The Ouya is an idea for a new kind of video game console for the TV. The Ouya, designed by Yves Behar is an open sourced, Android game console. What makes this concept unique is the complete hackability of the console. The Ouya will come with a developer’s kit to enable the everyday developer that doesn’t necessarily work for big name publishers to tinker with the console and publish titles for it. If all goes according to plan, the Ouya should be released in March 2013 with a price tag of $100.
You may either be put off or encouraged by the suggested price of the console, but it might actually prove to be a pretty good deal. The console will have a Tegra 3 processor like the new Google Nexus, HDMI, WiFi, and it will also come with its own twin stick wireless controller. Additionally, I feel since it will be so open to developers, you would also be paying for the massive potential of the device because there are so many developers out there who are just dying to materialize their ideas.
In my opinion, the console gaming scene is declining in terms of innovation because of the amount of money that goes into publishing a decent game; therefore publishers are clinging to the projects that are least likely to fail like the many FPSs in the market today. Seriously, there are too many! If Ouya succeeds in giving more independent developers a say and contribution to console gaming then we may even see a revolution in the industry.
Like I just said, a lot of money goes into developing and publishing a title in the games industry, let alone a console. So Julie Uhrman, founder of the Ouya project, launched a Kickstarter campaign to gather support and funds for the project. Their initial goal was to raise $950,000, and shockingly enough, they hit this target within 8 hours! Now they’re just below $3.9 million so they have no excuse for not having the Ouya made.
Despite the unbelievable amount of funds they’ve raised in such a small time, I can’t really predict the the market share that the Ouya will command. As impressive as their funding is, it’s important to note that it has just over 30,ooo backers. Surely it will need more than this to have a significant impact on the likes of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.
Now for your opinion. What do you think about the Ouya? Do you think it’s a weird name too? Please leave any comments below.
Tags : android, Android 4.0, console, kickstarter, Microsoft, nintendo, ouya, sony
