Ouya Console Already Lags Behind Current-Gen Mobiles

[Serrenitei]

More i have read about this the more of a piece of shit product it is. Im sure there is people out there that can make it do some amazing thing with extra software. But whats the point? Its like people saying they enjoyed playing Skyrim, but only after downloading 100+ mods.

That .... doesn't make any sense. Your comparison is flawed ... a lot. What were you actually trying to say?

Outside of that, just because it's not competing for top dog spot does not mean it is a piece of shit. Ouya is not playing the straight up "Console market" game, but is trying to span console style play with the ease of mobile development. I can't say whether it will succeed, but I think there's enough of players who want some really deep, interesting games that the indie devs will drive this pretty successfully.

Really, you just need to understand that just because it's not the bleeding edge of graphics power says nothing about it's success as a development platform.

 

[Sam Frankelli]

Cannot believe the amount of whining elitist fanboys in here! Seriously, grow up.
And for dogs sake it was NOT designed to play preexisting mobile games, STOP spreading this lie. New Devs/games, some of which are hitting Ouya before Steam/iphone/android are popping up everyday. there is loads of original content, not just mobile ports. Although the Mobile games that were ported over already, are fantastic games to play (Gunslugs come to mind). My thumbs are numb from playing Gunlsugs and surely that will translate much better into a TV/gamepad setting. OrangePixel also plans to cross-develop past and future releases for Ouya. Great news indeed as 6 out of ten games I play daily are OrangePixel.

When did some of the Elitist a-holes here lose sight of what's important in gaming? Having fun. Too much emphasis on graphics/specs/visuals/game immersion. I have a three year old daughter, I cannot complete one tetris level let alone commit to a 50+ hour game with her around! Ouya will satisfy any need I might have as a gamer that's been doing this since the Vic 20 came out. Played Gorf till I couldn't stay awake anymore. Not that most of you would remember that game or system.

 

[Agayek]

Ahem.

A perfectly viable open source platform already exists. One that isn't bottlenecked by shitty hardware.

The PC.

PC lacks one thing that makes consoles so much easier/"better" to develop for though: Set hardware that will be the same across all platforms. Being able to know that every platform you design for will behave in the exact same fashion is a godsend from a software development perspective. Not having to worry about that makes for a fairly attractive development environment. That's one of the reasons consoles themselves took off so quickly.

Now, whether or not the Ouya will be a success is very much a mixed bag, but it's certainly got potential and it's filling a (small) hole in the market that's not being filled. Specifically, an open-source console designed for TV gaming. Is that market big enough to make it a viable business? I have no idea, but there's definitely nothing on the market now that is serving it.

I'm more interested in seeing if it can compete with the Steam Box when that comes out.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Its not the most powerful ARM device out there that is true but if history has taught us anything its that console specs don't matter diddly squat. Just look at the PS1 or the PS2 both where amazing consoles yet both inferior specs wise to the N64 and gamecube respectively yet both where far more successful.

Good games is what makes a system not how many points you get on a silly benchmark.

Why do i get the feeling that most of this negative oh look how crap the OUYA is are instigated by the larger manufactures of consoles.

I will wait until i use my OUYA before i make any judgements, it is still a beta.

They're going to fix the defective controllers and disgustingly out of date specs within a month and a half of release? Good luck with that. And the PS1/2 were comparable to the N64/Gamecube. The Ouya isn't even close to what we have this generation as far as what we can do. Hell it doesn't even match up with the Gamecube/PS2/Xbox generation in what it'll be able to do.

Also you really think the Big 3 care that much about this thing? Really? Nevermind, Futuremark tests aren't rare or anything. And I don't think The Big 3 are contacting average Ouya backers who already received the finalized product and are making them lie about problems with it.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Now, whether or not the Ouya will be a success is very much a mixed bag, but it's certainly got potential and it's filling a (small) hole in the market that's not being filled. Specifically, an open-source console designed for TV gaming. Is that market big enough to make it a viable business? I have no idea, but there's definitely nothing on the market now that is serving it.

I don't think a non-existent hole is a big enough one. Is "mobile games you can't take with you" really a market niche?

 

[Frostbite3789]

More i have read about this the more of a piece of shit product it is. Im sure there is people out there that can make it do some amazing thing with extra software. But whats the point? Its like people saying they enjoyed playing Skyrim, but only after downloading 100+ mods.

That .... doesn't make any sense. Your comparison is flawed ... a lot. What were you actually trying to say?

Outside of that, just because it's not competing for top dog spot does not mean it is a piece of shit. Ouya is not playing the straight up "Console market" game, but is trying to span console style play with the ease of mobile development. I can't say whether it will succeed, but I think there's enough of players who want some really deep, interesting games that the indie devs will drive this pretty successfully.

Really, you just need to understand that just because it's not the bleeding edge of graphics power says nothing about it's success as a development platform.

What does it have going for it? Please explain. I've yet to see one valid argument for anyone should drop $100 on this thing. It's open source? So is the PC. It's got emulators? Any computer made within the last 7 years can run the same emulators the Ouya is probably illegally marketing.

