Topic: Ouya

[MegaByte]

Not surprising, but ouch.

[BranDonk Kong]

Google disables certain aspects of Google Play if you root your device too. I imagine the games you actually purchase with have some kind of DRM on them, and rooting could let you bypass this. At least they say you can restore your profile and what-not when you unroot.

[TJ Spyke]

I still think Ouya is a scam that won't come out, but they announced today that they have secured support from OnLive for it: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57481285-1/ouya-game-console-adds-onlive-outs-controller/

[Spak-Spang]

It definitely isn't a scam...but it could be junk...or at least more expensive than they are saying.  Honestly  $99.00  is too cheap.  However, if they did get the system costing say, $149.99...that could be a great price.  Although, I still do not see how it can make any money...or get many games. 

[Hey Einstein!]

I still think Ouya is a scam that won't come out, but they announced today that they have secured support from OnLive for it: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57481285-1/ouya-game-console-adds-onlive-outs-controller/

I do not get why the internet has jumped all over this story, it's been picked up by every news site and gaming or tech blog that I read and a quick Google came back with pages of people reporting it and commenting on it.


Onlive has been on Android since December. You can already get their own miniature 'console' to plug into any HDMI tv for cheaper then OUYA is promising to be. Hardly anyone cares!


I was interested in Onlive for a while and even bought a controller and passes for a couple of games but I'm  convinced that it's dead in the water. It hasn't seen a single big release since November, there's been no news on their iOS app since December (other then "It's with Apple! It's coming Soon!!!") and the online buzz about the service has dwindled to almost nothing. Not even the fan sites up date that often now.


I know a lot of companies have money in Onlive so I don't expect it to die just yet. But they are doing a terrible job of persuading the world that cloud gaming is the future.


So quite why being tied to a company like Onlive makes the OUYA a more exciting or bankable proposition is beyond me. But then the OUYA hype train is fairly incomprehensible to me anyway.

[BranDonk Kong]

It already has ~45,000 pre orders, and the retail price could very well be more than $99, I believe that is only the price for the kick starter backers. OnLive sucks though and would never affect my decision to buy anything. It's a nice idea, but there is too much input lag.

[Hey Einstein!]

@Brandogg
I played Onlive for a month last year through my desk top and wasn't bothered by noticeable lag. I think it dropped out twice in that time though.  I don't have  fiber optic broadband or anything super fast and I was mostly pretty impressed with the actual game play of the service. What didn't impress me was the software line up, pricing, constantly being told games and features were "coming soon" that never appeared and  hostile tweets from the PR bods when ever customers moaned on twitter.
That last one really got me, I don't tweet but I agreed with a lot of the criticisms that people made and the response made me wonder just who Onlive think they are.
My conclusion is that they can't manage more than one project at a time and have been too busy with stuff like putting windows on iOS to make a decent go of their existing game streaming business.

[Ceric]

Newest update says that Square is bringing enhanced FFIII to Ouya at launch.

[Chozo Ghost]

Final Fantasy support was arguably a decisive factor in the PS1's success during the 32/64bit generation. Final Fantasy may not be anywhere near as relevant as it was in those days, but the fact its coming to Ouya is still pretty significant.

IGN has the scoop: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/31/final-fantasy-iii-launching-on-ouya

Still think its a hoax?

[MegaByte]

Nobody here ever called it a hoax.

[ThePerm]

this is good press for square, since its digital, its no loss to them. I'm sure they have a version for all sorts of android devices, so its not like its taking up any more resources.

maybe they said hey lets give these guys a nice bump, which is classy of them.

[TJ Spyke]

Final Fantasy support was arguably a decisive factor in the PS1's success during the 32/64bit generation. Final Fantasy may not be anywhere near as relevant as it was in those days, but the fact its coming to Ouya is still pretty significant.

IGN has the scoop: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/31/final-fantasy-iii-launching-on-ouya

Still think its a hoax?

Those were NEW Final Fantasy games that helped PS1, not ports. Nobody will buy a system just to get ports of games.

And I don't think it's a hoax exactly, just that there is a good chance it will be like the Phantom (or at most it will be a niche system).

[Shaymin]

Final Fantasy support was arguably a decisive factor in the PS1's success during the 32/64bit generation. Final Fantasy may not be anywhere near as relevant as it was in those days, but the fact its coming to Ouya is still pretty significant.

IGN has the scoop: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/31/final-fantasy-iii-launching-on-ouya

Still think its a hoax?

Those were NEW Final Fantasy games that helped PS1, not ports. Nobody will buy a system just to get ports of games.

Especially not 6-year old ports of 20+ year old games that are already playable on Android (at SquareEnix's insane mobile pricing).

[tendoboy1984]

Newest update says that Square is bringing enhanced FFIII to Ouya at launch.

