Ouya Offers Store Credit To Dissatisfied Customers

Karloff

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Oct 19, 2009
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Ouya Offers Store Credit To Dissatisfied Customers



This offer to backers can be used to purchase items on Discover.

"It wasn't OK that some of you-our most loyal supporters-didn't get your Ouya until after it was on store shelves," says Julie Uhrman of Ouya. "Despite your frustrations, you've played on, putting up with our bumps and bugs as we work to get better every day." So Uhrman has something for folks like you, and that something is $13.37 worth of store credit, redeemable on Discover, the Ouya sales site. Kickstarter backers should be receiving instructions on how to redeem this store credit any time now.

"We've learned a lot over the past year," says Uhrman, "and we're going to continue making Ouya better every day!" One of the things the Ouya team has learnt is that people don't seem to be buying games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126352-Ouya-CEO-Game-Sales-Better-Than-We-Expected] on their Ouya, which may - or may not - be part of the motivation behind this store credit giveaway. Get them in for free, the logic may run, and once the customer's used to using the Ouya store, it's only a matter of time before sales go up. Besides, claims Uhrman, the fact that 27% of the player base has bought something is pretty good, for a free-to-play console that's only been out a month or so.

"If every company that got mixed results right out of the gate would have given up," said Uhrman when the 27% sales figure was announced, "we wouldn't have an iPhone, we wouldn't have an iPod." But the Ouya team seems to think there's a way around those results, and maybe it has a point. A quick sales stimulus could improve Ouya's long-term sales prospects. Only time will tell.

Source: Game Informer [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/08/03/ouya-offering-store-credit-to-unsatisfied-customers.aspx?PostPageIndex=2]


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Teoes

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Jun 1, 2010
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Doesn't sound like much, but it's better when considered against the cost of the console itself. Bet it would buy a fair bit of whatever's on sale in the store as I don't imagine that games there are put up at AAA prices.

Hopefully a nice little gesture for those adopters.
 

TiberiusEsuriens

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Jun 24, 2010
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Karloff said:
Uhrman has something for folks like you, and that something is $13.37 worth of store credit
I wonder how they finalized this number...

Did they just pick it because "hurr hurr, gamerz lol" or was the rebate going to be roughly this amount anyways, so they just rounded it to a fun joke?
 

ellers07

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Feb 24, 2013
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Having played some of the games available for the Ouya, the bigger issue may be that there's just not a whole lot to buy. Granted there's a decent selection of games, but I don't have much interest in paying to unlock their full versions. The Ouya was a cool idea and I'd love to see it do well, but it needs some games to get excited about. It's nice that they're offering people credit, and the games are pretty cheap as it is, but that's not really the problem.
 

V8 Ninja

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May 15, 2010
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$13.37? That seems oddly specific.

Anyways, this could be a good or bad thing. The right side of my brain is saying that this could boost-start a good ecosystem where the OUYA starts looking like an attractive option for developers, and more games = more sales = more games. The left side of my brain is saying that this won't do any good because the OUYA is still a niche product and won't be able to tackle anything other than the small-time Android phones.

Also, BTW, I'm right-handed. Take that as you will.
 

ice1985

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Jun 27, 2011
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That's pretty cool that they're offering something to dissatisfied customers. I've had my Ouya since the beginning of July and I've really enjoyed it, for what it is. Some of the games on there are an absolute riot!
 

Antitonic

Enlightened Dispenser Of Truth!
Feb 4, 2010
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I don't think this is exclusive to dissatisfied customers either. I mean, my Ouya has done exactly what I wanted and was shipped in the timeframe expected, and they still sent me a coupon. I think pushing the store content is more the motivation than appeasing complainers.

Still don't want to buy anything though.
 

Vivi22

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kiri2tsubasa said:
Do they have any idea just how BAD it is to just have a 27% attachment rate? Consoles (even the WiiU) have an attachment rate near 100%. If WiiU only had a 27% attachment rate then that would be it. Nintendo would declare it a failure and focus solely on the 3ds.
Most platforms pushing free to play would kill for a 27% attach rate. And compared to mobile devices it's about the same or better. Your mistake is comparing it to traditional consoles despite the business models being completely different.
 

Adam Locking

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Aug 10, 2012
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Teoes said:
Doesn't sound like much, but it's better when considered against the cost of the console itself. Bet it would buy a fair bit of whatever's on sale in the store as I don't imagine that games there are put up at AAA prices.

Hopefully a nice little gesture for those adopters.
Here's a quick list of some prices for those wondering (largest to smallest):

Final Fantasty 3 (3D) -$16.99 (most expensive on console)
Towerfall - $14.99
Ravensword Shadowlands - $9.99
The Ball - $9.99
Sonic CD - $3.99
Rose and Time - $2.99
Get to the Chopper - $0.99
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Jan 20, 2010
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Vivi22 said:
kiri2tsubasa said:
Do they have any idea just how BAD it is to just have a 27% attachment rate? Consoles (even the WiiU) have an attachment rate near 100%. If WiiU only had a 27% attachment rate then that would be it. Nintendo would declare it a failure and focus solely on the 3ds.
Most platforms pushing free to play would kill for a 27% attach rate. And compared to mobile devices it's about the same or better. Your mistake is comparing it to traditional consoles despite the business models being completely different.
The thing is, the Ouya is not truly a free to play platform. Most of the "free to play" games on the Ouya are demo games that charge to unlock the full game. So in essence, the pretence that the Ouya is a free to play platform is deception. A 27% attachment rate on the Ouya means that 27% have bought games on the Ouya. The other 73% are not satisfied enough with the library to spend money of the available games and are probably using the Ouya as an emulation box.

Furthermore the 27% number can be broken down even further to show how uneven the sales are for developers.

<a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuBrze1nLCU&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLTFohR7GUZYe-gZjqBluQpoIjr5uhV-gw>TotalBiscuit actually explained this about a week ago (Starts at 15:09)

Needless to say, the 27% attachment rate is laughably low.

Edit: I also take issue with you saying that the Ouya isn't comparable to traditional consoles. Look at the upcoming consoles. What was one of the most talked about but largely ignored feature?
The free to play games.
The free to play games that are essentially demos until you buy the full game. Just like what the Ouya is. And it'll be the same games too. The traditional consoles can carry a 27% attachment rate to a free to play games feature. The Ouya can't survive long on only 27% of buyers not willing to pay full price for Android demos, and PC indie ports.
 

RaikuFA

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Jun 12, 2009
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Now you all can get Amazing Frog AKA Ouyas best game ever.

Or... What else does Ouya have?