 

[Agayek]

I don't think a non-existent hole is a big enough one. Is "mobile games you can't take with you" really a market niche?

No, but you're approaching it from the wrong angle. It's not "mobile games you can't take with you". It's "a TV games console that you can develop your own apps for". And if the console catches on, people will be making apps specifically for the Ouya rather than for phones, much like the current consoles have games made specifically to run on them.

All these comparisons to phones are disingenuous at best. It's not "a phone that can't go anywhere", it's "an open source console". It's never pretended to be anything else.

If it doesn't catch on and no games get made for it, it's not going to be very good. Just like if the Xbox or whatever hadn't caught on and no games had been made for it.

It's filling the niche of "open source console", which at the moment, absolutely nothing is filling. Much like how Linux still exists and has a userbase, this console will attract people who want to have an open source console. Is that enough for a viable market? I have no idea, but no one is currently serving those customers, so they've at least got no competition.

 

[aba1]

It shouldn't be too surprising considering it doesn't cost nearly what a lot of more expensive smartphones do. Then again, those smart phones do more than just playing games. Why anyone would actually want the Ouya is beyond me, it just sounds like something people wanted to support because OMG KICKSTARTER CONSOLE rather than what it actually does (play cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet).

And yes, I'm aware of the potential of "homebrew" games or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays, but I've been promised that before.

What about all the games on the xbox arcade, playstation store and even a ton of games on steam? There are TONS of games that are great that are more than just "cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet".

 

[aba1]

More i have read about this the more of a piece of shit product it is. Im sure there is people out there that can make it do some amazing thing with extra software. But whats the point? Its like people saying they enjoyed playing Skyrim, but only after downloading 100+ mods.

Well that isn't really a fair comparison in fact you can say the exact same thing about every system I mean the xbox 360 is was complete turd until you download all the updates and install some games etc.

 

[Genocidicles]

If emulators run well on it then that's more than enough reason for me to buy one.

 

[hentropy]

It shouldn't be too surprising considering it doesn't cost nearly what a lot of more expensive smartphones do. Then again, those smart phones do more than just playing games. Why anyone would actually want the Ouya is beyond me, it just sounds like something people wanted to support because OMG KICKSTARTER CONSOLE rather than what it actually does (play cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet).

And yes, I'm aware of the potential of "homebrew" games or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays, but I've been promised that before.

What about all the games on the xbox arcade, playstation store and even a ton of games on steam? There are TONS of games that are great that are more than just "cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet".

And as far as I know you can't play any of those games on an Android platform. That's basically all this is, an Android console, and all anyone makes for the Android right now are phone and tablet games. When it comes to emulators, I can emulate for free right now on my PC, and I even have a gamepad for it.

Until I see some of these awesome homebrew indie games, I'll continue to be skeptical. Because the hardware isn't even close to any of the major gaming consoles, you won't really be able to play much of that caliber, just arcade-style minigames that are designed to be fun for 10 minutes at a time.

 

[yamy]

This actually sort of make sense, believe it or not. The Xiami 2S the top of the chrat, which perform 3 times better than the Ouya according to this benchmark, costs about $300 in china, which is about 3 times more expensive than the $99 price-tag of the Ouya.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

The only positive point people seem to have about the Ouya is "buts its oooonly $100."

So what? I can get a mini Wii living here in Canada for $100, and it can play full games. Its pre-order release this month already has been receiving some negative reception. Cheap feeling light controllers with buttons that get stuck.

Doesn't seem worth $100 to me.

 

[Bocaj2000]

"The controllers suck!"
Yes, the beta controllers sucked. Everything sucks in beta testing. The fixed controllers have already been shipped out with the pre-orders and OUYAs are being played as we speak.

"It just has mobile games. Too bad you can't take it anywhere."
Yes, it has access to Google Play. It also has access to OnLive and it's own game store with exclusive titles. So I can play Angry Birds one minute and Borderlands the next.

"It's hardware is shit."
THEN MOD THE SHIT OUT OF IT!!! That's what it's designed for. It can be as powerful as you wish!

Any more empty complaints? ^-^

 

[aba1]

It shouldn't be too surprising considering it doesn't cost nearly what a lot of more expensive smartphones do. Then again, those smart phones do more than just playing games. Why anyone would actually want the Ouya is beyond me, it just sounds like something people wanted to support because OMG KICKSTARTER CONSOLE rather than what it actually does (play cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet).

And yes, I'm aware of the potential of "homebrew" games or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays, but I've been promised that before.

What about all the games on the xbox arcade, playstation store and even a ton of games on steam? There are TONS of games that are great that are more than just "cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet".

And as far as I know you can't play any of those games on an Android platform. That's basically all this is, an Android console, and all anyone makes for the Android right now are phone and tablet games. When it comes to emulators, I can emulate for free right now on my PC, and I even have a gamepad for it.

Until I see some of these awesome homebrew indie games, I'll continue to be skeptical. Because the hardware isn't even close to any of the major gaming consoles, you won't really be able to play much of that caliber, just arcade-style minigames that are designed to be fun for 10 minutes at a time.

