the possibilities.  Crap, I remember the day that I learned that my C64 Plug N Play is basically a functional (once tweaked a bit) C64.

No TurboGrafx support? What a hunk of junk.

Seriously though, I don't think this is necessarily a retro site, but it is a collector site. It sounds like there is nothing to collect here but dust.

So it's like the Wii?

ZING!

Now that was funny! But you should of quoted him.

Bum-da-bump...  how to you do the cymbal sound?

Yeah, I should have.  That page break couldn't have come at a worse time, too.

I'm more interested in what hackers can do for this console than what the Android market currently offers. I don't see why people won't be able to port linux to it. From there, they could run steam and we'd have steam-on-a-tv.

It could also end up being a Netflix/Hulu/Amazon video player as well.  With their approach of being a hacker friendly console, I can see this being a pretty awesome device. I highly, highly doubt that this will provide any competition to the "Big 3".

I can easily see it becoming a cheap set-top box, which would be awesome.

Overheating since November 2005 (http://www.joystiq.com/2005/11/23/360-horror-stories/).

I received my OUYA a few days ago and I was able to test it. Here's my experience by categories:

Controllers: I read that they were awful but I think they improved them since mine is pretty good. You see it's cheap plastic but it still seems solid. Connection is good, works very well. The only thing I don't really like is the "pointing device" which is a touch pad in the middle of the controller... works but barely.

Sound: Nothing to say, it's all good, in games, watching your videos, listening to online radio with apps, it's all good.

Graphics: The possibilities are there. A few games like Shadowgun, Beast Boxing turbo or Ravensword: Shadowlands have great graphics for the machine. However, most games tend to look like cellphones games on a big screen tv. Nevertheless, the system CAN show great textures, it's just underused for now.

Machine ports: sd port, power and almost everything works great. The only problem is the internet connection. The wi-fi reception is quite bad and easily disconnects or is very slow. I've tried connecting it with fast ethernet but it's also common that it disconnects and fail to see ethernet as a network. I must admit, this is really frustrating.

Games: I was hoping to see more 100% free games on this console but except for very bad ones and very few good ones, you have to pay from 3 to 20$, normally around 5-7$. Anybody can publish what they want on this system so you have good games for every style: FPS, RPG, Fighting, Shoot 'em up, racing, etc. At this moment, there's 210 games on OUYA and most of them looks like games you could use on your cellphone or play on websites like newgrounds (for free I must say). Some games look like ports of Android cellphone games on OUYA without a lot of consideration for the OUYAian gamer. Nevertheless, even though many games are crap, I must say that there's enough games that are pretty good, just rarely last-generation looking games.

So that's about it. Is it worth 150$? (bought it with 2 controllers). I don't think so. 100$ would be better with 2 controllers. However, I do understand why they talk so much about potential, because there is a lot to it. I don't regret buying it and I enjoy it, but I'm a little disappointed of the lack of real free games and ethernet problems.

Not enough memories.

In my opinion it is not worth 100$ i won't throw that cash around lightly especially at something with a mediocre game library (that's my opinion) Maybe when the game library gets bigger and it lowers in price will i consider purchasing it.