ESA Calls The Cops on Ouya's Parking Lot E3 Booth

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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ESA Calls The Cops on Ouya's Parking Lot E3 Booth


After first attempting to block public view of the Ouya's unofficial E3 presence with semi-trailers, the ESA then called the police to "check its permits."

The Ouya has a presence at this year's E3. Sort of. The creators of the Kickstarter-backed Android-based console rented out a "parking lot" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124152-Ouya-Holding-Public-E3-Booth-in-Parking-Lot] opposite the Los Angeles Convention Center where E3 is being held, where it is displaying the console to anyone who wants to see it. The ESA, the folks behind the main E3 event, are seemingly not very happy with the Ouya team going around the official E3 channels, and have attempted to diminish the console's presence by first physically blocking it from view, and then calling the police to harass them.

Earlier in the week, the ESA rented out the space directly in front of the Ouya booth and planted a couple of semi-trailers there, effectively blocking the console from public view. In response, the Ouya team then played the one-up game by renting the space in front of those trucks and putting up Ouya banners. Julie Uhrman, the founder of the Ouya, then claims that the ESA got Johnny Law involved, calling the LAPD in an attempt to shut the Ouya's booth down permanently.

Uhrman says the police showed up and demanded to see all of the company's relevant permits. After proving that everything was in order, and that the Ouya's "E3 presence" was entirely law-abiding, the police left.

Uhrman believes that her company is being unfairly targeted because they refused to play ball with the ESA. She has vowed to increase the Ouya's street presence in the upcoming days of E3 week, and refuses to be intimidated by the ESA's scare tactics. "If ten more trucks show up, we'll come up with another idea. I have a few up my sleeve," she said.

Source & Image: IGN [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/12/e3-2013-cops-called-to-shut-down-ouya]

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Ed130 The Vanguard

(Insert witty quote here)
Sep 10, 2008
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Well that escalated quickly.

I imagine this little scuffle will raise much more awareness about that little Android console.
 

Daedrin

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Apr 17, 2010
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I'm betting that the survivors will come and look upon this day as the catalyst of the last world war.
I, for one, welcome our new Android Ouyalords.
 

Arawn

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Dec 18, 2003
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No one likes a bully. Let Ouya show them what it's got. Nothing wrong with some fresh blood in the mix. Hell the fact people got behind it on Kickstart shows how much WE want it.
 

Frezzato

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Oct 17, 2012
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All I could think about when looking at that photo was "that would be great if they had cop Segways in GTA V that you could steal". And then reality sunk in. No, wait, I got sucked back into the absurdity. Which is more ridiculous? The cop scooters or the "booth" that looks like a stand that sells those ice cream dippin dots [http://www.acatinthekitchen.com/photo/joypolisglass2.jpg]?

Oh right, thanks ESA for the free advertising. --Ouya
 

gabycms

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Sep 1, 2011
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No publicity is bad publicity, I really hope this backfires and the OUYA gets more attention because of this. I wonder if the Escapist team will cover anything at the booth this year.
 

piinyouri

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Mar 18, 2012
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Yeah that's pretty shitty though. I'm not even a fan of the thing and I still think this stinks on ESA's part.

ESA just comes off looking bitter and petty.
 

Teoes

Poof, poof, sparkles!
Jun 1, 2010
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ESA hasn't heard of the Streisand effect then. Is Ouya that big of a threat to them and did they really think they could muscle them off like that?

Daedrin said:
I, for one, welcome our new Android Ouyalords.
Oh, I see what you did there.
 

Retardinator

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Nov 2, 2009
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Well done ESA! With all this quarreling Ouya is going to hit the news sites and the reports are gonna show you for what you really are. A master plan indeed.
 

Vault Citizen

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May 8, 2008
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First they back SOPA, now they are doing this. I wonder what the ESA will do next to make themselves look bad.
 

Sol_HSA

was gaming before you were born
Nov 25, 2008
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I kinda see their point though.. if everybody was just camping outside and not paying for booth space, they'd get no money. Still, this just attracts more attention to ouya..
 

ThriKreen

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May 26, 2006
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It's far more likely the ESA just doesn't care and had rented the parking space for, you know, the trucks to load and drop off equipment, displays and such. And the cops were just doing their duty, given the nature of the event, most likely for traffic reasons, as opposed to being called in by the ESA. Note that while Ouya's claiming they did, there's no proof of it, to me it sounds like it's more of them crying wolf for the free publicity and trying to play victim against The Man.
 

the doom cannon

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Jun 28, 2012
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Caiphus said:
Are those policemen on.... tricycle-segways? What the hell?
it's a T3. lots of urban and especially campus police are using them now. I was talking to one of the campus police at my school about them, and apparently they can go up stairs.
 

Frostbite3789

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Jul 12, 2010
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ThriKreen said:
It's far more likely the ESA just doesn't care and had rented the parking space for, you know, the trucks to load and drop off equipment, displays and such. And the cops were just doing their duty, given the nature of the event, most likely for traffic reasons, as opposed to being called in by the ESA. Note that while Ouya's claiming they did, there's no proof of it, to me it sounds like it's more of them crying wolf for the free publicity and trying to play victim against The Man.
Whoa. What are you doing here with your dirty stinking "logic"?! Reactionary anger and disgust is what this space is for!
 

Smooth Operator

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Oct 5, 2010
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Well I knew ESA were a bunch of corporate pricks but to go this far... dear fucking christ you must be desperate.
 

Caiphus

Social Office Corridor
Mar 31, 2010
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the doom cannon said:
Caiphus said:
Are those policemen on.... tricycle-segways? What the hell?
it's a T3. lots of urban and especially campus police are using them now. I was talking to one of the campus police at my school about them, and apparently they can go up stairs.
That's pretty cool. They haven't got them here in NZ. Maybe for good reason, the policemen would probably get tackled off them, savage as we are.
 

NickBrahz

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Mar 30, 2011
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Am i the only one here that immediately thought "Now what the hell would the European Space Agency have to do with E3 and the Ouya?"

OT: I don't care for the Ouya or the E3, but i find it funny they E3 was so afraid of a tiny vendor across the street, its smart of Ouya to rent that space, then rent the second space for the banners, and its even better that the cops were just like fair enough and took off, plus now Ouyo has a lot of press, and E3 has bad press.