
Ouya console review: "Pass on it" - cpeterso
http://gdgt.com/ouya/console/
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ergo14
I actually think that as an inexpensive XBMC TV device + emulator gaming Ouya
is an outstanding offering for its price. But if someone expected current gen
console compatition here - it means that the product was misunderstood.

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GuiA
Yes, I've been thinking about getting one specifically for that purpose: a
cheap way to play NES/SNES/GBA/etc. games on my TV (I'd imagine that a Ouya
filled with such games would be a great present to a niece/nephew whose family
can't afford to pay for modern consoles + games). The Ouya also has Towerfall,
which is apparently a fantastic game.

Comparing it to PS3/Xbox/Wii U is missing the point.

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xbm
NES/SNES/GBA? Since you mentioned costs of original games, where will you get
legal ROMs for those consoles?

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Zimahl
_where will you get legal ROMs for those consoles?_

You don't. You put on your eyepatch, grab your cutlass, and raise the Jolly
Roger.

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reitzensteinm
You've both missed his point, which is: why pirate SNES games but not Xbox 360
games?

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brigade
Whose point?

People don't pirate 360 games because it's probably fairly annoying - you need
a 360 console to begin with, then mod it which might need an older one running
an out-of-date OS, and likely can't play multiplayer without the risk of your
account being banned. Plus the size of games means torrents which means
letters to your ISP. And if it's a couple years old you can probably buy the
game for $10-20.

Pirating games for older consoles is trivial in comparison - _any_ computer
you have and most smartphones can emulate a PS1 or older almost perfectly. And
the game sizes are tiny.

If you were asking about a moral justification, there's always the "it's not
being sold new, so the makers won't get my money if I buy it used anyway."
Though by now at least 95% of games that people actually play have been re-
released, so that justification doesn't hold much water.

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ekianjo
The "makers" of the games (i.e. developers) don't get the money for re-
released games, just the publishers do. It does not cost them anything, it's
full profit and they own all rights to their distribution. I don't think it
makes it more reasonable to support them for making fresh, full money out of
completely outdated games.

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zoba
This review states the Ouya is "hacker friendly" and I think thats far from
the truth. It comes with a locked bootloader and, as far as I've been able to
research, no one has been able to put any other version of Linux on it.

I think piracy concerns ended up causing Ouya to close their system some,
making it less hacker friendly.

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guelo
Does it allow side-loading of unsigned apk's? That wold make it very friendly
for some types of hackers.

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flogic
I believe it does. I vaguely remember seeing something along those lines in
the setup screens.

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imperialWicket
It does seem like they're interested actively enhancing their library:
[http://www.ouya.tv/freethegamesfund/](http://www.ouya.tv/freethegamesfund/)

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mattmanser
Can't help but feel Ouya's sitting in a niche that someone's going to snap up
in 6 months or so like the iPad did to the ill-fated crunchPad/JooJoo. Be it
the steam box or someone else.

Perfectly good market, fantastic vision, just not quite polished enough and
with not enough money behind it to get over the technical hurdles & polish to
win over the consumers (obviously excluding the drama with the crunchpad at
the end, which didn't help).

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jiggy2011
I feel that the problem is the price, none of the major console manufacturers
have tried (or at least succeeded) in building a console for that sort of
money. There's probably a reason for that.

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ianterrell
The reason the major players haven't made a cheap console is because they
(Nintendo excepted) are pushing the boundaries of what "cheap enough" hardware
can do. That's necessary for the type of games they want to sell -- but it's
not necessary for all games.

I fully expect an Ouya/Google/Apple/GameBerryPi/etc to really find a fun
loving, large market at a $100 price tag.

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jiggy2011
Problem is that you are trying to hit a middle ground between people who are
gaming enthusiasts and want to play games on a dedicated device be it a
console or PC with a fancy GPU. And a larger casual market; many of whom are
probably looking to buy games for a system they already own like a laptop or
tablet.

~~~
ianterrell
I'm not sure if it's more accurately described as a middle ground or as a
niche: Casual gamers who want to play cheap games on their TV, with a
controller, and/or with friends. (Another possible interpretation of
"midcore.")

I think Towerfall's popularity is due in some measure to hitting that specific
formula: cheap & fun same screen multiplayer; "mobile philosophy" on a
television.

I do think overall you're right that the casual market wants to play on
devices they already own. It would not surprise me if Apple released a WiFi
controller & added a dedicated Games store on the AppleTV (using touch screens
while looking at a TV just feels awkward).

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jiggy2011
The problem with having a niche market of people who buy your system because
it is cheap is that it's not a particularly profitable thing for developers to
target compared to a more serious console where you can charge $50 for a game
or a smartphone/tablet where you make your money by selling many copies. So
all of the best games end up being ported to other platforms anyway, which
reduces the incentive to buy an Ouya unless you have the might to lock
developers into exclusive deals.

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sehugg
There are two games that we love: Amazing Frog and Bombsquad. The rest don't
get played much. Hopefully this situation improves.

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bendingoutward
A few that I've really enjoyed so far, if you don't mind the suggestions:

* Antichromatic (hit and subsequently blasted out of the sandbox earlier this week, effectively Ikaruga mechanic applied to a platformer)

* Inferno & Ballistic SE (same author, same general gameplay, different world mechanics)

* Saturday Morning RPG

I'd love to see an actual vs fighter, but currently lack the free time to even
care about hacking one up :/

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skw
"the idea of an Android console sounds great"

Does it though? Really?

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seivan
Make a game editor, with a decent 2d editor and a nice integrated IDE.

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vinkelhake
That will surely remedy the lack of quality games.

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seivan
Woaaaah, easy there sarcasmo!

That sorta sounds like Sony. Hey lets make our platform an entirely new
platform, different from x86 and as hard as possible to get quality game
developers.

Sounds familiar?

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vinkelhake
That's quite a stretch. I don't really know what you mean with the Sony
comment so I'm going to guess you meant Playstation 3 which was widely
considered hard to develop for. When PS3 was released there had been exactly
one x86-based mainstream console on the market. Even Microsoft chose to
abandon x86 for Xbox 360. PS3 was hard to develop for, but not because it
wasn't based on an x86 architecture.

Anyway, to get back on topic: Ouya has a well-know architecture. It has a
well-known operating system with good tool support. What sets it apart from an
Android tablet is the controller and the fact that you plug it into a TV. When
Ouya fails, it's not going to be because it lacked good tools.

