
Ouya’s $99 Android-based video game console finally hits store shelves - fraqed
http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2013/06/25/ouyas-android-based-video-game-console-finally-goes-on-sale-for-99-99-in-the-us-uk-and-canada/
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dedosk
Unboxing gif [http://i.imgur.com/64MZee6.gif](http://i.imgur.com/64MZee6.gif)
source:[http://twitter.com/zqsdfr/status/343030858795601920](http://twitter.com/zqsdfr/status/343030858795601920)

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loupeabody
Woah, funny twist ending.

I'm excited to get to play Towerfall[0], one of the console's "launch titles",
having been released only a couple days ago.

Action games focused on local multiplayer like Towerfall and 0space[1] are the
most enjoyable experiences I've had with video games. In my mind, it's games
like these which can attract people who otherwise wouldn't be interested in
buying a console. That is, when you see games like those being played, it's
easy to see who's winning and how, making it much easier to access.

[0][http://www.towerfall-game.com/](http://www.towerfall-game.com/)
[1][http://teknopants.com/games/0space/](http://teknopants.com/games/0space/)

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adam-a
I totally agree, this is hopefully going to be a platform where arcade
multiplayer can shine, and I'm looking forward to all the indie games in this
area.

Especially 0space, that game is amazing. Samurai Gunn, from the same developer
is also very good. Although I haven't heard any rumours of Ouya, I think Gunn
is now being ported for Vita (and possibly PS3/4 I suppose)

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moeffju
So I do this whole kickstarter thing and now my console is – well, I don’t
even know where. DHL’s tracking is useless, as usual. Then there’s trouble
with customs, apparently, that OUYA didn’t seem to have though about. But hey,
at least I get a nice apologetic e-mail offering me zilch for compensation. So
basically I am no better off than the people who waited and bought it off
Amazon, except they got their consoles! This is hugely frustrating. (And not
very constructive, I know, please excuse the rant.)

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Brashman
This is of course tongue-in-cheek, but wasn't the point of doing the
Kickstarter to support the project, not necessarily to pre-order a console?
Sorry, I just find it strange when people expect that they "deserve" certain
things for backing a Kickstarter project or that the rewards are "promises"
that being broken. (However, I do understand the frustration that it may have
been faster/better to not be a backer if your goal was to get a console.)

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smackfu
When the reward value is tied very closely to the amount that is backed,
Kickstarter is defacto acting as a store with preorders, despite their
protestations.

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tankbot
That's true, but without the backers (or some kind of funding) the project
wouldn't come to fruition at all. It may feel like preordering, but it's not
and that's important to remember.

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sami36
I really really don't get the part where some early kickstarter backers still
haven't seen their consoles shipped...all the while it's selling on Amazon on
other retail channels. I just don't get it.

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moron4hire
They explained that their shipping fulfiller is at fault. They sent the
required number of units to the warehouse, they just haven't left the
warehouse yet.

So that's how to get it.

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Dylan16807
That's not an excuse. If you're selling thousands of units you need to do test
shipments and figure out how long things actually take. And they already
delayed retail a month at the last minute, that should be enough time to get
shipping worked out.

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malkia
what would be an excuse then?

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Dylan16807
It's really hard for me to think of a valid excuse for shipments to be
significantly delayed for something that was ordered a year in advance. I can
think of many valid reasons for production delays; production is hard and
unpredictable. Shipping not so much. Maybe a natural disaster.

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moron4hire
It was funded a year in advance. "Ordered" a year in advance makes it sound
like they had the thing ready and complete and have just been sitting on their
asses instead of getting the things built. This was early access--in some
cases customized--hardware.

I got mine, I'm not too happy with it, but it was $100. Maybe 6 months from
now I can crack it open and fix the major problems with it. But I helped get a
company started that is doing something unique. That was worth the $100 alone.

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Dylan16807
When it comes to shipping delays, and _only_ shipping delays, it does not
matter in the slightest when the product was made. What matters is figuring
out how to get devices shipped efficiently and legally. Which they utterly
failed to do.

And I wish you would have helped a competent android game device company
instead of Ouya, but what's done is done.

