$99 Android games console

[Reece]

IGN News: The Ouya Unveiled

AN ANDROID BASED games console is doing some business on Kickstarter this week, and is slowly working its way up to the $1m in investment its creators need. Gaming system Ouya is Android based and lets users play games on their televisions. It hopes to take the success of casual gaming enjoyed on smartphones to home gaming and computing, and if it gets the investment it needs it could disrupt the established home gaming market. The system will cost $100 and Ouya will offer an app store like experience where games and gaming will be almost free, says the Kickstarter information. "Ouya is a new game console for the TV, powered by Android. We've packed this little box full of power. Developers will have access to Ouya's open design so they can produce their games for the living room, taking advantage of everything the TV has to offer," says the information. "Best of all, Ouya's world-class controller, console, and interface come in one beautiful, inexpensive package. All the games on it will be free, at least to try." What's good about this is that it opens up game development to a much wider set of developers. Where before developers would have to build software with a particular console or consoles in mind, now they can just tinker on one using Android. "Developers can wave farewell to the roadblocks of bringing a console game to market. Anyone can make a game: every Ouya console is a dev kit. No need to purchase a license or an expensive SDK. It's built on Android, so developers already know how it works," it adds. "That doesn't mean Ouya is an Android port. You can create the next big title in your bedroom - just like the good old days! Who needs pants!?" Console specifications are already out, and they aren't bad. For your money you get a Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal flash storage, HDMI, wireless connections, one USB port, a wireless controller and the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Keep track of it here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

I'm pretty excited about this, looks really great

[EenBeeFour]

Can't wait for it, hopefully it doesn't become the modern Sega Dreamcast

Hopefully they have developer teams ready and waiting to make videogames for the console so it comes packed with games already available to users.

[SafetyMoose]

Can't wait for it, hopefully it doesn't become the modern Sega Dreamcast

Hopefully they have developer teams ready and waiting to make videogames for the console so it comes packed with games already available to users.

Very few developers will jump in unless a playerbase can be guaranteed. I dont see it happening tbh.

[Fuzzy]

Looks rather interesting!

[Reece]

Very few developers will jump in unless a playerbase can be guaranteed. I dont see it happening tbh.

They already have a playerbase, of almost 20,000 people who have ordered consoles.

[Jubin]

I'm pretty excited about this, looks really great

Well to be honest, if all these games have Minecraft graphics then it won't look that great.

[SafetyMoose]

They already have a playerbase, of almost 20,000 people who have ordered consoles.

This includes stores that buy them in bulk in to sell, developers who are going to use it etc. Also does not take in to account that not every owner of this console will buy every single game that comes out for it. 20,000 people does not seem sustainable to me but we will see what happens.

[SugarD]

Well to be honest, if all these games have Minecraft graphics then it won't look that great.

Given that one of the outputs is HDMI, I'm assuming it's going to be down to the Android OS and game limitations themselves that will define the graphics before it gets to a level of hardware limitations.

[ElMartu]

As I said somewhere else, I can't believe so many people actually think this is a good idea.

[Squeak]

Stupidification of gaming.

[Hess]

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

:roll:

[Gandalf]

It is a step on the road to the future. Might be one that gets forgotten soon, might become remembered like a Commodore 64 is today.

[Hidduh]

... Minecraft graphics then it won't look that great.

It's called an Indie game. I seriously can't stand that people hate Minecraft because of the grapics..

[ElMartu]

It's called an Indie game. I seriously can't stand that people hate Minecraft because of the grapics..

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an indie game. A low budget doesn't mean you can't afford good visuals. Especially when you made millons of dollars out of the game while it wasn't even in the Beta stage.

[Pandalink]

As I said somewhere else, I can't believe so many people actually think this is a good idea.

As a consumer I'm inclined to agree, however as I'm part of an indie games development team in the upcoming year I've definitely got my eye on it.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an indie game. A low budget doesn't mean you can't afford good visuals. Especially when you made millons of dollars out of the game while it wasn't even in the Beta stage.

In what way does Minecraft have bad visuals? It looks great.
The only problem at all is the draw distance, any fix of which would theoretically warrant a complete engine rewrite in a better programming language.