Oh my God, really! I'll totally buy a new console for a port of a 20 year old game!


If this kind of thing happened with Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo systems, it would be the biggest scam ever.

[Kairon]

Didn't the Wonderswan get Final Fantasy ports of old games?

Anyways, maybe Ouya has a shot at getting farther than other attempts to enter and radicalize the home console gaming space because of their Kickstarter entry strategy. I mean, they've basically secured what amounts to pre-orders from 40,000 hardcore early adopters? That's a small start, but at least it IS one.

[BranDonk Kong]

Did anyone say that FF3 was going to sell Ouya consoles? No one is suggesting that people will buy one TO play FF3, but they might buy one AND play FF3.

[TJ Spyke]

But it's not significant, like Chozo was saying. As Kairon said, even the WonderSwan got Final Fantasy ports. There has not been anything announced about Ouya so far that would make the mass consumer want to buy it.

[Chozo Ghost]

It is significant because Square-Enix is a major third party. FF III may be a 6 year old port of a 20 year old game but that's not the point. When a huge company like S-E throws support behind some new upstart garage company it is SIGNIFICANT.

The game itself might not be significant, but the support definitely is. And when you have that sort of support with its foot in the door its very likely more support is going to follow. This is just a start and it is a very significant start, but more will undoubtedly follow.

[Tamazoid]

I think Chozo is overplaying the significance of FFIII on Ouya. You  do realise that Square-Enix recently released FFIII on Android? Putting it on the Ouya is the natural next step to make more money. It's not like Square are actually heavily investing money in putting their game on the platform.

[Tamazoid]

Ignore, double post.

[Tamazoid]

Urgh my internet connection is acting up. Can these be deleted?

[oohhboy]

If it ever releases, it will never be at the $99 price and will be obsolete on release as phones leap frog them again. The parts order for Ouya would be so small and insignificant compared to the big players out there there is no way in hell they would get any sort of preferential pricing or order priority meaning delays and budget blow outs. Just look what happened to One Laptop per Child. It took years to develop and years after the fact as of April it still costs $209 for what was touted to be a $100 laptop.

The Rasberry Pi took six years to develop and that think is literally just a board with components on it.

Ouya plans to come out in less than a year coming out of nowhere. They have the same guys on the hardware that did OLPC which speaks for itself and that had massive backing. that thing is only a fraction as powerful as this.

It will more than likely get built, but there won't be any follow through and die quickly.

[ejamer]

Wow, I'm late to the Ouya party.

I really like the idea and am fascinated to see if it will materialize.  I'm tempted to Kickstart since the $100 price point would be easy enough to justify with limited return... but just don't have enough confidence that (a) this will really deliver at the $100 pledge point, or (b) any meaningful software support will be provided going forward.


To me it feels like one of the handheld emulation machines you see coming from China all the time - cool idea, neat hardware, but generally useless for most people and ignored after brief excitement at launch due to lack of original content.  Hopefully that's not the case here.

Best of luck to them, and if things work out then I'd definitely consider buying in the future.

[Chozo Ghost]

Just look what happened to One Laptop per Child. It took years to develop and years after the fact as of April it still costs $209 for what was touted to be a $100 laptop.

That's U.N. Bureaucracy for you. Is it really that surprising considering how ineffective and inefficient the U.N. is it everything else?

Ouya isn't being created by some bloated bureaucracy, and unlike the OLPC the Ouya isn't going to need a screen or a battery, so that alone should be a major factor in keeping the cost down.

[BranDonk Kong]

If it ever releases, it will never be at the $99 price and will be obsolete on release as phones leap frog them again. The parts order for Ouya would be so small and insignificant compared to the big players out there there is no way in hell they would get any sort of preferential pricing or order priority meaning delays and budget blow outs. Just look what happened to One Laptop per Child. It took years to develop and years after the fact as of April it still costs $209 for what was touted to be a $100 laptop.

The Rasberry Pi took six years to develop and that think is literally just a board with components on it.

Ouya plans to come out in less than a year coming out of nowhere. They have the same guys on the hardware that did OLPC which speaks for itself and that had massive backing. that thing is only a fraction as powerful as this.

It will more than likely get built, but there won't be any follow through and die quickly.

They aren't developing new hardware, they are just making a system that uses current hardware. I don't get why there's so much doubt about them actually being able to produce the console - that's the easiest part. The Nexus 7 uses the same chipset, but also has a beautiful HD 7" screen and digitizer, as well as a large capacity battery, and Google is still able to profit (though probably not that much right now) off the tablet at $199. 8 months or so from now the Tegra 3 chipset will be even cheaper than it is now, and Ouya doesn't have any of those other added costs to it. There are $125 Tegra 3 tablets coming out within the next couple of weeks even. The $99 price tag is no problem.