We here at KGB try our best to not cover every single videogame-related Kickstarter that pops up. Mostly, because it's getting freakin ridiculous out there. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with some sort of tangential relationship to the game industry has popped up with some kind of "awesome" game concept, or a proposed sequel to a 25 year old game, or a "great" new iOS Rogue-like. It's all getting to be too much.
However, the recent success of the Ouya console, currently sitting at nearly $4.5 million, needs to be mentioned, I guess. That's a hella lot of money. Especially for a system that is projected to retail for only $99. Not to mention that there's still 26 days to go in the funding. This thing has a legitimate shot of raising $6 million by the time August 9th rolls around.
The Ouya is an Android-based game console, completely open to being "hacked" and modified by aspiring home developers. This sort of positioning makes it easy to see the Ouya becoming something of an "Indie" game console. It could end up being the place you go to to play the newest thatgamecompany game, or the latest version of Minecraft.
Specs for the Ouya are as follows:
- Tegra3 quad-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB of internal flash storage
- HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth LE 4.0
- USB 2.0 (one)
- Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
- Android 4.0
So, how do you guys feel about the Ouya? Is there a place in the market for a $99 indie console? Will this simply be left in the dust by the time the WiiU, and the new Sony and Microsoft machines come around?
Do you really want to play Android games on your TV?
WHO IS BUYING THIS?!!!!
Christopher Linendoll has some snake oil to sell you. He can be reached via Twitter, or found in the hummus section of your local grocery store.
I'll say that one definite problem with games on Android phones is standardization. There are so many different hardware configurations that it's hard to tell what games will work with which phones. The Ouya at least alleviates that problem. That said, I don't usually find any Android games to be very fun. Here's hoping that finally having a set hardware configuration to work with will help Android devs design some great stuff!
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