Ouya Will Launch Without Community Features
The Android-powered cube won't support chat, friend lists or achievements until later this year.
Ouya backers can expect to receive the console that they invested in all those months ago [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118375-Update-Open-Source-Android-Console-Fully-Funded-with-1-Million] within a couple of weeks, although they may find that they won't be able to use all of its promised functions straight out of the box. An Ouya representative revealed that several of the Ouya's online features aren't going to be available until sometime this year.
An Ouya representative stated that online chat, friends list, and achievements will be coming to the console later in 2013. This clarifies an earlier comment made by company founder Julie Uhrman, who said that the company was "locking content behind servers", suggesting that the device wouldn't support online multiplayer games at release.
The representative confirmed that this wasn't the case. "We will definitely be supporting online multiplayer - developers just need to build in the functionality," the representative said.
Speaking at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Uhrman added that the console still allows several players to game on a single console, if the game provides that option. "I think Ouya is going to bring back couch play," she says.
The company has already started March 28th [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122574-Ouya-Now-Accepting-Game-Submissions-Ahead-of-Launch].
Source: The Verge [http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/11/4090408/ouya-julie-uhrman-sxsw-2013]
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The Android-powered cube won't support chat, friend lists or achievements until later this year.
Ouya backers can expect to receive the console that they invested in all those months ago [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118375-Update-Open-Source-Android-Console-Fully-Funded-with-1-Million] within a couple of weeks, although they may find that they won't be able to use all of its promised functions straight out of the box. An Ouya representative revealed that several of the Ouya's online features aren't going to be available until sometime this year.
An Ouya representative stated that online chat, friends list, and achievements will be coming to the console later in 2013. This clarifies an earlier comment made by company founder Julie Uhrman, who said that the company was "locking content behind servers", suggesting that the device wouldn't support online multiplayer games at release.
The representative confirmed that this wasn't the case. "We will definitely be supporting online multiplayer - developers just need to build in the functionality," the representative said.
Speaking at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Uhrman added that the console still allows several players to game on a single console, if the game provides that option. "I think Ouya is going to bring back couch play," she says.
The company has already started March 28th [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122574-Ouya-Now-Accepting-Game-Submissions-Ahead-of-Launch].
Source: The Verge [http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/11/4090408/ouya-julie-uhrman-sxsw-2013]
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[/footnote]. I still agree that this is a much smaller deal than the title would imply. Multiplayer isn't even disabled, just achievements and out of game chat. Also friends lists, but I can't say I've ever played an android based online multiplayer game that used matchmaking anyway -- dedicated servers are where it's at.
