Ouya Kickstarter Ends with 900% of Goal Raised

[Rainboq]

To be honest, I think users just really want a new console. I'd be vaguely interested if it wasn't as powerful as my i-phone.

Honestly, what is the draw of this? From what I understand the Wii out powers this thing.

A smaller more affordable console is all well and good, but my fucking 500 dollar laptop from 2007 out powers this thing.

Also from the spec and design, this thing looks like it would burn my house down.

Eh. Ouya never really seemed like it'd be possible to me. I honestly doubt that little thing can bring up games like Skyrim, something backers said they wanted on the console.

Believe it or not, the Ouya has more RAM than a PS3 or a 360, and just as good a video card, the reason its so small and so cheap is twofold:

1. No disc drive.

2. No proprietary hardware.

 

[viranimus]

Im more than happy to buy one. Even if it is just a little more powerful than a cell phone. Simple fact is I can develop what I want for it, and others will too. Sure not all of it will be great, but doesnt look like this will require me to give up my freedom to access it, and have millions of jackovs encouraging that, that will always be a major plus in my book.

Besides.. graphics are NOT important.

 

[Valanthe]

My crystal ball is foreseeing that there will be a -lot- of disappointed people when they realize that games like Skyrim and Call of Duty are not and will never be released for this console (in the foreseeable future). Which is gonna make the internet an interesting place to be for a month or two while people whine about how the Ouya "lied" to them, and didn't "deliver what was advertised," all because so many people got behind a project that to date, has never given any -actual- proof that they can build what they said they could.

I would like to see an open source console, and part of me hopes that I'm wrong and the Ouya is a huge success, but frankly, just reading their Kickstarter page sent up so many red flags in my mind that I wouldn't have dreamed of giving these people money. And I would honestly not be even remotely surprised if the people behind it took the money and ran.

 

[ivc392]

I really don't get it, at all. Who would invest on a console that hasn't even reach a production stage? I've seen tons of projects like this one (Pandora) turn into a complete train wreck to be feel comfortable about investing $120 on a promise.
I see the value on an early SDK. But what about those 4000+ that invested on a console they may never get to see... WHY??? Now that the kickstater fundraiser ended you are screwed. There are tons of things that can go drastically wrong and you've got no insurance whatsoever. You can't sue, you can't complain, you can't get your money back.
At least with the pay-pal pre-orders you cancel them at any time. But the money you invested on kickstater is gone.

Don?t get me wrong, if the Ouya (worst possible name for anything ever) sees the light of release day I will definitely buy one. It's a cheap dev friendly console and for what?s worth, the soon-to-be-systems-engineer in me can't wait to get his nerdy fingers on the dam thing. I just don't get what so special about it 4000 guys are willing to throw their money at thin air for it.

 

[Gamergeek25]

Forgive my ignorance, but I never heard of this before a few days ago. What does it do different than wii xbox or ps 3?

 

[Scars Unseen]

Honestly, if I end up buying one of these, it'll likely only have been because a strong DIY community had grown up around it like it did the Raspberry Pi. Maybe this device will be great for gaming, and maybe it won't, but there's always a use for small inexpensive computers with a lot of community support.

 

[jebbo]

Typical naysayer - "RA RA RA RA RA it's going to fail because it's just a phone without a screen and won't play real games" *goes back to playing COD with 12 year olds calling everyone a fag and an industry that's eating itself and a few years from complete implosion*

I think a lot of people need to do some actual research about not just the console's capabilities but the ideology of what they're trying to achieve and the business model.

As for games, no it won't play AAA titles natively, it's not supposed to, that's why OnLive are onboard. It's a new platform for digital delivery of both homebrew, indie and content from established developers who are willing to try something new. As well as being by the looks of it a pretty slick media box and seeing as you can root without fear of warranty breakage a pretty awesome geeky toy for anyone who wants to play with a bit of Android development

I didn't back because 1. I'm poor until payday and 2. I have reservations about whether that prospective March date is going to be hit (someone above mentioned the Raspberry Pi...) but when some more solid details are available I'm pre-ordering for sure.

I WANT this to succeed. The industry may not need this to succeed but it will be a huge boost for anyone even mildly invested in games and gaming. OUYA isn't perfect and maybe this wont be the final version of an open-source digital distribution console but the idea has the potential to do for console gaming what Steam did for PC gaming

 

[chadachada123]

I still think that the cube shape is a terrible design. Small is great, but cubes are very inconvenient for carrying.

I know this because I DID carry a Rubik's Cube with me at all times during high school, and sometimes more than one type of puzzle cube. Cubes are clunky, rectangular prisms are far superior.

That said, I contributed to the Kickstarter, even getting the $220 version with two etched controllers and a founder's emblem. Feels pretty good, man.

 

[Aetherlblade]

Besides.. graphics are NOT important.

In your opinion.

For me, ghrapics, aesthetics, sound, music and actual gameplay are each important. Having even one of these be shitty, makes a game crap. That doesn't mean games have to be like Crysis, but is does mean it should not be ugly.

Personally, a really great looking, boring game can be as attractive to me as a ugly game with great story telling. An other example can be this, Men of War is a great game in almost every way. However, it's voice acting is horrendous and makes it unplayable for me.

 

[Racecarlock]

I thought all of you guys said all of the reliance on HD graphics and power and shit was bad! I thought you guys wanted some actual gameplay innovation rather than improvements to reflective bump map pixel fucking or whatever. Yet I come in here and everyone's scoffing at this thing going "Oh my god it's less powerful than the wii".

The reason devs still develop on consoles is because they know the limitations. New graphics cards and processors come out on the PC every week, which makes it so tons of different people have tons of different PCs, so knowing how to make the game graphically amazing while still keeping it optimized for lower end systems is incredibly hard.

However, the companies want excessive control over their consoles, so the devs end up having to use developer kits that only allow for specific programming and specific types of programs with no customization-ability (or whatever). So developing for any platform is a huge hassle. Also the dev kits have ridiculous costs so you have to get a publisher to buy you a bunch first

From what I've read, ouya hopes to change all of that. I think this console might allow modding or something, but most importantly all of them will be dev kits or something so anyone can make a game on them, and they'll know the limitations and use them to their advantage to create great games regardless of those limitations. No doubt some will be made to innovate, which means we'll get more innovation in the market. And the big guys will have some competition.

Yet almost everyone in this thread is scoffing at that because it's about as powerful as the wii. News flash, most of us used to play on an NES! I grew up on the damn N64, you think I gave a shit about how many pixels it could handle? I was just enjoying the games!

But I guess that doesn't matter because now everything needs reflective bump mip map alias anti-alias pixel smashing "Oh my god that water looks INCREDIBLE" graphics.

 

[Squilookle]

I still don't know where I sit with the Ouya- the potential is incredible, but I think I need to see more of the path they intend to take it down first. Till then I'll be wishing them the absolute best of luck- it could be just the breath of fresh air the industry needs.

And you know what? if it's open-source nature eventually allows the kind of back-catalogue that all current consoles completely fail to grasp, and the wii's virtual console in particular has completely failed with, then I may have to start seriously considering a purchase.