Man you just got the word android stuck on your mind and your judging the whole console based on preconceived notions of what android is without actually fully knowing. This console was made specifically for the games that would be on the xbox arcade or psstore etc. All of those games are made the same ways that android games are made with the same sorta teams and specs in mind. The only reason they aren't on that store is because a phone or tablet isn't suitable for that game play. I know that is why I am not developing my game for the a phone and instead for Steam, Ouya, ps store etc. Just because it is using Android doesn't mean the content needs to be made for a phone.

Hell the person above me is even talking about how it runs borderlands which is current gen and is definitely not a phone game.

 

[hentropy]

It shouldn't be too surprising considering it doesn't cost nearly what a lot of more expensive smartphones do. Then again, those smart phones do more than just playing games. Why anyone would actually want the Ouya is beyond me, it just sounds like something people wanted to support because OMG KICKSTARTER CONSOLE rather than what it actually does (play cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet).

And yes, I'm aware of the potential of "homebrew" games or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays, but I've been promised that before.

What about all the games on the xbox arcade, playstation store and even a ton of games on steam? There are TONS of games that are great that are more than just "cheap Android games most people play mainly on the toilet".

And as far as I know you can't play any of those games on an Android platform. That's basically all this is, an Android console, and all anyone makes for the Android right now are phone and tablet games. When it comes to emulators, I can emulate for free right now on my PC, and I even have a gamepad for it.

Until I see some of these awesome homebrew indie games, I'll continue to be skeptical. Because the hardware isn't even close to any of the major gaming consoles, you won't really be able to play much of that caliber, just arcade-style minigames that are designed to be fun for 10 minutes at a time.

Man you just got the word android stuck on your mind and your judging the whole console based on preconceived notions of what android is without actually fully knowing. This console was made specifically for the games that would be on the xbox arcade or psstore etc. All of those games are made the same ways that android games are made with the same sorta teams and specs in mind. The only reason they aren't on that store is because a phone or tablet isn't suitable for that game play. I know that is why I am not developing my game for the a phone and instead for Steam, Ouya, ps store etc. Just because it is using Android doesn't mean the content needs to be made for a phone.

Hell the person above me is even talking about how it runs borderlands which is current gen and is definitely not a phone game.

As I said, that's great and all, but I can already do everything the Ouya is saying it can do. On my PC. Good indie games get released on Steam, in most cases. If developers do actually go back and make ports for indie games already released for months or even years, all so people can play it on the Ouya, a console with ultimately less hardware capabilities. If I want to play the newest console games, I'll still have to buy a console in the next generation, the Ouya certainly won't be able to handle those. The only thing it offers that I can't do right now is play phone and tablet games on my TV, which I have no interest in and I doubt that many people will have an interest in, especially since most of those are made for touch screens.

There have been plenty of consoles which were neat or open-source or crowdfunded, but they all failed because they didn't really offer anything new that people couldn't already do in faster and more convenient ways for free. They just get a lot of attention because they're neat, not because they actually make sense for most people to own.

 

[Frostbite3789]

"The controllers suck!"
Yes, the beta controllers sucked. Everything sucks in beta testing. The fixed controllers have already been shipped out with the pre-orders and OUYAs are being played as we speak.

"It just has mobile games. Too bad you can't take it anywhere."
Yes, it has access to Google Play. It also has access to OnLive and it's own game store with exclusive titles. So I can play Angry Birds one minute and Borderlands the next.

"It's hardware is shit."
THEN MOD THE SHIT OUT OF IT!!! That's what it's designed for. It can be as powerful as you wish!

Any more empty complaints? ^-^

OnLive functionality hasn't been confirmed yet, just discussed. If it's actually been confirmed, please provide a link to where it was officially stated this was the case.

As far as hardware? Nope wrong. From the mouth of Julie Uhrman herself "Our hardware is baked, it's complete, it's done," [http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/28/4157602/ouya-feature]. That interview was published on March 28th. And they began shipping backer units as of March 27th, per a Kickstarter update. Edit: There were...no beta consoles shipped. The lag problems people were having with the controller? On backer units that were shipped out that are the "final product" as far as hardware goes. This is a $50 controller and that's unacceptable. That's how much a Dualshock 3 costs.

And mod the shit out of it? In that little box? That will be far more difficult than modding or building any desktop PC, considering what you're given to work with. Also as far as I know it's not consumer moddable. You're stuck with that hardware. And wasn't that one of the big strong points they were trying to sell people on? It's an Android console that has the same specs across the board? Nothing I've read anywhere has said this is moddable hardware-wise. It seems like you pulled that out of your ass.

And sure they could get Borderlands on it if it does get something like OnLive (uncomfirmed) and you have the bandwidth/internet speed to pull that sort of thing off. This is supposed to be the cheap console for people who don't want to pay for one of the Big 3, and if you don't want to do that, odds are you don't have the internet to stream a game to a piece of hardware that can't even dream of running it on the lowest settings.

For how downscaled any game would have to be to run on this thing just look at The Ball.