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moron4hire
Who would that be? I'm actually not seeing much difference between Ouya and
basically every other company in the world right now. Their customer support
sucks? Yeah, so does the majority of companies from people posting on these
boards.

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Dylan16807
Sorry, it would take me far too long to go into the ways Ouya has barely
managed to deliver a half-functional product. But as an example, as far as I
know gamestick has done a better job and been far more honest about it.

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knodi
I got one through backing them in their kickstarter campaign and sadly I must
say its not worth the $99 yet. Software is really bad and lacking apps/games.

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mathnode
You are not the intended audience for the Ouya Kickstarter, because you don't
want to create content. You only want to consume.

And that's a great shame, that you took a potential developers place in that
order queue (the Oculus Rift suffers this same issue), a developer that is
having to wait until retail release to get their hands on a platform they want
to publish for.

Kickstarter != Amazon.

An audience of consumers, and bedroom-youtube-reviewers with a short attention
span are passing (generally) negative judgement on device that was not meant
for them.

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kayoone
while this is certainly true, if you would limit kickstarter-orders to serious
developers only, many of the projects would reach far smaller funding amounts
or might even fail their funding targets. In the end this is a device for
consumers and it needs to create hype to be successfull, so letting anyone in
on the action is the only way to go.

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nhangen
It's actually not true, because they had tiers for developers:

"Developer Special. A first-run OUYA (already rooted so you can just get
going), EARLY SDK ACCESS, an extra controller, and we'll help you get started.
We'll also help you promote your game for ONE YEAR, and your games will be
marked with a FOUNDER EMBLEM."

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programminggeek
OUYA isn't perfect, but it's really neat and interesting in general. The idea
of a $99 console that plays mobile apps with a decent controller is going to
have an impact for sure. It won't likely sell 100 million units, but it will
evolve as a platform. It's what the Google TV should have been and it makes me
excited for Apple TV + apps.

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nhangen
I backed this project and received my Ouya a few weeks ago. We played it as a
family a few times, and then forgot we had it. Overall, decent quality
hardware, but the OS was a little slow and awkward. Also not a fan of the way
games are presented. It's like downloading demos for XBox Live.

Once I get some more free time I'll play around with it as a developer.
Perhaps that's where the true value lies.

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tjdetwiler
I was disappointed they didn't make it easy to leverage existing Android apps.
I was looking forward to using some of my favorite android apps on my TV using
Ouya (Netflix, TuneIn, podcasts, etc) but since it doesn't come with the
Android Market the only solution is to try side-loading (which I just haven't
gotten around to trying).

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Pxtl
I imagine we'll be seeing a way to hack in a proper app store into the thing
in a matter of weeks, if not days.

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Nursie
Looking at the specs - Quad core tegra 3 at 1.7 GHz, and the price ($99), I
might have to get one of these just on principle, for hacking...

\--edit-- just noticed the £23 premium (after accounting for 20% VAT) for UK
purchasers. Never mind then. I'll look for something else.

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andybak
Yep. Every damn time I do a dollar to sterling conversion in my head and think
"yeah. I'd buy that" I find out the UK price is higher and my desire to
purchase usually evaporates.

(cue a bunch of Aussies saying "you think you've got it bad?")

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MrDOS
Aussies? What about Canadians? Sure, we don't pay the same dollar markup
either of you do, but there's some goat to be got in finding at least a 10-15%
markup on unit pricing before shipping and import taxes when the destination
is on the same continent.

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ww520
This looks cool. The hardware price is reasonable. Recently I got a GoogleTV
stick (MK808) that turns a TV into a computer. It can run most of the Android
apps and games. The price is about $45, plus a remote keyboard/mouse about
$25. The total price is in the ballpark of Ouya.

I'm curious on how its controller handles touch and mouse-related actions in
games.

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Pxtl
If you mean _physically_ how it handles it, iirc the black space in between
the left and right hand controls on the Ouya pad is a touchpad. It's meant as
a fallback controller for cases when an app doesn't support gamepads, so I
doubt it's actually comfortable or practical to use.

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ww520
Oh I see. Didn't realize the touchpad is just the background plate. Neat.

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aeurielesn
Someone mind explaining why its price is £99? I am failing to see the math
there.

