Anyone who has shopped for a gamer knows that it isn’t a cheap hobby to have. PlayStation, Xbox and Wii systems NIB (new in box) cost over $200 even on eBay. Games start used around $20 but if you want the latest and greatest for the geek in your life it runs closer to $50 range give or take $10. The price tags just get higher as the holidays get closer.
It’s no wonder the Ouya (pronounced like boo-yah without the b) is creating such a buzz in the gaming blogosphere. Hailed as “a beautiful, affordable console -- built on Android, by the creator of Jambox,” the $99 console requires every game it carries to offer at least a portion of its content free to all users.
Ouya creator Julie Uhrman saw gamers, especially casual users, shifting their focus to affordable and accessible Smartphone and tablet based gaming. These games, while fun, engaging and even quite clever were unfulfilling for Uhrman. The small screen wasn’t enough. She assembled a team of game developers and advisors to figure out a way to crack the TV console market and open the way for more games to make it to the big screen.
The process of developing and distributing a game on a traditional TV console is a very difficult and costly series of hoops to jump through. It can seem practically impossible for independent game designers to find a mainstream audience but Ouya plans to change that. Ouya creators say, “All developers will be welcome to make games for the Ouya without any licensing fees, retail fees or publishing fees.”
To get the project out there Uhrman teamed with Yves Behar (creator of the $100 laptop) and fuseproject. They took OUYA to Kickstarter in July of 2012 where it became one of the most successful projects ever. The initial goal was set at $950,000 but in two days it raised over $3 million. By the beginning of September that total topped $5 million with over 40,000 supporters.
Ouya’s numbers and swift success demonstrate that gamers and developers are ready for a change when it comes to TV gaming. "The console market is pushing developers away," say Ouya's creators on their Kickstarter page. "We’ve seen a brain drain: some of the best, most creative gamemakers are focused on mobile and social games because those platforms are more developer-friendly."
Ouya won’t necessarily offer the same games that can be found on the major gaming consoles but some developers are willing to cross platform lines and have already signed on to the project. Minecraft fans will be pleased to know that Notch and Mojang are onboard to offer free content and more on the Ouya.
Not everyone is completely sold on the concept however. Twisted Pixel lead designer, Dan Teasdale, told GameInformer Magazine, “All I see is someone putting an underpowered mobile board into a box and calling it a console.” From a developers side he says, “If I wanted to actually make money off a game, the tiny install base combined with what will be a stupid crazy piracy rate on a fully rootable Android console shoots that idea in the head. I’d rather target Stream Greenlight or Xbox Live IndieGames, both – even with their faults – far healthier platforms for developers to get their start and make money off their games than Ouya.”
For some people though it just comes down to money. This tiny machine may be the answer to the Christmas wish for mothers of gamers everywhere… next year. Unfortunately it won’t be ready for anyone but beta testers in December 2012 though the company is accepting preorders and expecting a March 2013 release.
Images courtesy of the Ouya press kit.
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