Ouya Now Boasts 10,000 Developers

[StewShearerOld]

Ouya Now Boasts 10,000 Developers

The one hundred dollar Android console now has more than 10,000 developers working on games worldwide.

It can be easy to be a bit skeptical of Ouya. While it impressed many when its Kickstarter campaign raised <a href=<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118982-Ouya-Kickstarter-Ends-with-900-of-Goal-Raised>nearly 9 million dollars, it hasn't been all sunshine and flowers for the console. In March its makers confirmed that it would be heading to retailers in June with many of its <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122658-Ouya-Will-Launch-Without-Community-Features>community features temporarily absent. Recent benchmark testing also indicated that the one hundred dollar console <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123332-Ouya-Console-Already-Lags-Behind-Current-Gen-Mobiles>is already underpowered when compared to many prominent mobile devices. Even so, there are a lot of people who believe in Ouya, and its hardware makers have revealed that this includes as many as 10,000 developers worldwide.

The number was revealed by Kellee Santiago, co-founder of thatgamecompany and the current head of developer relations for Ouya. "It's really awesome, especially at this early stage of the console still being in the preview period. The last month I've been so excited to just interact with the Ouya developers who are really people who signed on to the mission statement of Ouya early on and are the people who are just as excited as we are about the platform. It's been great to hear and that the number continues to grow at such a rapid pace is very validating."

Having a large stable of developers at your disposal is certainly a boon, but it says little about the quality of the products they're producing. Santiago admitted that many of the games currently being made are more experimental than polished. "I think a lot of the developers have appropriately approached this early phase in getting their dev kits with just playing around and experimenting with the platform, so what you see on the store today are a number of sort of raw experiments, which I think is really cool that you can have a console that has such raw material on it, but we are also seeing more just genuinely fun and polished experiences."

Plainly put, it's more than possible that Ouya could wind up in a similar place to other Android devices when it comes to gaming. I love the occasional bit of gaming on my Galaxy Tab and have stumbled across some excellent gems, but you often have to wade through a lot of less than wonderful games to find them. It can be an annoyance, but it's also an arguable part of the less restrictive development environment that Ouya's makers are hoping to foster. It could be off-putting to some consumers, but I have a feeling the target audience for Ouya may not be the type that's rankled by a bit of inconvenience.

Source: <a href=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-19-ouya-hits-10-000-developers-milestone>GamesIndustry



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[OuroborosChoked]

Ten-thousand developers? As in individuals or 10,000 companies? Because off the top of my head, I can probably rattle off only about 100 current and former companies... are there even 10,000 video game dev companies?

This thing is reeking more and more... if it isn't outright fraud, it's doomed anyway. The WiiU is already out, the PS4 is on the way, as is the next Xbox... that's some stiff competition for a debuting console...

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Ten-thousand developers? As in individuals or 10,000 companies? Because off the top of my head, I can probably rattle off only about 100 current and former companies... are there even 10,000 video game dev companies?

That number probably includes a large number of bedroom coders who've never made a commercial project. That's not necessarily a terrible thing; I've played a lot of amazing free games by bedroom coders. The vast majority will be a bit poo, though.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

I'm fine wading through a few duds if the games aren't $60 a pop

After Steel Battalion, WD: Survival Instinct, Dead Island, & the slew of other terrible AAA console games, unpolished devs on the Ouya sounds like a moot point

 

[grey_space]

I'm interested. Could be getting my vote as a second-string device next gen. There's bound to be a few diamonds in the rough.

 

[Frostbite3789]

I'm fine wading through a few duds if the games aren't $60 a pop

After Steel Battalion, WD: Survival Instinct, Dead Island, & the slew of other terrible AAA console games, unpolished devs on the Ouya sounds like a moot point

Why not just go to Newgrounds? It's almost the same experience and you save $100.

Edit: Also your post is everything that is wrong with the gaming community summed up nicely. Dead Island? Really? You're comparing that to the trash that's going to come out on the Ouya? You're spoiled. Like, that's the only way to describe it.

 

[The Random One]

If it's more experimental than polished it's not a problem. The problem is if it's more derivative than innovative.

 

[klaynexas3]

It would take nothing short of Valve announcing Half Life 3 to get this website to not scoff, but I doubt that would even produce an ounce of excitement. I swear, it's like listening to 15 year old me.