(But, I have noticed this tendency quite often by the manufacturers
themselves.)

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kristaps
You don't mention what you find unusual about that price, is there anything
obviously wrong with it?

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aeurielesn
As Nursie said, £1 is not exactly $1. I can't believe that taxes inflate that
much the price.

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jasonlotito
In another thread it's mentioned that there are different rules selling in
various locations. For example, longer warranties. You can't just take a
standard US warranty and use it everywhere. That will increase the cost. I
lived outside the US for 10 years, and I had to deal with the same thing. You
can't just look at duties/taxes/exchange rates, etc.

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Swannie
"with the holiday season fast approaching"... really?

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DGCA
Technically, it's always approaching, and 'fast' is subjective.

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AndrewDucker
Once XBMC is running on it, I'll have one plugged into my TV. Hopefully that
won't take too long...

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ripter
I got XBMC running on mine but it crashes every time I add my network drive
with my videos. Right now my Raspberry Pi is a better XBMC server

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tracker1
I was having the same issue... I've had fun with the classic platform
emulators so far.. but really hoping for more... would have expected a "Media"
section, not just "Apps" for media streaming as well. I also am not as nearly
impressed as some with the controllers... really stiff buttons.

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Tistel
I gave Kickstarter 150 bucks on August 9th. Still don't have the Ouya. I am a
game developer too. If I had it a couple months in advance of the store drop,
I might have been able to make something. Grrr.

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Tistel
August of last year.

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kayoone
It seems wrong that an extra controller is half the price of the console
itself (including a controller). Even an original Xbox360 controller is
cheaper than that.

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talloaktrees
I've heard you can use a PS3 or Xbox controller, and they are actually better
than the Ouya controller

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kayoone
yeah but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesnt it ? I can do the same with
my android phone, hook it up to the TV via Hdmi (or wireless via Miracast) and
basically have the Ouya experience. All thats different is their dashboard
software which also happens to be not very good.

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freehunter
It's hard to get an Android phone for $100 though.

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chipsy
There are companies doing "Android-on-a-USB-stick" too, which I personally
believe is a more straightforward option than how Ouya did it - a big part of
the "microconsole" concept is that things get deverticalized, so that the
processing hardware, the display, and the controllers can all be sourced from
different companies.

Ouya has managed to get people a lot more hyped by being an integrated
solution, though, so I guess they have that going for them.

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andrewparker
Was thinking of getting one for the purpose of building a MAME cabinet. Does
it run MAME out of the box?

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notdarkyet
Yes, and plenty of other emulators:

[http://dayoftheouya.com/a-list-of-all-known-emulators-for-
ou...](http://dayoftheouya.com/a-list-of-all-known-emulators-for-ouya/)

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kclay
This is sad, I got mines about a month ago and backed it with like 24hrs left(
think I was in the 6k range). I got an email today about how some backers
still don't have there's and now they are blaming DHL, Germany imports and
everyone else. I'm not as mad since I lucked up (still haven't played but
10mins since I got mines), but the really need to fix this issue ... it was
the backers that made this device any possible.

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philliphaydon
Another user who hasn't received his console :(

Pretty unfair they can't even deliver to the people who got their project off
the ground, before they deliver to the public.

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john_w_t_b
Sold out on Amazon already. That's a nice start to their retail launch. I just
ordered one from Best Buy.

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kayoone
Ouya could have a chance if the hardware and software was flawless, but
reviews suggest it isnt. I can run anything (and more) the Ouya can run from
my Smartphone, granted its alot cheaper but its also an extra device while i
own a smartphone anyway.

I cant really see this being so successful that developers target the ouya as
an independent device as opposed to the android platform as a whole, but i
hope i am wrong.

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_pmf_
Now, if there only were Android games that did not completely suck.
Unfortunately, even emulators (SNES as opposed to NES) work like shit on
Android, so it's not even useful for emulation.

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andybak
I've got some flawlessly working emulators and unless my definition of 'suck'
wildly differs from yours, then your other statement is equally dubious.

Having a bad day, are we?

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_pmf_
It might well be that my tablet is crap. In fact, it most certainly is (it's a
Sony).

