Today, I'm here to do a little comparison between two Android Devices: The Ouya and the Nvidia Shield.
[img width=672 height=371]http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ouya.jpg[/img]
VS.
[img width=550 height=550]http://forum.xda-developers.com/deviceForum/screenshots/2236/20130620T012327.png[/img]
I will be categorizing each device's performance in a specific area as follows:
Space
The first thing I noticed about the Shield is that it had twice the space that the Ouya had. The Ouya has 8 GBs of Space, while the Shield has 16 GB. Although both have a method for expanding the space, the Ouya using a standard USB Thumb Drive, and the Shield a Micro SD, the connection between the Ouya and the USB Drive is clearly loose. That is to say, the connection between the two loosened over time, and now it's hard to keep the Drive staying in the thing. As for the Shield, I can't really speak, as I do not have a Micro SD to use with it at this time. Still, because the Shield has more space to spare, it wins in this category.
Updates
Okay, this is probably more of a Personal Problem on my part because I hate it when devices are slow, but the Ouya takes FOREVER to update. I swear, I sat around for 2+ Hours waiting for it to update. This kind of stuff makes me sick. As for the Shield, it updates quickly, in less than 5 Minutes from what I've seen so far. In my opinion though, the update speed for the Ouya really is a huge glaring issue that should be fixed, but it probably won't be. The same idea applies to apps for both devices too. On the Shield, it's fast, but on the Ouya, it's super slow.
Apps
Okay...I'm not much of an App Person when it comes to devices like this. That is, Android Games? Not really my thing. Still, from what I HAVE seen, the Apps are mostly the same, despite the fact that the Ouya uses it's own store, and NOT the Google Play Store.
Performance
Now for the fun part...the performance of the devices! That is, the performance of Apps on each device. I've noticed that there is input lag between the screen and the controller on the Ouya, which makes playing...say, a SNES Emulator, difficult. The thing is, if you press the Jump Button on the Controller, it may wait a split-second or so before the Character on the screen actually jumps. This is nonexistent (or at least close to it) on the Shield. As for the performance of Apps themselves, the Shield clearly wins here, as there is no stuttering, skipping, audio problems, etc., on the Shield. The Shield also has WAY more power than the Ouya. How this could be possible, I really don't know or fully understand to be honest. The Shield is a Handheld, and the Ouya is a Console, but it's quite clear that the Shield is more powerful. For example, the Ouya can barely run a PS1 Emulator, but the Shield runs the same emulator perfectly, and it also ran a Dreamcast Emulator almost flawlessly (Yes, a Dreamcast Emulator. Give that a moment to sink in.) I may be a bit biased in the following statement, but when it ran Conker's Bad Fur Day at a playable level via N64 Emulator...I was pretty damn impressed, to say the least.
Conclusion
I know I was harsh on the Ouya, but I really don't think the developers of it were thinking clearly when they constructed it. I mean, they probably had good intentions, but damn, is it bad. Yes, I do favor the Shield, and yes, it does win this Comparison of mine.
DISCLAIMER: This Comparison is an opinion. If you disagree with it, fine, but as always, please keep the comments section of this entry civil.
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