OT: that's really cool. I will enjoy to see where this might go, because I have high hopes for the idea of an open source console. I don't care if it's less powerful than some phones, I'm sure the PS1 was less powerful than most phones, but that console kicked ass. It's all about the games, and with 10,000 developers, there's bound to be at least a few great games on this, and for a platform to have me buy it, it only needs a few great games, especially with the low price

 

[Frostbite3789]

I'm sure the PS1 was less powerful than most phones

...I just don't even know where to begin with this. Everything about this statement offends me in more ways than one. It's like you don't understand technology or time.

 

[klaynexas3]

I'm sure the PS1 was less powerful than most phones

...I just don't even know where to begin with this. Everything about this statement offends me in more ways than one. It's like you don't understand technology or time.

I do understand how technology and time works, however, the use of the argument is still valid as people seem to think technology matters when it comes to consoles. It doesn't matter at all, as it's simply about the quality of the games.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I'm fine wading through a few duds if the games aren't $60 a pop

After Steel Battalion, WD: Survival Instinct, Dead Island, & the slew of other terrible AAA console games, unpolished devs on the Ouya sounds like a moot point

Why not just go to Newgrounds? It's almost the same experience and you save $100.

Edit: Also your post is everything that is wrong with the gaming community summed up nicely. Dead Island? Really? You're comparing that to the trash that's going to come out on the Ouya? You're spoiled. Like, that's the only way to describe it.

No. YOU'RE everything thats wrong with the gaming community summed up very nicely. You can't know what games are going to come out on the Ouya. Assumptions and implications are all I ever see spewed out of this website's community which is in complete contrast to the authors of articles like this. People just like you were saying the same thing about the 3DS's failure to sell last year and now it's one of the top selling consoles. Ouya has the potential to be good by allowing a huge amount of accessibility to developers and consumers. It might fail and it might not

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

It would take nothing short of Valve announcing Half Life 3 to get this website to not scoff, but I doubt that would even produce an ounce of excitement. I swear, it's like listening to 15 year old me.

Wow. Its like you were reading my mind. Though now I have to shake off the pain of being reminded of my 15 year old self

 

[lacktheknack]

It would take nothing short of Valve announcing Half Life 3 to get this website to not scoff, but I doubt that would even produce an ounce of excitement. I swear, it's like listening to 15 year old me.

I agree. This site's users increasingly seem to be morphing those terrifying joyless headmaster schoolmistress nuns from crappy comedies.

I'm sure the PS1 was less powerful than most phones

...I just don't even know where to begin with this. Everything about this statement offends me in more ways than one. It's like you don't understand technology or time.

The hell are you on about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation#Comparison

The PS1 is SIGNIFICANTLY less powerful than today's phones. In fact, there's virtually no comparison.

Are you taking offense at him acknowledging his non-expertise, and so using the safeword "most"? If so, that's ludicrously petty and you should feel bad.

OT: Neat! There had to be advantages beyond the low price point, now we know another one.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

I'm fine wading through a few duds if the games aren't $60 a pop

After Steel Battalion, WD: Survival Instinct, Dead Island, & the slew of other terrible AAA console games, unpolished devs on the Ouya sounds like a moot point

Why not just go to Newgrounds? It's almost the same experience and you save $100.

Edit: Also your post is everything that is wrong with the gaming community summed up nicely. Dead Island? Really? You're comparing that to the trash that's going to come out on the Ouya? You're spoiled. Like, that's the only way to describe it.

Dead Island was incredibly buggy, tonally schizophrenic, & the kick was game-breakingly broken. It was a barely finished product & mediocre would be a compliment. Just because it sold high doesn't mean it's good (reference: 90% of military FPS for the last 10 years)

Newgrounds is good for what it is, but there is middle-ground between browser flash games & needing to sell 5 million copies just to break even. Maybe the Ouya will fail, maybe not. That's how new things are made; by doing something different

Claiming that support of an additional avenue for independent developers to market themselves as "everything that is wrong with the gaming community" is nothing short of luddite.

 

[Korskarn]

It would take nothing short of Valve announcing Half Life 3 to get this website to not scoff, but I doubt that would even produce an ounce of excitement. I swear, it's like listening to 15 year old me.

I agree. This site's users increasingly seem to be morphing those terrifying joyless headmaster schoolmistress nuns from crappy comedies.

I'm sure the PS1 was less powerful than most phones

...I just don't even know where to begin with this. Everything about this statement offends me in more ways than one. It's like you don't understand technology or time.

The hell are you on about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation#Comparison

The PS1 is SIGNIFICANTLY less powerful than today's phones. In fact, there's virtually no comparison.

Are you taking offense at him acknowledging his non-expertise, and so using the safeword "most"? If so, that's ludicrously petty and you should feel bad.

OT: Neat! There had to be advantages beyond the low price point, now we know another one.

He's complaining because it's a non-sequitor. It has no particular relevance to the discussion - the original comparison was between the Ouya and current phones. Saying the PS1 is less powerful than current phones is like saying an abacus is less powerful than a current phone - it's true, but it adds nothing to the discussion because the frame has changed (existing technology vs. existing technology, to past technology vs. existing technology).

The PS1 was MUCH more powerful than most comparable portable devices in the 90s, and that was one of the drivers for its adoption. Bringing up the PS1 as an example of why "technology doesn't matter" is actually a flawed example because not only was it to-of-the-line when it came out, but also because many of the top-selling PS1 games are still compatible with current PS3s. If "technology didn't matter", Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear Solid would still be on the top of the current most played PSN games - they're still available via ebay etc. and should keep bringing in new players who have just discovered them for the first time.

But that's not reality - reality is, people like new games and new hardware. That's not to say there isn't a niche for Ouya (after all, the PSP is less powerful than the PS3 and they still co-existed), but lets keep the comparisons equivalent.

 

[Clankenbeard]

I'm sure the PS1 was less powerful than most phones

...I just don't even know where to begin with this. Everything about this statement offends me in more ways than one. It's like you don't understand technology or time.

It's like trying to stir diarrhea with your dog's sense of humor." - Wallow

I'm expecting my Ouya in the mail within the next couple months. They keep sending out production and shipping updates. I think it will be very likely that most of the games will be crap.

I am interested mostly in using it as a very portable media center. Plenty of USB ports and HDMI output means I can stream ripped movies easily. I expect that this device will get better updates for audio and video compression codecs that other pieces of store-purchased hardware which do similar functions. Also, I expect there will be tons of skins/interfaces for this function because there are 10,000 developers who don't know a lot about programming. But they probably know enough to make a functional/smexy audio/video player.

 

[Frostbite3789]

The hell are you on about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation#Comparison

The PS1 is SIGNIFICANTLY less powerful than today's phones. In fact, there's virtually no comparison.

Are you taking offense at him acknowledging his non-expertise, and so using the safeword "most"? If so, that's ludicrously petty and you should feel bad.

OT: Neat! There had to be advantages beyond the low price point, now we know another one.

So the benchmark for a $100 piece of tech is now something from 20 years ago? Of course the PS1 is weaker than most phones that come out today, it's nearly 20 years old. If that's what the Ouya is going for, you can pick up a PS1 for $40 and have it's entire library at your disposal.

 

[lacktheknack]

The hell are you on about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation#Comparison

The PS1 is SIGNIFICANTLY less powerful than today's phones. In fact, there's virtually no comparison.

Are you taking offense at him acknowledging his non-expertise, and so using the safeword "most"? If so, that's ludicrously petty and you should feel bad.

OT: Neat! There had to be advantages beyond the low price point, now we know another one.

So the benchmark for a $100 piece of tech is now something from 20 years ago? Of course the PS1 is weaker than most phones that come out today, it's nearly 20 years old. If that's what the Ouya is going for, you can pick up a PS1 for $40 and have it's entire library at your disposal.

Did he say it was a benchmark?

No. No he did not. He was trying to say that technology isn't as relevant as we make it out to be when it comes to how fun something is.

Also, if I buy a PS1 for forty bucks, I still have to drop extra money for the games. The Ouya will be distributing thousands of games for free within a few months.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Did he say it was a benchmark?

No. No he did not. He was trying to say that technology isn't as relevant as we make it out to be when it comes to how fun something is.

Also, if I buy a PS1 for forty bucks, I still have to drop extra money for the games. The Ouya will be distributing thousands of games for free within a few months.

Free to try.

 

[axlryder]

If this thing is open to everyone, they're going to quickly have to figure out how to establish some kind of quality control, or at the very least learn a way to bury the shit and let the cream float to the top.